Art in Ed

What goes on the bottom?

Technical Notes

So you have just spent $1100 on a sculpture weighing about 10kg. The last thing you want is to scratch your $2000 huon pine sidetable.

I put felt on the bottom of my pieces which I buy either in squares for the smaller ones, or by the metre for the larger ones. This protects the surfaces the sculptures are on as well as helping greater stability of the piece. Here I am putting felt on my piece Shit Happens.

1. Turn over the piece, placing it in a supportive environment (nice music and a psychiatrist on hand).
2. See with shock all the spots you didn't reach when previously painting. Paint.
3. Then apply PVA craft glue to the bottom and avoid dripping over your expensive cushions from Freedom Furniture.
4. Line up felt to cover all bits and stick down... good idea to test if it fits before you start.
5. Turn back over onto a flat surface and wait to settle in position and the glue to dry.
6. Cut out to the shape. (I use very sharp small scissors (which were quite expensive and therefore I treat them with care... no cutting with wet glue!) rather than a Stanley knife or scalpel as it doesn't cause fraying and tearing.)
7. Now place on top of the piano without fear of ruining the polish.

If you wanted to know what is inside my sculptures look closely at the piece lying down. This one is coil built up to the hips which requires a lot of pre-thinking about the intended shape and support structures. Because I wanted the legs showing, I needed a full length cape to support the piece.

posted by Sue Stack @ 9:43 AM