Have you ever heard of Victor Spinski? I know that I have never heard about him or anything he does. Well in this paper I will tell you a lot about this man. Victor Spinski was an artist.
Victor Spinski was born in a small town in Kansas. His parents were still trying to become citizens because they immigrated from Europe. Since there was usually nothing to do here he would often find himself drawing very detailed sketches. Before long he found that he was very fond of and talented at art.
When he was ready for college he attended the University of Kansas. Here he studied Russian literature and linguistics. He really enjoyed art so he decided to take a multitude of art classes. He added art education as his second major and studied painting and ceramics. He was very interested in ceramics and then studied firing and glazing very carefully. He decided that his medium was going to be ceramics and glazing.
Mr. Spinski really enjoyed and still enjoys replicating complex items like rusty metal, glass, cardboard and wood. He is an expert on the forming and sculpting process, but his skill and knowledge for glazing and firing is still unsurpassed.
Spinski uses low fire clay bodies to make his work. He makes his own clay bodies and casting slip from raw materials, rather than using premixed commercial products. His clay body is white, highly plastic, and has a open, cork like texture. His work is sculptural, and a dense, durable clay body is not required. In order to replicate various materials, Spinski must fire his works several times. This allows him to replicate metal, wood, and paint.
Spinski sandblasts boards, casts them in plaster, and forms them with a hydraulic press. Spinski fired the boards to cone 04, at which point the immature clay was the consistency of plaster. Spinski then carved the work with a hand drill and grinder to achieve the texture of worn wood.