tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-423050459919800481.post7964603833269392626..comments2024-03-04T05:26:22.273-08:00Comments on Propnomicon: Buried TreasurePropnomiconhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02073463298965255652noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-423050459919800481.post-5929294658269932692013-03-02T15:12:35.150-08:002013-03-02T15:12:35.150-08:00I like it alot. It greatly reminds me of the fossi...I like it alot. It greatly reminds me of the fossils I collected as a child on the shores of the Baltic Sea.Stefanhttp://maltjik.weebly.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-423050459919800481.post-20567968918930533252013-03-02T14:06:33.940-08:002013-03-02T14:06:33.940-08:006"You continually amaze me with your breadth ...6<i>"You continually amaze me with your breadth of knowledge...."</i><br /><br />Oh, I'm the black sheep of my family, believe me. My aunts alone — growing up among strong brilliant women like that, one just doesn't have a chance to start developing delusions of grandeur [let alone female inferiority]. My mother the pioneering maize geneticist always felt the baby of the family next to her sisters — the <a href="http://tinyurl.com/margaret-freeman-obituary2" rel="nofollow">oldest</a> being the first woman ever to get an engineering degree from MIT and the founder of MIT's Language Lab; the <a href="http://tinyurl.com/elena-levin-obituary-copy" rel="nofollow">second</a> being the translator of Trotsky's Diary and the "salon hostess" or "den mother" of Harvard literati (her 9-year-old daughter, my cousin Marina, provided the model of "American girl" speech Vladimir Nabokov used to write <i>Lolita</i>); the <a href="http://tinyurl.com/tatiana-hull-obituary" rel="nofollow">third</a>, etc.<br /><br />"Breadth"... one of my parents' friends and colleagues at University of Missouri (which is where they worked when I was born) was an associate professor in Botany, the gifted and intense <a href="https://www.utexas.edu/faculty/council/2000-2001/memorials/Faberge/faberge.html" rel="nofollow">Alexander Fabergé</a> (grandson of the jeweler Carl). He was working feverishly on anthocyanins, which like chlorophyll give plants color (though red, purple, or blue rather than green), and at parties literally found it hard to discuss any other subject. ... In our own family conversations for the rest of her life, my mother would signal any change of subject by imitating Fabergé's usual impatient interjection, <i>"<b>Speaking</b> of anthocyanins!"</i> (which no-one had been). ... I took this as a warning not to be the sort of person who could only discuss <i>one thing</i> at parties.<br /><br />So <i>now</i>, may I show you my <i>Necronomicon</i>? discuss H.P. Lovecraft? tell you all about Cthulhu and R'lyeh? warn you how to recognize a Deep One? <b><i>... Or...</i></b> would you rather discuss <i>The Yellow King</i> by Robert Chambers instead? ... Hey, there's plenty of room on the couch, you don't have to go....Ravenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17974090948640572660noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-423050459919800481.post-33071033741403923772013-02-28T16:23:44.202-08:002013-02-28T16:23:44.202-08:00Thanks! It looks like a user-friendly, wallet-frie...Thanks! It looks like a user-friendly, wallet-friendly medium!David Grubbsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-423050459919800481.post-30583732123910983552013-02-28T16:09:25.999-08:002013-02-28T16:09:25.999-08:00@ Raven
You continually amaze me with your breadt...@ Raven<br /><br />You continually amaze me with your breadth of knowledge, and I mean that in the very nicest way.<br /><br />@ David Grubbs<br /><br />I use the basic 2 cups each of PVA and cornstarch mixture most of the craft sites have posted. The only changes I've made are adding a teaspoon of glycerin, a teaspoon of vinegar, and about half a cup of boiled linseed oil.<br />Propnomiconhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02073463298965255652noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-423050459919800481.post-7569584944541714562013-02-28T14:46:24.853-08:002013-02-28T14:46:24.853-08:00Do you have a favorite cold porcelain recipe? I...Do you have a favorite cold porcelain recipe? I've found several versions online and am curious what you use. (Unless, of course, you have a top-secret proprietary mix!)David Grubbsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-423050459919800481.post-87713945661191853552013-02-28T12:50:33.681-08:002013-02-28T12:50:33.681-08:00Yes, well, you saw the ingredients list for stucco...Yes, well, you saw the ingredients list for stucco. How expensive is sand? The Portland cement and water you want to keep to the quantities needed to set (crystallize) eventually, and hold all the sand in place when they do, but that gives you some range in setting-time and sand-to-cement ratio. I'm sure as a homeowner you've laid enough household cement to be familiar with the process. This is just aiming for artisan-grade uses, but let's see if we can avoid paying artisan-grade prices for the materials.