Finished Angel Cast

So here is the finished mold of the angel relief sculpture. I am happy with the results, but it has become really clear to me that I didn't need to make the walls nearly as think as I made them. It would have saved me some cost for the materials. Just a really good lesson to learn .

Here is the first resin cast. I mixed bronze powder into the resin before I added the catalyst. It was much darker that I anticipated it to be. It seemed to not be this dark on the You Tube videos that I watched about this process. But I could be wrong. It was the color of the bronze powder. Maybe I need to try a different metal powder.  

Here she is after a couple rounds of buffing with 0000 steal wool. I have to say I am not really happy with the results. This is one of those moments that makes me question my abilities. Why do I even want to try to be an artist? The vision of how I wanted her to look is not this. I made another cast using a different process but I am not sure it will be must better. Not sure where I am going to go after this. 

Burned into me head

That didn't happen.
And if it did, it wasn't that bad.
And if it was, that's not a big deal.
And if it is, that's not my fault.
And if it was, I didn't mean it.
And if I did...
You deserved it.

Mold Making

So I finally pulled the trigger on molding and casting this relief sculpture. I built up the mold wall with clay and did my best to seal the bottom to the board and all the seams. 

Here is the first layer of silicone. It is clear to me now that I have put on the first layer of silicone. I made the mold way to big!! LOL I guess this is just one of the many lessons that I will learn along my path to creating art. I will get another layer on tonight and hope to cast the first resin this weekend! Fingers crossed, that everything will work out> 

Glazed, Fired, Finished!

So I picked up me ceramic sculpture last night, She was glazed and fired. I am relatively happy with how she turned out. 

I wish the glaze had modeled and crazed a bit more. Also the blue that I put on her really didn't show as much as I had wanted. But all in all for my first time working with this material and also this method. I am happy. 

Do or Die

My last attempt at saving the ceramic sculpture that I have been working on. Barb, the instructor, informed me last night that this was do or die, either way she/I needed to by done. She needed to be fired. 

I got the poem carved into her back. I fixed as many cracks as I could with a concoction of slip, paper, and vinegar. Barb said this is the best option I have to get her to not crack. 

I also added the birds on her head and also in the nest. I can't remember what Barb called the stuff that you can see on her wrist and a few other locations. This is also something to help bond the cracks that are forming. 

I need to either change my method of sculpting or not use this clay for this type of work. It has been a great learning experience to try this clay and also to push myself to sculpt with a very limited time frame. Not something that I am good at so I think it has been good for me. I think she will be bisque fired next time I am at class. So then I need to think about how I will finish her. What glazes will work, and how do I want her to look. 

More Work... Not Happy

So, it has become painfully clear that I don't understand the process of ceramic clay. When I got to class a couple of weeks ago I had to redo all her hair/nest. I didn't understand the process and the clay had all pulled away from her head. I could literally just chip it off. Do the picture above is after I had redone her. Also had to reattach her hand AGAIN! Seriouly this is killing me. 

It has been a couple of weeks because I didn't go to class on Halloween. But Barb (The instructor) sent me this picture of her. Again she has big cracks on the clay that I had tried to attach. She said she thinks we can fix it without having to remove her hair/nest again. I guess I will see when I get there is coming week. I am at a loss with her. Do I continue and try to make something of this? Or do I scrap this project? 

Poem

She was a lost bird in a deep blue sky

But when she spread her wings, 

she remembered how to fly. 

Atticus

Ceramic Class Updates

A few updates on the sculpture that I am doing in ceramic class. She now has a face... not sure I am happy with it. I'm sure that I will be tweaking and detailing it at some point. 

I don't know if you can tell but I had to give her a new hand. (Look at the one on her abdomen) I got a bit western on her last night and in the process knocked her hand completely off. Ughhh!! I am so not used to this clay or it's properties. 

I have made a few decisions about her. she will keep the hole in her head and I will sculpt a bird coming out of it. Also as you can see her hair comes down to a next on her shoulder. Looking at the picture I think her hairline needs to move down her forehead a bit. I will take a picture of her back side next time ans see how I feel about her hair back there. I will also carve a poem into her back and some trees on her dress. 

