So here's what I have so far on the tree sculpt...
I apologize for the dorky pic of me, but I wanted to stand next to it so she could get an idea of the size perspective...
I'm 5'9" so the tree will end up being a little over 6 ft. tall...
I hate pictures of myself, let alone trying to take ones with my camera remote...(in my left hand)
I just got off the phone with Joyce, the one who is buying it, and she was ecstatic!
I photo shopped in the leaf clumps because those will be fabricated in when it's in bronze.
I'm sculpting 3 different sizes of leaf clumps...Large like the one that is to the left. A medium and small clump will be sculpted as well. I will then pour mulitples of each size from the single molds and then weld them in place naturally throughout the tree.
I wanted to go for a banzai/Dr. Seussy kind of look if that makes any sense...
I'm sculpting 3 different branch lengths and thickness. I have two sizes poking out of the leaf clump on the left.
I'll have those molded and will then run through multiple castings of them as well.
Those will be sporadically welded on to the bigger branches for a natural look.
Then at the very end we'll weld tiny loops on all the branches and that's what the stem to the cheese and crackers will hang from, giving it the appearance that the tree is actually bearing cheese and crackers as fruit....
The title of the piece when all is said and done, will be
"Mr. Cheesencrackers"
The location of her property is Kilauea, Kauai, Hawaii and we're going to shoot for staying there in July.
I freaked out when she told me there are
"artist accomodations" right there at the gardens.
I asked how much we'd have to budget for and she said it's free. All we'll have to do is get airline tickets, rental car and eats...
I couldn't believe it when she told me that.(me cleaning out my diapers)

I'm really happy with how the tree is coming along...
I'll be hiding little things around the roots that I'll reveal at a later date...
Hope you like what I have so far...

Ps. I will be posting progress shots of it eventually...
I started with a 3 inch steel pipe armature, that I welded together with the upper branches being re-bar welded to that.
I then added styrafoam to fill out the bulk of the trunk etc. and shaped it before adding an outer layer of clay.