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Persistence of Putty

In this How-to article, Dorothy Nelson, First Prize winner of the 2003 Thinking Putty Sculpture Competition, describes how she created her masterpiece!
Step One: Starting with the original masterwork, Dali's "Persistence of Time", I studied the composition and form of the painting.

Step Two: I assembled my Thinking Putty and various sculpting tools. I also got some cardboard, a stick, and aluminum foil for vaious scaffolding and support structures.

Step Three: I covered the cardboard with aluminum foil. This is important because Thinking Putty will stick to cardboard making reuse of the putty pretty impossible.

Step Four: I build the pedestal and tree out of a foil covered box and stick. Then I started laying out the ground using Black, Lustrous Bronze, and Gunmetal Graphite Thinking Putty.

Step Five: All of the surfaces are covered with different colors of Thinking Putty to approximate the ground and background of the original painting.

Step Six: Time to make the clocks. Using my special sculpting tool, I was able to write out the numbers on the clock and lay down thin black putty for the clock hands.

Step Seven: I placed the clocks in their proper positions and let the Thinking Putty melt a bit...it really did all the work. A masterpiece!

Thanks and Have Fun! Dorothy Nelson
2003 Thinking Putty Sculpture Competition - First Place Winner

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