So, here are the things that came out of the kiln yesterday (aside from the ones I used in some earrings I made and wore to Gabe’s game… they won, btw… I’ll shoot those earrings tomorrow and show you).
See what I mean by “stripes”?
Now, those two big ones were part of the set that Hadar has so it will be fun to see the difference.
The square ones were GOING to be part of the earrings I made but see the crack on the top hole of the one on the left?
But hey, this is a major step up from my last batch… that disintegrated.
Today, I hit the bronze clay again. First, I had to vacuum the ash out of the carbon…
I think I need to buy a small, handheld vacuum. My regular vacuum is too powerful and probably took more than just ash.
Anyway, I need to figure out what I did wrong here…
I rolled it several times and the crack-look was still there; it never got any smoother.
One thing I need to do better is not let my pieces curl so much. I try to flip them often and early, but I guess sometimes I’m just not there at the right time.
Sorry… the curly picture didn’t come out, but the piece is in the kiln now anyway so I can show you tomorrow.
Here is another issue I need to figure out…
A crack that appears during the drying. This one MAY be because it’s a piece connected by slip to an already dry piece. Maybe I wasn’t supposed to let the first piece dry out before attaching the overlaying pieces.
I’m sure this is all stuff I can/will learn in subsequent visits to Hadar’s studio.
Okay, enough bronze clay for now.
INSPIRATION
Here is a painting I stumbled upon while looking for Maxfield Parrish that I thought would be totally awesome for inspiration (of what, I’m not sure… I have no real idea what I’m doing lately… direction-wise).
(I’m thinking this version of Van Gogh’s pic is a wee bit saturated.)
ALEX BEAD NECKLACE
I forgot to show you! This is a bead Alex made and gave to Monica for her birthday. Monica recently made it into a necklace…
Okay, I’m getting tired (and the kiln still has almost three hours). I wonder how long it beeps when it’s done… I guess I’ll be getting up at midnight to find out.
‘Night!
Hi Laura,
ReplyDeleteI've followed your Bronze Clay adventures via LE along with your blog. I've got a package of BC sitting on my workbench and haven't opened it yet. Like you, where does the time go? It's going to be a learning curve isn't it? Thanks for sharing your progress - believe it or not, I'm glued to the computer reading about it! LOL!
Hope you figure out how to fix the cracking and the curling. You're making great progress!
Cindy