Magical Reinvention

"Who would deduce the dragonfly from the larva, the iris

 from the bud, the lawyer from the infant? 

...We are all shape-shifters and magical reinventors. 

Life is really a plural noun, a caravan of selves."

 
— Diane Ackerman

 This is a mosaic sculpture class held at A Work of Art Studio in the months of June- September, 2012, where the clients designed and made their own dragonflies (fish and frogs and flowers to come in another post). Here is Robin creating her body and wings with wire screen, wire and then tape to give it shape and form. Great care must be taken to create a solid form to carry all the weight of the plaster, cement, glass, and grout.

Here is Kathryn's dragonfly "Seymour", with washers for the base of his eyes. It is not really necessary to tape over the wire screen, but it does give a good solid base for beginners to plaster over.

Here is Pat, putting on a layer of plaster gauze to start stiffening the sculpture; then she paints on a layer of thinset mortar.

It is now ready for laying mosaic tiles. We mostly used Weldbond glue to attach our tiles, but thinset mortar could also be used as adhesive.

Kathryn drew a pattern on her wings to mimic a Zebra Dragonfly.

Here is Pat's lovely "buggy" face:)

Robin is using a multi colored pattern of greens and purples and mirror, very cheerful!

Seymour is starting to take shape!

Pat just finished grouting her dragonfly and is wiping the haze from the grout off her tiles.

 Robin's finished dragonfly.

Pat's finished mosaic sculpture!

Kathryn's finished dragonfly, "Seymour" and his spot in her garden, before being installed on a post in her flower box.

What a great class. It's a bit different to mosaic on a cement surface and I recommend a flat surface beginner's class before you tackle a layered surface. More posts to come about this same class with shapes of fish, flowers, and more....

Angel Progression

"How did it get so late so soon?

It's night before it's afternoon.

December is here before it's June.

My goodness how the time has flewn.

How did it get so late so soon?"

~Dr. Seuss

Finally... some updated pictures on the progress of

"Luminary", Angel of Light.  I have been a bit busy 

working on all the bits & pieces of the sculpture.

These are the hands which are made of wire screen 

and have been sewn with a needle and wire (and stuffed

with plastic shopping bags to stiffen).

Here she is with her wings on (copper feathers will be

attached to the wings soon). I have started to apply

plaster cast to her chest and a bit of thin-set mortar 

to check hardness factor.

The whole body has been created with chicken wire and

wire screen, like the hands, sewn with a needle and wire.

Some copper feathers in a mixture of white vinegar and salt. 

The "patina" happens quickly, however, we shall see if it

dries there. It may have been too wet a solution to get the

patina to stay permanently. Will leave for another week or so

to see results. This picture is after about a week in the solution.

I have the head started as well. The cast of my daughter's face

came out well in thin-set mortar. I am working on attaching

it to a wire head form, which at the moment is stuffed also

with plastic shopping bags to keep its shape. As it turns out,

the cement face is about 8-10 pounds, so I will need to brace

the head with a bar of some sort.  I will post pix of the head when

I get some.

In the mean time... Happy when working; a bit stressed when

I am not. There is a time factor here. @ArtPrize.org 's opening 

day is September 22 and I'm still waiting on a venue.

Faith is in the works. Peace