Creating Plaques for Art

My mother never told me that working with plaster of paris was horrible and hard work.  Still I had an idea, and like always the creative juices takes over my sanity.  I wanted to make plaques that look like rocks but hang on the wall.  To begin with I needed a hanger.  I found the wire attached to a wire mesh to be the most secure.

Now for the not so fun part.  I added dirt to a few containers and placed a light plast sheet over them to create the rustic design I was looking for.  Mixing is a dirty job but I couldn't get anyone else to do it.  The plaster of paris gets everywhere and if you don't do it properly you have a big clump which is good for nothing.

Cleanup is worse - make sure you do not pour it down a drain; although I think sanding may be running a tie on ugliness.  Even using the electric sander there is dust everywhere!



Finally, time to add the base coat.  Trial and error taught me to do the back and put my varnish on it otherwise the paint chips from being handled when working with the front.

Finally, starting to have some fun; but still very messy work.  I ended up with paint all the way to the elbows... try to get that from under your nails.

Yippee, the plaques are all ready for me to do some art work on them. 

What am I creating?  Stay tuned to see my latest and greatest!