We are asked to create a personal “Venus of Willendorf“. The operative idea behind this is exploring the possibility of expression through a personal object.
I have chosen to “embody” myself in a small, pocket-sized ball which serves both as a Rosary and as a reminder of the committment Kelly and I share in our marriage. We are bound together by agreement, but more than that by the grace of God.
The two-toned ball has ten “flowers” on it which correspond to the ten beads on a Rosary. The juxtaposition of the Rosary with the reminder of our marital committment is also a reminder to continually pray for grace in our marriage.
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I started with a simple ball of foil and covered it with Sculpey I (polymer clay). After baking the sphere for 25 minutes at 250 degrees, I mixed some Sculpey Premo colors together and applied them to the cooled sphere to create the two colored hemispheres. |
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Using a metal stylus, I carved paths and “beads” into the sphere. There is a single continuous path which travels through all of the beads and joins the hemispheres. |
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I baked the sphere again and after it cooled I sanded it with 400, 600, 800, then 1000 grit sandpaper to give it a smooth surface. I tried to polish the Rosary Ball with my Dremel using a muslin wheel, but the surface began to melt. I sanded away the burnt spots and enhanced the texture by rubbing drawing ink into the carvings. After the ink dried, I sanded it off with the 1000 grit sandpaper. |