Technical Advice Needed

[zepp]

I have traditionally created figurative sculptures using water-based clay. However, I have been asked to create a sculpture for the top of a wedding cake and fear that a clay sculpture will be too heavy. I have looked at a few artists who create this sort of thing using Sculpey, but I don't want a finished product that looks "doll-like". I would like to work with the water-based clay because I like the texture. Any ideas? Perhaps casting? But what process would be best? Thanks so much for any suggestions. I'm a new member and very happy to have found this site!

[GlennT]

You could work directly in wax, or cast wax or plaster from a plaster mold taken from your clay. You may use the search function of this site to find numerous posts on how to do these processes if interested.

[zepp]

Thank you for your very swift reply! I'll take your advice and search this site.

[StevenW]

Look up Marzipan. ;)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marzipan

That's the ticket for a wedding cake my friend... You can get some made at any french pastry shop in the area and then sculpt away..

[denise lassaw]

Hi Zepp,
I used to do a lot of clay work- what I would do for the wedding cake- is find out how tall the cake is going to be, then make the cake sculpture in two parts, the figure for the top of the cake and a long "foot" with a base on the top that the figure can be placed on- this foot will support the figure- another thought- depending on the type of cake ( carrott cake is heavy and strong, spong cake is very soft) and the size of the figure- you might not need any support- but I like the idea of a clay sculpture because traditionally people save these little things, so whatever you make should be able to stand on its own when the cake is just memory.
another thought... the cake is baked and then assembled- so if you can find some plastic or coated wire in the right shape to use as a foot- all the better. to bad I can't draw on email- but picture a wire tripod with the upper end attached to a circle of wire or plastic- et voila... adjust gauge of wire to weight of figure.
Denise

[denise lassaw]

just another thought- make the figures hollow -even if they are very small you can use some cardboard or paper to wrap the clay around- it will burn out when you fire it. If you know what color the iceing will be you can play with glazes to make a nice contrast,, more interesting. You could also just add oxides in to the clay itself and not use glaze. Is this hi-fire?
D.