Using Vintaj Patina Inks with the Mokume Gane Technique-Part 2

Welcome Back!

When I last posted we were discussing Part 1 of the Mokume Gane technique using Vintaj Patina inks. You can read that post here.

By the end of Part 1, I had showed you the conditioned clay sheets, painted and stacked the sheets. You learned how to texture the clay stack, called a “billet,” and saw what happened when a release isn’t used with rubber stamps.

After the billet was textured, we let it rest. Letting the stack rest means setting it aside for 30 minutes or so. If you don’t want to wait that long, put the stack in your freezer for several minutes to firm up the clay.

Here is the textured stack of clay.

Fully textured clay stack

Revealing Layers

After you have textured the stack of clay and let it rest, it is time to reveal the layers underneath. To reveal the layers, you need a sharp cutting blade. Why? Because you’re going to start slicing off the top layer of clay.

Yep, after all that work poking and pushing and tickling that stack of clay, you’re going to remove layers in what might feel like the destruction of hard work. Removing the layers is how you’re going to see just what all that poking and prodding did to each successive layer.

This is an exciting and sometimes nerve wracking process. I love it because of the element of surprise. You really never know what patterns are going to emerge each time you slice off a layer of clay.

Okay, I’ll stop my yammering and show you the patterns that were revealed in my stack of clay.

Word of warning! As I said, you need to use a sharp blade to make it easier to remove the layers. You also want to make sure the billet is secured to your work surface (either a ceramic tile or acrylic work surface) before you start slicing. If the stack of clay isn’t secured to your work surface, it will start sliding around when you make your slices. Not fun.

To take a slice and reveal the layer, hold your blade with both hands. Place the sharp edge of your blade at the top edge of the billet. Bow the blade slightly and start to pull the blade TOWARD you.

Don’t press down too hard or deeply. You’ll end up with a crater in your clay and a thick slice.

Don’t worry if you pull through and only get a small piece of the clay. Put that slice to the side and keep going.

Layer One

This is what appeared after removing most of the top layer of Vintaj Patina onyx ink. I like how the onyx ink pull into the circular holes. The ink is a little crackled as well. Often, for me, when I remove the top layer, I get lots of little bits of clay coming off. Never can seem to get a nice completely intact layer.

Layer one revealed

Layer Two

After taking off a bit more, here is layer two poking through the clay. This second layer is the ochre ink.

Layer two revealed

I like this subtle color shift as the ochre ink is revealed. But remember that word of warning earlier about applying too much pressure when you slice through the stack? I did just that on layer 2.

Now don’t fret when this happens. The simplest solution is to take small slices off the lumpy side until you even out the surface of the billet. Easy peasy and you’re back in business.

Here are some of those smaller slices that came off the first two layers.

These slices are what I’ll use to create my final piece. You can see that as you slice through the layers, you start to reveal the colors of paint. The textures you applied way back in the beginning help compress the stack and drag the colors through it.

Your texture tools createt these very organic patterns in the clay. What’s neat is you often have two very different patterns on each slice. A front side (the top layer you see as you slice through the clay) and a back side (the pattern on the back of the layer.) Now you can choose which side to use in your finished piece. Inevitably, one side is going to be more interesting than the other side.

Final Layer

This is where I stopped slicing through the billet. I loved how the ochre ink circles surrounded the black dots.  I like this pattern and haven’t decided what to do with it yet.

Final layer (for now)

So What Did I Make?

About a year ago, I became quite fascinated with circular shapes. I’ve always liked circles. But this time I started making a variety of circle or disk shaped pieces. Some had patterns, some had faces. I haven’t done much with them, just tossed them into a box for future inspiration.

And that is what I decided to do with the layers of patterned clay that I sliced off my clay stack. I applied the slices to white clay, cut out circles and oblongs, and then formed the clay over domes.

Five Disks

You can see how taking your slices and re-arranging them onto a sheet of clay once again changes the original pattern.

Convex, Concave, and Oblong

The oblong piece was created with a shaplet template. The slices were put on textured black clay. The gold is Rhine Gold mica powder.

More circle love

And this is as far as I’ve gotten with these pieces. I would like to mount them onto a board. Wood? Cradle board? Something with encaustic? Not sure yet.

