I should mention that these are indoor photos, done on the spur of the moment right after inserting the grass…I’m pretty sure the whole piece will look a little better when it is all dry & cured & I can photograph it in better outdoor light…But I wanted to show how it is looking now…You know how that is… Note: did you know this artificial grass is made from hair? (not plastic)… http://www.ebay.com/itm/M00254-MOREZMORE-Faux-Fake-Artificial-Moss-RIVER-BANK-Dark-Green-WoodlandScenics-/140714890399?pt=US_Dolls_Bears_Toys&hash=item20c342d49f The picture above is just a simulation…Was thinking of getting some more grass, then I noticed the listings for moss…Starting to wonder if it needs more bushy grass, or maybe a layer of moss? Or maybe I need to just call it quits? This has been a difficult thing to work on…First, the copper pipe armature was complex to figure out…I mean, the whole thing had to be figured out from scratch without any guides…I cut the copper pipe myself & used pipe connectors to fit it all together…Then I strung wire through all the piping & connectors so it would all hold together well…I did add some crazy glue at the joints as well, but the wire was the big thing…The chicken wire on top was not as hard, but cutting it can get you all scratched up…The main thing was all the hard thinking I had to do to try to make an armature that was really strong without welding…This was my first no-weld armature for ferrocement design…My later no-weld design is far more elegant…But this one needed to be done to get to the next one…Cement became marble when my Aragonite sand (marble sand) became easier to source because cement, the white stuff, in Canada, still only stupidly comes in 40 kilogram bags which no human can carry safely…So after complaining to all the health & workman’s compensation & insurance boards & the cement companies, I switched to Aragonite sand as my primary…Aragonite sand from Petsmart in the reptile section is really just marble in sand form, calcium carbonate…I figured this out because I couldn’t get marble dust easily when I was needing it for my cement recipe, & thought I could find a chemical parallel…Aragonite sand is what I came up with…The guy at Kreitmaker (cement & alkaline resistant fiber supplier) thought it was a genius switch, especially since he couldn’t find marble dust for me either…So then I was making my own homemade marble…But I needed powder glue, waterproof, because when I used liquid glue it stunk…I finally found Circa 1850 marine powder glue on special order at Canadian Lumber centre…But I still need to wear a respirator I found- the powdered resin(resin means glue) stinks too…The final layer of powder gold mixed with the resin & water was a little messy too…Then the decision to fill in some cracks with the grass…My main problem was that the raccoon I picked up off the road had been hit in the jaw so hard by the car that his jawbone had come out…Which made his nose look more like a dog than a raccoon…I don’t know why I thought I could do a proper sculpture…Well, it is proper it’s just that I thought somehow I could bring him back to real through the art of it…Instead (& I have done this before) I re-created what I saw…A mess…A poor lovely creature who had been hit by a night-time speeding driver, a mean cold mean person speeding at night, who struck this poor boy raccoon so hard the jaw bone swung right out…You know we found the female mate & a young child raccoon as well in the next two weeks? Some tool or several tools have been speeding on Mount Pleasant under the Crescent road bridge in Rosedale, along the Rosedale valley road on the way to the highway, & up near the Mount Pleasant cemetery…I wonder who? Drug dealers making a delivery? Pizza delivery guys trying to stay under the 30 minutes or it’s free rule? teen boys? Moron girls? Whoever is speeding through Rosedale  at night & killing raccoons, should be fined, ticketed, penalized, breathalyzer tested, forced to do public service, & so on…Why is hitting an animal with your car not a penalty yet? It is cruelty to animals…I think the SPCA should have powers here…If you see someone hitting an animal with their car on the road, take their licence number down & report it to the SPCA…If enough people do this maybe we can get some laws about this…Speeding…In a car…At night especially…That is wrong…Terribly terribly wrong…

Anyways, the messed up sculpture of the raccoon that now looks like a dog, well that is how it happened…I wrapped the poor boy raccoon in my merino wool sweater, put it on the seat of my bike, & walked it to the VEC veterinary emergency clinic…Not because I thought he’d live…But because it was wrong to leave him to be further smushed by ambivalent car drivers…Because he needed some love, even near death, or in death…Love after death is still love…

