Making an artefact..

Following last week's lesson on making pressed clay molds I bought some clay and had a go at making one at home.

I have been reading Robert Graves' 'Greek Myths' and am intrigued by the messages from the past which enable us to piece together the myths, legends and facts (we know there were lions in ancient Greece because of the ones painted on kraters and other clay pots) of previous peoples. The paintings on ancient pottery are a considerable source of this information, so I decided to make a sort of 'rosetta stone' of my own.

What would someone from the future make of this?

press the selected items into the clay

  

                                    

                         close up of the mysterious message ;-)

the pour.....tension mounts, how will it turn out????

Leave the plaster to harden for about an hour, peel away the clay.

I trimmed the edges with a stanley knife, as had been demonstrated by Paul, and
Ta da!! The 'Delves Stone'

This piece was inspired by my interest in antiquity and the objects which are left behind for future generations to 'read' and interpret.

It is not difficult to see the influence of these images in my plaster cast above.