Beauty in Old Clay
January 31, 2018
Inspirational Art, Technique tutorials
If you haven’t seen this technique, created about a decade ago by France’s Dominique Franceschi, you really have to try it. Like Monday’s post, this too came out of an accident, one many of us have probably experienced to some degree. It was from dry, crumbling clay, once again ruining our expectations. Well, Dominique took that experience and ran with it and what a beautiful texture arose from playing around with this stuff.
Basically, she extruded some older clay and it cracked all up and down the length of it. Instead of tossing it, she wrapped it around base beads, flattened and smoothed the clay, and ended up with these beautiful, organic looking textures. Wonderful stuff.
Her full technique was shared and translated on Parole de Pâte way back in 2006. But just because it’s an older technique doesn’t mean that it can’t be new or newly played with. Try it out and maybe you’ll even have some pleasantly unexpected outcomes by using it slightly differently such as laying it on a sheet to create surface designs that can be made into jewelry or wrapped around boxes. Or what would these cracked snakes look like and how would you use them if you tried just smoothing out the snakes alone? In any case, it would certainly be fun to play with.
Find the simple steps and a couple of options for these beads on Parole de Pâte here.
Lentils, Snakes and Extrusions
March 28, 2013
Inspirational Art, Tips and Tricks
Lentils, snakes of clay and extrusions are more than a little common in polymer but how often are they brought together?
I do enjoy discovering new ways to use scrap clay. Below is another option for making something beautiful from leftovers. These wonderful colors–and a new take on the possible definition of a ‘swirl’ lentil–are from Russia’s Tatiana Begacheva. I can’t say for certain that she used scrap (the Google translation makes her sound like an ethereal poet–which she very well may be–but it didn’t help explain her process.) Nonetheless, it is a fantastic idea for scrap and a jumping-off point for using scrap-extruded snakes.
I do wonder what would happen if you actually applied the swirled lentil process to these wrapped beads. As soon as I have time to spend in the studio, I think I’ll try it. If anyone tries it out before me, do send photos or share with us on our Facebook page.
If you haven’t seen this technique, created about a decade ago by France’s Dominique Franceschi, you really have to try it. Like Monday’s post, this too came out of an accident, one many of us have probably experienced to some degree. It was from dry, crumbling clay, once again ruining our expectations. Well, Dominique took that experience and ran with it and what a beautiful texture arose from playing around with this stuff.
Basically, she extruded some older clay and it cracked all up and down the length of it. Instead of tossing it, she wrapped it around base beads, flattened and smoothed the clay, and ended up with these beautiful, organic looking textures. Wonderful stuff.
Her full technique was shared and translated on Parole de Pâte way back in 2006. But just because it’s an older technique doesn’t mean that it can’t be new or newly played with. Try it out and maybe you’ll even have some pleasantly unexpected outcomes by using it slightly differently such as laying it on a sheet to create surface designs that can be made into jewelry or wrapped around boxes. Or what would these cracked snakes look like and how would you use them if you tried just smoothing out the snakes alone? In any case, it would certainly be fun to play with.
Find the simple steps and a couple of options for these beads on Parole de Pâte here.
Read MoreLentils, snakes of clay and extrusions are more than a little common in polymer but how often are they brought together?
I do enjoy discovering new ways to use scrap clay. Below is another option for making something beautiful from leftovers. These wonderful colors–and a new take on the possible definition of a ‘swirl’ lentil–are from Russia’s Tatiana Begacheva. I can’t say for certain that she used scrap (the Google translation makes her sound like an ethereal poet–which she very well may be–but it didn’t help explain her process.) Nonetheless, it is a fantastic idea for scrap and a jumping-off point for using scrap-extruded snakes.
I do wonder what would happen if you actually applied the swirled lentil process to these wrapped beads. As soon as I have time to spend in the studio, I think I’ll try it. If anyone tries it out before me, do send photos or share with us on our Facebook page.
Read More