A Turtle's Journey
Way back in January, I brought home an unfinished fiberglass resin turtle. His destiny was to become a beautiful art piece.
My turtle was part of a lager herd of 29 creatures that would be transformed, displayed and eventually auctioned off to raise money for the Einstein Project, a local organization that supplies area elementary school classrooms with hands-on science projects at no cost to the schools or children.
A couple months ago (wow, I'm a bit behind on my posts!), my little buddy made me proud! He sold for $2200 at the auction, which is enough to broaden the scientific minds of hundreds of children!
My Cozy Quirtle made quite a journey through his creation process. We think he may have been popped out of his mold too early, because he had many deformities that needed to be reconstructed. His nose and mouth were squashed, and many of his fine details were muddled. To solve this, I applied five pounds of Magic Sculpt epoxy clay to the form, building up any areas that needed help. I also used the non-shrinking resin clay to add to his shell, giving it a puffy, quilted appearance.
After the foundation was built up, Cozy Quirtle needed a paint job. First, his shell was masked off and his extremities were coated in stone textured paint. I chose this texture because I thought it would provide a nice contrast to the soft, cozy-looking shell and knitted "turtleneck".
After the stone texture dried, Cozy went in for details. The original quilt pattern was sketched out onto the shell, then carefully painted with acrylics. This was by far the most time consuming step of Cozy's creation, especially with the addition of the individual painted stitches around each and every quilt piece.
For me, Cozy Quirtle represents a warm and loving relationship with the earth. His quilted shell and fuzzy turtleneck portray a feeling of home, and indeed, the earth is our home. I feel Cozy will spread the word that because our planet takes such good care of us, we need to return the favor.
My turtle was part of a lager herd of 29 creatures that would be transformed, displayed and eventually auctioned off to raise money for the Einstein Project, a local organization that supplies area elementary school classrooms with hands-on science projects at no cost to the schools or children.
A couple months ago (wow, I'm a bit behind on my posts!), my little buddy made me proud! He sold for $2200 at the auction, which is enough to broaden the scientific minds of hundreds of children!
My Cozy Quirtle made quite a journey through his creation process. We think he may have been popped out of his mold too early, because he had many deformities that needed to be reconstructed. His nose and mouth were squashed, and many of his fine details were muddled. To solve this, I applied five pounds of Magic Sculpt epoxy clay to the form, building up any areas that needed help. I also used the non-shrinking resin clay to add to his shell, giving it a puffy, quilted appearance.
After the foundation was built up, Cozy Quirtle needed a paint job. First, his shell was masked off and his extremities were coated in stone textured paint. I chose this texture because I thought it would provide a nice contrast to the soft, cozy-looking shell and knitted "turtleneck".
After the stone texture dried, Cozy went in for details. The original quilt pattern was sketched out onto the shell, then carefully painted with acrylics. This was by far the most time consuming step of Cozy's creation, especially with the addition of the individual painted stitches around each and every quilt piece.
For me, Cozy Quirtle represents a warm and loving relationship with the earth. His quilted shell and fuzzy turtleneck portray a feeling of home, and indeed, the earth is our home. I feel Cozy will spread the word that because our planet takes such good care of us, we need to return the favor.
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