Sometimes I Make Things Other Than Troughs...(Part III)

My wife will be the first to tell you, I get weird over the winter.  When my hands are idle I go a little nuts.  Drawing helps, but sometimes I just need to make something, even if it's just a good loaf of bread.  Most winters, when it's too cold to work on hypertufa or woodworking projects in the garage, I'll make a small sculpture at the kitchen table.  If the sculpture is intricate and takes many hours of handwork with small tools, even better.

Above is a small faux-bois Gothic shelf that I made this winter and then gave away to artist friends as a housewarming gift.  The sculpture on top is gold-leafed heart made by the husband for his wife.  I love that my sculpture is the pedestal for this offering.

The sculpture is made of pine, wire and a two-part resin clay called Apoxy.  

The resin clay cures in about 24 hours so I have a pretty long open time to work with it.

The best part is underneath.

Sometimes I Make Things Other Than Troughs

I made this little wall shelf during the winter.  When it's too snowy and cold to be on my bike, in the garden, or casting troughs, I need an outlet for my busy hands.  The shelf is about 14" wide and 6" high, perfect for working on at the table while I drink coffee watch it snow outside.

The shelf started with a wooden armature, a few layers of 2" blue foam board (not visible), and Apoxy, a two-part epoxy clay (the gray part in the photos).  I form the detail by hand over a few hours.  The Apoxy is hard enough to carve, file or sand after it cures for 24 hours.  

Once I was happy with the final form, I painted it with a light tan acrylic paint, then glazed it with burnt umber and mica dust, which gives it depth and sparkle.

I've always admired the basket-weave form of early Christian capitals.  Above and below are photos from The Cloisters, the Metropolitan Museum of Art's medieval museum in the Bronx.

I like these two a lot.  Maybe next winter...