The process to complete this bust of my friend Dan was immense, and took an entire semester during my 10th Grade, when I was 17 years old.

We started with a clay sculputre assembled on an armature. From there, the sculpture was covered in a plaster cast that was completed one half at a time (first the front, then the back). When dry, the cast was cracked open along the seam and the clay was then scooped out. The hollow mold was then cleaned and coated with a thin film of soap to create a barrier against the plaster positive that would be poured into it. The 2 halves were there put back together again, sealed with plaster gauze, and turned upside down. Then in went a whole bucket of plaster and it was left to dry.

Then, with mallet and chisel, I slowly chipped away at the plaster mold, revealing the positive. The plaster was then spray-painted bronze and a thin coat of multi-coloured patina was added in order to give it that aged appearance.

Because it's plaster, it's extremely heavy and very prone to chipping. I'm actually amazed it's lasted this long, given the amount of times it's been moved to new homes.

To this day it remains one of my favourite pieces...

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