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Egg box Angels
Today I am tasking myself with creating an angel mould. That is not to say I know what an angel looks like; I am going to use, as a idea, what I suppose is the modern interpretation of angels taken from medieval paintings, which I think are inspired by Byzantine styles. Some say that on the Feast of Saint Michael (29th September) in the good old days angels were commonly in the congregations. 'Angels were a ubiquitous presence on the medieval landscape.' (Sangha 2014).
Well, I am going with tall with big folded wings that, to me, resemble swan's wings and barefoot; and definitely not wearing glasses, wigs, or track-suit bottoms. In any case, no-one ever saw under their ankle-length shifts. I am also going with androgynous.
I am familiar with Fimo (a sort of malleable plastic type stuff that when baked sets solid but still has a little give) and Das Pronto (an air-dried clay that becomes brittle but ambient humidity prevents it from being crumbly). I have also heard of 'The Lost Wax' process of creating moulds. I have some wax that was a centimetre (sic) seal over cheese in a lidded Fortnum and Masons pot. I have never tried melting wax out of a mould and I am not going to be pouring my egg-box slurry into a mould such as bronze is poured. I will pack the slurry in.
The lost wax process of creating a mould: carve a sculpture from wax; make a mould around it; melt the wax out of the mould; fill the mould with the substance from which the casting will be made; remove the mould, often by intentionally breaking it.
I am fairly certain I shall need to compress the slurry to squeeze out as much water as I can both before I pack it into the mould and while it is in there. Hmm. I don't have a cider-press to hand, and I am loathe to put heavy books near water. Even after compression, I expect the angels to warp as they dry outside of the moulds.
It seems a long process (sculpt; mould; melt; pour; wait; melt; pour; stuff; break; repeat) when I shall already have carved little statues from wax. However, I want to use egg boxes to recycle them and the wax I saved from four Christmases ago. I have used Fimo a while ago as a mould for marionette faces made from the air-drying Das Pronto clay. I am now thinking that wet egg-box slurry might not be friendly to air-dried clay, so i would not be able to use Das Pronto as a mould for wet material. It looks like I need Fimo.
I think I need to buy an angel figurine from which I will compress Fimo onto in two halves; the front of the figurine and the back of the figurine. That way I can force one half against the other to squeeze the water from the slurry, and I shall then not need to break the Fimo mould (Fimo is really quite difficult to break because it is not brittle). Fimo is, I believe, not environmentally friendly though, so I should need to have a plan to mass-produce angel figures to make myself confident that I am not an environment-hooligan. I suspect the gift recipient I originally had in mind scrupulously separates her home waste into the right bins.
Righteous people make the rest of us work really hard, don't they?
I suspect there is little chance of carving a figurine from a blob of dried egg-box slurry with a razor blade. It can be done, since I think I am talking about wood pulp at the end of the day, yet...I am thinking I want to make at least three angels and maybe Three Kings and possibly Mary, Joseph and Jesus. A donkey might need wire support in its legs, unless it is lying down; but I wouldn't want to cause anyone to think that Mary was too heavy for it and it is close to death. Maybe only the star is the only thing within my creative abilities and is the best I can make as a gift!
In case you are wondering: cold water and massaging egg - boxes will break it down into a slightly lumpy slurry that I think can be moulded or shaped as long as you are not looking for too fine detail in your finished piece. Because I left the pulp for a while to see whether it became easier to break apart (I think it does) I added the right proportion of 'Fabulosa' Concentrated Disinfectsant Cleaner to the water beforehand to make sure no bacteria grew. I suggest, if you want your children to join in this is a reasonable precaution. (See below)
I can't help thinking of me as a five-year old making a snowman at school with cotton wool stuck to a cylindrical Fairy Washing-Up Liquid bottle. They are the wrong shape nowadays; too flat. Proctor and Gamble you should be ashamed of yourselves!
Maybe, Proctor and Gamble should bring out a Christmas edition of Fairy Liquid in cylindrical bottles - but because Fairy Liquid lasts sooooo long, they would need to issue it in January! Do we really want holly, Jingle Bells and Santa Claus in January?
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