Little Bird

I'd like to introduce you all to Little Bird.



Little Bird is the first sculpture I made after moving the The Grid. I wanted to make a small, simple elegant shape to practice refining my mould making skills on.

He's based on quail which I saw running around at the Stratford Butterfly Farm. I just loved their plump smooth shape.

The Little Bird mould proved to be more of a challenge than I anticipated. I used the waste mould method. First I sculpted Little Bird in clay, then I made a mould of it using alginate and cast a replica in plaster. Then I finally started making the simple two part mould.

So far so good. The first half of the mould popped off perfectly, but the replica would not release from the other side of the mould no matter what.

I'm still not entirely sure what went wrong, it must have been a tiny yet significant undercut.
As a result I had to use the hammer and chisel method to get the replica out of the mould.

Luckily the mould itself survived and I could finally begin casting Little Birds.
Soon I had a whole flock of Little Birds. Making the mould was definitely worth the effort. :)

Little Bird can be used as a tea light, or can be placed in a planter as an ornament or for plants to grow through. Or it can be used in flower arrangements.

The holes in the back of Little Bird are hand cut without a template so each bird is different.

Check back soon for experiments in glazing Little Bird.