Disks on Green

Well, I did have one idea of incorporating wire, maybe copper, into the design. But that is just a spark of an idea in my head. I haven’t sketched out the full design yet.

So there may be a Part 3 still to come in this adventure.

I hope you’ve enjoyed learning about one approach to using the Mokume Gane technique. Now it’s your turn to give it a go.

If you do make something with the Mokume Gane, please leave a comment on this post and include a link to your blog post, Flickr page, or website. I’ll post your links in a separate post so we can see what you created with this fun technique.

Using Vintaj Patina Inks with the Mokume Gane Technique-Part 1

A couple weeks ago I wrote about my first experiment with Vintaj Patina Inks on polymer clay. You can read my initial impressions here.

This time around I wanted to try the inks in a popular polymer clay technique called Mokume Gane (moe-koo-may gah-nay). Mokume Gane is a Japanese metal work technique where thin sheets of metal are stacked (called a “billet”) and fused by heat and pressure. The metal is forged and carved to produce unique patterns.

In polymer clay, we use a similar approach using thin layers of polymer, stacked one upon the other, and then textured with a variety of tools that are pressed into the layers of clay. This is one variation of the mokume gane technique applied to polymer. Other variations include using texture plates to impress the clay and placing small balls of clay under the billet to create a bumpy surface.

So let’s see how all this worked with the Vintaj Patina Inks.

Materials

For this test, I decided to use

• white Premo
• onyx and ochre Vintaj Patina ink
• an umounted rubber stamp
• assorted texture tools

I also had on hand a cup for water, paintbrushes, gloves, paper towel, and wore an apron.

Inks, stamp, clay, paintbrush. Ready to Start!

Creating the Billet or Stack of Polymer Clay

I conditioned the white clay using a Atlas pasta machine and rolled it to a #4 on the machine. Then I cut the sheet into 4 equivalent squares.

I painted two of the squares with the onyx ink and two squares with the ochre ink. I used separate paintbrushes for each color. Be sure to rinse your paintbrushes in water as soon as your done with the inks. Then I let the inks dry for 10 minutes. I didn’t pick up any residue when I touched my finger to the ink. The finish is shiny and not tacky.

Painted clay

I mentioned in my first test with the inks that they are rather messy. Here’s proof. The ochre is the worst of this three pack.

Messy bottle

Once the inky squares were dry, I stacked them. I put one ochre sheet on the bottom then the onyx sheet on top. Alternating the remaining sheets, I ended with the onyx sheet on top of the billet.

Billet

At this point if your billet gets a little distorted, you can trim the edges to square the stack. You can also use a straight edge to even the sides by gently pressing the clay with the straight edge. A ruler or old plastic card works well.

Now, before you put texture to the clay, it is important to have your stack of clay firmly secured to a surface. I use either a ceramic tile or an acrylic work surface. Securing the stack to a surface reduces distortion and helps when you start to slice off the layers of clay.

Adding Texture to the Billet or Stack of Clay

Putting texture to the clay is one of my favorite parts of this technique. It’s easy to go a little crazy with all the tools. I had one polymer clay teacher tell me she spent a half-hour adding texture to a stack of clay!

I made the first impression in the clay with an unmounted rubber stamp. Here’s a trick for getting a good impression with a rubber stamp: stand on the stamp.

Yes, stand on the stamp. Put a ceramic tile on the floor with your stack of clay on the tile. Then put the stamp on the clay and stand on the whole thing. Give it a good press with your foot. If you practice yoga, you can use this time to practice your best flying ballerina pose.

Standing on the stamp to put texture in the clay.

When I removed the stamp, I realized I had made a mistake. I should have put a release on the stamp. A release is used to prevent the stamp from tearing away the clay or paint. You can use a light spritz of water, a mix of baby powder & corn starch, or a spritz of Amour-all as a release. Apply the release to the surface of the stamp then press the stamp into the clay.

Here is what happened when I pulled the stamp away from the top of the clay stack.

See that white clay peeking through about 1/4 of the way down? That is where the onyx Vintaj Patina ink peeled off and onto the rubber stamp. It’s possible the ink was not completely dry in that particular spot.

