Saturday, March 2, 2013

Sculptures in progress and recovered

Radiator, a cup in a rough stage. I made a press mold of an individual segment, then press cast multiples, cementing them together in leatherhard stage.
It started as a work about the relationship between the circle and square, but has morphed into thoughts about radiating heat. It's a heck of a lot of work so far, and figuring out how to cast it (after it is smoothed out a lot) will prove a challenge.


 Tor has recovered.
He has gone through three firings and one glazing. I'll put him through the rigors of the furnace one more time, I think, to glaze his eyes. His skin color glaze proved successful enough.

Last week he, Borgnine, and the Brain suffered a mishap regarding an expanding foam casting experiment. The whole thing was a disaster. The foam did not separate from the glassy surface, even though I sprayed with "Pam", the special grease product that I remember from childhood commercials, which I bought in Sweden in the "American Section."

Ceramics, or at least casting, involves moments of panic, followed by detachment and patience.

I spent quite a bit of time scraping off the foam from Bognine, to get him ready for the exhibition. The other two, I just put aside, thinking maybe I would just burn the foam off in a kiln firing.  Then I got the answer: I just put them in the wood stove! noxious plastic foam carbonized in a few hours, burning away. I let them cool down within the stove, and no harm was done.






Round Moon, bisque


Cuneiform cup, original ripped from cast.


 Together cup, a plaster draft. I wanted to make a Frankenstein Monster-type of cup, patched together with every means: twine, rubber, tape, staples and tacks.
 The finished Borgnine Toothpick holder. The skin colored glaze recipe:
1 half transparent earthenware glaze to one half colored glazes, made with an equal blend of red, bordeaux, and metal brown. Eyebrows: sort metal. Used the same glaze on Tor.

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