Kechara Discovery (KD) has been working on their very first clay statue! Previously, they specialized in making Buddha images made of bronze and copper. Now they are starting to make statues IN-HOUSE with clay! They have many many talented people within this department, especially Lili Ng who is our very skilled full-time artist.

I had asked KD to make a statue of a 3 ft Tsongkhapa on an elephant. The elephant represents strength, wisdom and prudence. Tsongkhapa will be wearing a traditional pandit’s hat and dressed in the robes of a Tibetan monk. His hand will be in a teaching mudra.

Lili started working on this statue on the 23rd of February, doing the ground work – the wire structure and the base.

After that was done, the statue was filled with the following:

• 1 billion Vajrayogini images (thumb drive)
• 1 billion Vajrayogini mantras (thumb drive)
• 1 billion Heruka images (thumb drive)
• 1 billion Tara images (thumb drive)
• 1 billion Setrap images (thumb drive)
• Potpourri
• Protector rice
• Mani pills
• Rolled mantras
• Other items from my personal collection of holy items

After the insertion of the items above, Lily covered the statue with fiberglass and added on the clay. The clay work took a full 3 days to do.

This statue is due for completion (minus painting) on the 1st of May.

KD will be one of the rare few places (perhaps even the only one) where you can custom-make a statue. Do follow this blog post. It will be updated weekly till completion!

Tsem Rinpoche

From behind

Lily in the background showing the comparative size

Frontal-side view (left)

Frontal view

Frontal-side view (right)

Elephant (close-up)

Tsongkhapa (close-up)

18″ version of Tsongkhapa on an elephant (right)

The life-size proportion drawn to scale on a piece of paper

Close-up of the clay work

Update: 27/4/2011

Since the previous update, a lot has been done on the 3ft Tsongkhapa statue. However, last Friday (29/4/2011) the clay started cracking!

Lili says that perhaps the drying process was not done properly – it has to be much much slower.

Since it started cracking, Lili decided to take it all apart and start it again!

So on Sunday she removed the cracking clay and started experimenting on more “hardy” materials. She bought some cement and started mixing it with different substances/materials: paper, gauze, clay, fiber glass etc.

Commenting how no other statue maker would share their secrets, she is having to trial-and-error her way into getting the best material for the statue.

She is currently adding the cement mix onto the wire frame. This time she will wait for 1 week to “cure” the statue. This means “drying – setting – spraying with water – drying – setting – spraying with water” etc continuously for 1 week!

Only a thin layer of clay will be added on after to mould the necessary shape.

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Testing out different mixture of materials

Some of the material combination’s: paper + clay, cement + paper, only clay…

Lili also tests out cement (and other materials e.g. gauze) against a steel wire frame.

Adhesive cement plus acrylic bond over fiber glass

Pre-mix mortar

Lili slowly shaping the cement mix.

Lili showing how sturdy the statue’s base is.

The base has fibre glass criss-crossed to increase the “hardiness” of the base.

Tsongkhapa’s head will hold a few sacred items (shown at the top, within a ‘metal cage’).

The back half of the elephant has been layered with clay. This will be the next step and done all over the statue.

Update: 4/5/2011

This week Lili is still working on the addition of cement onto the statue.

She is layering the cement to be a little thicker to make sure that it is very strong. The layer of clay that will go on top of it will be thinner, and only used for sculpting.

The clay is imported and is of a better grade. Even the cement is 4-5 times more expensive and of a better grade than regular cement. Called ‘adhesive cement”, this type is used for plaster ceiling as although a thin layer is used – it’s very strong.

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Mixing the cement with water…

The white patch on the far left of the elephant is imported clay. The clay on the right of it is local clay. Lili has chosen to use imported clay.

Lili has created nooks and bumps for the clay to cling onto.

The elephant’s back leg is in need of repair today.

The elephant’s back leg is in need of repair today.

Lili uses gauze to strengthen the hold of the cement on the elephants leg.

Close-up of Tsongkhapa

Building up the elephant’s leg

Building up the elephant’s leg

Building up the elephant’s leg

Update: 11/5/2011

Lili has started to put the clay onto the elephant and Tsongkhapa’s bottom half.

She decided to put on more cement compared to clay as it’s cheaper and sturdier. Not much sculpting is done, except for the elephant’s body and part of the head.

You can’t put the clay on too fast. It needs to take time to dry properly, if not it will crack.

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Clay work from behind

Clay work from the front

You can see the before and after clay work with the 2 tusks

Lili has lightly sculpted the elephant’s body

You can see how the clay is still a little bit wet. It needs to be wet to mold it.