Onward….

Then I added more texture with a few favorite texture tools.

Texture tools

Here is the stack of clay with pokey holes, squiggly lines, and other fun stuff pushed into the clay.

Fully textured clay stack

Word of warning! If you use a cookie cutter or straight edge to texture the clay, don’t press the tool right into the middle of the stack. Odds are when you pull the tool out of the clay, the clay might come right out with it. This can happen with circular tools, like a cookie cutter.

To avoid this, lightly dust the cutter and press it closer to the edge of the clay stack. If the section of cut clay separates from the stack, gently press it back into the stack with your fingers. Let the entire stack of clay rest for a few minutes before adding more texture or before you start to remove the layers of clay.

Removing Layers and Revealing Patterns

Now that you’ve pressed tools into the clay stack and made a groovy pattern on the top of the clay, you’re going to start removing layers of clay to reveal patterns underneath.

But first we’re going to let the billet rest. It’s all warm and soft at this stage from all the pushing and prodding with the texture tools. If you start removing layers now, you’ll smear and smush the clay.

So take a break. Grab something to drink or eat. In the next post I’ll show you the patterns that emerged when I removed a few layers of the impressed clay. I’ll also share what I made with the slices.

Testing Vintaj Patina Inks on Polymer Clay

Now that the holiday show season has ended and the last of my special orders have been delivered, I am taking a well-deserved break and playing in the studio. On Monday, I stopped by Ink About It in Westford to do a little artsy-crafty shopping for myself. I bought some Copic  markers, a handful of Colorbox chalk ink stamps, and a package of Vintaj Patina inks by Ranger.

I decided to try out the Vintaj Patina inks first. I’d never heard of them before Monday. They were originally created to use on metal. I wondered if they were anything like the alcohol inks I’ve used. Let’s find out.

Vintage Patina Inks

FYI

Before you use the Vintaj Patina inks, a few recommendations:

• Grab a handful of paintbrushes to apply the paint.
• Have a cup of water handy for rinsing your paintbrushes. The inks dry quickly. If you spill any ink, wipe it up immediately.
• Paper towel. You need paper towel to either wipe your brushes, wipe up your spills or dab the inks.
• Gloves. Wear gloves when using the inks. They’re a bit messy. (Really, it’s not just this artist!) You need to shake the bottles to mix the ink. The ink tends to spray into the cap. When you remove the cap, the ink drips from it. Be prepared.
• Odor. I noticed a spray paint-like odor when I opened the first bottle of ink. It seemed to disappear over time and I didn’t notice it with the other bottles.  If you’re sensitive to odors, use these inks in a well-ventilated area.

Okay, onto the play and testing the Vintaj inks on polymer clay.

Testing

The colors inks I tried out were Ochre, Agate, and Onyx.

Vintaj Patina Inks: Onyx, Ochre, Agate

I conditioned some Premo black polymer clay and pushed it into a mold from my collection. I decided to test the inks on two samples of raw (unbaked) clay and two samples of cured (baked) clay.

Clay samples

Can you guess what item I used to make the texture in this mold?

Raw Clay and Ink Test

In this first sample, I applied the agate ink, two layers, and hit each layer with the heat gun in between applications.

Raw clay with agate ink

Then I brushed on a small amount of the ochre ink, dabbed the ink with paper towel, and hit with the heat gun. (NOTE: I used the heat gun to slightly dry the inks between applications. I didn’t run the heat gun long enough to cure the clay. I’ll do that after all the inks are applied.)

Raw clay with agate and ochre inks

The last application was the onyx ink over the previous two colors. I dabbed the ink slightly with a paper towel to remove some of the excess. To keep the confusion to a minimum, this first sample will be known as AOO.

Raw clay with 3 layers of ink (AOO)

On the second piece of raw clay, I applied the ochre ink first, then the agate ink, and then the onyx. I dabbed all the ink lightly with a paper towel and then hit it with the heat gun. This second sample will be referred to as OAO.

