Alice Alper-Rein        JEWELRY BY Y2A, Ltd.
Fine Contemporary Art Jewelry in Silver and Gold
            

PMC TIPS TRICKS AND TECHNIQUES FOR: 
TEXTURES FOR METAL CLAY

                                                                                By: Alice Alper-Rein

An outstanding characteristic of metal clay is its ability to easily accept rich textures.  A symptom of catching metal clay “fever,” is that it causes metal clay enthusiasts to see texture possibilities everywhere they look. Here are some obvious and some unique methods for finding, creating and transferring those textures to metal clay:

1.   Do you have a collection of rubber stamps that you don’t use for PMC work because they are copyrighted (items stamped with them can’t be offered for resale), or you don’t like the image anymore, or the image is too large for jewelry scale, etc... Remove them from their wooden blocks and CUT THEM UP into small pieces of varying shapes and sizes and then REASSEMBLE THEM. Use reposition-able glue or tape to mount the small pieces onto a wooden block or flexible piece of plastic, so that if you don’t like the resulting textures, you can take the whole thing apart and start over again. Avoid copyright issues by creating your new stamp with images that are indistinguishable from the original. Each time you settle on a design that you like, mix up some RTV molding compound and press it into the design to permanently capture it.

2.   Some artisans prefer to roll out their metal clay and then press a lubricated rubber stamp or photopolymer plate onto the rolled out clay. Others prefer to lay the rolled out clay on top of the lubricated texture stamp and press the clay into the stamp. Try both methods to see which one works best for you.

3.    We’ve all been there-so what can you do with that lump of PMC clay that was left out, unwrapped and is now a hard solid lump? Or that syringe clay that dried up before it was used up? Well, if you’d like an alternative to turning it into paste or trying to reconstitute it back into lump clay, try grating it up or chopping it up into various size “crumbs”  which can be sprinkled or dusted onto PMC slip for a wonderful texture on your next PMC creation.  An old cheese grater can be used to make PMC flecks to add a coarse texture to a project. *Please note that once these items are used with PMC, they should not be used with food.

4.   Express yourself by typing some words, phrases, an alphabet or number pattern, etc… onto PMC Sheet using a manual or electric TYPEWRITER. This method can also be used to sign and date your work and to mark its silver content. Here’s how: Tape a piece of PMC Sheet to a piece of typing paper with as little of the tape overlapping the PMC sheet as possible. A glue stick can be used in place of the tape to secure the PMC Sheet to the typing paper. Insert the typing paper into your typewriter and type away!  The textured PMC sheet can be cut into sections and added to your PMC project with PMC slip or fired first and then cut into sections to use in future projects. What’s a typewriter? For those of you born in the computer age, a typewriter is a keyboard device (electrical or mechanical) for printing words on individual sheets of paper by striking with raised letters through an inked ribbon. Boy, do I feel old. Ha ha!  If you’re not lucky enough to have saved one of these almost extinct machines, try garage sales or e-bay to locate one for use with PMC. And in your search, pick up some typewriter parts. Typewriter keys and balls are also wonderful texture tools for metal clay.

5.    Office supply stores and craft stores carry rubber stamp kits that allow you to create changeable message stamps in different size fonts. The kits come with hundreds of mini rubber stamps of upper and lower case alphabet letters, numbers and punctuations. Also included are wooden or plastic stamp holders in different shapes and sizes. Choose the stamp holder of the desired size and shape and slide the mini letters into the channels using the provided tweezers. Roll out your PMC to the desired thickness, oil up your newly created word stamp and impress your thoughts right into your work!  These stamps can also be used to sign and date your work and to mark its silver content. Making Memories® has come out with a line of rubber stamp alphabet kits, ornament kits, date kits and phrases kits that are mounted on magnetized sheets. Using them is as easy as removing the letters you need from the magnetized storage case and attaching them to the magnetic base.  

6.    Integrate nature’s “thumbprint” creatively into your projects by pressing the backs of leaves, blossoms and twigs into rolled out clay even when your final project does not mimic shapes found in nature. Some of the patterns created by nature can be found in the produce isle of your local grocery store. Explore the rich texture possibilities in the vein structure on lettuce, cabbage, spinach and other leafy vegetables. Fresh herbs and spices like mint and basil work well too.

7.    A PMC syringe can be used to add texture and design elements to rolled out clay.

8.    Use a putty knife to add a stucco-like texture to your project using thick PMC slip.

9.    It’s fun to fill an eye dropper with watered down PMC slip to drizzle some texture onto your project. 

10.  Oil up the handle of a patterned fork or spoon and use it to texture PMC to make a beautiful ring or a pair of earrings.

11.  Pencils are inexpensive, yet valuable texture tools. Carve some pencil erasers with one-of-a-kind designs and use them to texture PMC. The point end can also be used as a PMC texture tool. Roll out some clay and texture it by rolling over it in several directions with a hexagon shaped pencil.

12.  MAGICSTAMP® is reusable, moldable foam that will allow you to create your own textures from found objects. Available at crafts and rubber stamp stores, Magicstamp® comes in packages of a variety of geometric shapes, as thin sheets, in blocks and in a grab bag of odd shapes. Here’s how it works: Heat the foam with a hair blower or embossing heat tool for 30 seconds (300F). Press the heated foam against an assortment of found objects, textures or a dimensional surface and hold for 15 seconds. The impression will remain until the foam is reheated. Permanent impressions can also be “engraved” on a Magicstamp® with a pen or pencil. Suggested textures: grains of rice, bark, shells, crumpled paper or aluminum foil, beads, jump rings, botanicals

13.  Create a raised texture by pushing a small lump of PMC Clay through a section of the cotton mesh, square grid canvas meant for needlepoint.  To visualize what the PMC will look like when pushed through the canvas, picture meat as it comes through the many holes of a meat grinder, but in square tubes. Needlepoint canvas is available in most craft stores and sewing centers. The canvas is measured in threads per inch. Look for mesh number 14 which has a small interlock grid. Mesh number 10 has a more open weave. Each weave will yield a slightly different result. The needle point canvas will burn away as the kiln fires, so consider that when planning your design and leave some clay at the back of the mesh to hold everything together.  Substitute brass, copper or steel mesh cloth for the needlepoint canvas. These won’t burn out.

