Darlene Olivia McElroy - Mixed Media in Clay: Techniques for Paper Clay, Plaster, Resin and More

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Most of us have fond childhood memories of getting gloriously dirty while playing in the mud. Well, its time to get your hands dirty again! This book will help you rediscover the joy of creating with clay and clay alternativesmost unexpectedand the vast variety of techniques unique to each.

In this book we delve into the possibilities of using traditional clay in nontraditional ways, and we have assembled a wide array of materials with clay-like properties that you can transform into anything from jewelry components to larger scale sculptures, or use as collage elements or textural backgrounds. This is the perfect way to add more mix to your mixed-media art.

Some of you may be asking, What do plaster, resin, fiber paste and plastics have to do with clay? It is our intention with this book to wander as far outside the traditional-clay box as we can. All of the mediums we explore have a couple of characteristics in common though. None of them need to be baked or fired in a kiln, and each of them transforms from a malleable substance to a solid form. Some act exactly like clay while others have adhesive qualities or metallic properties. We show you some ways to explore the different clay alternatives, but we leave it up to you to make them your own.

Since we are continually being asked how to cast objects, we explain different kinds of casting as well as hand-built and found-object armatures. Most of these techniques are incredibly easy and, of course, we will tell you which materials work best with the different casting and molding techniques presented.

Whether you are intrigued with the idea of adding surface texture to your painted canvas surfaces or constructing freestanding sculptures combining found objects and a variety of different mediums, you will find a boatload of inspiration here and plenty of new ideas, information and techniques to play with. We will introduce you to clay alternatives you may never have heard of and techniques and ways to use these mediums you may never have thought of.

Come clay with us

Darlene & Patricia

EVERYTHING IS COMING UP ROSES

Patricia Chapman

Reference chapters: Resin Clay, Plaster of Paris & Plaster Gauze, 3-D Casting

What comes to mind when you think about clay? Mud? Earth? Pottery? Heavy? Sticky? Yes, traditional clay is all of the above. But do you think of plaster, plastic, resin or paper mache? Probably not. What these clay alternatives have in common with traditional clay is that they start out in a malleable form and end up solid. So lets take a tour of the different forms of traditional and nontraditional clays we will be exploring in this book.

This is the natural earthen clay that is typically yellow, red or gray in color and can be purchased in blocks. Traditionally clay is shaped into forms using hand building by slab or coil, sculpting, slip casting or throwing on a potters wheel, and it is fired at a high temperature in a kiln that removes all moisture content and transforms the shaped clay body into a permanent structure. Unlike the premium air-dry clays, traditional clay is very brittle and fragile in its bone-dry, unfired state. Since this book is a no kilns allowed zone, we will show you how to utilize this most traditional and basic of materials in completely nontraditional ways.

There are several different brands of air-dry clay on the market, but what they all have in common is the fact that all you will need is time and air to transform them from their flexible to their solid forms. In this book we will be using Critter Clay made by Aves Studio, which is a premium and very durable air-dry clay that can be used in any way you would use traditional clay. But unlike bisque-fired traditional clay, this self-hardening clay can be drilled or sanded after it cures. About the only disadvantage is that it is not waterproof and must be finished with a waterproof sealer if you want it to be waterproof. It accepts any kind of paint or finish beautifully.

In this book we are using Creative Paperclay. This lightweight air-hardening material is an extremely versatile clay alternative. In its moist form, it can be molded, shaped and used to cover armatures. This nontoxic material, composed of all-natural ingredients, is great for creating dolls, vessels, jewelry, relief images or sculpture. It has good self-adhesive properties and once it has dried it can be painted with any type of paint or finish. And of course, like all the clays we use in this book, it needs no baking or firing.

Two-part epoxy resin clay is becoming a more widely known art and craft medium. It has several unique advantages in the world of clay alternatives. We are using Apoxie Sculpt made by Aves Studio, which comes in a variety of colors, but you can create your own custom colors either by mixing existing colors or by kneading acrylic paint into the clay. Sculpt will harden in a few hours but takes 24 hours to fully cure to its rock-hard, final state. After kneading together equal amounts of the two components of resin clay, you get a sticky, thick putty that will adhere itself to anything except a silicone or Teflon surface. Used just as an adhesive, resin clay is indispensable, but it can also be used with press molds, as a modeling and sculpting material, to create jewelry elements or collage and assemblage embellishments and as a base for bead or other small object mosaics.