Making Kinshachi

	The conceptual sketch was inspired by the fish on top of Nagoya Castle in Japan. Part lion, part fish, they are talismans against fire. A wikipedia search for kinshachi will show them in place.
	Forms were made for each of the two kinshachi out of recycled clay over a metal pipe armature and smoothed with water. The most difficult part was getting them the same size and shape.
Scales were added with the bent tip of an absinthe spoon to give a smooth, uniform texture.
	Molding plaster was mixed and thrown, quite literally, on to the clay forms. First a very liquid slushy mix to get as much detail as possible, then a more thick mix was troweled on to provide structure. A line of thin sheet metal shims made a seam for separating the molds in to two pieces. Once the plaster had set, the mold was tipped over and the clay dug out. Inside the form, the shims were like razors, and gave me a few nasty cuts. Who doesn't bleed for good art? Once the mold was split, shims were removed and the cavity was scrubbed out with toothbrushes and Q-tips. A few layers of Murphey's Oil Soap were applied to create a release for the pouring plaster. After the molds were prepared, they were re-assembled and wired together. A layer of plaster was troweled around the seam to keep it from leaking and provide stability.
ULTRACAL - which sounds straight out of a comic book - was mixed and the sloshy liquid poured into the molds now nestled in a bed of tires.  Vibrated and gently rocked until they were set enough to sign, the now-solid plaster pieces became super heavy. Interestingly enough, the plaster heated as it cured, cracking the mold in a few of places and making the cool room easy to work in.  Here I am next to one of the now very, very heavy and very large molds after pouring.
	The painful task of chipping the forms out of the mold took weeks.  Plaster removal has to be done gently, so as not to damage the sculpture inside.  Blisters and the occasional smashing of hands with hammers also tends to slow things down. After they were extricated, the fish were sanded down and dings and broken pieces repaired with epoxy putty, and sanded again. Here is one of the kinshachi still partially entombed.
The next step was painting.  The fish were each primed with a full can of flat white primer. Left like that they would have looked great, but they needed more to live up to their Nagoya ancestors. The head and fins were masked before Metallic Gold spray paint went on next, each piece getting a full can. A layer of clear gloss enamel went on after that to give the paint some depth, and help smooth out minor bumps and imperfections. Once the masking was removed, the gold was masked over for the orange gloss paint. The eyes and teeth were masked again to keep them white. The studio was crowded, and this part did not go as smoothly as I had hoped. The process included taking them home, having spray paint freeze and blister, lots of sanding, re-painting and strings of colorful four letter words. A layer of clear gloss went over that as well, and the masking for the teeth and eyes were removed. The black is gloss enamel spray paint that was hand-painted into the pupils and between the teeth to give the kinshachi some life and highlight shadows.

	The kinshachi are finally installed in the fall 2008 art show at Alpena Community College, 14 weeks after the process began.  Ironically, being fire talismans, they were installed in front of the fire alarm and fire extinguisher on opposite ends of the building - which has yet to burn down - in testimony to their purpose.   Now on loan to the Lunnderdome Collection, in College Park, Maryland.