Raw clay with ochre ink

Raw clay with ochre & agate

Raw clay with final layer-onyx

Both pieces of raw clay were cured (baked) in a clay dedicated convection oven for 10 minutes at 275 degrees. After baking, I let the pieces cool completely. Then I lightly sanded both pieces with 800 grit wet/dry sandpaper.

OAO (ochre, agate, onyx) on left
AOO (agate, ochre, onyx) on right

Sanding removed most of the top layer of paint in the OAO sample on the left. It also left some interesting scratch marks on the surface which I kind of like.

If you couldn’t guess it earlier, now can you tell what item I used to make the mold?

Cured Clay and Ink Test

While I worked on the first set of samples, I cured the other two pieces of clay. Those pieces were in the oven for 15 minutes at 275 degrees and cooled completely before applying the inks.

On the first cured sample, I applied the onyx ink first. I mixed the agate & ochre inks together and applied this combination on top of the wet onyx ink. Then I dabbed the wet ink and hit all layers with the heat gun. I repeated the process with a second layer of the agate/ochre mix.

At this point I was so absorbed with what I was doing that I forgot to take a picture of this sample at this stage! Sorry.

With the final sample I was feeling a little more daring, so I started by spraying the cured piece of clay with rubbing alcohol and then applying the ochre colored ink. The Vintaj ink immediately ran off the alcohol soaked clay. So I wiped off most of the mess with paper towel and dried the piece with the heat gun.

These inks do not react like Ranger’s alcohol inks.

On the next attempt I applied thin layers of the ochre ink. I mixed the onyx and agate inks which resulted in a rather ugly battleship grey color. I put the battleship grey color on top of the ochre ink. Dry this mess, I mean mix, with the heat gun.

Okay, now I’m starting to get bored. The resulting color combination is rather “meh.”

Off Come the Gloves

At this point, the gloves came off. (They’re too big for my hands anyways so I really needed to take them off.)

I don’t like how either of these cured samples is turning out. They’re both look dull. They need some bling. Some spark.

I sand off the top layers of ink on both pieces using 2000 grit wet/dry sandpaper and pull out my Lumiere paints. On the first cured sample, I apply a layer of  pearl turquoise paint, wipe it off, and dry with a heat gun.

Cured clay with Vintaj patina inks and Lumiere pearl turquoise paint

The Lumiere pearl turquoise paint gives the first sample a little more depth.

On the second cured clay sample, I applied Lumiere super copper paint, dried and sanded it. A lot of the paint came off when I wiped the still wet clay. (The clay was wet from the wet/dry sandpaper.) I put on another layer of super copper paint followed by more ochre ink and wiping in between layers.

Cured sample #2, sanded copper

Cured sample #2 with copper paint & more ochre ink

You know how a teacher will tell you beware of turning your piece into mud? I’m starting to feel that way with this sample.

Finally, I decide to apply a very light brushing, almost a dry brushing, of Lumiere pearl white paint. I wipe off the excess, dry the sample with a heat gun, and then use 0000 steel wool to sand the piece followed by a very light run under the buffing wheel at low speed.

Cured sample #2 with many layers

It’s kind of gone from “meh” to “maybe.” Not sure if I “saved” it or not. But this is just an experiment. There was no planned destination.

Impressions

Well, I can say that the Vintaj patina inks are nothing like Ranger’s alcohol inks. The word “ink” is a little misleading. The Vintaj patina is more like a paint. There is a mixing ball in the bottle to mix the pigments. And there is that slight “spray paint” odor.

On the raw polymer, the paints appeared more vibrant after the curing process. On the cured polymer clay, the patinas were not so vibrant. Now this could be due to my color choice in both the clay and in the patina color combinations. I would definitely try this again on other colors of clay to see what happens.

In general, I think the patinas have potential to be used with polymer. They make an interesting alternative to the standard acrylic paints we often use to antique or stain cured polymer clay. I did like the layering affect that happened with the patinas. It reminded me of the results you get using the mokume gane technique.

Now there is something to consider. Using the Vintaj patinas in the mokume gane technique. I sense another test coming on.

