I’m concentrating on pottery at the moment (as my second job) and it needs focus.  All that drying and bisquing and glazing.  But I like art of all kinds.  And I won’t do pottery forever, I’m sure.  So last week I took some time out to take a class at SmoothOn in Macungie, Pennsylvania.

Wow, what a great course.  I took beginners mold making and casting and it was so much fun.  Not only did we learn about every product (pretty much) that they make, we learned how to mix up rubbers, silicons and resins carefully.  We also got a tour of the premises and met a lot of very talented people.  I had a great time.  While a lot of this won’t apply to my pottery, some of the techniques used for mold making will be a big help.

We started with a Buddha head and little decoration,  and then made a mold and then cast from the mold.  The Buddha on the left had copper powder brushed on the inside of the mold before casting in black resin, and the one on the left was a marble technique.