These eight trophies were completed for the Irish institute of chartered accountants award ceramony which will take place in November 2011 in Dublin.
Each award consists of a large leaf form cast in clear resin with a smaller coloured leaf insignia embedded within the larger form.The sculpture is mounted in a polished Kilkenny marble stone base fitted with a silver engraved plate reading 'Chartered Accountants Published Accounts Awards 2011'.
PROCESS - Each sculpture consists of 1.5 litres of clear casting resin.The coloured insignias are cast first and should be cast two or threes before being cast in the larger form.
I have twice previously completed this award for the chartered accountants so I had
extra leaf shapes left from the last jobs.I used these to make a new silicone mould that could produce four casts.Casting coloured resin is a tricky business and depends on the colour of the pigment also,generally speaking more natural colours cast more evenly like amber yellow. Purple has to be mixed very well before casting.
Mix your resin and catalyst together first and ONLY ADD THE PIGMENT AFTER. If the pigment is added before the catalyst it will prevent the catalyst from reacting properly with the resin. Still even when the procedure is followed correctly the resin with pigment will take longer to cure.
Ratio - 10 grams catalyst : 1 litre
If the insignia is in any way sticky when it is placed in the largeer resin form it will react with the outer resin and cause fractures in the sculpture. This can also happen due to trapped air.Sometimes imperfections will occure and that's life, these are hand made sculptures.
When the insignias are ready to be used a third of the entire 1.5litres (.5 litre)of the resin and catalyst mix is poured into the larger silicone mould and allowed to set completely.After 24 hours the insignia is placed in the centre of dry resin cast and the secound .5 litres are poured. The resin is allowed to pour right underneath the first cast so that it encases it and the insignia. This is allowed to set again for 24 hours before the final layer is cast and this also encases the other two layers making sure at each stage that there are no air bubbles trapped before the resin begins to cure.Do not try to cast a series of moulds simultanously, do each mould singularly.It is possible to cast the initial pigment and resin/catalyst in groups of four but not the larger procedure.Once the resin and actalyst are mixed the compound begins to cure and you must be prepared to react to any eventuality.
Each large cast resin leaf should be taken out of the silicone with care and avoid touching the surface.Hold the sculpture by the base which will be embedded in the marble.Place each cast at an angle and allow two - three weeks to dry in a clean and room temperature enviroment.Even after this period avoid touching the surface and sand with fine paper any rough areas.Try to avoid much sanding as this will smoke up the surface.
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