I did a few slip castings with my first mold. After my first bout with failure on this step, I decided it wasn't the end of the world and went back for another try. After about 2-3 castings I got a hold of it. I had to play around a little with the timing.
I used to think that cast ceramic pieces were not art, just reproductions. But through my recent lessons I have come to find that making molds is an art in itself… learning to mix the plaster, how long it takes for the plaster to set up, the mess it creates, and how to open the plaster mold once it is dry and remove the original. After all that, the mold needs to be dried completely, sanded and repaired before even casting.
I have also learned that slip casting is another art to learn... luckily I can buy pre-mixed slip. I could learn to mix it myself and save some money... we'll see how things unfold before taking on that chore! The setup time for the slip to dry is trial and error (mostly error so far) and removing it from the plaster successfully is yet another technique that should be mastered with making any molded piece. It’s a huge undertaking.
I was very excited about the first cast piece coming out in good form.
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