Another beautiful day

I can't believe the weather here - it's been really sunny again today. And warm enough for some of the locals to be out and about in t-shirts; not me though, it's not that warm. I need tropical temperatures before I'm tempted to get my arms out!

I don't know whether the sun's had anything to do with it, or whether it was the extra hour and a half I allowed myself in bed this morning, but I feel a lot more positive about my mould making today. I think it's probably got more to do with a pep talk I had from Enge (soft 'g'), another artist-technician here (and Ginny's other half), when I got in this morning. He assures me that even he, who has worked in a foundry and has been making 'proper' sculpture for yonks, has to make many trial wax pours before he gets it right. In fact, he told me that a small geometrical piece he's working on took sixteen attempts to come up trumps and he was wondering why he was bothering and wouldn't it be quicker just to make them by hand - only in rather more colourful language that I understand only too well - before he had the Eureka! moment.

I have seen his casts and they look immaculate. Maybe perseverance is a word I should adopt a little more often... I'm also beginning to realise that moulding and casting is an art and not the science that I thought it was. I just assumed that there was a prescribed technique that you followed and once you'd mastered the skill you'd be on your way. But the truth is that there are so many variables that each mould you make will be different from the last, even though its purpose is to be able to make hundreds of the same thing, which is a nice irony really.

Enge has given me several other pouring techniques to try out before I declare my first ever mould a complete disaster, and that's what I plan to do tomorrow. Today I began a third mould; it's nothing special, just a bird skull that I found on my walk to Kildrummy on Saturday. I think it probably belonged to a crow, judging by the size of it. Who knows, maybe it'll give me some new ideas, I feel like I could do with some...(even just one!)