Artistic Impression
ZELIENOPLE — As soon as they entered the art classroom, the fourth grade students couldn't wait to sink their hands into the basin of thick, wet concrete.
They murmured, pointed and whispered to one another before volunteer Jennifer Fusilli of Gibsonia let them in on the project: sand-cast birdbaths made from concrete.
"The reason we call it sand casting is that we put a leaf over a mound of sand and cover it with concrete," she explained. "The concrete takes on the form of the leaf."
Fusilli spent three days last week in Claire Torso's art classes at Connoquenessing Valley Elementary School.
Fusilli demonstrated the first step Wednesday morning as she spread a layer of sand on the table. She made a small dome out of the sand so the finished product would be concave and then covered the sand with plastic wrap.
Next, she lifted a shiny green leaf into the air.
"Does anyone know what this leaf is? Let me give you a clue," Fusilli said, holding her nose. "It's very stinky!"
One of the students correctly guessed skunk cabbage, which gets its name because breaking or tearing a leaf releases a pungent odor.
Skunk cabbage is one of the first leaves to appear each spring, Fusilli said, so it was abundantly available for the day's project.
Any type of leaf can be used, including collard greens, cabbage, hostas or maple leaves, she said.
Fusilli smoothed the leaf over the sand and covered it with a few heavy blobs of wet concrete.
"Does anyone want to help me spread this around?" she asked, and nearly every hand shot up before a few children were chosen at random.
"We want a nice, thick layer through the center and where the stem is," she instructed as the students worked intently.
To personalize the project, Fusilli engraved "CVE" into the wet concrete.
She then brought out a project that had been allowed to dry for a few days.
"You want to get your hands underneath the sand, lift it up and turn it over," she said. "And there's the leaf stuck there."
The leaf could be peeled away from the concrete shape, leaving behind a deep impression.A few small pieces of the leaf stuck, but Fusilli quickly removed them with a dry scrub brush.The students were then able to take turns painting a few of Fusilli's larger finished products, which was the highlight of the demonstration for Drew McCarron, 9, of Cranberry Township."The one we painted was blue and purple, and it blends in like a sunset," he said.Fusilli applies light washes of color using a few drops of acrylic paint mixed with water.She said she was intimidated by painting at first, but soon got the hang of it."I just started layering on colors, first a layer of yellow, then a layer of orange, then burnt umber, and with every layer of paint, it was magical," she said. "It changed colors before my eyes and the variations of color was like you'd see in nature."The stem and veins will collect more paint and take on a darker color, Fusilli said.Fusilli said the acrylic is desirable because for a variety of reasons."It won't harm the birds if the water sits in it," she said. "You just layer this paint on. With every year, it changes the look of the leaf. You get more or less a patina that builds up."The paint also is inexpensive, especially since Fusilli dilutes it with water. The concrete itself is likewise affordable, said Fusilli, who uses an ultrafine patching concrete to capture more maximum detail.That mixture costs about $18 per 20 pounds, which often produces multiple projects."I can probably get two pretty good sized baths out of that, and maybe two smaller ones," Fusilli said, noting particularly large leaves like those from Rhubarb plants can sometimes take the whole container."I have experimented with using silk leaves. That works too if you're not able to get leaves out of the garden," she added. "And I've gone to the grocery store and went through the collard greens and cabbage to pick out the best leaves — and that works too."Fusilli learned about sandcasting last year from her sister-in-law. She does not sell her creations, but she has donated several pieces to various charity auctions.Finished products range from full birdbaths mounted on posts and overturned pots to tiny bird and butterfly feeders scattered throughout the landscape.
Finished birdbaths at the school will be displayed in the school's garden, a grassy space flanked on three sides by classroom windows.Last summer, volunteers spent more than 200 hours transforming the neglected space, said Kelly McCarron, the school's landscape co-chair and a Penn State master gardener."Back then, it was an eyesore, and all the teachers had their blinds down," McCarron said. "Now it's a great space; we call it our outdoor classroom."Several bird feeders hang from the trees, and a mulched path winds past dozens of cheery tulips. On warm days, students in all grades now spend time outdoors reading, drawing, writing and observing wildlife, McCarron said.Torso said she appreciated Fusilli's presentation because she loves to incorporate art into other areas of study."It's such a great hands-on activity," Torso said. "She taught them about nature, too, and got them interested in going outdoors."Nathaniel Desing, 10, of Cranberry Township said he was excited to search for interesting leaves."We have these woods in our neighborhood, and I'll probably go there to look around," he said.The students were given instructions to take home, and Morgan Hoffman, 10, of Harmony, was already forming a plan."I think it's really awesome, and I would like to make one for my parents, but it might be hard to get the materials," she said. "I would need to find someone to drive me."Fusilli said she likes the project because it is simple, fun and creates a beautiful finished product."It's such a fun project, and you can't really mess it up," she said. "After my first attempt, I was hooked."
