So time ticks by… what have I been doing?
I guess the reading and writing part of my brain has been quite occupied and in the studio I’ve still been tinkering with small things.
I have taken the bull by the horns and pulled out a slab of clay (yes, you read it right – CLAY), still in its original packaging, which has been sitting under my worktop for… oh, I don’t know… maybe 5, maybe 6 years. Maybe longer actually.
There are two reasons for breaking out the clay. One: I wanted to try making some of the little palm pebbles in natural clay (rather than the polymer variety I have been using), and Two: I’ve been challenging myself for a long time to make a mould (mold?) of my favourite stone, this one,
and try casting it in different materials.
Now I’m not very experienced at mould-making. I’ve done it a few times and learned a few different mould-making techniques, but the last time I did it, I remember clearly, was 2010 on my MA. Hmmm… I think I need a refresher class. So I spent most of a day watching online tutorials, reading about the materials I could use (plaster? silicone? latex?…) examining my stone for undercuts and trying to work out how many pieces I’d need to make a plaster mould in (plaster being my preferred material because I actually find the form of plaster moulds themselves quite fascinating – the last one I made was like a little plaster coffin).
So I got my clay out and started to wedge the stone in place, building my clay walls around it and calcualting that I’d need to make a five piece mould, but it wasn’t long into this process that I realised that my undercut and pitted flint just wasn’t going to respond well to being encased in plaster. At least it would be encased alright, but would it ever come out? Oh well… off to the shops for some latex then.
Meanwhile, I’ve been updating my website with a new home page featuring what is currently my favourite piece of new work, a small concretion of those sticky pink pebbles I mentioned a blog or two ago and I’m feeling rather chuffed with it.
What I’m not feeling chuffed about is yet another rejection e-mail from an exhibition opportunity I thought I might stand a chance at. That’s roughly a 96% rejection rate this year. Hmm… so I just had to take another look at Laura Fitzgerald’s lovely P45 video which never fails to make me smile. Here it is http://laurafitzgeraldfrominch.com/project/p45/