Lili sculpting Tsongkhapa’s foot. For the clay parts which are covered, it’s to keep it moist and damp to be able to work on it later.

The base will be one of the last sculpting work to be done.

Update: 18/5/2011

Since last week, more clay has been added onto the statue. As time ticks on, Lili has been getting 2 volunteers to help her. She says that she doesn’t simply allow people to touch and work on the statue, but these 2 people have proven themselves to be very talented.

One of Lili’s friends, Jackie Mah, has made a master copy of the lotus petals that will go around the base of Tsongkhapa’s statue. Jackie is a volunteer at Kechara Discovery and is a graphic illustrator by profession. They will be replicating the lotus leaf (picture below) to cover the entire base.

The other volunteer is James Won. He has been helping Lili re-sculpt the elephant’s face, tusk and trunk. He is artistically talented, and also helps out at Kechara Blooms.

So far, Lili has spent RM1,000 on raw materials. This includes the clay, cement, steel wires, fiber glass etc.

Tsem Rinpoche

This is Tsongkhapa’s foot from the previous clay work that cracked.

This is the elephant head from the clay work that cracked.

This is a new type of imported clay used. For this small block, it costs about Rm20.

Since last week, more clay work has been done.

The clay work from behind

3 different shots of Tsongkhapa’s foot.

More clay has been added onto the elephant legs. It is now this thick!

Lili and James researched the elephant’s trunk to get it as realistic looking as possible!

Most of the head is done

This is Lili sculpting Tsongkhapa’s 3-piece monk robes.

This is the sample piece of what will be around base of the statue.

Update: 25/5/2011

The statue is close to its final stages for clay work.

The clay work on Tsongkhapa’s body and elephant is done, apart from the appendages and Tsongkhapa’s head.

The clay is still a bit rough and will need to be smoothed down. The surface needs to be “touched up” before the painting work begins. Lili says that the clay can be endlessly smoothed down, so when there no longer are protruding bumps and scratches then she will begin to paint.

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Clay work on Tsongkhapa’s body and the elephant is almost done.

The mudra, hands holding the sword and text and Tsongkhapa’s head is yet to be done.

Left-side of the elephant’s features have been defined.

Tsongkhapa’s robes have been defined too.

The back of Tsongkhapa has yet to be smoothed out.

The right-side of the elephant’s head has been well-defined. James Won is in charge of the clay work for the elephant!

Update: 1/6/2011

Since last week, Tsongkhapa’s legs and main body have been completed.

Lili is now forming Tsongkhapa’s fingers. The clay is still soft, so she’s using that chance to add on as much detail as possible and positioning it in the correct mudra.

It took 2 days to complete the right hand. The fingers are very small and Lili has to hold them up until they’re hard enough to dry. If not, they will flop back down. The mudra must be precise.

Today, Lili will be working on the left hand. While she does this, James Won will be working on the 2 lotus’s on either side of Tsongkhapa. When those are finished, they will move then work on the elephant’s 4 legs and lastly the lotus on the base of the statue.

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Tsongkhapa’s feet and body clay-work completed.

Close-up of the feet and robes.

Lili working on the left hand.

The right hand mudra has been completed.

There is a photograph of the correct mudra that Lili will follow.

When it is completed, the mudra will be perfect.

James Won starting work on the left lotus.

Update: 8/6/2011

This week Lili will be changing Tsongkhapa’s hand mudra. She has sprayed it with water to keep it moist, so that she can alter the position. While she waits for the hands to soften, she start doing Tsongkhapa’s face.

At the same time, James will be completing the elephant. The elephant’s head ornament has been completed too. He will be sanding down the body and 4 legs now… It took a while to reach this point as the elephant’s leg had to be re-adjusted.

After this, he will be starting on the 2 lotuses on either side of Tsongkhapa.

Jackie (Lili’s volunteer) will be working on the paper clay lotus petals for Tsongkhapa’s base. There will be 26 lotus petals surrounding the bottom of the statue. He says that he will need to add on another 1/2 an inch thick mould on the base. It will be made of cement and this will hold the petals. In order for the entire statue to be carry-able and movable, they will be adding on a piece of wood underneath the entire statue.

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Lili starting to form the facial features…

The hand mudra that needs to be changed.

The head ornament of the elephant is now completed.

The base of the statue will have an extra 1/2 inch of cement added around it…

This is the model structure for the new base.

This is the template mould for the lotus petals. Jackie designed this.

This is Jackie. He’s holding a piece of clay that will be added into the mould and pressed down to give it the lotus shape.

