I am heartbroken. This week, as I had finished my painting for the month, I decided to work on a sculpture that had been floating about in my mind for a little while. Initially, it was looking good. The sculpture itself worked out almost exactly as it had in my imagination. The only problem I had was an inability to get the thing to stand up on its own. I came up with a pretty solution - a feature of the sculpture that both fit the theme and would serve to give the sculptured dog something to lean against and remain upright. It worked! The final sculpture, which I neglected to take a photo of before disaster struck, looked really good! I was so pleased with it. Having created the sculpture out of Sculptey - a poly clay designed to be baked in the oven, I decided to do just that. Following the instructions, I preheated the oven, and popped the sculpture in for fifteen minutes. Just before the fifteen minutes was over, I heard a popping noice. I went to the oven and peeked in and... disaster. The sculpture had cracked in several places, falling apart like a sand castle hit by a wave. I was - I am - devastated. Here is what the sculpture looked like before I figured out how to get it to stand. I was so pleased with it. Post disaster: Poor dead pupper. Not pictured here, me picking up the sculpture by the head only to have it snap off as well.
This was the first time working with a poly clay. I have to say, working with it was fun, and I enjoyed the process. It was smooth and easy to manipulate with some kneeding, and ended up not being all that different from actual clay. The end result was also decent, and I thought things were going really well. Prior to baking, it looked pretty good. Then the oven happened. After the baking, the clay became crumbly and brittle, and everything fell apart. Thinking I had done something terribly wrong, I took to the internet to research what I could do better. In one forum, I discovered that the medium itself might have been the problem. Someone suggested that Sculptey was terrible, and sculptors ought to go with Magi-Sculpt instead. I think the next time I have some spare change, I will buy some of this Magi-Sculpt and try that. Right now, though, I'm really upset, and pondering how I might try the same sculpture again, but out of a different medium. I might try Monster clay, and make casts to sell, as Monster clay cannot be baked and it very sensitive to heat. I might end up buying a bunch of chisels and sandpaper and attempt the sculpture again in wood. Actually, I quite like the idea of carving wood. I'll mull that option over more. And, you know, save up for chisels and other whittling tools. As of now, I'm sulking, and will probably continue to sulk for a number of days. I had so hoped to have a cool new sculpture to show off this week. It was not to be. Comments are closed.
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