The beginning of the making!

Yesterday I started making my mould. I was apprehensive as using the lathe was new for me and the thought scared me! I made the plaster cylinder around the centre of the wheel and was shown how to use the lathe and begin to turn the plaster to make my shape and then left alone to figure it all out and get the feel for what I was doing. This was the best way to learn. I managed to create a shape I was very pleased with by very frequent measuring of my form and comparing it to my design image. I was also advised to put a piece of paper with the side profile of the design cut out so I could follow that to get the shape too. It's good to have the flexibility to be able to tweak the form as you watch it take take shape if you think something will improve on the design you have. I need to make my surface smooth still but I'm very pleased with my first step!