maymester course at Chatham taught by professional artist, Pat Lasch



Pat Lasch instructed by demonstration
(though this is not me, this is the process i went through, see previous post)

 



a mask i made of a fellow student



a casting made by using the skin mask as a mold

the process of making the casting of my face utilized plaster strips dipped in fairly fluid plaster we hand mixed and then layering strips on face very liberally. special care was taken to seal the eyes with vaseline (plaster will burn the eye) and to coat the face and hairline with a smooth layer of vaseline as well (this allows for easier release without removing/pulling hair out). it is obviously imperative to leave the nose open for breathing!



this skin mask that Professor Pat was making, as pictured above,can be used as a mold. you can do this by  carefully sealing the nose holes with soft clay (you can also fill any air pockets created when making the skin mask for a smoother casting) the inside of the skin mask is then coated with murphy's oil soap by dipping a wet paint brush and lathering it onto the inside of the mask. plaster is then mixed (note: the warmer the water used when mixing plaster the faster the plaster will set) and the plaster was poured into the mask in graduating layers as the plaster thickened; the plaster is continuously monitored and coaxed into filling the mask without running out. (add a bent paperclip for a hanger before it is set-up). once set-up the mask is left over night to dry completely and then the skin mask is pulled away from the plaster. the skin mold will only be good for one "perfect" casting but you can use it more for "warped" castings if desired.



Any flaws in the casting can be corrected by using spackling compound, thinned with water and painted on, applied thick, or you may use the light weight kind. this process can also be used to smooth the casting out to very smooth surface by very fine sanding of the dried spackled piece.

pictured above is the raw cast of my own face as it was taken right out of the skin mask. the brown is from the soft clay that i used to fill the little air pockets in the skin mask.



"camouflage"

This mask was the original mask that Pat Lasch made of my face. I used more plaster strips and a twig (as instructed) to add texture and then i chose to paint the dried mask with craft acrylic paints.



hand sculpture of three separate parts of the face (other student's modeled for the ear and eye and i sculpted my own mouth by looking in a mirror)



we used pottery clay to create the separate parts of the face. it was interesting to learn (by repetitive instruction and guidance) to see the face as it really is not as we perceive it to be... take a moment and really look close at the eyes, mouth, and ears of people you meet today... notice how very different the 'construction' of these parts are and how they vary in size, color and shape from what you expect them to be. then try to create what you have learned... it really is very enlightening!

these projects were fun and i really learned a lot about the process' and form.  i also personally connected with my art with ease. i believe that a workshop on plaster casting and/or self-sculpture would be very appropriate and helpful in an art therapy setting.  

hope all is well with my visitors! leave me a note and/or a link to your work  :O)

lovingly,

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