Story of a Crucifix

This small corpus about 8'' tall was the first I had ever sculpted many years ago. I never took a picture of the first plaster cast and finished crucifix I made with it.  A good family friend had made a dozen wooden crosses for me so I could complete my crucifix. The corpus was sculpted out of a polymer clay and then I made a mold. The mold making process was long and tedious. I painted on the latex medium and had to let each layer dry before the next one was applied. For some added strength to the mold I put thin strips of gauze between the layers where I thought the mold would be stretched during the casting process.

I was so excited to try out my new mold! These were the long-ago days where I could actually spend all day on a project with no interruption. I used a large baking pan filled with salt to stabilize my mold, I could have used sand but salt is what I had handy. I was too excited to try it out that I didn't want to waste time going to the store to buy sand! I mixed up some plaster in a table top condiment container so I could have control of getting the plaster into the tiny parts of the mold. Out popped the caste plaster a few hours later. I found out the hard way that I should have sanded and trimmed it up right away before it dried. So the next time i molded I sanded when the plaster was just set and fresh out of the mold instead of bone dry...much less mess.

I created this larger 13'' corpus a little differently. I used an earth clay that I had planned on firing and glazing, however, it cracked in many places before during the drying phase that I was worried it would shatter if fired. In my haste to get started with this project I didn't kneed the clay as I should have and let it dry entirely too fast. I am a bit impatient when it comes to getting on with the next step. I wanted to paint it so badly and have a finished piece that in my haste proper steps were  not followed. I paid for it though, it took twice as long to get to the fine finish work because the corpus was failing apart and I had to mend the broken pieces.


Its easy to become hasty in life...I think God wants us to slow down and take time to do things properly. I know Our Dear Lord has used many example out of my life to teach me this lesson. If time is taken with our prayer life as well as family time it's much more fruitful and rewarding then if we rush through prayers and barely spend any quality time with one another. So here's to more focus on a slower pace.