How to build an alternative statue ........

Hello everyone, Annette here......

I hoped you've all had a stunning Summer and are ready for an awesome Autumn.

My challenge this month was to create a statue representing the star sign Virgo......mmm that certainly made the old brain cells fizz.  SO......Virgo is represented by the virgin carrying wheat and she is an Earth sign.  With this knowledge I set off on my creative adventure.

Using the wood and metal base, I pushed this through a polystyrene egg (my egg came in 2 parts so I secured it was making tape around the centre and top to bottom) and then packed the bottom of the spike with foil to stop the egg from slipping down.  I used the egg so that I could get a nice full skirt that was supported underneath.

I then built up the top of the egg so that when the plaster head was seated on top the proportions were more balanced.


To attach the head, I used Grace from the European range,  take a piece of foil and wrap it around the figure just below the shoulders and attach to the plaster with masking tape (only a small amount needs to be on the plaster as this will determine your neckline).


Now open up the pocket you have made, with the foil, and sit it on top of the extended egg.  You may need to tear up the sides slightly to get it to sit properly.  Secure with masking tape making sure it is well attached.

As my statue is going to be carrying something, I needed to add hands and arms.  Take a piece of foil and fold it to create a narrow strip.  Place the hands at either end ensuring that the thumbs are pointing upwards at both ends.  Now wrap the foil around the wrists and secure with masking tape.

Take this strip and lay along the back of the plaster head placing the hands to the front.  Check the positioning of the hands and if necessary fold the strip back onto itself behind the shoulders if the arms are too long.  Secure to the back with more masking tape.




Using small pieces of foil fill out the arms and round them out.  Also check that you are happy with the shaping at the waist and the back of the statue, use pieces of foil to build out any areas which need more shaping.

Once you are happy with the overall shape and positioning cover everything with masking tape and then coat the whole statue, including the plaster head, body and base with a layer of Ivory Powertex. Lay a small piece of clingfilm between the hands and body to stop them sticking together.

Now let this dry


For the clothing I used Ivory Powertex and worked it through strips of Natural Paper Decoration for the bodice/sleeves and muslin for the skirt, I used four separate pieces of muslin so that I could shape each piece over the fullness of the egg.  It is also easier to work with smaller pieces that one larger piece.

Let this dry.

I liked her at this stage and would be happy leaving her here however she needed something to represent the Earth sign so.....

I took a piece of Powertex Rice Paper (the one I choose had images of the earth/sun and moon on which fitted perfectly with the Earth sign) and using a wet paintbrush I drew around the shapes I wanted before pulling them from the piece.  This causes a feathered edge which blends into your background better than a cut straight edge.

Using Powertex Easy Coat Matt varnish, I attached the pieces to the dry clothing.  I coated both the clothing and the back of the rice paper then pressed the piece into place.  Using a soft brush starting at the centre of the rice paper smooth it out towards the edges,  this stops it tearing and ensures it is all stuck down.  Now take some more varnish and coat the front of the rice paper ensuring you go over the edges.

Leave this to dry

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She now needed colour adding in to pull everything together.


On a spare piece of fabric I tried using tea stain to see if this would work but decided it was too flat.






I played around and found that the Powercolor Yellow worked perfectly so I mixed this with Easy Varnish and heavily dry brushed the clothing.

For the hair I mixed the yellow with mocha Powercolor to give it more interest.  The eyeliner and eyebrows are a thin line of Bronze Gold  Colortrix and varnish  and the lipstick is coral Powercolor.

To finish her, I found some seed heads in a nearby field and made a small bunch for her to hold.

You could make a statue to represent any of the Zodiac star signs and use different rice papers to tie into the specific attributes of the sign.

I hope you've enjoyed this project and look forward to seeing what you make.  Don't forget to post your pictures on our facebook Powertex Addicts United or Powertex Studio

Until next time, happy Creative Adventures

Axx

From Skye to Sea

From Skye to Sea by Abigail Lagden

I'm so excited to be part of the 2018 Powertex Design Team and for my first blog I wanted to share with you a place that is very special to me - the Isle of Skye.

