Hmmmm, I Wonder What Would Happen If I Did This.....

Some of my work in progress got derailed over the last couple of weeks.  It's my own peculiar creative process that's to blame this time.  Experimentation makes up a large part of the way I work.  My work space is cluttered with all sorts of materials I've tried and rejected for my artwork.  The other week I was just sitting staring at one off my in progress works trying to decide if it should just be tossed on the scrap heap when a light bulb went off in my head.  Staring at abandoned materials on my desk I started to wonder what would happen if I mixed a couple of them together.  One of the materials was drywall compound which cracks way to much when it dries to be of any real use to me and the other was a pre made, just add water, product called paper clay (basically papier mache) which I found to be way to coarse and slow drying to be very useful.  Mix them together and you get something closer to the middle of the two.  It's still really messy, but not so coarse and it no longer cracks.  For my larger works it seems to be a better product to work with than the air drying clay.  The paper clay fibers and binders help to strengthen the material and it will bind directly to other surfaces.  It's one main drawback is the drying time.  I'm probably looking at about a week for things to dry all the way through. 

Up to this point my work required a bit of assembly.  The clay portions had to be mounted to the panels.  Now I'll be able to sculpted directly on to the surface itself.    So some of my work in progress have become "test pieces" to try out some new ideas.  So far so good.  I've got a number of larger 23" x 36" ready to start as well. 

Comments

[Elise]

Hi Howard, the new experiment sounds interesting...you're so brave! How strong will they be once dry, painted, and sealed?

Have you ever considered working in clay, like bas relief and firing things? Just curious, I've used paper clay in a ceramics context but I'm curious about how it will hold up without being fired.

Still, I think your idea is great...now, when are we going to get to see some of these new pieces?

[Howard]

I've got four pieces on the go at the moment. Hopefully I'll have something done soon.

I'm not sure we are talking about the same stuff. What I'm using is a papier mache product so it can't be fired. I'm surprised how strong this combination of material is. I have a piece I can't snap in two no matter how hard I try.

[Elise]

Oh, we are talking about something different. The paper clay I used was, well, paper clay. and you could build with it and when you fired it, the fibers in it would burn out and so you could make things with really thin walls etc.

I'm impressed that the new material is so strong without firing. It sounds like maybe you're onto something. And it's not too heavy either? Very cool. Can't wait to see some of the new pieces.

One of these days I will buy one of your pieces you know...it may take awhile but I'd really like that.
:)

[Howard]

The new works taking a little longer. There' a bit of drying time involved. A couple of them have found their way to the trash bin as well. I've got about six on the go. All of them are still at the sculptural stage right now. Some are almost ready to start painting.