paper and clay

after hearing a bunch of artists talk about the coolness of paperclay, i knew i would not be able to resist buying a block. as if i need any other art material, geez! it sat lying in my metal office basket catch all for a few months and recently i decided to give it a try. and i have to say that this stuff really is pretty cool.

i am still experimenting with it and since the package does not come with much in the way of instructions :( there are a few things i need to fix with my technique. the above is my first attempt at making a flower wall hanging. it is roughly 4 inches in diameter and when i assembled it, i stuck a large metal safety pin in the back for hanging. this is definitely a work in progress as you can see how a few of my mini beads have fallen off during the drying process. all the missing beads are safe and sound so i will glue them back on which won't be a huge deal. i have been advised that the best part of paperclay is that you can use a super fine grit sand paper to soften up the dried piece. thinking about taking an embroidery file and going to town sanding off all the rough edges. my favorite part is the "love" notation stamped into the center. not original by any means, but sweet none-the-less.

this piece is a free form flower that has been molded onto a piece of cotton wrapped thick wire which was lying around my studio. i think i have had my pack of 50 of these for about 5 years now and never had a use for them. i am dreaming about a whole vase filled with paper clay flowers. my only mistake on this piece is that i didn't put a hook on the end of the wire to really secure it into place. since the wire is straight, it might eventually come free of the bloom. but again, glue will fix it right up, so no biggie.

my next step is painting... i did some research and practically any paint will work on material. i am thinking about acrylic since it is what i have the most of, but i want to thin it out by half so it is more of a wash and not a solid color.

all in all, it was really fun to work with something new. i find that when i am in a rut, i need to go in another direction completely to get the spark back!