More Fun with Wax

 Lots of waxes made, would have been good to make more but time is a factor.

The next stage is to attach the wax sculptures to wax poles (just a cylindrical length of wax). Sounds easy but far from straight forward.

Hot plate on and tools heating up... The trick is to hold the wax cylinder and the piece close together, insert the heated flat tool between them, slightly squeeze together and slide out the tool.

Oh yes, without burning yourself on the tool, dropping the waxes or dropping burning wax on yourself. (hint: it hurts)

3 attached

attached to the bowl

Next, a thicker cylinder is attached to the bowl/bucket and the smaller ones attaached to that. They are upside down at the moment.

Tomorrow!!!

Exciting times -  I'm off to the Scottish Sculpture Workshop tomorrow for a week residential. 

Many thanks again to the award from VACMA throught Aberdeen City council.

These are the beech leaves I'm using to make molds.

                                                        Beech - Faidhbhile (Scottish Gaelic)

old & new plaster leaves

I decided to carve another leaf, this time larger. I thought it may be too big but on my usual walk up the road from the house I realised that the leaves on the copper beech hedge were the same size. And then of course it occurred to me that the smaller leaf fitted beautifully in my hand but I have fairly small hands so a leaf to fit a larger hand was necessary.

I have been researching a little and found some interesting information about the beech leaf. Now how much of the mythology is true I don't know but I like the ideas.

"Slivers of beech wood and leaves were once carried as talismans to bring good luck and increase creative energy." (www.thebeechtreeinkirriemuir)

Also no harm was said to befall a lost traveller who sought shelter under the branches of a beech.