We have had really warm weather lately so I thought I make use of these nice temperatures and do a little more work on the mystery sculpture. I am using a 9 inch grinder with a diamond wheel making an undercut. It is a little awkward to cut in this position so I use my leg to help stabilize the grinder and keep it from binding.Back to Don's Tree of Life ...
We put the first layer of polygel 40 on the trees limbs and trunks. I am just hitting the highlights, Don is doing a much more detailed description on his blog http://restlessrocks.blogspot.com/
After 2 layers of mold material, plastic shims are cut and pinned into the negative spaces as well as the outside edge of the sculpture .
The tree is completely shimmed and ready for more layers of rubber. It looks pretty cool as is.
But now we need to get back to the leaves and put plaster mother molds on....
Here are the 23 leaf cluster molds waiting for plaster mother molds. The polygel makes an exact mold of the surface of the sculpture but it remains very flexible and needs something rigid to conform to the general shape of the sculpture. That is what a mother mold does.
The two bowls on the stand are made for mixing hydrocal. They are extremely flexible so the material is easily cleaned out. The metal tool on the left is for applying the hydrocal and well as cleaning up the part line of the mold as it dries.
Hydrocal is just like plaster, but stronger. It is sifted by handfuls onto the water. When it no longer sinks into the water but some sits on top it is ready to mix up and apply.
After applying the first coat of hydrocal (which starts out quite thin) a layer of hemp fibers is worked in. This gives extra strength to the mold.
The hydrocal gets thicker as it begins to set. It can then be shaped and formed. Don is giving this mold a strong edge. The hydrocal was applied to one side of the mold and allowed to cure and then the piece is flipped over and the other side is done.
The bowls had to washed after every application of hydrocal. The sun was shining on the side of the bucket and I thought it would make a nice shot...
I just got a new comission, a Great Blue Heron sculpture. It will be 2 feet tall and will go on top of a Granite base at Cave Hill Cemetery.
This is also a design I am working on -an angel for a stone commission. Keep tuned for updates on these 2 pieces.
We had a couple of days of cold weather and a little snow before it warmed up. The snow was coming down in unusually big clumps and made for a pretty scene.
Hydrocal is just like plaster, but stronger. It is sifted by handfuls onto the water. When it no longer sinks into the water but some sits on top it is ready to mix up and apply.
After applying the first coat of hydrocal (which starts out quite thin) a layer of hemp fibers is worked in. This gives extra strength to the mold.
The hydrocal gets thicker as it begins to set. It can then be shaped and formed. Don is giving this mold a strong edge. The hydrocal was applied to one side of the mold and allowed to cure and then the piece is flipped over and the other side is done.
The bowls had to washed after every application of hydrocal. The sun was shining on the side of the bucket and I thought it would make a nice shot...
I just got a new comission, a Great Blue Heron sculpture. It will be 2 feet tall and will go on top of a Granite base at Cave Hill Cemetery.
This is also a design I am working on -an angel for a stone commission. Keep tuned for updates on these 2 pieces.
We had a couple of days of cold weather and a little snow before it warmed up. The snow was coming down in unusually big clumps and made for a pretty scene.
This is a self published calendar of my work that I just had printed by Zazzle.
I am working out some of the bugs, but it will soon be available for sale.
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