MAD SCIENTIST!

In a week that I have so many more important things to do….you know…laundry…closet cleaning…etc.  I stopped and had a “mad scientist” art day!  I have an opportunity to create and sell some small sculpture but was looking for another material (other than the clay) to work with.  I have a ton of this polystyrene from and earlier work. It is thin like metal, but getting it to hold a shape was the challenge.  The first attempt was heating it with a plain old clothes iron between aluminum foil…NO GO…too hot edges buckled and curled.  

Then back on to the internet that said that it's molecular structure had little resistance to solvents and I had a half a gallon of mineral spirits!  It worked great…one quick dip and it was totally moldable and when dry held it’s shape….woo-hoo….thought I had it! BUT it also became so brittle that if you looked at it crooked it would break….and I mean just snap!  NO GO #2.  

The third try was to use boiling water, perhaps heat that was consistent and not as hot as an iron (even at it’s lowest setting) might work….wah-lah….!  Kind of tricky to control the movement in the water…but so far using twine to hold a shape in the boiling water works!  I suspect there may be many other options, just will take more experimenting!

"Hammer and Nails"  Indigo Girls