I was in fact visiting my friend Audrey and we decided to try our hand at cuttlefish casting. A bracing walk along this beautiful beach yielded some fabulous cuttlefish "bones" and we had a lovely time collecting them and then carving them. We had varying degrees of success but given that neither of us knew much about it, we did ok. We learned a lot from our mistakes! We did have the good fortune to catch up with Fred Peters who very generously shared some hints and tips and thus encouraged I decided to have another go at home today. First I had to hunt up some cuttlefish. Luckily (since there is not a beach within cooee of where I live), I had some that I collected with friends some time ago, on the Yorke Peninsula.
Next they need to be trimmed and shaped ...
I found the carving the trickiest part - you have to flip your brain around and remember that the negative space you create becomes the positive space of the object you cast. Arrgghh!
I carved a prettty simple (and rather odd looking!) fish. The cuttlefish is bound to a backing board (or another piece of cuttlefish) and the molten material is poured in through that vent that you can see at the top of the carving.
And here she is! I told you she was a bit funny looking! I am garnering a better understanding of the process so I remain hopeful that future attempts are just gonna get better and better! I think it might be a goodly while before I am up to this standard though ...
Leafy Sea Dragon by Fred Peters
I live in hope ...
4 comments:
AH-Mazing! That is so cool.
I had no idea that there was something arty that you could do with cuttlefish. You're so smart!
Love it! Wonderful.
You're amazing.
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