marie elaine on sat 30 may 98
Hello to all Clayart list members! I have been for the most part a silent
member now for over a month and feel courageous enough to address the
community of potters for some personal assistance.
I'm interested in knowing how to make molds from found objects. I have been
curious about this for some time now and feel ready to make the plunge. I
would like to know from your working experiences the do's and don'ts of the
process.
Some immediate questions that come to mind are:
1. Are there certain materials that resist mold making more so than others?
examples: cast metal; natural materials such as seashells, tree branches;
plastics, low/medium/high fire clay.
2. What type of plaster is best and easiest to work with to make the mold?
3. What procedure have you found to be the most successful in capturing
details?
4. Do mold made items have a firing temperature limitatation?
Note that I'd like to continue using white and/or brown stoneware fired to
cone 6 in oxidation, for at the moment I'm thinking of using mold items as
additives to my thrown forms.
You may forward your responses directly to my email address. This may
facilitate the list more efficiently. Thanks again. Marie Elaine
melanza@n-jcenter.net
Lorca Beebe on tue 2 jun 98
I suggest you actually take a class or apprentice under some one who knows
about the craft of making molds. There is stuff like undercuts and other
things, that the untrained eye may not see, and that directions on cyberspace
can not forsee. Most ceramic Depts. offer slip casting classes which should
include mold making. In slip casting usually Pottery Plaster is issued. The
Sculpture Dept. may offer classes that included casting, such as Figure
classes, Foundry Classes, etc...if this is not feasable for you to do, ask an
artist who knows about this process to show you how to cast some of your found
objects, you'll save a lot of heartache this way....
Lorca
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