Sculpture Masterclass with Nilda Comas (Part 2!)

BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND!

SCULPTURE MASTERCLASS (PART 2!) at The Brick – A hands-on two day workshop with master sculptor, Nilda Comas at The Brick in downtown Ocala!

SCHEDULE FOR PART 2:

• Friday, May 10 | 8:30am – 5pm
• Saturday, May 11 | 8:30am – 5pm

Location: Brick City Center for the Arts (23 SW Broadway Street, Ocala FL)

Workshop registration fee is $295 for both dates. Only 15 spaces available! Open to all levels of instruction, ages 14 and up. A materials list will be provided upon signing up. Special tools are included and will be provided. Clay cost is not included and will be divided between students during class. Students must sign up for both dates as each date will focus on a different lesson. Students will have one-hour break for lunch each day and can bring their own or order from any of our downtown restaurant neighbors.

This class serves as a follow up to the SOLD OUT Sculpture Masterclass previously held in April 2024. However, students are not required to have attended Part 1 to participate in this workshop.

NOTE: To purchase tickets in person (without EB fees), please call us at 352-369-1500 or stop by The Brick during gallery hours.

About the Class: SCULPTING THE PORTRAIT

The goal is to teach you simple techniques of Portrait Sculpting in water base clay. With basic steps I will teach you how to sculpt a recognizable representation of an individual with emphasis on their character. My method will show you ways of modeling in clay with the use of a few wooden tools and of establishing head proportions, basic knowledge of the human head anatomy consisting of bone structure as taught for generations by Master Sculptors.

We will have the use of a human skull and of a life model in the afternoon. From the model we will learn to “see” the specific characteristics of the individual in front of us in order to make a human head into a “Portrait Sculpture” of our model.

About the Artist:

Nilda Comas is a renowned sculptor known for her works created from marble, bronze and other materials. Born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Comas discovered her passion for art at a young age, spending her vacations copying paintings from the Museo de Arte de Ponce. She studied at the Universidad de Puerto Rico, Sam Houston State University and the University of Houston, where she graduated with honors. In 1998, she graduated cum laude with an MFA from The New York Academy of Art, after winning their highest award, an Andy Warhol Scholarship. Her post-graduate studies were accomplished at Accademia de Belle Arti di Carrara in Italy, where she perfected her skills in marble carving.

Comas is recognized internationally for her work, maintaining studios in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and Pietrasanta, Italy. Her art may be found in museums, private collections, and public spaces throughout the United States and abroad. Her many awards include a bronze medal and two Agopoff Memorial Prizes from the National Sculpture Society in New York, First Prize for Sculpture from the Hambro Bank, London, Best in Show from the Westminster 142nd Exhibition of Women Artists in London and the Award for Excellence at the International Biennale in Palm Beach, Florida. Her works have been exhibited at the Ann Norton Sculpture Gardens, Palm Beach; the National Sculpture Society, New York; Accademia di Belli Arte Carrara, Italy; Chiostro di Sant’Agostino, Pietrasanta, Italy; and the Westminister Gallery, London.

She was awarded the commission from the State of Florida to create a sculpture for National Statuary Hall in the United States Capitol in Washington, DC. This statue of Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune was installed in 2022 as one of two statues representing Florida. Comas is the first artist of Puerto Rican descent commissioned to sculpt a statue for the National Statuary Hall Collection, and Bethune is the first African American represented in the collection. Carved from Carrara marble quarried from the same cave as Michelangelo’s sculptures, it is the first marble statue to enter the National Statuary Hall Collection since 2005, and only the second since 1963.

Questions? Please contact MCA at gallery@mcaocala.com or call us during gallery hours at 352-369-1500.