SCULPTURE: "Leaf Lion"

This is a piece I created during my "Concrete Phase". I wanted to try and see if I could sculpt a bas-relief wall hanging and do some mold-making as well. I meant for the "mane" to look like leaves, but I'm not sure it really comes off like I intended.


To create the sculpture, I used brown plasticine clay you can get at any hobby shop (it doesn't harden or dry out). The image above left has been "colorized" to look like the original piece did, since the final sculpt is usually destroyed when pulled out of the mold. On the right side, you can see the latex rubber mold I made. It took several days to build up enough layers of liquid latex rubber (again, bought at a hobby shop). Each time I painted on a new coating of latex, I layered cut up strips of used fabric softener sheets from the dryer, to add strength to the mold.

When the rubber mold is about 1/8" thick, I then made a little box around the latex covered lion. I filled the box with cement to make the "mother mold" which will be the support for the latex mold. Above shows the mold after the brown clay sculpt has been removed. On the right, the mold is filled with cement. Notice the little hole I made on the back to hang the piece.

After a couple of days, the final casting has set up enough to pull off the latex mold. The image on the right shows the one that hangs on my back porch!