With the advent of spring I start to think "out of the box" for new tools, new materials and new ideas that can help artists explore and advance in their craft. The first thing that came to mind this year was a springy material that has been around for awhile but is still relatively unknown: a two part silicone molding putty that goes under many brand names such as Easy Mold© and Amazing Mold Putty©.

Now while molds are seldom thought of as a tool, the finished product can be considered a tool in that it aides in the replication of an item so it is essentially a Casting Tool. This amazing putty can be used to make sculpting tools as well which I will go into more later in this article.

For those unfamiliar with silicone, it is a two-part compound (mostly a pourable viscous product) that is used as the material that "rubber" molds are made from. The two parts are mixed together and poured over a sculpture or part that one wants to make a copy of, the part being mounted in a four walled box. Once cured the material turns into a firm rubber which you would then slice open to remove the original, leaving behind a void into which resin plastic, metal, wax, plaster or any number of casting materials can be poured into to make a duplicate copy. These molds can be reused a number of times before starting to break down.