Polymer clay is a type of hardenable clay which has to be put in an oven to hardern. Polymer clay is generally used for making arts and craft items, and is also used in cemmercial applications to make decorative parts.
Polymer clay is also not the same as "air dried" clays (paper clays and others) which are water-based and will harden when dried (polymer clay won't ever "dry" since there's no water in it, remaining malleable forever if not cured). Polymer clay is also not the same as "modeling" clays (which are primarily used by children and animators) although both are oil based (modeling clay has wax added to it and will melt if heated).
The things that can be done with polymer clay are practically endless! ....that's one reason why so many people are attracted to it, and why it keeps them interested.
Here are a few ways polymer clay can be used:
...sculpting (figures, faces, flowers, bas relief, anything!) ... clay clothing & accessories for figures can also be sculpted (... sculpted items can be any size, from miniature to quite large)... this is sometimes the only polymer technique that non-clayers know of!
Here are a few ways polymer clay can be used:
...sculpting (figures, faces, flowers, bas relief, anything!) ... clay clothing & accessories for figures can also be sculpted (... sculpted items can be any size, from miniature to quite large)... this is sometimes the only polymer technique that non-clayers know of!
..."covering" various items with sheets (or slices, bits) of patterned or decorative clay (small items often covered range from pens to votive candleholders and switchplates,and many more.... non-bakable or large items like tables can be covered as well by using pre-baked veneers)
...all kinds of vessels can be created, large and small (jars, boxes, bowls)... these can be created freestanding, over armatures, or over removable armatures)
...making "canes" (logs of clay with a pattern running through their entire length, from which identical slices can be cut
...think of a jellyroll as one example)... the resulting patterns in canes can be simple, complex or anything in-between; they also can be pictorial or simply geometric
...the canes and their images can be "reduced" so that the they become quite small, then combined repeatedly to make multiple images... caning is much-used technique for many clayers)
...textures or images can be impressed into raw clay in all kinds of ways (rubberstamps, texture sheets, sandpaper or other tools and items from around the house, etc.)
...any colors (or brands) of clay can be mixed together to create almost any new color, or colors can be mixed to make continuous blends of one color to another
...clay can also be colored with other media as well ... they can be colored throughout, or only on the surface, with paints, inks, colored pencils, chalks, metallic (mica-containing) powders, metallic leaf and foils, glitters, embossing powders, etc.
...various inclusions can be mixed into clay, often into the "translucent" color (e.g., metallic powders, spices/herbs, glitters)
...textures or images can be impressed into raw clay in all kinds of ways (rubberstamps, texture sheets, sandpaper or other tools and items from around the house, etc.)
...any colors (or brands) of clay can be mixed together to create almost any new color, or colors can be mixed to make continuous blends of one color to another
...clay can also be colored with other media as well ... they can be colored throughout, or only on the surface, with paints, inks, colored pencils, chalks, metallic (mica-containing) powders, metallic leaf and foils, glitters, embossing powders, etc.
...various inclusions can be mixed into clay, often into the "translucent" color (e.g., metallic powders, spices/herbs, glitters)
Lovely Polymer Clay creations. So talented :)
ReplyDelete