Bee takes to her broom!

I tried broom casting while at my lesson with Barrie on Friday...it was so much fun! I couldn't wait to get home and try it on my own. After a quick stop at home I went to Capilano Rock and Gem to buy the materials I needed which was a crucible with a detachable handle. But instead of rushing right home to see what sort of trouble I could get into I went for dinner with a few of my work mates to say good-bye to Lynne who is moving to the Okanagan.

After a great dinner I was on the hunt for my broom...it had to be a corn broom. Do you know how hard they are to find? All I could find were the plastic ones with magnetic properties for dust and stuff. I wasn't trying to attract anything...I just wanted to pour some molten metal over it...plastic would have been very messy. I was determined and kept up the search until I made my way to Revy Hardware and much to my amazement I had a choice of at least 6 brooms! I'm really glad that it was almost closing time and there weren't many customers around because I certainly would have been questioned. I had all the brooms down from the second shelf...did they think they were going to dance away...to test them. What I was testing them for is a mystery even to me. But I felt that I shouldn't just settle for the first broom that came along...been there before...but instead carefully pick my way through the broom to see which one had the most interesting shaped straw, the most straw...it's that size thing again...and was the best value for my money. I found my perfect broom and took him...I mean it...home.

In order to do the broom casting you need to separate the straw from the rest of the broom so that you end up with a bundle held together with an elastic. So it went into a pail to soak while I ran back to Capilano to pick up a few things I forgot. Finally I was ready to go to work. Using my 'Shark' torch I heated up the scrap silver in the crucible. I was doing this outside which trust me is the only place to do it unless you really like the smell of burnt straw. The silver was finally a little molten ball of silver in the crucible...it's tough not to just stay mesmerized by it...but finally breaking the spell it had on me I poured it into the bundle of straw which was standing in a metal container and supported to stay upright. What a rush!! The straw began to smoke so I quickly rushed to pour the container of water I had close-by to douse it, forgetting that the container with the straw was already full. What's a little water everywhere when you still have the exciting prospect of finding out what transpired in that smoking bundle of straw. The treasures I found in the straw were so much fun. This is a photo of a lot of the ones I kept. This was definitely going to be addictive...I just knew it. I melted the rejected bits along with more scrap 5 or 6 more times...I lost count. I can't wait to see what I can create with it. The shapes are so organic and other worldly looking.

Today I'm going to try casting in water. I'm just waiting for the ice cubes in the freezer. I'll post a photo if it's successful.