Cathy Erdmann's Art

The Plaster Mother Mold

Today I went to visit Sam while he worked on the plaster mother mold for Hayden's sculpture.  Our conversation was all about sausages and patties and buttons and tabs.  I'll explain as you scroll through the following photos.

Buttons and tabs are what hold the mold together and keep it from distorting or shifting when the wax is poured.  The button on the left recesses into the plaster and the tab on the right will house a bolt.

The mother mold is made from plaster and hemp (old mariners rope).  Sam is making the sausage that will go around the outer rim of the rubber mold.

The sausage goes around the rim and the patties go in the middle.  I know it may sound funny, but it describes the process very well.

Mold making is an art that requires a technical knowledge of the casting process as a whole.  Decisions regarding where to place seams, how many cuts to make, materials, etc. go into making a mold that will last many years and go through multiple castings.

Hayden's mold is nearly finished and then on to the wax room.  Sam has done a wonderful job!

Hayden's Monument at the Mold Maker

It's exciting to see Hayden's sculpture progressing along at the mold maker!  This is Sam and he works the magic of seeing to it that the clay is reproduced exactly as he receives it.  Several coats of blue silicon rubber will be applied to the sculpture over the next week.

This sculpture will be divided into five different molds in order to allow for the casting process.  The rings you see around the ankles mark two of those sections.

Mold Maker Part 2

The rubber is completed on the little orphan girl and now she gets a coat of plaster and hemp.  This is called the mother mold, it cradles the rubber in a nice hard shell.

Off to the Mold Maker

After a couple of adjustments the orphan is finished!  Darin suggested the lips be smaller and the left hand be changed to match the drawing a little closer.  These small details make a big difference and her hand now portrays "determination" rather than "resignation".

Throughout the next month you will be able to follow along and watch as this sculpture passes through the hands of many artists and turns from clay to bronze.

This is Sam, the mold maker.  Today the sculpture gets coat number one of rubber.  Over the next few days several more coats of rubber will be applied.

The brush cannot be used to force the rubber into the delicate facial features, so air is blown into the face to make sure the rubber will pick up all the details without distorting anything.