Mainah Sculpture

The objective of this project was to create a sculpture that represented Maine in some way, like with a classic Maine icon, and possibly made out of materials that you would connect to Maine. For this project, I decided to do a lighthouse, because I think that that is one of the most classic and interesting Maine icons, and I find them really cool and beautiful. I decided I wanted to make my project out of a material that I could connect to the state, so I decided on using seashells, as if they came from one of the several beaches in Maine. I think that this project was really interesting and fun to do because we could even do something pretty personal, because I am from Maine, and I have lived here my whole life. I also really liked the idea because Maine is such a beautiful and natural state, so I think a lot of the sculptures will come out very nature-oriented and represent the state well.

To do my project, I first had to create an armateur that I would glue the seashells around for the surface of the lighthouse. I made it out of tinfoil first, to make it large, and the covered it in newspaper and masking tape to give it a smoother surface, because the tinfoil made it pretty bumpy and uneven. Then I glued on all of the purple, medium-sized shells I had, and some larger ones to cover up large spaces. I also used small white shells to cover the spaces in between the large and medium shells so there wouldn't be any masking tape showing. I wanted the lighthouse to really look like a lighthouse, so I created a pointed top and guard rail-type thing the lighthouses have surrounding the actual lights. I painted the shells and posts of this section black to really bring out what I was trying to display, which was a lighthouse. That was the only coloring of the shells that I did because I really wanted them to look natural. I then created a little house to go along with the lighthouse, where its walls were made of large seashells and the roof was made of bundles of twigs. I decided since there was already so much texture in my piece to make the base a neutral color—almost like a rock or cliff that the lighthouse was sitting on. I emphasized that by using really big, conch-like shells to go on one side of the lighthouse, almost like it was sitting on a cliff and surrounded by rocks.

I made the paint of the base bumpy and a little textured, because I was going for a surface that kind of looked like an eroded rock. This project was really fun for me because by using these simple materials, they were a lot easier to work with, and made cool textures, and I think by the end my project looked really natural and like a combination of the beach and the lighthouse thrown together. The shells weren't actually from Maine, I got them when I was in Virginia, but I think they still display the same idea of the beaches of Maine, and at least the sticks were ones from the state.