Ceramic Class

I fell in love with the work of Cristina Cordova. She works with ceramic type clay and creates amazing figurative sculptures. I looked into classes and so far have not been able to commit to the cost of them.
So I found a ceramics class in Ogden and thought I would try the clay on my own and see how I like it. It is clear to me that this process is something completely out of my comfort zone. I can only hope that it will work into something that I like.

I think this was taken after the second time I worked on it. This process of having to keep the figure hollow and working from the base up has been a challenge for me. I think her torso settled a bit, she is very short waisted. 

Added one hand, and her head. I had to keep the top of her head hollow because the clay was so soft that if I tried to close it up, it would have sagged. I lovingly call her Groot. 

She got another hand, her head is almost closed... I am still thinking about not closing it and doing something. She also got ears. This process is a challenge for me... and I guess that it was I really wanted. The sculpting process is completely different than when I work with wax based clays. I'm not sure I like this, but I will finish her to the best of my abilities before I decide if I will try this clay again. 

Working on More Relief Sculptures

I have started working on another couple of relief sculptures. I don't know if I will do anything with them but it is good practice for me. 

The progression so far is pretty good... I think. But it really is missing something. I like her look, but as a whole it is pretty boring. I will keep tweaking it and see if I can get to a place where I like her. 

Also working on a sleeping baby angel relief. Again, I am at a point that I am not really happy with it. Needs alot of work to get it to a place I will be happy. 

Changed the babies hand position. I think it works better. But needs more work. 

Calling this one done

I have always loved relief sculpture, and have tried my hand at them a couple of times. The ones that I have created previously were very deep reliefs. I wanted to try my hand at creating a shallow relief. After looking at numerous images on the Internet I decided to give it a try. I found a small wooden oval to work on and these are my progress pictures.

So on the first picture a just drew a profile in the clay with a long wooden tooth pick. After many tries, I cheated and found a small profile picture, cut out the image and then drew around it with the tooth pick. This helped me get the proper proportions.

I should have taken a picture one shot earlier, but this is the basic filling in of anatomy.

More detailing of her face and hair. Also beginning to get her wings and dress. 

Here is the finished shot, I gave her dress some pattern by just gently pressing a decal into it. Added more to her wings and added flowers to her headband. This is the point in my process where I usually sit and mess with it so much that I will eventually ruin it. So I am stopping here and calling her done.

Here is a close up of her face. She reminds me a bit of my niece Jennifer. 

I was talking with the gentlemen I am dating and shared with him the picture of my relief sculpture. He asked my if I was happy with her. I said I am good with calling her done. He has never dated someone artistic and he commented that I seem to have trouble knowing when to stop. His comment got me thinking.

I think it is because to call it done means that this is as good as I can make it, and with that comes the fears of "Is it good enough?" To be done means that this is how it will be when I send it out into the world. It starts the crazy comparison crap that we do to ourselves. For me it can almost be debiltating. But I tell myself that this is where I am now, but I can and will be even better in the future. I tell myself that I do this because it feels so good to me to create, and not to worry about all the other stuff. 

So I will mold her and cast her, I will be happy with the process of creating and continue to do it. I think I will give the cast to my mom for Christmas.

A shot to show her size.

Birthdays

In a few days I will turn 54. It is completely crazy to me that I am that age. But it is also totally awesome!

I am at a wonderful place in life. All my children are grown and seem to be doing well. They are all good people and I am really so happy to be their mother. All the people that I love are heathly and that is really something to be happy about! 

I have really learned in the last few years that it is the simple things that bring true happiness. 

Being optimistic about my life and my future has not always been easy for me. My progress with self acceptance will always be something that I work on, and I have come to peace with that. I finally feel like I am in the driving seat of my life! Keep it coming! I love a good roadtrip!

Finished Fox Door Knocker

I am a bit slow in getting the pictures of the finished door knocker But here are some photos of the finished cast bronze of the Fox door knocker that I made. I have been very happy with how it turned out. 

 Baer Bronze did a wonderful job casting it.