14.  Did you know that the local office supply chain store (Staples or Office Depot, etc…) will turn your text into a rubber stamp while you wait?

15.  My new favorite PMC tools are combs that I make myself by hammering varying amounts of long, stainless steel straight pins through ½" strips of balsa wood (any soft wood will work) I use them as texture tools by pulling them lightly, either straight across, in a wavy fashion or crosshatched on rolled out PMC. Poking the clay repeatedly with the comb also produces an interesting texture. Commercially made combs and hair picks can be adapted for this use.

16.  The next time you’re in the craft store, visit the fabric paint aisle and pick up a bottle of dimensional paint. Two types I’ve tried are Puffy Paint and Slick Paint made by Tulip. Any color will do. Here’s how these paints relate to PMC: Using the long nose applicator tip that comes on the bottle of dimensional paint, practice drawing designs, doodles, dots, assorted shapes and writing words with the paint on thin sheets of clear acrylic or on sheets of non-porous paper, like heavy stock, glossy photo paper.  When you have a design(s) you like, let the paint dry for 24 hours. For the puff paint, after the 24 hour drying period, use a warm hair blower or a warm iron on the back side (not the side you drew on) to gently “puff the paint” for added dimension. You’ve just created one-of-a-kind texture plates for use with PMC! It’s a bit more challenging, especially controlling the thickness of the extruded line, but the same technique can be achieved using any temperature glue sticks and a glue gun. One caveat, you must either write words backwards, or use a 2-part RTV molding material to make an impression of the words you’ve written for them to appear properly when impressing them into PMC.

17.  Convert the textured bottle tops from pill bottles, soda bottles and cleaning products into PMC texture wheels.  Here’s how: Puncture or drill a hole at the center of the bottle cap.  Slide the cap onto your needle tool. Roll out some PMC clay. Lubricate the textured bottle cap with some olive oil. Grasp both ends of the needle tool, with the texture “wheel” resting on the rolled out clay and roll away!

18.  Use the photopolymer technique, borrowed from the printing industry to turn your own black and white artwork, logo, text and high contrast photos into impression stamps to use with PMC. Whether you hand draw your artwork, logo or text, use your computer to draw images or gather copyright free clip art, it will be necessary to print out the images using your computer. Scan them in if need be. Print them out on clear acetate/transparency sheets preferably on a laser printer (although an ink jet print will work) Make a layered sandwich of a cardboard square, foam, the photopolymer material, your transparency, ink down and a square of window glass, held together with small clamps or just your fingers.  Expose under UV light or in bright sunlight for the recommended time for the photopolymer material you have purchased. Use a soft brush under running water to scrub the photopolymer plate. Black areas of the design will scrub away (since they haven’t been exposed to the light) while exposed clear areas will harden, creating a raised texture stamp. After washing, expose to light again to cure. See http://www.silverclayart.com/solar_demo.htm or purchase kits from www.pmc123.com Store these plates in a dark place.

19.  When preparing artwork and photos for photopolymer plates, use photo software to remove gray tones, increase contrast and reverse text and images.

20.  When using a black background around artwork on a transparency sheet in preparation for creating a photopolymer plate, print it out so that the black background extends to the edges of the photopolymer plate to avoid imprinting ending and starting lines/borders around your artwork.

21.  Black areas printed on transparency sheets prepared for transferring designs onto photopolymer plates won’t allow the UV rays to pass through to the plate and will therefore wash out, creating depressions in the resulting photopolymer plate. These depressions in the photopolymer stamp will fill when pressed into metal clay. Therefore, black areas on transparencies will create RAISED metal clay images. The opposite is also true. Clear areas on transparencies used to create photopolymer plates will harden after exposure to UV rays and won’t wash out. Since they will be raised images on the photopolymer plate, these raised images will create depressions when pressed into metal clay.

22.  Did you know that PMC Sheet/Paper can be embossed with tools meant for paper crafts? Like paper punches, embossing tools come in geometric shapes, alphabet letters, numbers, designs, animal forms, insects, etc… Unlike paper punches, embossers make an impression, but don’t cut through. PMC sheet will hold the raised image created by an embosser. When the PMC embossed image is fired and then a patina is applied, the highs and lows of the embossed area stand out prominently. 

23.  Create some unique texture tools by cutting or burning designs into small sections of PVC pipe using linoleum carving tools and/or a wood burning tool. If you’ve taken a fair amount of metal clay technique classes, odds are you’ve collected several PVC or plastic rolling tools in the class kits. This is a great way to recycle those extra tools.

24.  Substitute stickers for the wax or nail polish resist when using the water etching technique to create texture on your metal clay project.

25.  Try the tear-away polymer clay technique when a low relief image is desired. You’ll need to print out your artwork using a toner based printer or copy machine. Polymer clay is rolled out and burnished to the printed copy. When the paper is torn-away from the rolled out clay, some clay will stick to the toner image and text, creating a texture sheet that can be used to create a low relief texture plate for metal clay.