Mick & Clay

[Janice Lee Smith]

Hey, Mick

When you have the time, inclination, energy, and have absolutely nothing else to do:D--will you talk a bit about clay? I know from your blog and photobucket albums-- http://s477.photobucket.com/albums/r...gArtistStudio/ (http://s477.photobucket.com/albums/r...gArtistStudio/) and www.theminiworldsofmichael.blogspot.com (http://www.theminiworldsofmichael.blogspot.com)
how good you are--like maybe a Clay Guru. A number of members have mentioned that they'd like to learn more about working with Fimo, etc. I'm one of them--I struggle with it, and as I mentioned in "Strut Your Stuff", I burnt the arms for the bath fixtures in my Dressing Room project. I was in tears and made the decision to paint them rather than struggle to remake them. It's not just hit and miss with me--more like miss and sometimes fall into something that works--but I can't count on that happening each time!

Anyway, we'll probably have questions--ok, I'll have questions after you post. Many Many Questions!
Thanks,

[nobleday]

I've had a love, hate relationship with FIMO type polymer clays, it would be wonderful to have some tips.

In 2007 I took a class (French Pastries) at the Dollhouse Cottage from Carl Bronsdon. He was very good and had the clay already mixed and kneaded. He walked us through step by step. It is only having that type of instruction that gave me confidence to try it on my own.

Perhaps this thread would be that kind of help to those that don't have an instructor available would need.

I'm including a photo.

[rachelkarpf]

Hey Mick,

I love your blog! You are very talented with FIMO. I wish I was better at it.
I am now following you blog so I don't miss any of your new creations!

-Rachel

[Janice Lee Smith]

Nancy--those French Pastries are just beautiful! Especially that stacked delicious looking one with the loops. Wow! Was it Fimo that you used? Did you use something like liquid Sculpey for the loops? I know food techniques are really interesting, but beyond that I don't know the questions to ask! Pretend that I did ask the right questions and let us know the methods, techniques, and tricks you learned.

Mick, I went online and looked at the PMC clays. When do you use those? Are they about like Fimo to work with? I also saw the metal clay veneer kits, but it looked like you needed something like a kiln for those? And when you use the Apoxie Sculpt, it sounded like you used it on things that didn't need a lot of detail? Would you use it on a face for example? Also, when do you choose to use Sculpey and when Cernit? Do you use glass eyes for your figures? Do you use armatures for the bodies, or parts like hands? Ok--I'll stop for now--but I did warn you I'd have a lot of questions!

So, to you quiet lurkers out there--please help us out here, too. We're putting a big burden on Mick and Nancy, and you need to take pity on them and let us know what works for you. We can use any number of Clay Gurus!

[rachelkarpf]

My blog is:
senamena.blogspot.com

-rachel

[Janice Lee Smith]

Mick,
Thanks so much--your post was immensely helpful. I'm processing and then I'm sure I'll have questions again. I promise to make them fewer! You're a sweetheart to address them all.

I just wish I could keep you on retainer to create all of my clay wishes--working with clay is still just stressful for me. Maybe I need to get my "play" on, and experiment with it a lot more. Were you a "natural" at it when you first started? When I read articles about miniaturists who specialize in clay, they always sound like they took to it like proteges.

Check out my announcement re: Digital Grounds. I'm thinking they might be interesting to experiment with on metallic foils, maybe baked clay--for some of the things you make with metal clay. However, I now add a disclaimer against damage to your ink jet printer -:D-although they told us anything you can put through your printer is fair game with Grounds.

[Janice Lee Smith]

Hey, Mick-

Yes, but I just don't want your oops moments to be about breaking your printer! Did I mention--Disclaimer-Disclaimer-Disclaimer!!! I had the same thought about clay breaking, and although they say you can use it on unvarnished wood veneer, I wondered about it breaking as well. You do tape whatever you're printing on to a carrier sheet, but still. As I understand it, the printers which work best are the "straight through" ones, followed by those which handle the material the least. The topcoat gels from Golden might interest you too. They're intended to put on top of the print--after it's had a fixative or varnish put on--and the gel gives you a workable surface so you can add paint, etc. They rec that you do add spray fixative or varnish to a print, since the ink jet inks will smear on it as they do on paper.

I don't have an art background, so can't quite imagine what you would use the paint skins for, but the samples the Working Artist showed were really lovely. It had never entered my mind that the ink jet printers don't print the color white, so that whatever you print on will show through where white would occur in the art. It made the pieces printed on metallic foils just glow. Golden says you can print on leather with the Grounds as well, but it would have to be very thin? I know Hobby Lobby has some nice suede and leather look papers in Scrapbooking, which might be great for some Western items.

You can bake clay with a heat gun? Good Grief! Is that the type of heat gun you use for embossing in scrapbooking? I get that it was on tiny stuff--but still, who knew? I'm fascinated about this metallic clay process you use, and taking your advice, will just start experimenting. Thank you, our Guru.:D

[Janice Lee Smith]

I'm so excited about the idea of heat setting facial features while sculpting! When I was making art dolls, it drove me crazy to get a perfect mouth, nose, whatever and then bump and ruin it while working on another feature. I ended up making more character dolls than regular featured ones due to that tendency.

In what section do you buy thin leather at Hobby Lobby? I've purchased packages of pieces in the leather area, but nothing as thin as what you seem to be finding.