One of the consequences of my actions that day in 2011(June) was that I got lice 3 days later…Which is why I now have very short hair…I cut all my hair off that summer, due to the lice, & it turns out it looks great…So I thank the raccoon for giving me my bold new look…My long blonde hair was a cliche anyways…Short & spunky is so now! R.I.P. friend, rest in peace…Sari Grove

Notes on the grape: When I ordered the artificial grass from the Morezmore store on Ebay http://stores.ebay.com/The-Morezmore-Estate, they did something that I love…They sent me a free sample of grey polymer clay…I had been wondering if I should try to cover the sharp egdes of my cut copper strapping, the ones that stuck out from the armature, but hadn’t gotten around to getting the supply…This tiny sample of grey polymer clay was perfect…I touched up any sharp points, then used my blow dryer to heat the clay up to set it…

(this is a close-up of a copper piece jutting out from the grape-the blob on top of the copper is polymer clay…Now the sculpture is safer…I remember an artist who had glued glass shards into a canvas & cut herself on the hand while hanging the piece…It makes you consider safety more… 

http://morezmore.com/myblog/ here is the link to the fabulous Morezmore blog…Look for the instructional on how to make a ball & joint doll! Wonderful wonderful workmanship & thought here! Wonderful!

FixFind: https://ssl.zoovy.com/c=Tape0Y9USi3C4yuxMizqyVDHU/s=www.fixfind.com/product/57770-RETKEYREEL/Heavy-Duty-Retractable-Key-Chain-Reel-with-Carabiner—Extra-Long-48-Stainless-Steel-Cable—Great-for-ID-Swipe-Cards—Quick-Clip-Carabiner.html FixFind has this neat carabiner attached to a retractable reel…When I go to feed trumpeter swans I bring 18 kilogram bags of Red Ribbon wild bird seed from Canadian Tire (about$15 dollars)…Then I use a small folding knife to cut away a circle (or square) in the front of the laying flat bag…This turns your wild bird seed bag into an automatic waterbird feeder!!! Then just hang out & when everyone eats, take the plastic bag away & throw in the recycling bin…The carabiner with the retractable reel is so you can attach your folding tiny knife onto your jeans’ ring, then stretch out the reel when you use the knife…It’s so you don’t lose the tiny knife & it keeps your hands free when you are carrying the wild bird seed…(Tiny things that make the details of your life perfect!)

http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290833774028#ht_2907wt_959 Pillaged Village has the gorgeous tiny folding SILVERLEAF (looks like a leaf) knife for turning your wild bird seed bag into a bird feeder!!!…(attach it to the retractable carabiner above so you don’t lose it) !

Michael Crichton died not too long ago but his book “MICRO” got finished by Richard Preston…I got a deal on Amazon.ca on a hardcover copy! (if you are a fan of Michael Crichton’s books like I am then you’ll want to read his last work…It is about miniatures, for those who like miniature things…That’s all I’m going to say for now…)http://www.amazon.ca/Micro-A-Novel-Michael-Crichton/dp/1443406406

Personal item: Since I am telling things I have bought over Xmastime: Komodo scent Old Spice deodorant plus anti-perspirant for men really smells nice on ladies too! Plus it really works better than the ladies’ stuff…So Joseph & I buy enough for both of us & I no longer stink…(I am a naturally very sweaty smelly person…But animals (& people) really like me…I think it’s a pheromone thing…)

Ok, well the Soldier is NOT finished…

I have decided that it does need some river moss & some more grass…I am going to order some more from Morezmore on ebay…This will take a while to arrive…At least I know now that my marine powdered glue with water mix is holding strong…Today I checked & boy that grass is in firmly! Phew…was worried…

P.s. The title keeps changing as I change the work of art…Wed. feb. 13, 2013: It is starting to look more like “Raccoon” again…

Update:Monday April 22nd, 2013: Soldier has been renamed “Spring” & you can see how he turned out in later posts…https://grovegrove.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/sculpture.png here is a quick picture of how he looks like now…There are others…