As I have a background in fine art, from time to time I will have clients that want custom artwork. My latest work that I did for a client was one of my absolute favorites! My client wanted a cast of her belly bump to use as a decorative bowl for her home, and she ended up also wanting a large painting (5x6 feet approximately) for her living room in a similar theme. I went to her home and we discussed her vision, and luckily for me, my client left me much room to use my creative voice. She simply had a certain color scheme that she wished that I followed, and she wanted me to create red, poppy-like flowers in a non-realistic stylized manner.
The bowl is created with plaster strips that must be layered on equally to ensure adequate thickness to support the weight of fruit or a baby (for photos). I first prepped my client so that the mold could easily be removed from her body. We then set up over some drop cloths to prevent a mess.
I have used alginate in the past to capture every detail of the skin for other clients, but that is a completely different process which a bowl cannot be made out of as it must be poured plaster.
Once the bowl is an adequate thickness, I remove it from the client's body and continue to add layers in my work space so that my client does not have wait as I further thicken the bowl. The bowl then needs to dry for a few days until it is bone dry so I can sand and prime it for painting. It usually takes me a couple weeks to complete a bowl like this:
The painting that I did took much longer approximately 150 hours to complete:
I will upload a details photo into the gallery for a better view!
It was a challenge, but I loved creating something special for my clients!