What’s the Best Hardening Clay for Garden Gnomes?
I’ve been into molding with clay for a while now and have been fairly successful using never-hardening clay, just to train myself to sculpt. However, I’ve begun following my fascination with garden gnomes. I’m aware that most gnomes are made of carved concrete and mostly hard plastic, but I’d rather work with clay. What type of clay would be the best to use? Some sort of clay that I can bake in my home oven.
Try Aves Apoxie Clay. It dries very hard with no shrinkage, its also waterproof and freeze-thaw stable. (Its an air dry clay so you don’t need an oven or kiln) http://www.avesstudio.com/Products/Apoxie_Clay/apoxie_clay.html
Another clay you might enjoy trying is polymer clay (this is what I use the most) Its an oil based clay that you cure in your home oven. Its not not the type of clay that you would use for an outdoor piece though.
October 7th, 2009 at 5:28 am
I don’t think there is a clay which doesn’t require a kiln which will withstand the temperature and humidity changes outside. Even if you use natural clay, you would need to research a clay body which can do that, usually contains a lot of grog (ground up fired clay).
You could learn and practice mold making. Then you could still use your oil-based clay, make a mold, and pour e.g. concrete into it. Or you take a ceramics class which will give you access to a kiln.
References :
October 7th, 2009 at 5:57 am
Try Aves Apoxie Clay. It dries very hard with no shrinkage, its also waterproof and freeze-thaw stable. (Its an air dry clay so you don’t need an oven or kiln) http://www.avesstudio.com/Products/Apoxie_Clay/apoxie_clay.html
Another clay you might enjoy trying is polymer clay (this is what I use the most) Its an oil based clay that you cure in your home oven. Its not not the type of clay that you would use for an outdoor piece though.
References :
October 7th, 2009 at 6:23 am
Sculpt the gnome out of clay, then use that clay to make a plaster mold (not hard to do, look at the library for a book, or google it) Then use that plaster mold to fill with concrete. That way it will be weather proof! You can reuse the clay to make more gnomes, and sometimes you can reuse the plaster mold, depending on the shape and if it can be removed whole.
References :