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Helen did a four hour workshop on PMC at our guild weekend recently. I’ve done a very little PMC (I’ll have to see if I ever posted the couple pieces I made) but not much and this was really helpful.

The manatee was from one of my own molds. I used rubber stamps to make the other pendant since I figured I really should learn how to handle the clay properly. I still struggle with having it dry out too fast or getting too sticky if I dampen it. I need practice I guess.

I tried Liver of Sulfur for the first time. For the manatee I went down to a deep grey-black, then polished it off the high areas. I really like how it brings out the detail. For the other pendant, I added a little ammonia and got some irridescent colored effects. I polished a little of it away but I’m wishing I hadn’t. It’s really cool as you progress through the colors, and now I know how you can get that yellowy-gold looking silver.

That’s just one more thing that I’ll want to play with some more

I was going to cast this in Hydroshrink first (more about that later on when I get some more ordered) but when I went to open the container, it had solidified. So… on to Plan B which I was going to do anyway – Cold Cast Bronze.

Cold cast bronze is a casting using real bronze powder mixed with resin or another medium to give you a real bronze surface without all the expense of having it cast at a foundry. I’ve done one before after taking a workshop on it, but unfortunately, this time it didn’t work out so well.

You can find the detailed instructions that are basically what I followed at sculpt.com. They also sell all the materials you’d need to do it, sculpting tools, videos, etc, etc – anything related to sculpting, The Compleat Sculptor has it.

I think the problem was that my resin wasn’t mixed well enough. I put the bronze powder in Part B of the resin, along with a bit of black tint, mixed that, then added Part A and mixed again… The bronze forms a heavy sludge at the bottom though and I was mixing it in a plastic cup which had an odd shaped bottom. I poured that batch of resin in, but there were some lumpy bits of bronze powder that kind of plopped in at the end. I then mixed up a bit more resin without the bronze powder to fill the rest of the mold. That’s the shiny black surface you see on the top (what will be the back of the casting).

I could tell it was still squishy in the middle after an hour so I left it overnight but no luck. This is what I ended up with. Areas of pure bronze powder and areas of sticky, unset resin, in between cured layers. The back layer cured completely so it didn’t seem to be the resin itself.

Better luck next time (and I DID have better luck on the next one). So, I guess this is a good reminder not to give up on the first setback .

Just in case you drop in to this blog every now and then and were wondering…

And the good thing is that I’m starting to feel alive again. I’ve been tied up with excessive hours at work so long (since November) that I’d forgotten what it felt like.

When you’ve putting in that many hours it seems to sap your creative strength. Even when I had a bit of time here and there, I just didn’t have any energy or motivation to do anything. I hadn’t written since NaNoWriMo, or touched my clay since then either.

But a couple weeks ago I did go to the SCPCG Clay Weekend – 4 classes by our members and had a wonderful time. We did PMC, Faux Turquoise, Beading a Cabochon, and Cold Connections/Rivets. It was great.

And this last weekend I finally finished a dragon relief I’d started ages ago. It felt so good to finish something. That sensation of “I made this” and the sheer pleasure when you’re happy with something, can’t be replaced. Of course, I can see all the areas I could have improved, but that only makes me want to make something else and do even better next time.

Work is quieting down now (hopefully it will stay that way) and it’s time to pick up my life, dust it off, and get back to creating again