I made this sculpture for an entry in a birdhouse contest that our local newspaper, The News & Observer and the J. Raulston Arboretum hold annually. My entry is for the Flights of Fancy category.

I sculpted a pregnant woman’s body form using wire, Sculpt-a-Mold, Activa Rigid Wrap Plaster Cloth and Plaster of Paris. I left her pregnant belly open so a baby with wings could be seen in the bird nest. I wanted her to look as if she had been an old piece of bronze garden sculpture that a bird had built a nest in the opening. The finish of the lady has a weathered look with over six coats of paints by American Accents and sealers. The baby is made from Pro-Sculpt and Cernit polymer clays and coated with tinted Translucent Liquid Clay and Kato Liquid. Wings are made from Premo and Pro-Sculpt and are coated in Kato Liquid Polymer Medium and tinted Translucent Liquid Clay. The egg is made from Premo clay and has a coat of Fleck Stone paint by Plasti-kote and a sealer.

Here are some pictures of the construction process. I have sculpted several forms up to this point, but had never made a pregnant form. The pictures begin with constructing her pregnant belly. At this point I had already spent over three days sculpting the main form. I made pictures of some of the steps and lots of setbacks and wanted to show some of them so you can see the process and setbacks. Click on smaller picture to see a larger one.

Sculpted lady is ready for her pregnant belly.

I used a plastic Easter egg for the egg shape

for her belly. I cut the form in half.

First photo shows the form made from Activa Rigid Wrap, Sculpt-a-Mold and Plaster of Paris. This is a very strong form even though it is only 1/8” thick.

Second photo is the form with belly being fitted. I completed the belly and it was looking so good. I finished the edges and I got in a big and began applying primer before it was dry. Big mistake!

This photo shows the first disaster---The primer peels off just like sunburned skin. Now I must remove it and re-sand the entire form. This was a big lesson in working with these materials. Always wait for them to dry thoroughly before sealing and this can take days. It took all day to smooth and prepare to finish again.

Second disaster See photo below. I painted her an antique copper and I left her lying on my table. I was working on my polymer clay table since I did not want to work out in the workshop. The table is too small for polymer clay much less a project this large where I need buckets of water, sanding tools and other materials. I was in the shower and heard a huge crash. I had put weights in her thighs so she would stand up and not be top heavy, but had left her thighs slightly over the edge and lying on the table. She fell off and crashed on her belly. Her belly did not break at all even though it was only about 1/8” thick, but it cracked all the way around where it was connected to the body. So after crying for two hours, I scraped all the loose stuff off and I removed the belly. I was so disheartened I forgot to take a picture of the damage, but here is the belly removed. Looks like a bedpan!

I realized after the first belly that I had not made the belly large enough to hold the baby I was sculpting. So I decided to start all over. This is the new belly. I like it better. Even though it is more egg shape and not as anatomically correct as the first, it looks great for housing a bird nest and baby.

I sanded everything down one more time. I waited until she was thoroughly dried and then sanded and primed her. This lady is smooth as silk now!

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