Finally,  the gelflex moulds for making my Russian dolls were completed.

The first result of pouring the wax into the mould. The shape was not formed sharpen and clearly.

I started using a knife and burner to trim the wax look clearer and smoother.

Those three different sizes of waxes will be the main dolls of my self directed project.

*Tip from Geoff and Choi,

To clean up the dirty surface of the wax, use White Spirit (or thinner) with cotton or stockings.

The smell of white spirit was nasty (mask required!), but the effect was good.

There is no guarantee that I will succeed to cast at once, so I was waxing again and again.

I had a lot of challenges and failures during the semester. Wu (2018) mentions that making mistakes is not only an inevitable process of learning, but also a useful process in itself. I would believe that the mistakes I made have developed me.

For the Digital Hand Project, I was not familiar with Rhino at the first time. But, now I know how to use it. Not only learning casting glass with digital tools, I also made a turn and still mould using CNC for my glassblowing. During this project, I struggled a lot, especially I made many mistakes when drilling holes for glass steam. This mistake made me feel depressed indeed, hence I am afraid to use drill any longer. The biggest challenge was making a silicone mould. Despite Geoff's helping me a lot, I was under extreme stress from the constant failure. I would prefer to avoid using silicone moulds.

By contrast, I feel I have developed and got more confidence in Thinking through Glass. Through a seminar with Jess I was able to raise my knowledge of glass. Moreover, I learned to blow glass using moulds. I realised many conditions were required to get a perfect shape, such as the amount and bubble size of glass.

To sum up, although now I am exhausted due to many failures, I know those definitely will be very helpful in my future. I do not think learning is easy. However, I am very happy and joyful to experiment and make something with glass. I am still clumsy, but I want to be more advanced through more practice and experience.

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