NOLA Ecliptic.

I called this piece NOLA Ecliptic. We are from New Orleans and have a huge love for the city.  For My repetition assignment I replicated an official manhole cover from New Orleans and the FLEUR de LIS. The fleur de lis has become the symbol of New Orleans especially, after Katrina. It is symbolic in many ways. It symbolizes New Orleans' European culture. Spiritually, it represents an Iris, a beautiful purple bloom that symbolizes the holy Trinity. Fleur is French for flower, de meaning of and li meaning three. It also means loyalty.  I used color of Mardi Gras on the Fleur de Lis to bring it color and use contrast to the manhole cover. The Purple represents Justice. Green represents Faith. And Gold represents Power. The manhole cover represents the sun. The FLEUR de LISappear to move with respect to the fixed stars on the celestial sphere, along a circular path called the ecliptic.  This project was very fun. I did have issues with the molds and had to do them a few times and in different ways till I found one that worked. I broke a few of my castings so I had to figure out the right consistency for the plaster. Once I managed to do all that I feel the project cam out looking very well. 

This project was repetition and using molds. It was so much fun from sketch to final. I started out making clay molds and using plaster. Then I switched to using silicon and rubber molds. This was challenging in the fact that I had to try all different ways to make molds and different plaster consistencies. I also had to try all different ways to paint the plaster. Overall I am super excited that this turned out the way it did.