If you’re interested in using the Vintaj patina inks on metal, you’ll find numerous videos on the Vintaj website as well as on YouTube. These two posts on Ink Stained Roni’s blog were also helpful (note-these titles are my synopsis titles, not the original post titles): Samples of the line of Vintaj inks (there are some very pretty colors) and Answers to questions about the inks & that messy ink bottle

Happy Halloween, Happy Samhain

This post is a repeat. Happy Halloween!

Samhain, pronounced “sow-in,” is Irish Gaelic for “the summer’s end” and represents the death of the summer sun god Lugh.  Samhain is the beginning of the Celtic and Wiccan New Year.  It marks the end of the harvest.

Samhain is considered a time to eliminate weaknesses.  It is now customary to write one’s weaknesses on a piece of paper and then to burn the pieces of paper.  It is also a time to plant the seeds of new projects, to allow them to germinate over the winter, and to end old projects.

If you catch a falling leaf on Samhain before it touches the ground, it will bring you good luck and health for the coming winter.

Halloween originates from the ancient Celts celebrations and is based on their “Feast of Samhain.”

To learn more about Samhain and other Celtic festivals, visit here and here.

Work In Progress: Ornimals and Tiny Totem Bobbles

What are you working on this week?

I’ve had a productive week in the studio making Graduate Owl Ornimals and new Tiny Totem Bobbles. Here are some of these pieces in progress.

Graduate Owl Ornimals

This group of five Graduate Owls is half of the 10 pieces I need to have finished by the end of this month. Another five are on my work table in the first stage of sculpting.

"Neked" Graduate Owls

"Washed" Graduate Owl Ornimals

I’m giving some thought to making a video on my sculpting and finishing process for the Ornimals. Is that something you’d like to see?

Tiny Totem Bobble Birds

The birds are being well-received. They make people smile. I’ve sold one already. And I put together a class on sculpting the birds. That proposal is being reviewed in a couple of places. I’ll let you know when those classes are scheduled.

For now, here are two new versions of the Tiny Totem Bobble Birds.

Tiny Totem Bobble Birds In Progress

I have this fear that the hole I drill in the bottom of the birds will close or shrink during the curing process. So I made these two little curing “mounts” for the pieces. It works pretty well. Except for the fact that the wire supporting the bird on the left came out of the mount and was stuck in the bottom of the bird after it cured in the oven. I was able to remove the wire with a set of pliers and a good yank. No damage done. Not sure why the liquid clay didn’t bond with the wire and raw clay of the mount.

What did you work on this week in your studio?

Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend.

Here Comes The Sun…and a Bird…and a Heart

The other day I took a break from making the bobble totems with bodies. I wanted to make something a bit smaller that was quicker to put together. I am planning to add the bobble totems to my line of work and having a range of price points is always a good thing. The “tiny totems” would fit that mindset.

This idea for tiny totems first popped up in my head while making my hearts last month. I wanted to find out how one of those hearts would look & function as a totem.

Heart Tiny Totem 2012; Amy Crawley

The heart looked pretty good. Of course, while this idea was ruminating in my head, I had to think about other sculptural items that might look cute as totems.

How about a tiny bird?

Bird Tiny Totem 2012; Amy Crawley

Bird Tiny Totem (Side view)

Of course, what bird doesn’t enjoy a bit of sun?

Sun Tiny Totem, 2012; Amy Crawley

And here is the tiny totem trio:

Tiny Totem Trio 2012; Amy Crawley

The heart is 4.25″ tall. The bird is 3.75″ tall (to his beak). And the sun is 4.75″ tall to his longest sunbeam.

Have an excellent weekend everyone!

Art Ideas in Progress

One of the challenges for artists is coming up with new work. Sometimes the creative well is filled to the brim with ideas. At other times that well can be drier than fallen leaves.

I have several sketchbooks full of ideas, many of which never see the light of day. It can be fun to flip through the pages long after a particular idea has passed. I look at some sketches and wonder “what was I thinking?” Sometimes old ideas can spark something new.

Drawing on Inspiration

Following the success of my Ornimals: Animal Sculpted Ornaments, I started sketching ideas for a new line of artwork. This new line may compliment the Ornimals in some way. I definitely want to continue with the sculpting that I really enjoy. So I started thinking about totems and mobiles. Brainstorming with some fellow artists, other ideas that came about were house spirits, garden totems, and reworking the standard ornament so that it doesn’t look like an ornament.

