It's a major triumph for me over the elements to cast something - the humidity being what it is here.
Many folks who were in Lexington last week may remember this... gal??? ;) (fellow? I will not say!!!) :D
Anyhow, it's a clay medallion I got a chance this week to touch up. I need to (fix a few tiny bubbles I spotted in these pics) add some facial veins and check to see if any areas need smoothing up tonight when I can work with a lamp and see details best.
My favorite story from last week's viewing of him was this little kid who was mischievously trailing mom and really wasn't having the best time. Yes, I put the clay medallion within reach of kids (it's a good "letting go" to realize you can do it all over again should something get ruined - imo it frees your artistic soul up tremendously to realize you should just do it and not invest too much emotion into the consequences!). Sooooo this little boy was watching mom and then when she looked the other way he suddenly poked it and exclaims "OH! It's made of clay!"... hahaha - I was so chuckling to myself picturing a big finger dent in this one's eyeball or something. I waited for mom to blanch and drag him out of there. I didn't want to embarrass her - it's a temptation and truly, it was a quicky fix (t'was a nostril smush,not an eye). Truly the act of transporting is where the damage risk is most anyhow.OR (and this has happened - because I'm a klutz)... me simply dropping the finished clay and having it land face down. SMUSH!
(as you can see the nostril is just fine now - but you can enlarge to see bits of clay and hair trapped in the resin - this is another of the many reasons why I don't do final production molding typically...!)
Anyhow, but here is my molding and it's just curing up outside before I bring it in and wrap it up tonight.
Can you feel the heat??? 94°F (34°C) Humidity: 52% Heat Index: 104°F and it's only going up out there... mind you yesterday the humidity was 70+++ percent at it's very lowest so today is parched by comparison!... ;) I really should've photographed the clear resin kicking this time - it really looks so neat. If I do another (maybe very soon if I don't like this casting!), I'll try to remember that..
Sooooo I'm not certain of my plans for this medallion for now but I had to share the happy result (just in case any particular mom out there was worried too - hahaha!). Gotta be brave to do this. Someone said to me a while back (in regard to sales things) "I don't know how you artists do it, you must have nerves of steel". I never thought much about it about producing the art, or being crushed if anyone didn't like it (we all have our likes and dislikes). .. sales wise though, gads, I could use steel there (or someone else to do it - lol!). But gambling with invested time like this? Meh - no biggie! (poke on little guy - it's all just an idea subject to change anyhow!!!) ;)
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Addendum!!! Adding on an hour later:
So I decided to use my less preferred resin - the slower cure one - and take advantage of the desert-like conditions here (ha!) and do one more since the rain is holding off and humidity keeps dropping. You can see the bubbles in this series - pin hole (very frustrating) bubbles... this is why I've learned the fast cure is better. You try to give it as little time as possible to collect water molecules after it leaves the container. ANYhow... sooooo for those who wonder how it works, here is resin kicking over. I really think it looks SO cool! (I wore a painter's respirator mask - not a dusk mask but one of those ones with the big screw on filter cartridges.. wore it the whole time I poured & photographed this - I really would like to avoid getting asthma soooo just fyi!).
k
and then I went inside because my face was sweating off.. with Smooth On 305 that whole curing sequence here took like 10min to take place and it still was taking a while. If you click on some of those you can see the bubbles taking over too. This didn't happen with the first one (which was Smooth On 300 - fast cure and that takes only 2-3minutes but was just too tricky for me to photograph).
I'll pick the best of these two though probably - both seem to be good enough to make into a master & wrap up. :) YAY I'm so tickled that mother nature went easy on me today! :D
9 comments:
Morgan if you spay mold release in the mold ( wait a few minutes then) dust with baby powder or talc. ..like you dust a cake pan.. you can use an air compressor ( like for an airbrush) to gently blow out the excess or just blow on it and whack it gently to get any extra powder out of it.. you wont get the tiny air bubbles on the surface of it.. maybe on the back of it but thats ok...the powder breaks any air bubbles on the surface of the resin.. I use it with all my castings plus it wont be that really shiny shiny surface.. you will be a soft looking matt finish.. try it once ...I think you will see a difference.. oh and on my 1st pour of any mold.. I always have clay and hairs and stuff in it.. it usually take one of two to get the nice perfect castings.. I do all my own medallions here.. I rarely send them out to be cast... its just easy to cast one when I get an order... oh and I love this guy! well have to trade! did you get one of my church cat medallions yet?
Becky Turner
www.solticeartstudio.blogspot.com
:D Becky don't you remember my torturous experimentations the first time? I did variations on all kinds. I really think it's the slow cure 305 here I have. This is a brand new bottle I opened today but the 300 has no bubbles at all hardly. The 305 is riddled with pin holes. The mold release & powder combos the last time didn't make a difference. BUT when I did 300 it was like magic. I'm sure the humidity here is a major factor. I was thinking of hoarding up desiccant silica packets to put in with the molds before doing resins.
Still, thank you though btw!!!!
And no - haven't seen the kitty, I must go look! :D I've been trying to avoid reading many (any really) discussion forums/lists on any sort of regular basis (getting caught up in discussions where I"m just not likely to make a difference).. annnnd instead use the time & focus on just finding new art / endeavors daily to inspire me. It's been an interesting mentality shift for me this past year - returning to a happier spot I'd say! BUT... I miss out on new releases a LOT if they're not posted to sales spots (like I get digests but I don't take as much time to read them all). HOWEVER -> I do try to troll some sales spots though regularly to see what's new though!.... not sure how/where you advertised your church kitty but fwiw that's where this "customer" is looking... (MH$P, Blab artist's announcements etc). lol! SO.. with that off to go find your website & see this.. :D
Yeah... I just went and reread last year's drama over those medallions! lol! :D
http://mksculpt.blogspot.com/2010/10/bubblefest-2010-molds-worknow-to-learn.html
It definitely didn't seem to be the mold then or now. The casters back then wound up making a perfectly good Serendipity and Bravo casting for me from the same molds I used (but with the 305 resin then). This year I tried 300 for my Little Man Mango casting and then this... both times (very different days - different mold rubbers even!)... good results.
Aaaaaand in picking brains that's sort of on par with waht I'd been hearing... no one seemed to feel the need to use the slower casting stuff.
I really don't know though. It's all a big mystery to me! I'm just happy when I have a decent mold & can make a master copy or two from it. Big sign of relief! :D
You and all the other artists out there rock for trying to guess solutions to these seriously annoying issues with me! ((HUGS!!)) Tx chica!!! :D
Cant help with the casting area but he is just beautiful!! You do such an amazing work, if he does go up for sale I know I would want to get one
For what ever it is worth, I love the sculpture however you eventually get it cast - lol! I think you are very brave to put the clay out there for possible risk, but agree that you are right - with clay you can squish it and start over - sometimes just because you want to. Good luck with your future casting!
Amazing as always! I think you should release him ;)
Love this medallion - reminds me a little of my horse. (The flying one in my pic) :)
~Kelli
I'll take one! She's gorgeous!
My desire to turn that creature into a unicorn is through the roof!
Morgen it's fantabulous!!
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