Casting Mania

Since my cuttlefish casting adventure meant that I had all the necessary casting equipment to hand, I decided to make some new silicone molds and cast some new jewellery components.

I used up the last of the compound I had which is good because it was approaching the end of its after-the-bottle-is-open shelf-life. I had varying degrees of success this time around - some casts were brilliant and others - well not quite up to scratch! I was particularly pleased though with how this one turned out ...

It has a rather Victorian look about it.

At this point, it has had a minor tidy up - removing overflow from the edges. Notice how rough and bubbly it is? That is because the mold is new - a few more pours will "cure" it further but hopefully it will retain some of that roughness because I really like it!

Here it is with a patina and an eye added!

It looks old and crusty - just the way I had hoped it would look!  I love to work with found objects but I have come to realise that many of the things I like to work with repeatedly are, like embroidered doileys, quickly becoming a finite resource! So, I have decided to cast some things from objects I find and hence be able to use them more than once in my work. I think it will simply add another dimension to the work - and besides it will be heaps of fun! Here is the first of my "Faux Found Objects"

This has been cast from a very sweet little key that is earmarked for use with a layered pendant I created the other week. It is a great size and shape so I have recreated it using reclaimed pewter. I have cast it with a flat back which will give it plenty of applications. I guess nothing could ever replace the truly found object but I think these reproductions will have their own aesthetic - on their own or combined with originals.At the very least, it is a more useful object than the beer mug it used to be!

Here's looking at ya -  ha ha ha - get it? there is an eye - and it's lookin' at you ..?  Well I thought it was frickin' hilarious but you may feel it only warrants a wry chuckle of amusement - either at my comedic delusions or the pun - I'm not fussed - at least I will have made you smile!

Whinge alert!

I have been flogging my poor brain senseless trying to write an essay and am beginning to think (with the three or four brain cells that remain undamaged by the utter boredom that is in text bloody referencing) that a formal arts education could well see all my creativity fly out the window - or maybe just seep through the floor boards! Whinge, whinge, moan moan ... In order to reassure myself that all is not lost I fished out my latest castings and imagined what I might make with them.

They look a bit motley at the moment but I think most of them should come up ok.

See that bunny there - I think he will be a component in my 'Alice Range' ! Oh I really do have to get all this wretched theory work out of the way so I can get back to my bench. grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

CastAway.

Well that is a  lame title for this post - let's blame it on fatigue - and over-consumption of joyfulness. And exactly what is making me so joyful? I am glad you asked because I am busting to share my latest adventure with metal! I have had another go at casting pewter. I made the molds, melted the pewter and everything. Given my slight phobia about flame ( ah yes, that is one of the reasons cold connections are so dear to my heart ...), I have managed quite well.
This is the first go ...

This is what they looked like when I de-molded them. I am recycling the pewter that I recycle for other things rather than buying new alloys, so it is a bit grubby. I am working on a way to fix that but for now I am content to deal with the scuzzy bits. These were actual twigs that I collected and used to create a mold.

I used a paperclip topper to make the bird mold - I think it will be rather sweet ...
And here are the twigs all cleaned up ...

I am delighted with the detail from the molds - I patinaed this one to highlight the craggy bark.

And in-situ ...

Copper "twigs" and a hand-shaped crockery shard - I am not sure the photo does it justice really because you miss all the detail of the twig - sigh - never mind I bet you get the idea huh? Oh happy days - I can see this becoming an obsession!

I'm late, I'm late - but I must take a photo ...

Dear old Adelaide is not as renowned for its lane-ways and graff-art as Melbourne, although there has been a spate of quite excellent paste-ups recently - I think their impermanence renders them kinda polite graffiti which also kinda suits Adelaide. Still the other day I was rushing to Uni and took a lane I don't usually use and just had to stop and take some snaps of some really vibrant wall art.

I was rushing because my train was delayed and I needed to meet with a fellow artist to set up an installation - we were on a deadline! All ended well though and we were able to set up in time. Our brief for this installation was to create a Cabinet of Curiousity in response to a visit to the Museum of Economic Botany. This museum has some great stories to tell about our interconnectedness with plants. It made us think about sustainability - much of the variety shown in the museum is now missing in the real world and also the role of the museum in preservation of both objects and stories.We chose to create some plantforms that a future museum might house - hybrid botanicals that have morphed with the junk redolent in our dirt.

 We filled the cabinet with layers of plastic rubbish and polystyrene

Instead of placing our objects within the cabinet, we decided to place them on top

The plant forms

We cast the forms with soap - something we use daily that we hope will remind us of the daily impact we have on our environment.

This process was a bit fraught as neither of us had any real casting experience. We learned a lot and I am delighted with the outcome - a contemporary Cabinet of Curiousity. It seemed to  generate some interest and discussion almost immediately so that is a good response. It was great to work collaboratively with an artist that I was so insync with - it doesn't always happen and when it does - magic!