bird NEST

This is my entry for a birdhouse contest that our local newspaper, The News & Observer and the J. Raulston Arboretum hold annually. My entry is for the Flights of Fancy category and will be judged mainly on creativity.

I sculpted a pregnant woman’s body form using wire, Sculpt-a-Mold, Activa Rigid Wrap Plaster Cloth and Plaster of Paris. I left her pregnant belly open so a baby with wings could be seen in the bird nest. I wanted her to look as if she had been an old piece of bronze garden sculpture that a bird had built a nest in the opening. The finish of the lady has a weathered look with over six coats of paints by American Accents and sealers. The baby is made from Pro-Sculpt and Cernit polymer clays and coated with tinted Translucent Liquid Clay and Kato Sauce. Wings are made from Premo and Pro-Sculpt and are coated in Kato Sauce and tinted Translucent Liquid Clay. The egg is made from Premo clay and has a coat of Fleck Stone paint by Plasti-kote and a sealer.

These are pictures of the construction process. I have sculpted several forms up to this point, but had never made a pregnant form. The pictures begin with constructing her pregnant belly. At this point I had already spent over three days sculpting the main form. I made pictures of some of the steps and lots of setbacks and wanted to show some of them so you can see the process and setbacks. Click on smaller picture to see a larger one.

Sculpted lady ready to add her pregnant belly

Note the huge plastic Easter eggs behind her.

I used one as a form to make the tummy.

Half of the egg from Wal-Mart form top of belly. I

cut the form to fit the shape that I had sculpted

on the bottom.

Here’s the form made from Activa Rigid Wrap,

Sculpt-a-Mold and Plaster of Paris. This is a

very strong form even though it is only 1/8” thick.

This is the form with belly being fitted. I completed it and it

was looking so good. I finished the edges and I got in a big hurry

and began applying primer before it was dry. Big mistake!

First disaster---The primer peels off just like sunburned

skin. Now I must remove it and re-sand the entire form.

This was a big lesson in working with these materials.

Always wait for them to dry thoroughly before sealing.

Finished that and it took all day to smooth and

prepare to finish again.

Second disaster---I painted her an antique copper and I left her lying on my table. I was working on my polymer clay table since I did not want to work out in the workshop. The table is too small for polymer clay much less a project this large where I need buckets of water, sanding tools and other materials. I was in the shower and heard a huge crash. I had put weights in her thighs so she would stand up and not be top heavy, but had left her thighs slightly over the edge and lying on the table. She fell off and crashed on her belly. Her belly did not break at all even though it was only about 1/8” thick, but it cracked all the way around where it was connected to the body. So after crying for two hours, I scraped all the loose stuff off and I removed the belly. I was so disheartened I forgot to take a picture of the damage, but here is the belly removed. Looks like a bedpan!

I realized after the first belly that I had not made the belly large enough to hold the baby I was working on. So I decided to start all over. This is the new belly. I like it better. Even though it is more egg shape and not as anatomically correct as the first, it looks great for housing a bird nest and baby.

I sanded everything down one more time. I waited until she was thoroughly dried and then sanded and primed her. This lady is smooth as silk now!

I finished her with primer and several coats of paints and sealers.

Not enough bronze came through here so I redid some of it, but here

are a couple of pictures so you can see what I am trying to do.

This is my first real baby face. One cheek is

larger than the other. As you can see in the

next pictures, I corrected it. Sure glad this is

not for real!

These are pictures of baby as she is going in the oven for next to the last curing. Note that I had already baked parts of her three times before these last two pictures. I used TLS and Kato Sauce to try to get a newborn eggy look. Every time, I had to put the baby in the oven, I had a creepy feeling since she looked so real.

This is the completed baby with wings and in nest. I used some of the moss that miniaturists use to get sort of a soft comfy nest for her. Inside of egg cannot be seen, but I used several coats of TLS and final coat of Kato Sauce to get the shiny egg look inside.

This is the almost completed woman and baby. She has two more

coats of a mix of bronze and copper spray paint applied on high spots.

I am now working on sculpting a stylized bird to put on her shoulder that will be in the same finish as the body and sculpting a tiny realistic looking bird to put on the baby’s finger. Hopefully, it will turn out well. I’ll be taking better pictures once finished and will let you know how the contest goes. Hope you enjoy seeing the process as much as I loved making her---even with all the setbacks and accidents! This creative process was like giving birth!