Genius Hour Week 2 - Routines

After  a lot of pondering I finally decided to create a new multimedia project and write about it. I had created a 3D Mix Media Mural for the Genius Hour in EEND 679 and being crazy thought why not create another one with more challenging elements to it. 

So here we go - 

I will be creating a Mural with 5 Medias - 3D Clay Relief, 3D Foam Carving, 3D Glass Relief, Cold Enamel Art, Texture Relief. I was familiar with Clay and Texture relief, but was new to the rest.

Day 1 - Spent my time researching on Foam Carving, Glass Relief and Cold Enamel. There are a lot of forums out there that discuss these and were very helpful. The plan was to spend an hour every evening, but as always, once I sit in front of the screen and start looking around I never know how time flies and ended up spending more than 2 hours. 

Day 2 - Gathered the materials needed to complete this project

• MDF board - ¼ inch thickness - 18 by 24 size for the base and 8 by 12 for the side piece - Home Depot
• Apoxie Sculpt Resin Clay  - I already had a box of this but ordered one more at Amazon
• Copper Foil Roll - Amazon
• Oil Paint - Michaels
• Balsa Foam - 8 by 12 by 1 - Blick’s
• Thick Cardboard
• 7” round craft mirror - Amazon
• 8” round mdf board - Amazon
• Craft Glue and Super Glue
• Sculpting tools - We can easily repurpose common household things like popsicle sticks, toothpicks, pen refill etc
•  Pebeo Vitrail Glass Colors
• Epoxy - I decided on Easy Cast Epoxy from Hobby Lobby

Day 3 - As clay takes time to dry, decided to start with the clay part of the project. 

• Prep baseboard with design.
• Apoxie clay comes in two parts - Part A and B. As long as they are kept separate they don't harden. So to use them, mix equal parts of part A and B. Once mixed it needs to be used within 30-45 mins. So it is best to mix as needed.
• Start with the outer border and work inwards. This gives an idea as to how much workable space is actually available.
• For the borders, roll the mixed clay to medium size coils. Apply very little craft glue on the board and place the clay onto it. While the clay is still wet, make diagonal impressions on the clay to give a rope look. I used a skewer to make the impressions. Since the clay is sticky, I used talcum powder to avoid the stickiness. 
  
• Next I worked on the bells. To make the bells, roll the clay to pear shape. Using a rounded tool make a hole in the wide part. 
  
• Using a pointed tool (I used a toothpick) and refill add designs to the bell. To make the rope for the bells, I rolled two thin coils of clay and twisted them together.  Also make tiny teardrop shaped pieces to insert into the base of the bell. Make sure to glue them in place. 
  

Day 4 - I am going to let the pictures speak for themselves as to the work done today.

I spent about 5 hours to complete the above work. 

Day 5 -

The leaves took a really long time to make. I started off with making small teardrops, flattening them and adding the lines. But soon I realized that it would take me forever to finish this part. Luckily I had a small teardrop shaped cookie cutter with me. So I rolled out the clay to a flat circle of about ½” thickness and cut out shapes with cookie cutter. I then added the lines. It was easier to make about 15 -20 leaves at a time and then glue them. Make sure the leaves are glued while still wet. This allows us to shape the leaves. Also, make sure to layer from the bottom.

The amount of time it took me to complete a piece of work once I started made it difficult to come up with a scheduled time every evening. I really need to figure out how I am going to be complete the rest of this project.