<br /><br />Also, there are several <i>reasons</i> an idol head might have wound up buried, and only two of them are accident or enemies. Back in 2001 I discussed on Usenet the charming custom, shared by pagans and Christians, of <a href="http://groups.google.com/group/alt.religion.wicca.moderated/msg/f82e3de80fd7be0e" rel="nofollow"><b><i>burying one's own venerated divine or saintly figures, head downward,</i></b></a> when they haven't been delivering on one's prayers... at least until they <i>do</i> deliver, in which case they get dug up... or else some other god or saint will become the new beneficiary of worship. Yeah, extortion by strike!<br /><br />(And why <i>shouldn't</i> loyalty be conditional? It's supposed to be a two-way street!)<br /><br />Or, as Guenevere sang in <i>Camelot:<br> ...<br> You know how faithful and devout I am.<br> You must admit I've always been a lamb.<br> But Genevieve, St. Genevieve,<br> I won't obey you any more!<br> You've gone a bit too far.<br> I won't be bid and bargain'd for<br> Like beads at a bazaar.<br> <br> St. Genevieve, I've run away,<br> Eluded them and fled;<br> And from now on I intend to pray<br> To someone else instead.</i>Ravenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17974090948640572660noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-423050459919800481.post-65117306452824662082013-02-25T11:25:44.352-08:002013-02-25T11:25:44.352-08:00@ Oneiros
The Significant Other did exactly that ...@ Oneiros<br /><br />The Significant Other did exactly that on some super-tufa planters she made. After a few weeks the concrete looked like it had been sitting in the garden for a century.<br /><br />@ Raven<br /><br />The only lime based materials I've fiddled with are plaster and water putty. In both cases they were used for casting, at which they excelled. <br /><br />The reason I love cold porcelain so much is that I can manipulate it's malleability so easily. Depending on the proportion of solids added it can be adjusted from the density of cold oil-based clay down to something only slightly thicker than water. And it doesn't hurt that it's so cheap to experiment with. Propnomiconhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02073463298965255652noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-423050459919800481.post-63404344452551105722013-02-25T11:13:35.406-08:002013-02-25T11:13:35.406-08:00It's beautiful work, creative problem solving,...It's beautiful work, creative problem solving,... and a pity that the original material (cold porcelain clay) left you with such problems to solve. Have you ever worked with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stucco" rel="nofollow"><b>stucco</b></a>? (See the article for illos.)<br /><br />Historical authenticity in spades; starts wet, so you can mold it or work it to your heart's content; dries hard and dense for long durability ("architectural decoration"); takes color easily.<br /><br />"Traditional stucco is made of lime, sand, and water. Modern stucco is made of Portland cement, sand, and water." — makes PVA and cornstarch seem just a bit <i>weak</i> by comparison, yes?<br /><br />There's a roadside restaurant near us, goes through owners every year or two because frankly the traffic doesn't bring many potential customers past (location too rural), despite some wonderful steakhouse and Italian cuisine incarnations. The Italian format has lasted years, though, through multiple owners, because no-one has wanted to change the wonderful wall art one past owner put up with stucco and paint: a convincing re-creation of ancient Roman murals ("cracked walls" and all) surrounding diners with reminders of the joys of good dining in times long ago, depicting amphorae of wine, vinyard scenes, and feasts with bunches of grapes held above the mouth; oh, and they even served appetizers wrapped in grape leaves.<br /><br />Stucco. It's a good word. Hmmm. Stucco-Cthulhu? Imagine that for, say, a mural work.<br />_______________<br />Recaptcha codeword: <b>Statiua</b>. How eery.Ravenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17974090948640572660noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-423050459919800481.post-83838560123850297532013-02-25T11:05:44.551-08:002013-02-25T11:05:44.551-08:00Very nice.
I don't know from where, I seem to...Very nice.<br /><br />I don't know from where, I seem to remember reading that you can age stone effects by painting the surface with live yogurt and leaving it in the sun for a few days.Oneiroshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10485697777829348211noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-423050459919800481.post-70725771427620367202013-02-25T09:33:35.381-08:002013-02-25T09:33:35.381-08:00@ Ari
Thank you for the kind words.@ Ari<br /><br />Thank you for the kind words.Propnomiconhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02073463298965255652noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-423050459919800481.post-40100597755329837652013-02-25T07:32:03.192-08:002013-02-25T07:32:03.192-08:00It's wonderful! Not only the sculpture but the...It's wonderful! Not only the sculpture but the research you did to give the prop a realistic look. I love the idea of the drop and bury. Would love to have one if you ever sell. Arinoreply@blogger.com