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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Earlier this month, a group of local artists shared Thanksgiving long weekend with family at the Guild of Arts and Crafts ... kind of.

They attended an intensive three-day sculpture workshop organized by the Aurora Arts Society and supported by the NWT Arts Council. Most of the artists chose to create three-dimensional sculptures of family members.

Realist painter Bonnie Madsen sculpts a bust of her son, hockey fan Konnor Madsen. - photo courtesy of Terry Pamplin

Professional Alberta sculptor Brian McArthur led the artists through the principles of slab building, in which hollow clay sculptures are built from the bottom up a few inches at a time.

McArthur showed the artists how to create a small model to anticipate challenges faced in the structure and design of the larger sculpture.

"This method of construction is much like building a clay vessel or a clay pot," he explained. "It's not like a solid clay form. The walls are only a half-inch thick and you build only three or four inches at a time. You really have to plan ahead where it's going."

Realist painter Bonnie Madsen explored these three-dimensional techniques for the first time as she created a life-like bust of her 12-year-old son Konnor Madsen dressed in his Pittsburgh Penguins jersey and helmet.

"It was an interesting experience for me, very humbling for me because I had no idea how hard it was physically and mentally," she said. "Each slab had to be flattened and rolled out to a certain thickness so you're using your hands, you're bending, you're lifting. My sculpture is, I think, 45 pounds."

For two days after the workshop, she continued working on the sculpture until 2 a.m. in the morning. When it is dried, she said she plans to paint it in oils.

Ann Timmins built a life-sized likeness of her teenage daughter, Abbey Boyd.

During the afternoon she reflected about Abbey's first introduction to the world. When Abbey was only 10 months old she had to return to hospital as a cancer patient, Timmins said.

Timmins brought the form to life inch by inch, adding detailed features along the way by pressing the clay from inside the hollow sculpture. A final piece of clay sealed the top of the head like the last block in the roof of an iglu.

"You have to be really careful putting the last piece on," she said, adding she cradled and swaddled the delicate sculpture to get it safely to her car at the end of the day. "When I brought it home it was like bringing home a newborn baby."

Terry Pamplin began his sculpture by studying a series of photographs of himself. However, his inspiration changed by the end of the three-day workshop. After forming the muscles around the shoulders and the details of the clavicle and the neck, he recognized someone else's face emerging.

"I looked at it and saw my dad's upper lip and chin," he said.

Pamplin is now completing the sculpture of his father, 81-year old Robert Pamplin of Montreal. He's not using any photos for reference, just his memory. He plans to send his father the sculpture when it's complete.

Vivian Gustafson chose to build a bust of her husband, Bob Gustafson.

"I've known him for 38 years and I thought it would be kind of fun to have him immortal and on the shelf somewhere," she said. "Unless I turn it into a planter."

Gustafson, who worked at the edge of the room all weekend, described looking up now and again to see the other artists absorbed in concentration as they created their pieces.

"It's a very intimate experience," she said. "There's a real connectedness that the artist has with that piece of work."

Potter and ceramic artist Astrid Kruse has worked with clay for more than 20 years, but he clay-building technique introduced by McArthur was a new experience for her.

"For me it's more or less pushing clay boundaries," she said. "I'm looking for my personal style and this is a really exciting way of moving toward that."Her sculpture stands about 20 inches tall, about the same height as the others, but her work incorporates the entire figure of her subject. The statuette is modeled after a photo of her daughter, Sabine Kruse, now 21, taken when she was 12 years old.

"Working with sculpture is a totally different way of working with clay," Kruse said. "I was amazed by the possibilities. I had no idea that this was something I'd be interested in and perhaps may be going in another direction.

"That's what's wonderful about these workshops. It helps artists build on their own experiences and gives them a chance to gather more knowledge about the medium that they're working with. It's also good to take on other media and try them out because you never know how that can relate to what you're working towards."

Kruse and Gustafson will fire all the sculptures in two kilns next month. The drying process takes several weeks. The sculptures will likely be exhibited during the society's art show at the Multiplex on Dec. 6.