Challenged by Murphy

Well, frustration has certainly set in. I have spent the last week sculpting a stylized wing form in foam as part of a bronze casting project. I organized a late night blow time (11pm tonight) with a fellow glass worker so I could create the glass feathers and the egg for my sculpture. Yesterday, I tried to start the molding process to create a wax copy of the foam positive only to discover I didn't have enough clay on hand and the Clay store is only open Monday - Friday. How could I be so off in my planning? So today, I went in and worked with old clay to soften it and get it ready for the first step. Just as I was finishing this step, one of the other students also at the same step discovered we didn't have any plaster. He gave up in frustration and left.

Stopping what I was doing, I went off in pursuit of plaster. First one store and then the next is closed, only then do I realize, 'Duh, its Easter Sunday!' Nothing is open...except for Walmart! Off to Wallyworld and I bought the last two containers of crafting plaster.

Back at school, I discover that this crafting plaster sets up much faster than what I am used to and its a mad scramble to get it into the form before it completely hardens up. An hour later I flip the form, peel away the clay bed around my foam, coat everything with vaseline/oil and start to mix the plaster only to find I don't have enough material. A quick panic call and a ceramics friend shares his stash of plaster and I'm back in business.

After everything sets up, I take away the forms only to discover that the oil didn't work and the plaster has adhered to the first pour and now my foam form is totally encased in a block of plaster. I contemplate the pleasure of hurling the whole mess against the far wall...Instead I cancelled the glass slot because I needed the positive for the glass working. Class starts in 16 hours and I don't know what to do. Damn that Irishman, Murphy!