On this side Tsongkhapa will have a lotus with a scriptural text on it.

This is the example that James is following.

Update: 15/6/2011

This week, we can see more visible facial features have been formed. Lili told the blog team that although she spends a lot of time on this, it is something that she really can’t rush doing…

While Lili is working on Tsongkhapa’s face, James has been formulating different ways on how to structure the lotus on the right side of Tsongkhapa.

The metal frame is not as steady as it looks… this means that the clay used has to be minimal. They are adding on metal reinforcements to the side structure, as the wire is not detachable. This requires some planning as any mistake later can result in having to chip and shave away the clay to start again.

This week Lili will be finishing Tsongkhapa’s face and pandit’s hat.

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The back of Tsongkhapa’s body and the right side of the elephant.

Tsongkhapa’s face is slowly coming to life!

Close-up of Tsongkhapa himself.

You can see that the clay on Tsongkhapa’s face is still damp. Once it dries it will be quite hard to reshape, so Lili is forming all of the features now.

The fingers that are cracked will be re-shaped.

The lotus flower is beginning to form.

More lotus moulds are being made. This will be added onto the base.

Update: 22/6/2011

Since last week, Tsongkhapa’s main facial features and yellow pandit’s hat have been completed. Lili has carved out the clay to form Tsongkhapa’s beautiful features… it is pleasant, calming and subdued.

She has then moved on to Tsongkhapa’s hand mudra, which since last week broke because of the alteration process. She will be continuing with this for the next week. Once she re-adjusts, re-forms and re-sculpts Tsongkhapa’s hands, she will be adding cement onto the base.

James has made more progress on the lotus on the right that will support the scriptural text that has been made separately.

Tsem Rinpoche

Tsongkhapa’s hat and facial features have been carved out. As the weeks go by, Lili will sandpaper down the face and refine it more.

The main parts of the statue have been completed. The last 2 areas to focus on will be the 2 lotuses on the side of the statue and the base.

Close-up of Tsongkhapa’s face.

The fingers are visibly broken…

Lili added more detail to Tsongkhapa’s face.

Close-up of her adding in more details.

The scriptural text that James made. This will be added onto the lotus on the right of Tsongkhapa.

Update: 29/6/2011

From this week on, not much visible difference will be seen. Besides the building of the statue’s base and the lotuses on either side of Tsongkhapa, most of it will be fine work:

• sanding down;
• fixing the alignment and size of the eyes and nose;
• smoothing down the face.

Jackie is about to finish creating all 26 lotus petals. If you take a look at the last two photos below, you will see how they will be laid out at the base. Once the cement has been placed around the current base structure, the petals will be arranged accordingly.

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In this photo you can see the statue in the middle, the bronze statue on the left and correct hand mudra on the right.

Tsongkhapa on the elephant.

Lili brushing off some sanded-off paper clay from the statue.

Close-up of the hand mudra.

Jackie is sculpting out the lotuses. They will have to be of perfect size as there can be no gaps between each lotus when they’re placed on the base of the statue.

A close-up of the lotus petals.

Jackie placed the lotus petals at the bottom to show what it will look like. Compare this with the bronze Tsongkhapa’s statue behind.

A close-up.

Update: 6/7/2011

Since last week, the existing clay work has been given more definition. Where there are creases, folds, designs etc… those have been more defined.

Tsongkhapa’s hands have been smoothed out and made to look more human-like.

If you were to compare last week’s photos with this week’s, you will see how Tsongkhapa’s face looks more symmetrical. The overall outlook is more refined as well.

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The whole statue.

Close-up of Tsongkhapa’s body.

Close-up of Tsongkhapa’s body from a different angle.

Close-up of Tsongkhapa’s fingers and hand mudra.

Close-up of Tsongkhapa’s feet. You can see the clay dust particles – sanding down has been done here…

More sanding down has been done on the shoulders too.

Update: 13/7/2011

The clay work on the whole statue is almost done now, except for the elephant’s legs. According to Lili, they need to be modified to look less like tree trunks and more like elephant legs!

With the help of Iryne, who is the wife of KH Ng (Organising Chairperson of the Lamrim Recitation Retreat and Regular Puja Guide), Lili has been able to speed up the final clay work on the statue.

Jackie made all of the lotus petals for the base of the statue, and Lili has been adding them on one by one. They have also added another layer of clay on top of the base. The lotus still needs more details and sanding down.

After all has been done, they will be adding small balls of clay surrounding the lotus base… it should all be finished by the end of the week.

We should be looking forward to the paint work next week!

Tsem Rinpoche

More sanding down has been done on the shoulders too.

