For my final sculpture project I decided to go all out! I decided to make a large (4'x4') mosaic table top for my patio table. I broke many plates and glued many pieces of china to create this mosaic. It was a big job but now I am glad I did it. It looks so nice compared to the plywood top it had previously. I am going to try to stain the grout darker with some acrylic paint. I will then seal the grout and paint the edge of the table. The piece does add a lot of beauty to my garden.
Thanks to Jamie my sculpture instructor for allowing me to create projects that enhance my home and my life.

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I have been saving chipped and broken plates for awhile because I wanted to make a mosaic table top. So for  my sculpture class project I chose to make a mosaic top for a plant stand.  I found the project fun and challenging. After breaking the plates with a tile nipper I had to arrange the pieces like a puzzle (pieces that did not fit together!). Then I placed grout between the china pieces. This piece now sits on my front porch between two white wicker chairs. The mosaic table top has added a nice touch  to my porch.

This is my butterfly on the rock sculpture. I carved the rock shape and the butterfly out of plaster of Paris. I used a hammer and chisel to create the rock formation. And to create the butterfly I used a small butter knife to carve out the shape.

I liked creating this project because I knew it was something I was going to keep. It now resides in my back yard. The birds have already christened it, but that just helped to make it look more natural!

This is my sculpture of Fran, a model who came to model for our sculpture class. I found this project very challenging for many reasons. First I had never sculpted a person's head before or observed a real breathing person to portray their likeness in 3-D. It was difficult to see every little detail, I think it is the details that make or break the piece. I felt my sculpture did resemble Fran but not as well as I would have liked it to. I know this project helped me to observe details more carefully.

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Sculpture

This is a shelf that I made from plaster of Paris. I used a plastic container for the original shape. I chiseled away a portion, then carved the design. The tools I used for this project was a rubber mallet, a chisel and a butter knife. The plaster was soft so it was easy to carve.