You Too Can Sculpt - Heidi Maiers e-Book Portrait Sculpture Simplified" Shows You How

If the age-old art of creating portrait sculpture is something youve had a desire to do, but never knew where to start, or told yourself it was something you could never do, Heidi Maiers has provided you with complete instructions, every step of the way, so you too can sculpt!

Mesa, AZ (PRWEB) March 27, 2005 -- Sculptor Heidi Maiers never told herself she couldnt sculpt, or draw, or cook, or golf, or anything else for that matter. She believes that people are highly capable, and it is just a matter of having a desire to do something one considers interesting and making an effort to simply do it. No excuses. Heidi says, "Although success may not come easily, its perseverance, practice, and observation that pays off in the long run - and anything is possible." Even now, as an adult, she often hears people commenting when they see her work that they could never do anything like that. She recommends that they give it a try before concluding that they don't have the talent.

As a child, Heidi first became fascinated with sculpting as she played in the clay mud of the Mojave Desert in Lancaster, California. She would fill tin pie plates full of the red muck and sculpt round faces that were left to dry in the scalding sun. It wasnt until much later, during her college years, that she took a serious interest in sculpting as a possible path for her future. She majored in Fine Art at the University of Oregon, where she studied sculpture, drawing, Art History, and anatomy for artists.

Now, 25 years later, Heidi is a wife, a mother, a full time technical writer at a software development company, and she and her husband, Gary, run their own company, Portraits in Clay. Although she sculpts mainly for the enjoyment of it, she accepts portrait commissions regularly from around the world, participates in local juried Fine Art shows (most recently the Carefree Fine Arts and Wine Festival in beautiful Carefree, Arizona), maintains a web site (which she created, complete with an online forum for other portrait and figurative sculptors to participate in), and recently released a detailed instruction e-book on CD entitled Portrait Sculpture Simplified".

After publishing her web site portrait-sculpture.com in 2001, Heidi became inundated with how-to questions from all over the world. It soon became obvious to her that there was a high demand for information on sculpting techniques. To make better use of her time, she put her own "can do" attitude to work by writing a complete how-to course for people interested in creating portrait sculpture. With over 200 pages and 400 color illustrations, the e-book is easily viewed on a computer screen with the free Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Heidi says, When I was in school, I learned how to sculpt, but instruction never progressed beyond modeling the clay. It took me years of trial and error to be able to produce finished pieces. There were very few sculpting books on the market and none covered the subject of how to finish a piece. The Internet didnt exist so there was no convenient exchange of information between artists that is so readily available today. Hopefully, distributing this e-book will spare others an enormous amount of time wasted searching for specialty information".

Topics include:
- materials needed
- studio setup
- proportions and working methods
- a complete demonstration for modeling a subject - including all of the main features (eyes, nose, mouth, hair, and ears)
- how to dry and prepare a ceramic piece for firing
- how to fire - bisque and glaze
- how to repair any cracks or blemishes
- how to make a flexible and rigid mold set
- how to cast in bonded materials
- how to patina a fired ceramic or cast piece, several complete demonstrations
- how to make a base and mount a finished piece
- how to photograph the finished artwork

Although in the beginning her intention was to only make this CD available from her website, it is now being offered at Amazon.com, Sculpt.com, and through hundreds of online retailers as a PDF download.

The easy-to-follow instructions have helped many people progress to the next level of their sculpting abilities, whether they were just starting out, or were already advanced sculptors. The following are just a sampling of some customer reviews and testimonials which can be read at http://heidimaiers.com/Reviews.htm

Reviews:
Victoria Stautzenberger- bas-relief portrait sculptor
The most well written reference on sculpture instruction, October 8, 2004

"In just over two hundred pages this book has replaced a small library on portrait sculpture instruction. It is so well written and easy to follow. Covering the full spectrum of instructions for realizing your own creations, not a single step has been left out. The authors own joy and enthusiasm for the beautiful work she does just pours from these pages. Even if youve never sculpted before, her spirit is contagious. I only wish Id known about this long ago. I could have skipped untold hours of torturous trial and error" learning".

Bill Willis - sculptor
I just received my copy of your e-book. It's great, so much great information. Thank you for sharing your wealth of knowledge with those of us who are just beginning. Your chapters on proportions are great; I saw right away some things I need to start doing in my work. Thank you also for keeping the cost low enough to make the ebook available to everyone. I love your work and will be returning to your site often. Keep up the great work".

About Portraits in Clay
Portraits in Clay, based in Mesa, Arizona has been in business since 2001 and maintains a website at http://heidimaiers.com. Services offered include private and public portrait commissions, figurative commissions, an e-Book on CD, online lessons, custom base making services, critique services, firing and finishing services, CD portfolio services, and website design services.

For additional information:
Portraits in Clay
1262 S. Sunnyvale Circle
Mesa, AZ 85206

Attention editors: Permission is granted to the press to obtain Images and related text by visiting http://www.heidimaiers.com

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