Plaster Sculpture

We are always looking for sculpture ideas. I am interested in using plaster for a sculpture.

HERE and HERE are the sites that interested me in trying it.

I have also seen THIS recipe several places:

Ingredients: 1 part water, 1 part Plaster of Paris, and 1-1/2 parts vermiculite (found in a building supply store). Mix in a plastic bucket. Caution: DON'T pour any of the mixture down the sink! Pour the mixture into a clean milk carton and let set for four or five days. To harden quicker, reverse the process by using more Plaster of Paris. Clean bucket with paper towels.

Carving can be done with simple kitchen tools. Use your imagination and have fun. After drying for about a week, your sculpture can be painted or left in its natural state.

But I am still concerned about the breathing in of vermiculite particles. I don't understand if they are or are not harmful.

UPDATE:


This looks so great! I am excited to try it with the kids.

I would like them to draw a card to make it more complicated. The card could say: make it have one hole. They could also draw an animal to make. My mother-in-law has several small wood and stone animal sculptures they could look at for examples.

Recipe:
2 cups water
2 cups Plaster of Paris
3 cups vermiculite

I purchased vermiculite at Earl May gardening center. Make sure you get the kind without fertilizer. The students should be fine if they aren't eating it or breathing in the dust. The mixture should be thick enough that there isn't any dust.

Pour the mixture into your containers to dry. We used plastic yogurt and sour cream containers.

We let ours sit for an hour and it was pliable with our fingers. After four days it was completely dry and ready to carve.

The best item to carve it was a nutcracker pick.

It can be painted but I like how it looks like stone!