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| Cynthia DuBose and her Silver Art Clay |
She takes some clay and forms it over a glass button to make a dish. She trims away the excess (every dust particle is saved) then finishes the edge by sanding. She dries it out on a candle warming pad (like the ones you can use to keep your coffee warm). She checks that all the moisture is gone by setting it on a mirror and looking for condensation. She files and sands the edge with an emery board. Then she puts it on a stone and hovers over it with the butane torch until it is “peach” colored (glowing) for 2 minutes.
Then she douses it into water for an instant cooling. When removed it has a whitish dry finish which she buffs off with a very soft wire bristle brush. She has smaller tools for buffing in the tiny crevices. She uses it in several forms: the clay blob that you can roll and shape, a more watery consistency she squeezes from a syringe (for fine lines) and a sort of paper form that can be punched with a paper punch. Items larger than a quarter she fires in a kiln but small items she fires right on the desktop with a torch.
The cost of the silver clay varies with the market but a little blob, about the size of 2 or 3 quarters would be about $30. But you can make amazing detailed miniatures with it. She uses it for jewelry, too. Even more interesting, it doesn’t tarnish as fast (or maybe even not at all) as sterling because it is purer. And even more helpful to miniaturists is that it shrinks 12% - so you can make it bigger then it gets smaller as you torch it.
If you want to contact her, she only does classes (doesn’t sell her work). Her name is Cynthia DuBose (cynthiadubose.com) and she is a Senior Instructor with Art Clay World. Thanks, Cynthia, for sharing with us!
And now for show purchases:
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| Karen Markland Halloween pails |
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| Paulette Svec Shabby and Halloween Stockings |
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| Paulette Svec tiny fabric pumpkins WITH STEMS! |
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| Brooke Tucker lamp |
Buying minis even makes up for all the Houston humidity and rain!!
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