July 28th, 2009
Cormorant relief sculpture
My Cormorant relief was accepted into a local exhibit – the Wickford Art Association’s 14th Annual Art Of The Ocean State Open Juried Show. It runs from July 17 – August 12, 2009.
I think cormorants are really interesting birds and I haven’t seen them depicted as much in art. I also wanted to try a looser style with this and just capture the feel of the bird, not every feather.
This was the largest relief I’ve done yet. It’s 12 inches high and sculpted in black Premo.
I added a wash of watered down turquoise acrylic paint to the background, and also used acrylics to highlight the beak and eye. I drybrushed the feathers in dark brown to bring out some of the texture and lift them from the dark background.
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July 19th, 2009
These are some Bottles of Hope that my mother and I made a few weekends ago.
They’re a great small canvas for trying new techniques, color combinations, or using up interesting scraps, AND, more importantly, you’re giving something to someone else to tell them they’re not alone – someone cares.
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July 16th, 2009
Article on an interesting idea – a kaleidoscope window created by Patty Peffer.
The invention is an operating kaleidoscope that can be installed as a new or replacement window in homes.
….
Five years and countless designs later, the end result is a round specialty window that uses a 24-inch opening in the wall with an interior clear viewing pane that is 10 inches wide. The Kaleido View Portal is made up of a three-mirror structure that reflects light off shaped images in red, blue, green, yellow. The image resembles half of a 3-D geodesic dome, she said.
They have a website at www.kvpwindows.com
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July 12th, 2009
Side 1
This was my first attempt at using my new metal working tools. I had some scraps of brass sheet laying around – they were meant for trophy plaques I believe. I don’t have a torch (yet) so I tried kiln annealing the metal. I’m not sure if it’s the right way to do it but 1000 degrees for about 10 minutes did the trick. I ended up with some color change and patination on the brass, and some nasty fire scale on the copper tubing I tried, but it worked.
I could have cleaned the brass but I rather liked the look and just banged on it a bit with a textured hammer to give it some interest. Then I cut out a brass rectangle with an attached vertical football type shape at the top for the bail. I only broke two saw blades doing it. 
I filed down the corners and edges to get rid of any burrs and sharp edges. Then I used a set of forming pliers to fold over the bail although I could have just used a set of regular pliers and bent it around some sort of mandrel.
I drilled a couple holes for the rivets (brass escutcheon pins – thanks for the idea, Libby) in both the metal and the two clay pieces I wanted to attach. Then I cut the pins to length (love that tube cutting jig). The great thing about the brass pins is that I only had to mushroom one side. I ended up using a bolt as a punch since I couldn’t get the hammer in to the pin without smashing the clay.
It all worked out though and I made two sets of earrings to go with each of the sides. I’m pretty pleased with it for a first project when I didn’t really know what I was doing 
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July 10th, 2009
rivets
This was the last class I took in the Weekend of Clay and, in a way, the one which made the most trouble. Lanette taught us some metal working basics including how to use a sawframe and cut sheet metal, and how to make rivets. It was great, although you can see I need a bit of practice still on my rivets.
The problem is that now I needed a whole new set of tools. I now have a sawframe, tube cutting jig, a b&s gauge (for checking the gauge of wire and sheet), oh, and a cool metal necklace mandrel that I haven’t used yet that I got from contenti.com. I also have doming punches and disc cutters from Harbor Freight.
And I’ve signed up for a four day class to learn how to use the tools better in August. It should be fun. But it’s one more set of tools and supplies to add to the collection
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July 5th, 2009
Lunchtime Sculpting Kit
This is my portable sculpting kit. It’s a small subset of tools and materials that I can bring pretty much anywhere. Generally, I use it on Mondays because there’s a few of us who meet for lunch at work and do our own various types of art.
I usually work on a relief of some sort because it’s easy to carry around without damage. You can see a work in progress on a 6 inch ceramic tile above. I cover it with plastic wrap when I’m not actively working on it, and it’s always ready to go.
My favorite/indispensable tools include clay shapers, a craft knife, a needle tool, and a wooden sculpting tool with a loop on one end and a rounded and pointy surface on the other.
The kit also includes a bit of extra clay and whatever reference images I’m using to work from, in this case a Scottish Highlander. It’s all easily carried in an old metal Whitman’s chocolate tin.
Anybody else have your own version of a kit for your art?
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June 2nd, 2009
More stuff from the Weekend of Clay. I’ve done faux turquoise before but I got some really good tips.
Dirt! It’s the way to go We mixed real dirt into our antiquing acrylic paint and it added a “gritty” touch of realism.
Since I’ve done it before, I decided to do take some liberties with the colors and I made a cane and sliced it, instead of making beads. Still needs to be sanded and buffed but it came out pretty well.
I can see why people do beading now. It’s not quite as hard as it looks and it could be soothing. It could also drive me out of my flipping mind when the stupid thread gets tangled around the stupid bead for the tenth time.
I enjoyed the class but I’m not sure I’ll ever make a beader. I could see doing some simple stuff once in awhile though and this gave me some good background.
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May 28th, 2009
Metal Clay from class
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
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May 27th, 2009
Dragon's Keep in Cold Cast Bronze
So, this is what it’s supposed to look like As you can see it worked this time. I measured parts A and B of the resin, poured them into a separate container (one with a round flat bottom) and made sure they were thoroughly mixed before adding the bronze powder. I also used quite a bit less bronze powder, since that was the last of what I had.
I slushed it around in the mold until it started to set, then mixed up my backing layer and poured that in. The picture below is what it looks like when it first comes out of the mold. The bronze powder is dulled by the resin and it’s a chocolate brown color.
Casting fresh from the mold
You have to break down that very top level of resin to let the bronze shine. I’ve seen 000 steel wool and scotch brite pads suggested. I tried both on this – they work, but they’re very messy as they disintegrate so I looked through my sanding supplies for more options.
I tried my pmc bristle brushes, but the brass one didn’t seem to do a thing, and the steel one scratched the resin too much. The best thing I found was a flexible, yellow sanding sponge from 3M labelled extra fine/320 grit.
I’m pretty happy with how this came out. The mold kept all the detail I was hoping for, and the dragon scales look great in bronze.
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May 26th, 2009
Resin and bronze powder casting
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 .
Partially cured resin - still sticky after sitting overnight
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