Can't wait till May 2010....

If everything goes according to plan.... I'll be done with school May 24th, 2010 !~

From the looks of it right now, I currently got one set back on a history course and the online offer is already stolen in the registration process @_@.... :: fingers crossed for someone dropping it!! :::....hahahhaaa

This years Cluster Review on Monday was rather refreshing. It's something they've never done before, which is invite a variety of Professors into our sessions and have a few set of fresh eyes giving us their opinions. Instead of picking on where we lacked or saying what they liked.... I felt like they were more kin on giving us a sense of direction for our Senior Thesis.

I don't know the name of that Professor who asked me which pieces would represent me at best at the moment.... but she was right on the money with that question; It also hit the nail on the head for me. I think it is the right direction for me and I know just how to go about it. I don't feel lost, it expresses my anxiety with a sense of clarity and I don't struggle during the making process. (which means I'm not hindered by my inner turmoil), aka AWSOME! hahahhaha

I'm the bottle lady in my painting class, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Casting Stuffed Animals..."Experiments"

This semester, I might of been a little too ambitious after an introductory course last year. I had the idea to cast toys and of all things, stuffed animals to be exact. I Googled and didn't see any assistance online or even a helpful forum, nor on the smooth-on web site; it also felt wrong for me to bother my newly wed Professor on her break. So I "Experiemted" with the materials, casting methods and the stuffed victims from my childhood.

A>Then the other option of a 99cent store Christmas panda, that has arms and legs that extents like a stick figure.

I used alignate to make a mold of the Christmas panda, after I vaselined it.
The panda in the container started to float, after I poured in the alignate....= Epic Fail
Because this phenomenon caught me by surprise....I poured more material in to secure the cure time inorder to keep making the mold, while poking it down. Then I mixed plaster and poured, just to find out it broke after I removed the mold.

B>The conventional stuffed animal that's mostly round in shape with no real significant figural definition in it's form.

Because the last victim floated, I decided to ice this one after soaking it in water.
I left it in the freezer till it was completely solid, then I took it out a few times fixing the ears or other areas that got crushed in the container during icing. It was re-freezed a few times till I liked how it looked before my second attempt of mold making.
I used OoMoo30, this time.
To secure the teddy bear from floating.... I added about 1-2cm of water at the bottom of the container and iced it. Mixed the OoMoo and then poured it in. The ice started to melt and I noticed the teddy elevated in the container. I was hoping I'd be able to remove the Teddy safely during demolding so I put it back in the freezer to cure the OoMoo30.
I did however, poke the Teddy Bear down with a wooden stick till it's a little more stable from the liquidity form after pouring in the material.
BUT.... OoMoo typically needs to be cured at room temperature and not in the freezer.
So... it was rather interesting 12hrs later.... lol
The OoMoo itself was so rubbery, like chewed gum.... it was hard to cut and demold.
So it was left out in room temperature to cure, again.
The mold turned out hard and stiff, incomparsion to how it usually would of cured.
Where there was melted water drops, it made a little mold print of its own.
The Teddy was also trapped within the mold after the ice had melted into water again.

So Epic Fail #2


Now, for anyone interested in visuals of my bad casting experience...
Here's a link to my facebook photo album.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2112464&id=35406120&l=b4ca2b5ada