While I was there, I found this cactus. I couldn't resist. One of the side shoots was a perfect mini. And a bonus, the thorns are soft fuzzy. Not prickly.
Floral foam of the third kind....
Remember "Close Encounters of the Third Kind"? Richard Dreyfuss kept building the mountain with his mashed potatoes...That's how I felt while I carved this. I simply took away what didn't look like a chimney.
I was not satisfied with the solutions that I came up with yesterday. I kept trying to think of something that I had used to sculpt things for minis. Then I remembered. Over 20 years ago, I did some teacups with rooms and houses in them. I used dry floral foam to do the landscaping.
I had some, but not enough to do the chimney. So I headed for Walmart to get some foam. You get three in a pack for less than four dollars, so it isn't a big chunk of money.
I think I took more away than I kept. I used a serrated steak knife to hack away at it. Then when I was close to where I wanted to be, I used the edge of the knife to scrape away smaller pieces that I didn't want. It kind of works like sanding, for smoothing the surface.
I may still take a little more off of the chimney part. I think it could use a little more of an inward curve. I will then cover it with gesso, spackle and paint.
Oops! Maybe I won't have to. I went back into the bedroom and found that Zar has taken over. He agrees that the chimney part is still to thick.
I had better get back in there before he shaves it down to a toothpick.
At least now I know I am on the right track.
See you tomorrow. Hopefully with a finished chimney.
4 comments:
creo que has hecho un buen trabajo aunque coincido en que deberia rebajarse un poco mas esa curva, seguro que la dejaras fantastica
besitos
Mari
Love the movie and your ingenious way of solving the structural issue. My mom used that foam a lot to make floral arrangements in the 70s and 80s. When we cleared out the storeroom in the early 2000's, the foam had become super brittle from old age and literally crumbled into dust when we touched it. After all your hard work, that would be a big tragedy years down the line. Before you spackle and paint, perhaps you could do a hardened layer of paper mache to add some reinforcement over the foam (just in case of disintegration)? That way, future generations can still enjoy your hard work decades from now.
Lene, the foam on the right is older. It was just like new to work with. I do plan on using extra coats of gesso and spackle. Those both dry hard as a rock. There shouldn't be a problem. The cups that I did over 20 years ago are still fine, and they are out in the open. I think that the formula for that stuff has been vastly improved over the years.
Your ideas are a source of inspiration.
Bye, Faby
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