Clay and carving!

Well yesterday I spent the afternoon up to my elbows in air-dry clay… It was quite a revelation and I take my hat off to any clay artists out there whose creations are beautiful, because I seriously underestimated how complicated this is! I now understand why Sally said she prefers Fimo!

I bought a 1kilo lump of clay at the Scrapstore where I volunteer (can’t call it work, because it’s so enjoyable!) on Monday mornings. I had all sorts of ideas running around my brain and it’s been a while since I had time to try out something new. I must’ve been 10 or 11 the last time I used clay!

Here’s what the kitchen workstation looked like when I’d got to the halfway mark and discovered that spray oil is my ally:

I found out that clay sticks to water, won’t peel off a moulding mat without breaking, is more like pastry than I expected and felt frustrated, irritable, disappointed and finally, chuffed!! I did manage to produce buttons, beads, a frog on a lily pad, a trumpet-like flower, smiley man tiles and lots of Celtic icons. They are all upstairs in my craftroom drying out.

The spray oil saved my day and stopped me from chucking the whole lot in the bin… but I am nothing if not persistent!! I found that if I sprayed a very small amount of oil on the rubber stamps, they didn’t stick to the clay and peeled off quite easily. It was then just a matter of trimming them up carefully before putting them on the covered board to dry.

We shall see how they turn out tomorrow and if they’re dry enough to paint and embellish!! I’m quite excited at the thought to be honest… and I may have some lovely handmade embellies for my artwork. 😉

 

GPP Street Team Crusade No.18 – Cut it out!

The other thing I have become very interested in lately is carving my own stamps. I was ‘talking’ to a cybermate the other night about it. I even bookmarked a website in the UK where I can buy a kit, but I just couldn’t hold out any longer because I somehow ended back up on the GPP Street Team blog! (Yet again!)

I’m so impressed with Michelle Ward’s handcarved stamps – they’re awesome and I hunted everywhere for a rubber (eraser) to carve up. This is the mandate: “Cut It Out – Make a Tool of Your Own: Design and cut a custom stencil or carve an original rubber stamp.”

So here’s my first ever carved eraser rubber stamp, which stamps really cleanly. It ain’t no work of art, but it’s unique to me and not bad for a rubber and a craft knife!! Can’t wait to get some tools and do it properly if this one is anything to go by! It’ll just complement all the stamps I own… how cool is that? 😉

I enjoyed that so much I shall go back and check out all the other challenges and some of the links of people who participate are amazing. It’s a rollercoaster journey, this art-thing!! 😀

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Posted by Rosie on March 28, 2008

https://alteredartandstuff.wordpress.com/2008/03/28/clay-and-carving/