Making Porcelain Leaves
In the back of my mind, I have wanted to do some pieces with lots of leaves. I mean, LOTS. Right now I need repetition. I want to get up in the morning and know today I need to make one thing over and over.
Using an oval cutter, a toy rolling pin and porcelain clay I began.
Placing the finished leaves on a damp cloth until they go into a damp box at end of day.
As I used scrap porcelain from other projects, some of the leaves had a bit of R.I.O and other had Mason stain Grass Green wedged in.
After cutting out the shape with an oval cutter, I pinched the edges. I have a small wood modeling tool I used for the veins.
I guess I should say I needed lots of little leaves. One would think it tedious to make hundreds of little leaves. Somehow it isn't. In fact, it is very relaxing. It gives me time to think about the process of making art. Also about the care. The leaves need to stay damp until they are used on a piece. I have to spritz them with water. Cover them lightly. Even turn them. As if incubating eggs.
It's a real trick to keep all the pieces moist till they are needed while you're making them. I do that with my wall tiles too and sometimes I roll them out and then place them between two pieces of plastic wrapped up cause I need to keep them flat. One of these days I'll try incorporating color in my clay, for now I just paint the stains on the top; can't wait to see how you will use these.
ReplyDeleteThe smaller pieces dry out very fast. Luckily they don't need to be flat. Curling for a change is okay. I already finished a small piece with just a few leaves. A second piece I started has more leaves. I am working on a third even larger piece with even more leaves. I will work with this theme for a while. I will post process next week.
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