Sculptures by Jonathan R. Loppnow

I began doing cement sculpture in 2003 and have accomplished several pieces.  I used to be a ceramicist when I was in college (before Methuselah was drowned in the great flood).  Lacking the money to set up a ceramics shop and wanting to do hand sculpture I finally arrived at a unique (well probably not so unique) recipe of cement, joint compound and paper fiber applied over styrofoam armatures.  I have given away the two gargoyles but the lion resides in my garden.  The picture below is of him when he was unfinished so I still need to post a finished pict.

Click on thumbnails for larger pictures.

My first larger piece was the Virgin Mary.  I will post pictures of her eventually.  She does not have a lot of detail as I was just learning the properties of my medium.  She lives in Eureka Springs Arkansas now.

 
Gargoyle
See fictional history of this piece.
This used to be my favorite piece until I made my Greenman figure.  I gave him a fictional provenance and hinted at supernatural going's on, very appropriate for a gargoyle.  He has gone to live with a friend.

 
Bert the Gargoyle
This is Bert.  He is now guarding the entrance to the house of one of my friends.  I tried to make him look not so forbidding but scary enough so that evil spirits know that he will eat them. : )

 
Lion
At first he looked so scary that a 3 year old would not go near him so I had to friendly him up a bit so he looks like he is smiling (perhaps).  The picture shows his newly redone snout while it is still drying.  He is not finished as I use a combination of diluted paint and polyurethane to seal my sculptures.  He has overwintered once and so far is doing fine.

The Greenman
The Greenman is my "masterpiece" to date.  I had never done an human figure before this.  He is life size.  My representation of him is not traditional as his face is not comprised of leaves.  I made him so that his vegetative origin is not as apparent unless you notice his hair and chest hair is made are made of leaves.  He is my favorite child to date and it was hard letting him go.  He now resides in a private campground near Fayetteville, Arkansas.

Finally, I have a small orphan child dwarf named "Oy Vey" who has begun to form from left over cement.  I will post pictures of him eventually.  He sits in my garden wondering when I'm going to finish him.

Just some advice...  Don't be afraid to try your hand at art.  Just DO IT.  Every creative expression is worth it : )

All photos are under the copyright of Jonathan R. Loppnow, 2005 and may not be re-posted on any web page or used in any publication without express permission of the author.  jlopp.geo@yahoo.com