It is a place of awe-inspiring beauty and diverse geology, from the looming Cuillin mountain range, across the bleak peat bogs, to the rugged cliffs and the many and varied beaches. The weather can be wild and changeable, but that is just another part of the beauty and inspiration of the place.

Glenbrittle Beach (that's me lurking on the right with my lurcher, Benson)

On every visit, my other half (Tom) and I spend many a day exploring the outdoors, particularly the coastline. As a photographer, Tom is captivated by the light on the waters and takes stunning and emotive landscape pictures. I, on the other hand, mooch around, head down looking for treasures. 'Treasures' are what I call the things I collect from beaches and they can be anything from shells to stones to driftwood to glass.

Me, collecting treasures!!
(Excuse the attire - it's cold in December)

Our last visit was just before Christmas and as usual I collected some treasures whilst out and about, so I thought I would incorporate a few of them into a sea-themed plaque. This is just one of the things I love about Powertex - how you can repurpose, recycle and reuse so many things to create something unique and beautiful.

The shells and grass roots were collected from Glenbrittle beach (above) and the coral pieces were collected from coral beach at Claigan (below). 

Coral Beach, Claigan - the yellow beach is made up of little bits of coral as shown in the insert

But enough of the beauties of Skye, let's talk about my little project. The base ingredients for my Skye to Sea Plaque design were:

• Powertex MDF journal cover (A5)
• Powertex Easy Structure
• Bronze Powertex Universal Medium
• Powertex White Paper Decoration
• Small Powertex MDF seahorse (from set of 3)
• Powertex 3D sand and small balls
• Shells, coral and grass roots collected from the beaches on Skye (all washed and thoroughly dried)

I often use the journal covers to produce hanging plaques, and just cover four of the holes to leave two to hang it with. Although of course this design would also have made a gorgeous cover for a journal.

I am obsessed with texture and don't like any plain, flat surfaces in my creations, so first I used structure paste to create some coral-like patterns on the MDF cover, before painting it all with bronze Powertex. 

Rough layout of design (unsurprisingly in changed)

Next I laid out a rough arrangement of the bits and pieces I wanted to include - it is a good idea to do this at the start even if the layout changes as you progress through your projects.

Hollow shapes like shells can be tricky to attach securely to a project, so I like to mix a bit of 3D sand into some of the Powertex to produce a thicker paste which will hold them firmly in place. In this project I spread some of this paste over the areas where I wanted to place the shells and the coral. The shells were then filled with the paste before being positioned and the coral was just sprinkled directly onto the paste. To fill the gaps between the coral and the shells I sprinkled some small 3D balls over the area.

I added some pattern and texture to the seahorse using structure paste before attaching to the plaque and painting everything with a coat of bronze Powertex.

Left to dry before bringing to life with colour!

I coated the grass roots with Powertex and added them to make a sea plant. The texture was fantastic and I really wish I had picked up more of this stuff - I know what I'll be looking for next time I'm at a beach - although care had to be taken when colouring as it was still rather fragile.

Then finally I used pieces of white Paper Decoration coated with Powertex to make some stringy seaweed around the sides.

Now time for some colour!

To produce a lovely blue-green multi-tonal sea colour I mixed blue, green, turquoise and white powercolors with easy varnish, in different quantities to get different shades and tones. This was applied using a dry brushing technique, layering the different colours gradually to blend the tones. Once I was happy with the result I couldn't resist adding some shimmer so I used terragreen as well as the amazing new interference powders (blue, red and lilac) to give the scene some iridescence.

Then just a piece of t-shirt yarn tied through the holes for hanging and there you have my Skye to Sea Plaque.

From Skye to Sea by Abigail Lagden

I hope you have enjoyed my first Design Team blog, I know I have. 
You can see more of what I am up to on my Curiously Contrary website and Facebook Page.

Until next time, Abs x