Current iteration, as of this writing--subtler ridges, whisker-like set of front nose indentation, and better ear integration. In THIS episode of Making a Silicone Mask: The Rules of Moldmaking #1: The simpler, the better. The fewer stages and components required to create your mold, the fewer opportunities for disaster. #2: The effort required to correct a casting [...]
When they tell that old silicone might not set, they mean it. In this episode: There's many a slip twixt the yup and the ick. Here today, goo tomorrow. A moldmaker and her money are soon parted. Models are easy. Molds are hard. Masks, I was discovering, are even harder. I had a model for Kat's mask. Now [...]
Final maquette for Kaitlyn's mask After two decades--and a LOT of wasted silicone--I've gotten pretty good at building durable, well-engineered silicone molds for glass casting. I should be able to make a custom silicone mask, right? We'll see. My friend Kaitlyn (Kat) is making a Halloween costume depicting the probable offspring of Batman and Catwoman (who apparently met [...]
We're a few months down the road with the Wazer waterjet cutter. I thought an update was due but--apologies--we are nowhere near as far along with learning/using this machine as I thought we'd be. Thank unrealistic expectations for the lapse: I tend to shoehorn 40 hours worth of work into a 24-hour day that includes cleaning up the studio, learning [...]
I almost titled this post "losing my religion." I've never, in my whole life, had writer's block, or lacked for art ideas. Quite the opposite: No sooner do I start work on one idea than the next pounds on the door, demanding to kick my current project to the curb. Lovely problem to have, but it makes actually FINISHING a [...]
Apologies for the overlong ramble, but since this blog is intended to document my creative meanderings, it also details the times I'm bogged down in design and engineering. Apparently stuffing my musings into a blogpost for review is the best way to get me thinking, so sorry about that. And please: ANY suggestions, ideas, criticisms, etc., for this [...]
Apologies for the pun. When it gets that bad, you know the glassist is kilnless. Try saying “glassist is kilnless” five times, very fast. Probably not survivable. Neither, according to my fevered brain, is not having a working kiln in the house. First time in more than 15 years and, naturally, the number of just-gotta-do-it-right-NOW projects has reached an all-time high. [...]
Tonight I’m putting the final load into Skooby, my Skutt GM1414 bathtub kiln, and closing the lid on 14 years of firing adventures. Wow. Glassists talk glass, tools, studio, classes, techniques, artistic sensibilities, but rarely mention our central, silent, steady partner: The kiln. Odd, when you consider that we call what we do “kilnforming…” […]
A silicone master mold is an obvious safety net in glass casting: If you accidentally employ one of the 10,000 methods for destroying a piece during casting, a master model gives you a second chance. The original sculpture (and photo it was taken from). It measures about 14×14 inches, and maybe 5 inches deep. That’s not all, though. As tedious, time-consuming, expensive [...]
"I've been dreaming about this at night," Shelby told me excitedly, as we tripped down the stairs to my studio, "This is gonna be soooo coool!" Right then, the joy part of making glass hit me--whap--right in the head. If you want to renew your own sense of joy and discovery in art (or probably anything else), just teach someone else to love it, too.
