clay – A DEAD LETTER

sculpture – mushroom world (head space p2)

22 January 202122 October 2021Dead Roses

Sculpture

These photos are from making the 3D piece of work, I found this easier than i though but then I had to take it home due to covid and it got smashed from the journey. This made recreating the work very hard.

As I already had the painting done as it was partly an experiment for the next piece, I got a piece of MDF that was the right size and marked out the pilot holes into the canvas. then I started using clay to for the back of the “earth”. I tried to smudge it on the board to it would stick (it didn’t). then I used some of the mushroom I had made to stick in the clay, this was easier as i had added nails into the bottom of them. I did also make new mushrooms which I painted and them dried when I was at the accommodation.

I added the mushrooms and other materials onto the clay (grass is from fake flowers, water is melted crayons, mud is crushed clay and super glue to make it look wet, mushrooms thick leaves, stumps and rocks are all clay) I let the whole thing dry.

I used a mixture of water colours and acrylic to make vibrate colours to paint the clay. i should have cut the board before adding the clay because i wanted the middle (empty) bit out but decided to paint it as the clay was to delicate to saw the wood.

This is the finish look of the work I am really happy with out it has turned out and i feel the 3d element makes the work more inviting.

the idea behind this is how someone who takes drugs to escape realty might see their head space, and they have to take a very long path to get back to real life. the bright colours and friend look is to show how they like being away from reality and in a sense going back to life is like going to the light when your dying.

Sculpture – making a little skull (human) out of clay

25 November 202022 October 2021Dead Roses

Sculpture

I wanted to try and make a little skull before making a bigger one, I am going to make it out of clay and see how well I can do it and if I want to then make it bigger out of clay. I also want to try and make a head out of clay, so I could possible make a mould out of it and then have a plaster head. Or I could get as statues head and then go to plastics and get it vacuumed and then that could be my mould for the plaster.

My Mini Skull…..

This is how it turned put I didn’t do the back of the skull as I did find it hard on a small scale but I think it would be better as a bigger skull. I do think an animal skull might work a bit better with an animal skull so I’m going to make a mould of a doe skull.

I started with a ball of clay and then used a metal tool, to then mark out the shapes then I started to remove the clay. It was a simple way of making the the skull and i do like the outcome, even though I do think it could have been better.

I do want to try a bigger scale as I believe it will be easier.

Sculpture – mushrooms

25 November 202022 October 2021Dead Roses

Sculpture

I manged to bring clay back to be able to make the mushrooms, i started by looking at some reference photos and shaped them. I am so happy with how they turned out.

Making the first one I found a hard as I needed to find a controlled and logical way of making them, once I had made the first mushroom I found my way I liked to do them. This meant that I started to make them faster and tried different styles.

I started getting a lump of clay to make the cap (the top of the mushroom). From this I would then use slip to add in the stem. Once the stem was on I would add the gills (lines under the cap). Then I would add the skirt (little bit coming off the stem.

I used a craft knife and scalpel to make form and markings.

painting the mushrooms…..

I dried the mushrooms on my radiator at my accommodation, I did end up braking one but it was very thin anyway so probably wouldn’t have worked. The ones that did work I manged to paint and I am so happy with how they look.

I painted these by starting painting them white to get a good base colour. Then I went in to the stem with a grey to give it a more natural look and some of them with brown and also black.

Then I started to paint the gills I used white and then I when in with grey and black to show the lighting would be above them. This was just to make the look even better than just having it white.

To finish the look, i went in with white on the cap and then started to add a light brown all over but not tasking care at the very edges as some apart can be white. when the lighter brown was on, I then went in with a slightly darker brown in the middle to give it a better look. As nature is not perfect I then also added random white and black marks to the cap.

This was the main basses of how I made all the mushrooms, I am so happy with them and think they look so realistic. I might be making more but not sure yet.

The Final Look…..

sculptor – mushrooms

21 November 202022 October 2021Dead Roses

Sculpture

One of my ideas for the head space project within sculpture is drugs and mental health. A lot (not all) people do sue drugs to help them get through depression and other mental health problems but they are not always linked.

I wanted to develop on from what we did in the beginning of this project where we made head molds for plaster and also made a box within woodwork.

Mushrooms (drugs and metal health)….

when I thought about a way to show metal health and drugs i thought of mushrooms first as not only do people connect them to drugs but it growth of mental health. mushrooms can be found on dead trees, these trees are normal hard wood (e.g. oak and beech trees). They are also found on tree stumps and fallen trees/branches.

These are some photos I took that I found inspirational.

My Links To Headspace…..

The mushroom would show how that persons mental health had died and now is growing into something more dangerous. This is through how they grown on dead things and they are normally seen as poisonous. Then they would also link to drugs and this would be involved in making your headspace better as you escape the bad thoughts.

Link Back To Before Induction…..

These are some of my ideas I want to try within this idea and see how each on them work. One of them involved the my box ideas as well.

I want to try this idea with clay and also plaster, I think they clay will work better due to being able to stick things to it better.

introduction – plaster

5 October 202022 October 2021Dead Roses

Using clay and object to create a plaster tile

With in the first week we got inducted into clay and plaster. As we where told to not have our phones, unfortunately I did not get any photos on the process of making this piece. I wish I had.

At first I use a rolling pin to be able to make a square shape from the clay about 5 cm thick. Then I used random materials and object within the room to create shapes, textures and patterns to make marks within the clay. Some of the materials I used was; screws, nuts, pinecones, chain, my finger and more.

When I was happy with this I used a knife to cut out a rectangle about 13cm by 14.5cm. What I cut off I used as walls on the edges of the rectangle. I used slip to make sure that there was no hole, where leaks could get out.

Then I moved on to making the plaster, to make the plaster I added 1.5cm of water into a bowl and I started to sprinkle in the plaster. When sprinkling in the plaster I had to keep going till the plaster would stop dissolving into the water, because its to saturated. This would mean I could count to 10 and the plaster would still sit on the top of the water and be white (instead of a grey-ish colour)

Once it was at this point I used my hand to stir the plaster together and thicken it. When it was at a good consistency, then I poured the plaster into my clay mould. all I had to do then was wait for it to heat up and set. Then when it was ready, I removed the clay and carefully. I used a surform to clean up the edges. I also used a slightly wet tooth brush to clean the plaster tile.

Some prosses of my work…..

The final piece…..