Pamela Jo Stamper on thu 14 nov 96
Hello,
I have been wondering if the soft paper fibers you make by blending
paper and water in a blender for paper casting could be added to clay to
make paper clay for sculpture. Has anyone tried this? How much paper to
clay would work?
Or, do I have to buy the commercial product to make lighter weight sculptures?
Next question: Does anyone use wood pellets for firing? Could
they be used to smoke pieces or put in a sagger as someone else suggested.
Here on the rainy coast pellets are drier and easier to get than sawdust in
any quantity.
I have some clay rattles I would like to see with wood fired marks of smoke
and flame, but I'm afraid to pitfire because I don't want to watch them
break.
Thanks Pamela Jo -- Rainy, dark, dreary,(but green) North Oregon Coast
E-mail stamps@seasurf.com
You Name on thu 14 nov 96
As far as the paper clay thing goes; thats one of the main things I use now
for sculpture. It can be used for that, or even throwing if the paper
fibers are blended well. When making the pieces, it's pretty strong. When
it's fired and the paper is burned out, it's really lightweight and has a
great texture. I use it with the Kaneko sculpture clay, various slips and
even clay that I have dug up myself.
Right now, I have a white cone 06 slip that I added cattail fibers to...and
it's really nice when it's fired. You can anything that will burn out to
your clay, and it will add strength, texture, even color depending on what
it is.
Hope this helps, and good luck!
Erin/Ire24@aol.com
You Name on thu 14 nov 96
Oh, one more thing...as far as how much to add, I usually use a ratio of 1/4
to almost 1/2 paper fibers to the batch of clay. You can mix a whole bunch
by shredding the sunday paper into strips by hand, then add hot water. Let
it soak for a couple of minutes and use a power drill with a mixing bit, and
then strain off the water.
If you need anymore info, just ask!!!
Erin
Paul Monaghan on thu 14 nov 96
Pamela Jo Stamper wrote:
>
> ----------------------------Original message----------------------------
> Hello,
> I have been wondering if the soft paper fibers you make by blending
> paper and water in a blender for paper casting could be added to clay to
> make paper clay for sculpture. Has anyone tried this? How much paper to
> clay would work?
> Or, do I have to buy the commercial product to make lighter weight sculptures?
> Next question: Does anyone use wood pellets for firing? Could
> they be used to smoke pieces or put in a sagger as someone else suggested.
> Here on the rainy coast pellets are drier and easier to get than sawdust in
> any quantity.
> I have some clay rattles I would like to see with wood fired marks of smoke
> and flame, but I'm afraid to pitfire because I don't want to watch them
> break.
> Thanks Pamela Jo -- Rainy, dark, dreary,(but green) North Oregon Coa
> E-mail stamps@seasurf.com
Pamela,
Yes it works great for pottery and sculpture. I've used 30% and 50%
paper fiber by weight. Shrinkage is nil and the final product is much
much lighter. I dried the paper fiber in a microwave so that I could
add it by weight w/o the water. Then mixed it with the clay to the
desired consistency and used it for some drap mold pots and some
sculpture pieces. When fired the paper fiber burs out leaving a very
nice piece. During the work-up the fiber crates a matrix adding
strength to the clay and allowing it to be worked to an extremely thin
eggshell thickness. NO MAGIC> JUST TRY IT.
Ciao,
Paul
_______________________________________________________________________
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Karen Gringhuis on thu 14 nov 96
Dear Pam - paper clay for sculpture? OF COURSE! If you don't already
have it, run, don't walk, to ROSETTE GAULT's PAPER CLAY FOR CERAMIC
SCULPTORS Clear Light Books P O Box 9060 Queen Anne Station
Seattle WA. (Sorry, don't have a phone but try public info.)
It's a how-to manual & worth the price of approx. $20. ZIP 98109
I've used paper clay for patching but I think it works well for
sculpture provided you don't overdo the proportion of paper. I
even threw w/ my batch. Good luck. Karen Gringhuis
Christine Davis on fri 15 nov 96
I buy my clay already mixed -- can I mix the paper pulp into the clay while I
am
wedging, or can it only be used when mixing the clay?
gejkrs@aol.com on wed 20 nov 96
I tried using wood pellets to provide combustibles for raku. I had an
incredibly hard time getting the wood pellets lit in the smoker (ashcan).
Then I had trouble extinguishing them. They didn't provide a lot of smoke
for raku purposes, but they might work better in a saggar firing
(duration). I'm not crazy about sawdust for raku, either. My glazes are
rather fluid and still somewhat molten when they hit the smoker. Sawdust
and pellets leave texture. I have better luck with shredded high-rag
paper (ask your banker). Gayle R-S P.S. Don't be
hesitant about pit-firing, the trick is to control the heating stresses.
Airflow is the key. Contact Sharon Dryfeather thru Taosnet and ask her.
Gayle (GEJKRS@AOL.COM)
"Act-as-if absolutely equals be. Disturb not the butterfly."
Claudia O Driscoll on thu 21 nov 96
Gayle,
You are right about sawdust leaving a texture on Raku, but I like that.
The larger sawdust particles are best if you are going for this. The fine
stuff is better for the brick kilns. Pit or sawdust firing is great fun and
any kind of sawdust can give you interesting results. You say the
secret is to control the heating stresses. How do you do that? I just
trust the fire, and get good results.
I have seen other potters use fir boughs in the Raku smoker as well as
small amounts of oats. What else do you all use?
claudia
Wendy Hampton on sun 24 nov 96
Hi,
For Raku reduction material I use pine needles, newspaper, llama dung, and in
Hawaii I've seen them use banana leaves.
Wendy from Bainbridge Island WA
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