Paperclay?

[oddist]

I've read some interesting things about paperclay and its properties and would like to know if anyone out there has had any experince with it.

oddist (http://www.torchandpalette.com)

[oddist]

Have had no answers yet.

For those interested: (From http://www.grahamhay.com.au/paperclay.html )

PAPERCLAY

is any clay,
with paper
(cellulose fibre)
added.

behaves and fires normally
but is a
stronger dry clay

enables dry-to-dry clay joins

a new aesthetic
emerges
from combining
paper and clay traditions

Some good examples:

http://www.grahamhay.com.au/paperclay.html

http://www.vallyle.com/work/fig_sculp/figurative_sculpture.html

http://www.lmau.com/paperclay.html

Regards,

oddist (www.torchandpalette.com)

[oddist]

Finally got to play with paperclay.

Interesting stuff. Once dry it can be carved, filed, and sanded. (watch for the dust)

Works a little bit like plaster in that you can let it dry and apply wet material. Big difference though is when the surface is wetted it softens enough to be textured. Wet on dry attaches very well too because of the wicking caused by the paper fiber.

Here and subsequent posts are practice pieces. All are based on an approximate 12 inch tall figure. Not yet fired. I plan on a barrel pit fire this spring. Never done it before and should be interesting.

Still learning....

[oddist]

Little guy with a staff...

[oddist]

Icarus flight training...

[oddist]

Resistance...

[oddist]

Concession... (work in process)

[fritchie]

Oddist - Very interesting pieces, and thanks for posting on this new material

In the last piece, (Concession), will the support wires be removed before casting? (My guess is yes, after a bit of drying. This looks like a good material for rapid testing of ideas. Is the material, once formed like this, but before firing, reusable?

[oddist]

Fritchie,

The wires are actually plastic coffee stirring straws. They are place-holders for ropes. They also exist in the piece named "resistance."

Paperclay can be fired as any normal ceramic. If not fired it softens when wet so I don't think a mold could be made for casting without firing first. I guess after firing a mold could be made for casting. Nevertheless, my plan is to use the material as intended and fire the pieces. I'm hoping the pit firing with salt and copper will produce some interesting coleration.

If one wants, a non-fired piece can be broken up and wet down for reuse.

[underachiever]

Definitely interesting. I've been experimenting with paper recently, though in my case, I've been using a mix of different kinds of paper and water to produce paper sculptures.

Definitely something to explore.

[Muskeg Rider]

Intriguing stuff. Have you incorporated any internal "skeleton" or is the piece strong enough to hold its own weight? Perhaps that depend on the consistency of the mix?