Ending October and rushing November

Thanks to Gem's demo and encouragement I produced 12 plaster molds.
The first forms were for the heads of the bull kelp.
Gem showed me:
how to measure plaster and water.
how to add the plater to water.
how to minimized air bubbles.
how to tell when it was ready.
how to choose prioities in moving FAST.
how to cleanup!

Sucess rate okay...
one cottle wall failure
one mold needed a patch.
one needed to be redone after i dropped it:(.



Making molds for the holdfasts was equally exciting.
Made much more plaster.
One cottle broke and was repaired.
6 molds had to be modified to get rid of undercuts.
Luckily damp plaster carves fairly cooperatively.
         


Now I have slabbed and molded clay for six holdfasts
and six "heads" in Navaho Wagon and three holdfasts and heads in the alternate clay.









Used metal rod coated with Murphy soap to form the stalks for the bull kelp. Slabbed,cut, wrapped and slipped enough tubes for all the holdfasts and heads in both coloured clays.



The Lazy G die did not survive the shift to the stiffer Navahoe Wagon clay combined with being banged into position in the extruder chamber with a piece of wood. (roll eyes)



Was able to complete all extrusions for blades in both clays by using a slightly smaller die in a cleaned out chamber.