How the Angel of Hope Ornaments are made... it is quite the process!
I use my mom's old cutting boards covered in a clear thick plastic. The angels will be allowed to dry right on the cutting boards and will not be moved to sheetrock, like our larger hearts.
I use plastic wrap on the clay to give the angels nice curved edges. The plastic wrap creates tension on the clay when the cookie cutter pushes down and forces the plastic wrap down with it, curving the clay as it goes.
You just have to keep your eye on the plastic wrap so you don't get any wrinkles in the angels. You might have to lift it up and recenter it several times.
Once all the angels are pressed out, I slowly peel away all the excess clay. The excess can be reused for another batch of angels.
I use one of my dotting tools to clean out some clay that stuck where it shouldn't have.
Next, I put in the high temp nickel-chromium wires. These will not melt or burn up in the kiln when it hits 2000 degrees.
Then the "hope" imprint goes in.
The angels take about two days to dry. Once dry, I clean up the edged with my great great grandmother's paring knife before bringing them to the kiln at the Shelton Senior Center for their first firing. Unlike our regular hearts, these will have to be fired twice, as they will be getting glazed, just like our Hearts of Hope necklaces. Any pink plastic wrap left on will burn off in the kiln.
Here you see two kinds of angels, the ones lying flat are in the kiln for their first firing. The ones that are hanging have been glazed and are in for their second and final firing. Since they have been glazed, they cannot touch anything or they will be permanently bonded to whatever they touch.
After the first firing, I put 3 coats of red glaze on the center heart. Every so often, the center heart has fallen out, when that happens, I just glaze the angel without it. I think they will look beautiful on the Christmas tree either way.
Now it is time for our angels to take a quick dip in the dipping glaze. Using dipping glaze is a lot more complicated that one might think. First you have to stir it with a drill and special attachment for 8 minutes. Then you must test its viscosity of the glaze with a viscosity cup. If the viscosity is not between 22 and 24 seconds, you must water it down with distilled water, carefully, as you do not want to add to much and render your dipping glaze unusable. When your glaze is of the perfect consistency, you are ready to dip...but you must dip very quickly, and then quickly shake off the excess... basically impossible for something this size. If the directions are not followed, your glaze will come out cloudy. Now that doesn't sound like too much of an issue on an angel as her dress is white, but many of them have a red heart, and if the glaze is cloudy the red heart will not be red.
Clothing racks are not just meant for drying clothes in my house.
On to the bead trees for the final firing.
March Update: Of course then in March, Covid 19 hit with a vengence and everything shut down. I could not go to Sterling House to make hearts or angels, but fortunately, I had won a grant in the past for the purchase of a small portable rolling table. So when I had learned that Sterling House was going to be shutting down, I went in and grabbed the small rolling table, one box of clay, and everything I would need to continue to make angels at home.
May Update:I was fortunate that Patti from Newtown was able to get all of the angels I made their first firing before her kiln shut down, as the Shelton Senior Center had shut down at the same time as Sterling House, leaving me no way to get my angels their first firing.
September Update: I have used my time at home to glaze the red enter hearts and dip the 300+ angels I had and waited patiently for the world to reopen. The kiln has been shut down for 8 months and I have been unable to get the rest of these lovely angels their second firing. I have 100 done and about 300 waiting to be fired.
October Update: The senior center has reopen in October, but it had not started up the ceramics group yet. Hopefully they will allow us back in November so we can fire up the kiln and have these angels ready for our holiday fundraiser.
November Update: The senior center is opening in two weeks for ceramics classes, barring any unforseen disasters. I am keeping my fingers crossed that I can get my angels in to the center and loaded into the kiln for the next few weeks so that I can sell them for the holidays. I only have 5 bead trees, so I can only fire about 100 at a time, if they are willing to run the kiln. We are at the mercy of the gods... and those who refuse to socially distance...
On Tuesday, February 25th, I went to Wallingford to paint with the Wallingford Community Women. A few of their members had come to our Paint with a Purpose event in January. They had such a wonderful time that they presented the idea of painting to their Women's Group. After a flurry of emails between Pam and myself and the checking of calendar dates, an event was set with the Wallingford Community Women for the end of February. They chose to paint for Veterans and will be delivering their hearts to the VA Hospital in West Haven.
Here are some photos from that night.
Tonight's cold rain did not dampen anyone's spirits.
Our coloring book hearts were very popular once again! I love it when people choose to paint them. I am never courageous enough to try that.
Thank you Wallingford Community Women! Your hearts are beautiful, and I know the Veterans who receive them will truly be touched by your hearts and your messages!
