Meditation Stone Sculpture

Using Amaco Crea-stone, create a meditational sculpture to bring calm to a room or garden.

By George Debikey from AMACO

Crea-stone™ is mixed with water to form a paste, then cast in a shape that would be close in form and dimensions to the finished sculpture you want to create. The closer you are to the finished idea the less carving you would have to do.

Crea-stone™ starts to set very quickly - about 20 minutes after you cast it. It is much easier to carve Crea-stone™ early before it sets completely. As time goes by, the harder and harder it gets, the more difficult it becomes to carve. Therefore plan what you want to do ahead of time and finish your sculpture while it is easier to do. You can use any carving or sculpting tools or simply a knife or chisel.

Materials Needed:

AMACO® Crea-stone™ (approx. 5 lbs. needed for this project)
Plastic milk jug or any similar one gallon plastic container
Carving or sculpting tools

Steps:

If your 1 lb. plastic jug has a narrow top, cut it off. Mix Crea-stone™ with water according to instructions and pour into the jug. Wait about 20 minutes or until you are sure the Crea-stone™ will stay together as a firm shape. Cut the side of the jug with a knife and tear the jug off the cast form.
Carve the shape with a knife or sculpting tools. Remember, the idea is to be as close to the final shape as soon as possible. As it hardens, you will have to change carving tools accordingly from a knife to a hammer and chisel. For best results, plan to have the piece finished within four hours time.
The idea of the seated figure reduced the need to do any deep carving and kept the figure very free in form. Even though it is a representative image it is also more of a play between shapes positioned next to each other.
Creating this sculpture is a good, challenging exercise. Try it using an empty milk jug, or an empty cardboard juice container, and find out what you can do without carving anything from the top or bottom. The inspiration for this project came from Michelangelo who went to quarries to purchase stone for his sculptures. He sculpted "David", one of his best masterpieces, from a very odd shaped stone without carving anything from the top or bottom of the stone.