Casts from Clay Imprints

These plaster Buddhas were made by pushing the metal Buddha statues (dark in these photos) into soft clay, carefully taking them out and then pouring plaster into the resultant impressions. Really quick to make and surprising detail can be achieved.

Woodcarving

There was a cube of lime wood kicking around the studio which someone appeared to have practised their drilling skills on. Paul gave it to me to try out some wood carving. I started by carving out the drilled holes, originally hoping to make a statue of some kind. However the drill holes were pretty deep so I ended up with a mountain range! It's quite hard work on the right wrist and hand using the carving tools. I then spent quite a while more over the weeks carving out the inside of this model.

Latex Moulds

Also in Week 3 , I made a rough clay sculpture of a devil kind of figure, purely to test making a latex mould. This involved painting layers of latex every 20 mins or so onto the clay model and finally putting pieces of scrim into the latex to strengthen it.

By the following week I had a mould from which I then cast a devil in plaster, gaudily painted later at home I am afraid.

Surprsingly a lot of the detail such as the small fingers did actually come out OK. This model was quite brittle though and needed gluing when it broke; probably should gave used better quality plaster.

Week 3: Clay

I made some clay models this week. Gritty grey clay comes out white when fired.


The softer brown clay does not change so much in the kiln.

I am interested in caves this week - very primeval

Week 2: Plaster on Wire

Week 2, I took one of the wire sculptures I had made in Week 1 and wrapped it in gauze impregnated with plaster - I am sure there is a posh word for that but I have forgotten it. Anyway, I bound the armature wire curves in this material, which is very similar to the plaster you would put on a broken limb. It dries and hardens quite quickly. I took it home and painted it in sea blues and greens and golds. I might make a bigger version of this piece; I like it.

Week 1: Experimentation

In the first week I experimented by just making things with any of the materials that Paul gave me to try out - mainly wire, waxes and clay. I seem to be into spirals right now. This armature wire has a really nice feel to it and is easy to bend and form.

Then I made something of a similar shape in clay which was later fired in the kiln. It broke but I stuck it back together using milliput, a strong moulding clay and adhesive.

I tried these three different waxes. White is candle wax, the others are harder waxes although the yellow is softer than the black. The yellow wax is stained by the clay I still had on my fingers - is this croissant edible?

and how about melting some wax and making a shape or dipping your spiral in it? Hmm the Turner Prize may have to wait but it's all a process ...

Oh I just love playing with bits of wire it seems