Mold making is like building three dimensional puzzle pieces. I hhhhhhate making molds. I hhhhhate it with all my heart! Oh mold-making, how I hate thee, let me count the ways:
You are dirty.
You are messy.
You're repetitive.
You're mind bogglingly tedious.
You're physically strenuous.
You're mentally exhausting.
You're logistically challenging.
You're harmful to the the human respiratory system.
You make my studio into a white, sticky, gooey, clingy mess of dry and wet plaster crumbs for days on end.
You leave a white trail of yourself where ever I go.
You make me clean up after you ever 5 minutes to contain the mess you make, aaaaaand you make me use a bucket of cold, dirty water to do that because you will clog up my plumbing if I flush you.
You hurt my neck and back.
You make my hands feel like two dry, scaly reptiles from being coated in plaster and clay from dawn to dusk for two weeks straight, and from washing them hundreds of times each day.
You splash on all my clothes and my face and make me involuntarily swallow and inhale you.
You feel gross on my skin.
You hurt my fingers to the point of bruising and you scratch and cut my dehydrated skin until it bleeds.
I hate you because I really hate messes, and you mold-making, are the biggest mess-making process I can think of!
You are so inconvenient!
And yet, without you I can't make dolls.
You are a necessary evil.
Your complexity annoys me, but it also challenges my technical abilities, stimulates my curiosity and improves my problem-solving skills.
You are a problem, and I choose to solve you, over and over and over again, because you are a gateway to my creative freedom and happiness.
You are the opposite of fun and I count down every second to the finish line, but you give me a strange sense of satisfaction and accomplishment. And glee!
You make me sweat and cry and bleed right into plaster.
You make me laugh maniacally when I succeed and thrust each finished puzzle piece up above me like the Lion King cub.
You make me cuddle each completed mold in my arms proudly and coo at it like it's a precious newborn baby.
You make me feel so exhausted at the end of each day, that I can barely stand, but you also make me exhilarated and joyous in anticipation of all the dolls I will make from you.
I really hate you, mold-making, but I also love you.
You facilitate beauty.
You are the start of many wonderful journeys.
You are the beginning of dolls.
You are so inconvenient, mold-making, and I can't live without you!