Here's our third update on our slip casting process!!
Last post was all about making the master form and the mold. I know....totally boring....but now the really fun part where we actually get to make real things!!
Here's how it goes:
The 2 part plaster molds are held together by couple of thick rubber bands. Once assembled, pour pre-mixed, pre-configured clay slip into the mold. Start timing! It's pretty amazing how primitive this whole process is, but it totally works!
So here's Heath pouring slip into one of his molds.
Here's my little gem shaped mold with slip poured in.
The slip sits in the mold and the plaster in the mold eventually absorbs the water from the clay. This will harden the clay body and create a wall thickness all around the shape inside. Once it achieves the ideal wall thickness, we pour out the rest of the slip and just let it sit for a bit!
Here we have Dylan trying to blow in the mold thinking it would speed up the drying process....but that's not proven to be very time efficient.... So do not follow his technique. :P
My slip cast gem taken out of the mold after the clay had hardened. You can see where the pour spout and the parting line is where the molds met. All that has to be trimmed and cleaned up afterward. This is the fun part for someone who's a little OCD like me....it's a totally gratifying step to just use some tools to trim and clean everything up so it looks all nice and neat!
And here are some finished trimmed gems & critter paws!
.....and here's our first trimmed piggy!! YAY!!
OUR FIRST BABY!!
I've never had a baby...but considering how much I had to go through to get this baby out, I'd imagine the feeling of accomplishment and love is similar to delivering an actual one.....I'm 95% positive...
Except this baby saves money....unlike a real human baby which in contrast would COST a lot of money...I hope this baby pig will be a good investment. :)
So here's our first batch of some fired pieces!! I can't explain how awesome it is to be able to start with some liquid clay and end up with finished products that we designed! It just totally makes me really appreciate the art of slip casting. Even though it's more of a production process, it still required so much time & care in every step of the process to make it nice. 
And finally....a finished & glazed piggy! WOO HOO!!
We didn't have the right type of black glaze for this first one....so just glazed it white. So this one still isn't the real deal (Sorry for all the build up)
But I just feel the need to share this one because it is our first child!! Yes..we'll totally be the type of parents to take a BUNCH of photos of their first child and then don't bother with the second child...
We designed it with simplicity of form and function in mind...we want as much smooth surfaces to maximize the chalkable surface, also designed it so the pour spout (where we pour the slip) is actually the piggy's snout! Eh? You like that??
But really...we just wanted to make a simple mold that we can easily do ourselves. :D
Granted this little piggy have cost us more than we want to think about...we still believe that it'll all be worth it in the end. We really hope we'll get our return when we launch the real thing at the NYIGF!! I'm keeping my fingers crossed!