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Projects
I started by looking at the plastic I had around the house, settling on a milk carton and yogurt chip container to create a kind of plant pot. I realized then that I am terrible with plants, and would never use it. Then, after taking my recycling out, I realized that I had this awesome apple carton that would make for a really interesting mold shape. Here is when I decided to make a tea candle holder (that technically can hold water).
I had to restart my molding process for my first vessel because I realized the original half of the mold that I wanted to use was too deep for the amount of concrete I had, and probably required mesh support in the between sections. I decided to move the concrete to the other, shallower side of the carton. I ended up preferring this shallower half of the carton and kept it for my second draft.
I attempted to add a pattern to the insides of the mold (the outsides of the vessel) but my technique was lacking. The majority of the wheat I used just got encased into the mold. I decided that the next time I did this I would use a deciduous leaf or something flatter rather than this weird wheaty-flower thing from my yard, and try gluing it to the side of my mold instead of hoping the concrete will keep it in place.
I also had a hard time smoothing out the top of the vessel because of the bottles, so I wanted to try to find a new way to mold the little tea holes by cutting the bottles down so there’s mostly just the cap and a little part to hold to remove them. I also disliked the look of the holes, as they seemed a little sandy, so I wanted to find a new way to mold them smoothly.
For the final vessel, I decided to simplify my original plan. I nixed the idea of adding texture through plants, partially because it was late in the night when I was doing this and I didn’t want to go into the street to pick leaves, but mostly because I was concerned about the plants I had access to, and thought they would likely lead to the same issue I had before. So, I ended up simply setting the concrete as it was, and quite liked the polished and rather un-concrete-like look the plastic ended up giving the outside of the vessel. I got the idea to paint the inside of the holes where the tea candles would settle but didn’t want to do so until the concrete cured for a couple of days in plastic.
