Five are finished!
 

If you noticed there are six in the picture and I said five are finished. The black one in the bottom right corner is not mine. It is a wood African Ceremonial Mask that I picked up somewhere (don't even remember where it came from) But it is what inspired me to do a series of masks.

 This one is called Windy. She is made from a carboard cut out and PM clay painted with epoxy paint which is used to restore or repair sinks or bathtubs. She is about 8 inches by 12 inches and the hair extends out another 5 inches 

This little guy is called Gotta Light. He was made from left over PM clay and painted with latex paint. He is about 5 inches by 7 inches.

The Clown is done!

The Clown is done!

 

 

Yep! This little guy is done. He stands 19 inches for ground to the top of his hat. and 25 inches to the top of the balloons. From the far left of the red balloon to the right far right of his right hand (the one waving) it 20 inches. He is free standing the strins of the ballons are wire and aid in balance. he's painted with latex and sealed with polyurethane.

 

This was my first attempt at this type of sculpture and it was a learn as you go process. it turned into a 35 hour project because of my mistakes, it should have taken less than half that.

 

A Few Things I Learned.

 

1. I used balloons to mold the body, head and balloons. This was a mistake using newpaper and masking tape to make the basic shape works much better and the pieces are not hollow which makes it harded to damage .

2. I used empty paper towel and tp rolls for the arms and legs. I first put them on empty. But when I applied the PM clay they could not support the weight and the legs gave in and the arms fell off. So I stuffed them with paper and taped them into place. And tried again. . this time no problems

3. A water bottle cut in half was used to as a mold for the shoes. I filled the two half with PM clay and after they dried, removed them from the mold, cut away any excess and taped them to the legs. Using PM clay for the shoes also added weight to the base for balance. I didn't have any roblems with the shoes.

4. the balloons as I said were made from ballons this did not work well. One of them collapsed when the balloon lost it's air. I remade it with a wade of newspaper and masking tape. the one made of newpaper was the easiest to attach, the hollow ones kept spinning on the wire making it very hard to stay in one place, enough gule and you can fix anything but the newpaper balloon worked far better than the others and it was easier to make.

5. I used 14 gage wire for the balloon strings. I covered them with newspaper dipped in flour & water this worked out alright but I think I might use coated wire on the next one so I won't have to do anything with the strings.

 

I'll will be making at least one more clown. Just to see if I can do it without all the problems. And I will try to do a better job of posting with pictures of each step. So if you think you might want to try making one check back in. And if you have any suggestions on how to do it better feel free to post your comments I would love to hear them.

 



Clown

I should have this little guy done tomorrow.

Not sure if I like the hat black, maybe I'll change it to blue.
Not sure if I like the white socks either, maybe paint the yellow pants all the way to the shoes

Gotta Light

Gotta Light is all done.

This guy was easy, I had some left over PM clay.
I molded it into the shape of a skull, push a few hole in it with my thumb to make the eyes, nose.
A fettling knife worked to carve out some crooked teeth and the mouth.
I used a little of the clay to shape a hand rolled cigarette which I glued (e6000) into place after painting.
To paint it I used acrylic paint and I seal it with a gloss Mod Podge.  I'll let it dry overnight and hang it tomorrow.

Wendy

I put the first coat of epoxy on the the windy mask today. One more coat and wendy is done.

The collection is growing.

More to come soon, I have a few days off coming up (unless they call me in) and I should get the other two that I have started finished. 

Garden Art / Recycled Art

 Some of my Garden Art.

 

I still like making recycled art. Above are a few peices I made from found wood, cans and wire.

I hang it on the backyard fence and let the weather do it part.

 

Below are a few wind chimes.

I used bottle caps, found wood and fishing line. I'm not a big fan of bell ringing wind chimes. These make a very subtle sound so we only hear them when we are sitting outside and the neighbors don't have to listen to them at all. 

 

You may have noticed my mosaic bowling ball.

It's amazing what you can do with a broken birdbath and an old bowling ball.

Using the left overs

Working on a little wall mask. This one is about 8 inches tall and 4 inches wide. I had some extra PM Clay so I thought I would try something new. I think I might make a bunch of these. It give me a use for the extra PM  Clay and they're kinda cool. This one I'll call Gotta Light.

Clown and Horn Mask

 It's been a few days since I got any art done or posted anything. I thought I would catch up on my post before I left for work.  I got the 1st coat of paint on the Clown. (above) This was mostly to get an idea of what he's going to look like and make sure I liked the color combo. I do (Thanks Corie)

 I got the 1st coat of paint on the Horn Mask (above) Trying to decide if I want the horns the same off white as the teeth or the same red as the face.

 

Also I got the eyes put on.(below) They are inset and painted fire like with red and yellow. Still not sure I like it, so we'll see what happens with the eyes and the horns.

 

3 Masks

Did I have a busy day off or what!

1st The Clown. This guy has been a challenge. I could not get the balloons to stay up. They were heavier than I anticipated. So I had to pick up a heavier wire to wrap in paper for the balloon strings. And I guess the nose and shoes are going to be red.

2nd The Horn Mask. This little devil has gone well from the start. He is almsot ready to paint. I got the tongue put on and was ready to paint, but I'm not happy with the eyes. I have a few ideas. we'll see which one wins

3rd The Windy Mask. This one was fun. She going to be white enamel. Just need to do a little more touching up before she gets painted.

 

Well that's it for today. See Ya on my next day off.

white mask

Boy! Have I been busy this morning. Not only did I figure out how I wanted the hair. I got it done!
She still needs a little work but well on it's way to being done. Pretty sure I'm going to stick with all white on this one.

I didn't take a picture of it. But The tongue for the horn mask is done also. I'll be adding it as soon as it is dry. Maybe I'll get that little devil painted yet.

horn mask & white mask

The horn mask is coming along. I had hoped to have it painted today but that didn't happen something to do with a bottle of Jim Beam and a cigar. . . kinda put me behind yesterday.

This little beauty I think I'm going to like. I still have to figure out how I want the hair. I made the  face out of a piece of cardboard with newspaper to give it some shape and put on the PM clay. This is one of the easiest pieces I have done yet. . . .so far. like I said I still have to figure out the hair.