Fun with Sculpture and Etsy! Moldmaking and diving into the Etsy market

Hello and Happy Monday!
I'm bursting at the seams with enthusiasm for a new project! Never one to focus on a small number of projects at once I have started making molds to cast multiples so that I can work through ideas en masse! Below are images of my mold making project. I used a two part brush-able silicone by Smooth-On http://www.smooth-on.com/ its a great product and easy to use, and picks up incredible detail!

Smooth-On Two Part Brush-able Silicone and Mold Release from http://www.smooth-on.com/

Getting ready to add the first layer of brush on silicone. 

After the first layer of silicone. Timing is really important, the layers must have about an hour in between applications and the texture must be 'tacky.'

First layer on all 5 tile moldes.

Final silicone molds after 4 layers of Smooth-On.

 Despite my experience as an undergraduate at UNC Asheville in the sculpture program, I had never used brush-able silicone for mold making before. I was unsure of how it would pick up the detailed texture of my wood carvings.


To support the silicone I had to construct a mother mold. I constructed my mother mold out of plaster.

 

 Once the mold was complete I made a test casting to see how the Smooth-On picked up the detail, and to be certain that my mother supported the silicone adequately.

Original positive on Left, test cast in plaster on Right. Huzzah!

I feel like my project was a huge success! Now to make mother molds for the other four molds. Whew! I'm thinking epoxy casts... ;) These are designed specifically for and will be available exclusively at my Etsy Shop! 
As for Etsy, I'm now at 10 items and growing! I've had a great time this week networking with other Etsy Shops and joining Etsy Teams, I'm really excited to be part of a global community of artist and creatives.

As promised, here is one of the pieces completed in 2015! Enjoy! 

'Go With The _______' Sanding on wood panel. Layers of paint gradually removed conveying a sense of time and motion. Gold embellishments and fluorescent paint make the Sanding shift as you pass it.

 

Detail.

View from the right end of 'Go with the _____'

Long time, no Blog- until NOW!

Oh my how time flies!

Its been nearly two years since I was on top of my blog game, and it's time I took another stab at it!
So much has happened in the past two years that I'll not try to cover it all. I'll just hit the highlights. :)

In June 2015 I had shoulder surgery an this set me back a little bit in the studio, but I was able to finish out the year strong by completing several works in early October.

Hanging my work at Kickstand Coffee in Hood River.

Me standing next to 'Spanning (the distance between us)" a piece I started in 2014, but completed in October of 2015. Above image was taken at Kickstand Coffee in Hood River, Oregon on November 4, 2015. 

NW by SE has shown for at least 6 months out of every calendar year since starting in 2012. I am hugely proud of this and look forward to my next showing at the Hood River Library in Hood River, Oregon! My work will be up from April 1-28th. I am also thrilled to be doing a presentation about creativity on April 23 from 2-4pm. We'll be taking a look at three artists and their ideas surrounding creativity, Pablo Picasso, Joyce Carol Oates, and Miles Davis. I'm very nervous about the talk since its the first time since college I'll be presenting research. My goal for this event is to gain confidence in my speaking and give myself a starting point for inspiration workshops in the future.

'Waves 2' from 2015 will be on display with other new works at the Hood River Library April 1-28.

Aside from doing research, I have also been getting my toes wet with Society6 and Etsy!* My work is now available for sale online, I'm still getting the hand of it- but I'm excited for these new venues. If you have any tips please reach out, or if you would like to network- let me know, I'm keen jellybean.

'It's all Happening' started Summer 2014, completed Summer 2015.

Check in again next week, I'll have more images up of work from the past year(s) and photos of new projects underway. Cheers!




*I can be found on these sites through the link embedded in the text or on both sites; Society6 and Etsy, as shop name NWbySE.