Finishing clay sculpture

[Serendipity]

After several weeks work at a class my sculpture was kiln dried. It burst and I put it back together with arodite glue. it naturally didn't quite fit so I was told to fill the spaces with milliput putty.

My question to my instructor was can I sand the clay sculpture down to alter it's appearance and she said no as the dust was too fine and carsonagenic.

Could anyone please advise? I really loved the work and wanted to turn it into a Bronze but not with the lumps in it as is.

Also the shellac has gone on so have I missed my opportunity to make these changes?

Is acrylic paint the same as shelac? Cold I use that instead?

Any help would be very much appreciated.
Thanks
Antonetta

[racine]

use your own judgement Antonettta, im sure a puff of epoxy dust once a blue moon wont floor you, there are always masks.
shellac is a wax like material secreted by small insects which live on tree bark in indonesia, it disolves in ethanol [methylated[purple] spirits] its wonderful. acrylic is a modern oil based water soluble emulsion. bit like hodge podge.

[Serendipity]

Racine,
Thank you, I'll sand it down then so it's as I want it to look . I'll get some of my own shelac. I just felt that the tutor wasn't empathising with my need to produce a beautiful object after 12 weeks of work! I fealt like not going back after it blew up! actually someone elses work hitting it when it shattered!
Oh well, I suppose the tutor gets her money, I just wanted something nice at the end to show for my money. It's only my second work in clay but I loved it.
Thanks for your advice.
Antonetta

[racine]

i remember being at school and loving the 'pottery' spent all off hours there.. however if there was someone we didnt like using the kiln we used to make these fake objects which were in fact 'hollow bombs' the sole purpose to do just that..... it was usually retributional when some kid was fool enough to damage our own work...or just for the hell of it.. kids are great no?

[Serendipity]

That's naughty! I can see how that could work.
Best wishes.

[Andrew Werby]

Sanding a fired clay sculpture isn't going to be much fun, even if it doesn't kill you. If you can't bring yourself to do it over again, and the damage is fairly minor, I'd say make the mold anyway, and do any surface refinement necessary in the wax, which won't put up nearly as much of a fight. Once the wax is perfect, you can either remold it, or send it off for casting.

Andrew Werby
www.unitedartworks.com

[Serendipity]

Thanks Andrew,
That's a really good idea! Looked at your website. You know the saying "wish you were here?" well I wold love to hand it over to you to help me make the dream come true, but you're the other side of the world!
I've tried sanding it since my last post and it wasn't easy. Wax would be much much easier. I'll investigate foundries near home. I'll try to post a picture soon to sea if any one else agrees with me or if it's thumbs down.
Thanks for your suggestion.
Best wishes

[Buster]

Another suggestion that you might want to try sometime if you want to make some major or minor changes to a fired sculpture or a plaster cast:
I've had cases where I sort of liked a sculpture, but for whatever reason wanted to change it after it was fired or molded - or just change the surface treatment. In some cases, I first carved off (in cases of plaster casts) or literally broke off parts that I wanted to change. Then I melted some plasteline and painted a very thin layer over the entire surface of the sculpture with a stiff brush. Areas that I wanted to redo, I just added more plasteline and modeled it like a clay original. Once remodeled, I made a mold for additional castings of the revision.
You might be able to do the same with the fired clay with shellac if you want to change the entire surface - or just apply clay to the bumpy area and you may be able to blend the edges of the plasteline clay area with the fired clay, matching the texture. You can use paint thinner on the clay to soften the transition area or to help texture it like the rest of the sculpture.
It is a lot of work though, but not as much as starting over from scratch. I would have repaired the original fired sculpture with hydrocal or majic sculpt after the pieces were glued together (making sure the glue stays away from the outer edges). Those materials can be carved and sanded, etc to make a seamless repair. If you like working in wax, you can try melting wax instead of plasteline and do the same thing (paint it on, rework the surface, then mold). Wax might not stick so well to the shellac - but you can experiment on a small area and see.
I've also done plenty of sanding on my fired (or just dry and ready to fire) originals. Just wear a respirator.