The lotus petals have been added onto the base. Also, you can now see a layer of clay below the elephant’s feet.

Close-up of Tsongkhapa on top of the elephant.

Close-up of Tsongkhapa’s upper half of the body and the lotus flowers on either side of Tsongkhapa.

This is on the left-hand side of Tsongkhapa. On top of the lotus is the wisdom sword.

This is on the right-hand side of Tsongkhapa. It is a Dharma sutra on top of a lotus.

This is Lili adding on the last few lotus petals on the base.

Update: 20/7/2011 – 25/7/2011

Last Wednesday, July 20th, the clay work was finally completed!

The last few additions were of the lotus petals at the bottom of the base, as well as the clay balls right above it and the clay fillers that go between each lotus petal.

Lili was helped by Iryne to complete the clay work.

Once all the clay work was completed, Lili started the painting work. For this, the photos will be a better explanation as compared to words! Do read the captions for more information.

Tsem Rinpoche

The clay balls that will be placed above the lotus petals.

The clay balls in comparison to the statue.

Lili placing the individual clay balls.

The clay balls and lotus petals up close.

Iryne (right) and Lili hard at work!

The collection of different mixed clay materials. This is a collection of Lili’s trial and error work.

The clay work on the statue is completed!

The base.

Tsongkhapa’s upper half.

The back of the statue.

Lili adding a base coat so that the colours painted on top will be even.

… Guess which colours Lili will be using!

Lili starts her paint work on the lotus flowers, on either side of Tsongkhapa.

A photo of the lotus flower on Tsongkhapa’s right.

A photo of the lotus flower on Tsongkhapa’s left.

When the lotus flowers are completed, Lili then moves on onto Tsongkhapa’s body.

Close-up of the finished lotus (right-side)

Close-up of the finished lotus (left-side)

Iryne does some touch-up work at the back of the statue, while Lili starts painting Tsongkhapa’s pandit hat.

Lili adds on more layers of paint onto Tsongkhapa’s hat.

She then proceeds to paint Tsongkhapa’s robes…

This is the view from behind the statue.

She adds on more layers of paint to give it a thicker coat.

Close up of Tsongkhapa, before the face is painted.

Iryne continues to do ‘touch-up work’ behind the statue!

Close up of Tsongkhapa’s upper half.

Close up of Tsongkhapa’s feet.

Tsongkhapa’s hands being painted.

Iryne is adding the base coat of the paint to the bottom of the statue.

You can see the difference in the paint of the skin. Compare the unpainted right hand with the left.

Iryne adds on the decorative clay work on the back of the elephant.

Tsongkhapa’s upper half is painted.

The decorative clay work on the top of the elephant’s head is painted.

The back of the lotus is painted the traditional red colour.

The additional clay work on the elephant.

Lili works on the elephant paint job.

Another shot of the statue from the back.

Additional clay work is then added on the head of the elephant.

Gold decorative paint is slowly added onto Tsongkhapa.

The decorative gold art work at the back of the statue.

The clay work at the front of the elephant’s head.

The decorative gold paint on the robes continues to be added on.

The upper half of Tsongkhapa.

The bottom half of the Tsongkhapa statue.

The paint work from behind.

Update: 27/7/2011

Two days later, the finer and more detailed paint work is added. You can now see the eyes, lips, eye brows, details on the elephants head… etc etc.

I have requested for the statue to have antique finishing. Lili will now add some gold paint all over the statue to soften the look.

Do you prefer antique finishing or the “new” look on your personal statue?

Tsem Rinpoche

Front of the statue.

Lama Tsongkhapa’s beautiful face.

Notice the elephant’s painted feet!

A golden finishing has been added to give it a more “used” look!

These are the painted decorated ornaments on the elephant’s head. What a beautiful touch.

Close-up of Lama Tsongkhapa’s face.

Update: 29/7/2011

Today Lili Ng gave an update. Below is what she wrote, along with 6 pictures. – Tsem Rinpoche

I have finished painting the statue today, the final step is varnishing the whole statue with a matte varnish tomorrow.

1) Here are 6 pics of the completed, painted, antique finish Lama Tsongkhapa-on-elephant without the varnish yet. I would like to update first before I varnish, this is just in case any changes would like to be made.

2) I have dry-brushed some gold on the lotus leaf that is on either side of Lama Tsongkhapa, as well as the lotus petals on the base. It looks like an antique gold finish. The rest of the statue, I brushed on a layer of watered down dark-brown to create an aged look. The nook and corners will retain more of the dark brown paint and thus create the antique look.

Thank you.

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