More Discarded Objects

No illustration work at the moment so its time for creative play.

Been back in the studio again today. Plaster of paris now dried and I've covered the whole thing in PVA. This is all experimental so I am trying not  to be too precious.

 This is another discarded object...I think its some sort of ventilation flue. I picked it up from a scrap yard but had to pay for it (the bird **** that it was covered in came free!)
This has now been covered with a layer of PVA so I'm ready to go with this object as soon as the ideas come to me.

I seem to have accumulated so much junk in my studio. The problem is I have difficulty in throwing things away just in case I might find a use for them in the future.

Discarded Objects

It doesn't look a very interesting object but I found it in a pile of rubbish which was ready for the tip in one of the studios in the mill I experiment in.
I haven't become a SKIP RAT yet but sometimes I wish I had the nerve to stop the car and grab objects from skips outside peoples houses.

I have spent today experimenting with this and hopefully if its dry tomorrow I will take another photo.

Bric a Brac Character Developing Stage

It's amazing what you can create out of a balti pan. I didn't think I would get this far with the project so soon. The watch eye is still working but for how long I don't know!

The next stage will be tricky... will the weight of the pan tip over the sculpture when I secure it in the vase?

Bric a Brac Next Stage

The next part of this project was to attach the vase to some feet in flip flops. I wired up the base of the vase, made the feet and flip flop template out of polystyrene and wire then began to sculpture in cement. I have put sand inside the vase and I am keeping my fingers crossed that the cement does not expand too much and break the vase.

I am working on the balti pan while this dries out slowly and will put it together next week.

Bric a Brac

These are the start of my new project...a follow on from Bert. The vase was from a car boot sale, the copper pipe from my son in laws garage and the balti dish from a junk shop. I got the copper pipe riveted onto the balti dish as I haven't the equipment to do it myself. I have had a really enjoyable day turning this junk into a soon to be treasured piece of artwork. Lets hope the finished piece turns out as the image I have in my head.I have also bought myself 12.5kg of air dryed clay which I intend to sculpture as part of this piece.

Bert

We now have a new member to the family his name is Bert. He is made out of part of a drain spout, I am going to put a fern in his head and screw him to the wall.

Sanding down sculpture

I took my idea for my sculpture from this illustration I created for the BBC Philharmonic Manchester.

I think it looks more like a snowman than a bird! but when it is off the base and maybe in a nest it might look ok

I have spent quite a few hours over Easter trying to get my sculpture smooth but have not succeeded. This is a learning curve as I think the cement was not mixed properly. The next one I make I will certainly be getting the finish a lot smoother before it begins to dry. I was thinking I could use the same tools I use when trying to get icing flat on a cake!

The eye of the bird has also not been as successful as I hoped because I did not use enough colour before it was fired. Although the idea of putting white plastic tubing through the middle of the sculpture so the light would shine through has worked well.

Cement Sculptures

What fun - a trough full of sand and cement and 3 mad women. Maria, Ann and I have spent several days making cement sculptures. We started off with wired polystyrene and secured them on bases and then the fun began. Polystyrene can have a strange effect as the video shows.

They are now at the drying out stage and we will have to spend days sanding them down.

I will post more photos when they are finished.

(Notice the packet of choc chip boosters, necessary requirement for sculptors)