On Day 2, we split up, half of us (those who were organised and had produced stuff to go into their casts yesterday) to cast first, the other half (including me) to cast after that. So I spent a frantic hour making roses and leaves on vines – a first, I have to say, and, although I know most joints were rubbish, a valiant effort! Making the mould was like playing with sand – except much, much more serious. We’ve been given our very own mould, about 6x6” and about 3” high. We’d been asked to adapt it to our heart’s content....but only very few of us wanted to mess with it (applause to Emma, who cut off a corner). So, we plonked our mould into the sand, jiggled, patted, checked, adjusted, levelled, hammered, patted, jiggled, until we had a hole in the sand that looked like it came from said mould. This got sprayed with molasses (yup, the sugar stuff) and caramelised with a big propane torch, to form a crusty shell to cast into. After this, we chucked some powders & frit at the bottom. Tom from Liquid Glass did the pouring, and we talked through the specifics – how many layers, who would come from where, then Julie helped on our side, getting our pieces out of the kiln, where they had been pre-warmed. My rose made bubbles, which I’d been warned about – one of them rose to the surface, pulling the petal with it – bummer! The casts will take forever to anneal, so we'll only see Tuesday's and Wednesday's casts - those from Thursday and Friday will need to be shipped out afterwards.
This took us into the afternoon, then there was more planning, more flameworking – Julie demonstrated a tree and a flamingo, and also a big, freeform cast, and set us our task for the next day – buildings or the human form. And so we planned again.
As for me, I can now make a squiggle – which I’m dead-chuffed with, so applause, please ;o)
Normally, when I get a commission (and I'm sure that's true for most other people!), the person commissioning the piece has seen something from me and liked it. So when an ex-colleague on my Mum's said she'd like to buy some jewellery off me, I'd assumed she knew what she was getting - until it transpires that she doesn't have internet, and only ever saw a bead on mine that dangles from my Mum's keys. Uh-oh. I have met the lady in question.....last, possibly, about 15 years ago! So I convinced my Mum to at least get me a hint - are we talking bracelet? Ring? Necklace? Brooch? Whacky? Classy? Well, I'm glad I got my Mum to ask, because the first piece of info coming back was...gold! Me, on auto pilot, I would have made silver every time. So, after firing an order for findings off, I turned to the rest of the brief - necklace or pendant, simple, possibly leather, beads with green or blue. I'll be taking two - I hope she likes one of them.
