Combined use of paper clay - prefire Painting

Paper clay sheets which have been dried on the plaster bats serve as great canvases. I had to be careful with the amount of wet glazes and underglazes used on the greenware. as it did start decomposing when it got too wet.
For my first trial I went for something really simple with a water color look, but it will be interesting to try more complex painting or the lazertan (www.lazertran.com) transfer paper to print my digital art onto these sheets, either before or after firing. The rough edges give a recycled paper look ( well, it basically is - its made from old newspapers and will have a rougher look once the paper has burned out) a kind of trompe l'oeil - because it will be a light weight ceramic tile.

Back to Blogger, back to sculpting

Back to sculpture after some weeks of trying out new combinations of paper and clay, ( not having given up on finding ways to make molds and castings but taking a break from that).
All of a sudden I realized that my restlessness and general feeling of discontent stem directly from NOT having sat down quietly to sculpt per se in a week or two. I obviously need the chemical exuded by my brain at the touch of my fingers to clean, soft, pliable, fresh clay and a couple of hours of following my heart to where it wants to go.
I have to say that the time spent was not wasted at all. Using paper clay in combination with my clay sculptures, offers possibilities unworkable before. I am soaring on the wings of ideas and working happily again. I will soon see how connecting between the regular clay and the paper mix works in firing but for the duration of the process of creating it, I will go blindly into the joy it brings.