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?