A while ago I did a series of pieces with animals acting out various familiar sayings. One of these pieces was called Idle Hands. In it I had several cute little bunnies staring up at you. At first glance, they are meant to be cute, but upon investigation, they are meant to disarm you, by showing their subversion. Well, I am also of the opinion if one thing is scary or disturbing, then a lot of is waaayy worse. Clowns come to mind for me, sorry if you like them. Not that I am sorry about what I said, I’m sorry that you like them. They are scary to me.
So. Instead of hand making 50 of the little devils, I am making molds. Here’s how that goes.
Pouring silicone for mold.
It’s like cooking, but with out using heat, maybe it’s like bartending. Without the tip part, that is. Here I am mixing the catalyst in.
Added purple catalyst
The silicone I am using I got locally at AeroMarine which has a lot of fun stuff. This silicone doesn’t require you to vacuum it to remove the bubbles. Which is nice since I am a vigorous mixer.
So where does this mixed molding material go? Into the molds. I made little wood forms, then mounted the bunnies inside with some plastelene clay and that’s about all there. When the silicone is cured, I will z-cut the silicone apart and get the mold ready for filling. Silicone works great for this method since it cuts so nice and seems to sort of act self healing.
Bunnies in boxes
Pouring silicone into mold during this time, you can add your own little bunny voices as needed. I did
Now we wait….
Sort of, we do have some fun popping the bubbles on the surface. Next we cut the bunnies out and begin the odyssey that is lost wax bronze.