I took several of these ideas and did a brain dump in my sketchbook. (That isn’t as messy as it sounds.) I sketched ideas, did some word play with names, and flipped through several books on icons and symbolism. I also poked around on the internet. There I found some inspiration in the face beads created by the lovely Maureen Carlson.

With Maureen’s face beads as a springboard, I pulled out some molds made from my own hand sculpted faces, a pile of texture plates and tools, polymer clay, some alcohol inks, soft pastels, markers and colored pencils.

Below is the result of playing with these materials.

Totem idea

Janus Face 1

Janus Face 2

Two Faced Janus

Ideas are still percolating in my head. I really like the two faced piece and will explore that further. I also got some ideas from another friend for potential themes for totems (or whatever name I decide to give them.) The biggest piece in all of this is keeping it fun. And these are definitely fun.

Wishing You a Merry Christmas

Wishing you a wonderful Christmas!

Enjoy this performance of Tchaikovsky’s “Sugar Plum Fairy” by GlassDuo

Found Poetry Artist Trading Cards

Last week I took a short break from sculpting Ornimals and created some artist trading cards (ATCs) for my art guild. We were challenged a few months ago to create artist trading cards for a guild swap. With the deadline drawing near, I needed to get my act together. Of course I drew a blank on what I wanted to create. I didn’t want to make traditional polymer clay artist trading cards. Then it dawned on me one night that I could use liquid polymer clay to create “paper.” I could use that as the base for my ATCs.

But I didn’t want to simply color and stamp layers of liquid polymer clay. Another light bulb went off. I would create Found Poetry Artist Trading Cards and embed the words in the liquid clay.

I’m not sure where I first heard the phrase “found poetry.” It could’ve been Quinn McDonald. Or maybe it was Dayle Doroshow. Either way I’m sure I didn’t just coin the phrase.

Not being quite sure of the process, I made up my own. I pulled out a few magazines, found some pages with lots of text, and circled every few words, usually every 5th to 7th word. Then I cut out the circled words and put them in a pile on my table. This is where the fun began.

Looking at all these words, including nouns, verbs, adjectives, and articles, I began to sort them into phrases and sentences. This is a rather intuitive process. Sometimes the phrases made sense. Other times they didn’t make sense but the words sounded interesting together. And that was the whole point. To create phrases and sentences that were sometimes silly and sometimes rather profound. If they made sense, great. If not, all the better.

Using a simple process of layering liquid polymer clay on glass, the words were embedded into one layer of clay. Additional layers were stamped and colored. Then the liquid “paper” was removed from the glass and attached to painted playing cards.

Here are the final results:

Found Poetry ATCs Set 1

Found Poetry ATCs Set 2

Give What You Allow

Uniquely Sheepish

In the next post I’ll share some of the ATCs I received in the guild’s swap.

Kente Cloth Ornaments

Earlier this month fellow polymer clay artist Alice Stroppel shared a video of her creating the “Stroppel Cane.” The video was rapidly shared via social media and Alice’s cane became an overnight success.

Now I am not a polymer clay cane-making kind of  gal. Well, that’s not completely true.  I’ve made some simple canes, one or two simple face canes, and a couple leaf canes. Mostly basic stuff. Intensely detailed canes, however, are not my thing.

The simplicity of the Stroppel cane intrigued me. I also wondered how my version would turn out knowing that in order to create the Stroppel cane, one uses left over bits and pieces of cane ends. Not something I have in abundance.

I do, however, have a few bags of scrap clay sorted into various color families. So I figured I might find some cane ends in those bags and then I could fill in with marbled twists of other colors.

Following Alice’s directions, I created my version of the Stroppel cane. The end result is what I call Kente-like cloth. And since I’m on in ornament making mode, I decided to use my Stroppel cane-Kente-like cloth to cover some disk shaped glass ornaments.

Kente Cloth Ornament Black_Vertical

Kente Cloth Ornament Black_Horizontal

Kente Cloth Ornament Half Black_Half Texture

Kente Cloth Ornament White_Red Vertical

Kente Cloth Ornament White_Red Vertical 2