How it's made

Remember those china molds on the wire shelf in Karen's studio? I've always been curious about them.

Although I am familiar with the process of making resins, chinas are an entirely different thing. Why does it take this many molds to create one Halfling Boreas? And how exactly do you put all those pieces together? It's a mystery.

Well, not anymore!

During the studio part of Karen Gerhardt's recent turtle painting party, she kindly explained - and demonstrated - the china pouring and piecing processes. 

Here's a short video clip of Karen pouring some china.

Since that piece won't be ready for demolding until the next day, Karen had prepared some other pieces in advance.

She had stored them inside a "wet box"

photo by Heather Malone

Here's Karen again.

I did get to hold some of the greenware pieces. They were firmer and drier than I'd expected. Obviously, they still required gentle handling, but in my mind, I think I had been taking that whole "mud ponies" thing a little too seriously. Think clay, not mud.

This clip shows Karen cleaning the seams.

Now it's time to put them together!

Karen uses the exact same clay slip the model is made from to join the pieces together. 

She roughs up the edges a bit, then gloops on the slip.

There needs to be plenty of mud in the seams, so both pieces get a generous amount.

She joins the pieces together and holds them in place until the slip dries.

There's some clean-up and resculpting along the seams, but basically, that's it.

Tada! A new Boreas is on his way to being born!

Thank you so much, Karen, for showing us how to do this. I've always wondered, and now I know.