Hip to be square: adding texture to clay creates tile art!

Expression, Nov-Dec, 2004 by Judy M. Spencer

Because I dabble in a little bit of everything. I consider myself a mixed-media artist and teacher. And I literally mean "mixed" media because I've got my fingers into a lot of things and a little of others. I'm a decorative painter, I alter. I journal. I stamp, I make books. I do wire wrapping. I bead (well, I'm learning!)--but polymer clay remains one of my favorite mediums. I love to learn new arts and techniques and just wish that there were more hours in the day to take all the classes and play with what I've learned.

INSTRUCTIONS

FOR TILE BOX

Making Clay Tiles 1. Roll Black Sculpey clay through a pasta machine on the largest setting until it reaches a size of approximately 5 1/2" w X 8" h. 2. Thoroughly powder the texture plate with talcum. 3. Put texture plate and clay together and run through pasta machine on the largest setting. 4. Trim off the excess clay and cut out tiles of individual textures. 5. Sort out good tiles from bad and return bad tiles to scrap pile of clay to rerun with texture plate. 6. Note: Inside texture tiles run approx. 3/4" X 1 1/2" Set aside for now. For the box pictured we used 25 small rectangular tiles and 25 large square tiles. 7. Trim block tiles to 1" X 1" squares with the help of grid paper. 8. Apply Pearl Ex to the desired tiles, including the 3/4" X 1 1/2" tiles.

Applying Tiles to Box 1. Paint the entire box with one coat of black acrylic paint. Let dry. Using a needle tool, punch small holes in all the corners and seams of the box. Place box lid onto box and run a line with your bone folder (or similar tool) around the sides where the bottom of the lid ends. 2. Remove the lid. This gives you the top line on the box sides to begin placing your tiles. 3. Apply a coat of thinned white glue to desired side of lower portion of box. Place square 1" X 1" tiles onto glued area next to each other and line up to the line you made on the box in step 1. Then begin placing the rectangular 3/4" X 1 1/2" tiles beneath the square ones. Note: Some tiles may wrap around the box corners or need to be trimmed accordingly. 4. Turn box bottom up. Trim off excess clay even with bottom of box. 5. For top of box, again, apply a thinned application of glue. Using the 1" X 1" tiles, place the first tile in the center of top. Then begin applying enough tiles to form a line, either vertically or horizontally. When laying second set of tiles, stagger the row from the first row you laid down. Repeat this process until the top is entirely covered. Trim excess clay from top sides. 6. For side of top of box, apply your thinned glue and apply the thin 3/4" X 1 1/2" tiles from step 6 in "Making Clay Tiles" Wrap around edges where necessary and then turn lid upside down and trim excess clay from side bottom. 7. Place both top and bottom of box with tiles into the toaster oven and cook as per manufacturer's directions. (Be sure that all tiles are adhered properly before placing into oven.) 8. When box cools, use a Gold Krylon Pen to paint the bottom of the tiles where they were trimmed on the box lid. 9. Optional: Using the Pearl Ex Watercolor Palette and a soft flat brush, apply a light coat of Pearl Ex to the ridges of the tiles. Let dry.

Finishing 1. After the box has been baked with the polymer clay tiles, apply a second coat of black acrylic paint to the inside of the box and allow to dry. 2. With the black acrylic paint, paint the large ball for the top and the smaller balls for the legs. When dry, paint your choice of color of Pearl Ex from the Watercolor Palette. This should be a light, almost transparent application. 3. Glue large ball to center of lid. 4. Glue small balls to bottom corners of box for feet. 5. Coat box with Flecto Varathane Diamond Wood Finish Gloss. Let dry. 6. Glue silk tassel into hole of ball on top of lid.

FOR TILE CANDLE VASE

1. Choose an empty candle vase or other glass vase of choice. Note: If using a candle vase with the wax inside, remove the wax from the vase. 2. Clean vase with rubbing alcohol. Randomly apply a coat of desired Pinata inks to the entire vase, including bottom. Let dry Colors used in sample include Sapphire Blue, Passion Purple, Rainforest Green and Sunbright Yellow.

Making Clay Tiles Follow steps 1-5 in "Making Clay Tiles" for Tile Box. Substitute Black Sculpey with Translucent Sculpey. Trim block tiles to texture design or desired sizes.

Applying Tiles to Vase 1. Randomly place tiles onto the vase. Be sure that the tiles are touching each other because this will form the outside "skin" of the vase when baked. The skin is very important because it's how the baked clay will adhere to the glass. 2. After you have covered the entire vertical surface of the vase, gently smooth all tile seams by rubbing and pushing with your hands and fingers. Don't lose the texture of the tiles but make sure you get complete coverage to form the skin on the vase. 3. Trim excess clay from top and bottom of vase and smooth edges by gently rubbing with fingers. 4. Place vase into oven and cook as per manufacturer's directions. Note: Due to the size of the vase, it may be necessary to place the vase into a standard oven to bake. Most of us don't have dedicated standard ovens for craft purposes. However, I've read that you can place the item to be baked in a dedicated roaster or large bean pot and then bake in a standard oven. 5. Upon completion of baking, gently remove the vase and let stand to cool completely. Excess handling at this time could result in breakage of the glass.