The design for the border of scallop shells was first visually tested on the computer and considered for ease or difficulty of execution.  While the sponged-on silver added an overall texture to the blue, the bronze was chosen for contrast to reveal the shells.  Preparation of the mask, the 'stencil', was a major concern.  This included the decision as to which must be the positive and which the negative space, that is, whether the bronze would be applied through openings in the mask, or whether shell forms would be the masks and the bronze applied around them.
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    The first masks were cut from thin plywood with a jigsaw.  As it turned out, however, the edges were too thick to permit a clean definition of the image of the shell when the bronze was sponged on.  Also, in order to mask the adjacent shells more than one mask had to be held in place at the same time during application of the bronze, which was an awkward operation.  So the masks were cut from paper, and several could easily be cut simultaneously. 

PLYWOOD   <<IMAGE OF PAPER MASKS>> BORDER

    Several paper masks were then attached along the top edge of the wall using a spray adhesive on the backs.  The bronze was sponged on around them, then the masks were removed and moved further along the line and attached, using more adhesive as necessary.  The bronze was applied more heavily toward the top, more lightly below the shells.  As a final step the bronze was brought lightly down into the blue/silver field yielding the final results below.
master

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