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[Jeanette Lewis]

Thanks Doris, and Tamara,
I am certainly going to give it a try on my next cast.
Jeanette

[Jeanette Lewis]

Hi All,
just posting an update on the saint Joe statue.
As I was modelling this one; I had the purpose of challenging myself in couple of ways;-

1. To try applying silicone mold straight onto a clay blank.
2. To take the modelling as detailed as I might - to see the limitations of the rubber, ....and my mould-making/modellling abilities! - I wanted to see what works and what doesn't.
(And how it might be fixed when things don't work out)

Here is the first photo ( sorry its blurry) but its possible to see some of the depth in the mold. ALso that it has stained with clay. This hasn't washed out and I am not sure what has caused it. Perhaps it will lift with the first cast of plaster.

Last night I gave the mold a mold wash of a little liquid soap in water and left it to dry overnight.
The next picture shows that I have split the mold - leaving a section uncut so that it opens up like a book.
The front side of the mold is lying in the fibreglass mother mold to support it.

I am filling the more detailed or deeper areas with a small amount of plaster I have mixed.
(The palette knife belonged to an old painter freind of mine who died last year. He was in his late eighties God rest him...)

Next, while the plaster is begining to thicken, I close the mold and check the side seam is fitting well.
Then I look up inside the mold to check that the seam is lined up inside and not overlapping. If I am happy, I put on the second piece of the mother mold and screw it up. (Hooray for wing nuts!)
The gap shown here should close when I screw up the mold and squeeze it together.
(By the way, these blue blotches have appeared on the " value" rubber, but not on the previous RTV I used. Wondered if Ihave not mixed it as well as I might - the value option was certainly harder to mix.)

My last molds didn't have such a big gap as this - so its probably not the best example of how the mold should look at this stage.
I gave the mold a slush mix of plaster and rolled it a little before placing it in this simple jig and filing it solid with plaster.
I could have continued with a slush cast but it was early in the morning - too tired for all that agitation!

The jig is just some shaped wood suspended over a bucket - but it seems to work!
Will post again when the figure is ready for de-mold.
(Apologies for bad spelling!)
Jeanette.

[Jeanette Lewis]

Hi again,
here is the first pull from my mold, warts and all.
I think its useful to show how things might look in their raw state so that any one new to this can compare their results, and not panic too much if things look a bit rough!

I have put red dots where I lost bits of the detail, or got a bubble - so will have to do a little repair.

The fin may be down to my not tightening that side of the mold enough, but it is very thin and not a problem.
The picture with me holding the model shows the lilly - detail - this area was in the "book fold gutter" of the mold. I think to have put seam there would have made it difficult to get an exact match.
Next problem; same as the last - how to finish it....!
(I can see I need to look more closely at the anatomy around ears from these pics!)
I hope those watching this thread may have found some of it useful, thanks for looking in.
Jeanette

[Doris Fiebig]

hi jeanette, i find it always very helpful to watch how others do what i attempt so thank you very much for sharing... i casted too, but my cast is sticking completely to the mould so, i was chiseling it free the while sunday, and not even have the face open.... well, i think i understood at least what made sticking the cast to the mould,,,, your cast will be wonderful, the repairs needed are all relatively small as far as i can see. the challenges are always good for learning
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[Jeanette Lewis]

Hi Doris,
the tip from you and Tamara about the mold wash worked well; thanks again.
I have also begun to measure my water;plaster ratios (which I had always done by eye before, because that is how I was taught -) I find I use less plaster that way.
I did plaster waste-molds for two different small plaques recently - although both were treated the same, one had some resistance to my chipping it out.
I can only think the difficult one hadn't dried out enough, it's a pain when that happens;- Hope the rest of your chipping out goes well.
Jeanette.

[Jeanette Lewis]

Hi All,
To tie up any loose ends -Just a photo to show the finished piece - the choice of colours are traditional for this particular subject - red for a virgin of biblical times, and blue for royalty... (in biblical times it was the Queen mother who ruled with her son - not his wife/wives.)
Of course there are many shades of red and blue, so I had to consider which I thought might work best.
In the next part of this post I explain the ideas behind the image so caution - you might want to stop reading now as I am about to get a bit Catholic....

The reading of this image is allegorical -
In the chalice, Mary recognises the blood of her son; shed in His passion. (If you've seen Mel Gibsons' take on this; you can understand why she looks a bit overwhelmed! )
She contemplates the prophecies of the Old Testament, and understands that Her son's death has to occur before his Resurrection.
After His death, Christ's risen body is transfigured.
His blood is also changed and it becomes a "spiritual drink" to strengthen those with spiritual thirst for God.
It is this "spiritual drink" she sees in the chalice and how this sacrifice is necessary for the redemption of humankind.
This statue illustrates a bitter sweet moment for Mary; in one way her heart is full of sorrow, and yet she is in awe of a God who is willing to suffer as we do. (That is why her hand is raised in a gesture of adoration and prayer) Psalm 42:1
“As the deer longs for flowing streams, so longs my soul for you O God.”

I hope to give the statue a coat of satin varnish before my kids break up for summer vacation.
Will probably not be around much until September.
Happy Hols everyone!
Jeanette

[Phil Minchinton]

The finished piece looks really good in the colouring Jeanette,the satin varnish will only enhance it. A great job and the best of luck for the summer hols....

[Doris Fiebig]

helllo jeanette, thank you for sharing... i think it wonderful to create a small statue with so much meaning. the colors are lovely, and reading their meaning for you enhances everything for me. wonderful work.. i am still amazed how small it is... wow, and so finely modeled faces in this size... enjoy your holidays ! i look forward to when you come back with a new project
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[Tamara]

The colors look really good and the soft painting of eyebrows and lips is very nice. Her face has a contemplative and willing expression. Great job on finishing her. I like how the child looks like her so it really has the mother and son look.
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Happy Sculpting!

[Jeanette Lewis]

Hi all,
and thanks for the feedback - hope I am on the right track with the presentation.
......
(just edited this post for too much "wittering"!)
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Ora et Labora