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Harvest |
Click on any of the thumbnails to get a closer look.
| After sculpting the face, I pulled out a jar of mica powder, poked my finger into it lightly and then dabbed it around on the surface of the tile. Occasionally I would gently rub an area to make the mica powder "pop" a bit. |  |
| Next I made a solution of one part white glue to six parts water then stabbed my finger deeply into a different color mica powder and stirred the lot with it. When the glue was completely integrated into the water, I picked up my makeup sponge and dunked it into the mix. |  |
| I generously rewet the tile with the diluted glue, making sure I covered the entire surface. Because I needed to remove the still wet tile from the existing mold, I wanted to make certain the surface of the tile could be stiff enough to handle the stress. By adding mica powders to the solution, the added sheen would be subtle enough to not fight with the original color of the pulps. When I finished dowsing the tile, I went over it again with the sponge to, once again, pull as much of the water out as possible. This is where I discovered sculpting the eyes, nose and lips could have waited for this step. After wicking all water out, I washed the sponge immediately so the glue would not harden the sponge and reshaped the facial features. |  |
| To insure the surface of the tile would hold the form from the mold, I pulled out my trusty heat gun and ran it over the surface. What I learned was I had to hold it up close - about one inch or less away - to the surface to dry it. The temperature at that distance from the nozzle is approximately 400°F. I would hand bake a spot for about three to five minutes, pulling the heat gun away every so often and jabbing the spot with my finger. When the location was no longer soft, when it was somewhat stiff but still yielding, I moved to the next location. By moving the nozzle back and forth over a roughly six inch area, I was able to stiffen the tile within approximately 30 minutes. |  |
| Now the scary part. The pulp under the surface is still quite wet and limber. If there was a spot on the surface not stiff enough, the weight of the soft pulp would tear the form. I gently turned the tile over and removed the mold with the ruffle and the plastic wrap. |  |
| Then I very carefully worked the larger mask from one side then the other, from one end to the other and wormed it out. This is the most difficult part to do without pulling the ruffle of the tile from the mask area. |  |
| The tile was then gently placed onto a ceramic tile for baking and gently repositioned to restore the shape of the face and ruffle. |  |
| I preheated the oven to 300°F and baked the tile
for an hour. It worked like a champ. Now - here's a funny story about one of the tiles: My daughter-in-law wanted to bake a pizza. She and I are quite the ditzes and, occasionally, forget to turn the oven off after using it. She noticed I had "left the oven on" and, without thinking, she cranked the temperature up from 300°F to 425°F and left the room, feeling pleased it wouldn't take as long to preheat the oven. When she returned, smoke was billowing out of the oven!!! Her eyes opened to the size of dinner plates and she skittered into the hobby room to tattle on herself and, perhaps, to save the artwork she'd crisped. Fortunately, there was minimal crisping and what did darken was SO perfect I was tempted to repeat the adventure for the remaining two tiles!! I didn't, but I sure considered it! *wink* |
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| When the completely stiff and dry tile was cool, I stuck my finger in the back and held it up to a mirror to find the center point giving it the perfect balance. I made a note of where my finger was when the tile finally appeared to be level. |  |
| I quickly marked the spot before I lost the place so I would know where to adhere the hanger. |  |