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Showing posts with the label carving turtles

The Tortoise Project Continues!

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 2 Silver Clay Tortoises and 1 original sculpture  The last post about the tortoise left you hanging…..... with a mold ready to use!   The original sculpture was done with polymer clay and baked.   The mold was made with 2 part mold compound and I was concerned about his head and made a second one.   Just a note here….the first one was the best! For those of you not too familiar with silver metal clay, here is a brief description.   The clay is made of micro filaments of silver (recycled I understand) and blended with an organic mixture so the clay is malleable.   It dries pretty quickly so it is important to work quickly and keep the clay moist.   Getting the two parts ready In the case of my tortoise, I conditioned the clay and pressed it into both parts of the mold and let it dry.   Then I removed it from the mold and was anxious to see how the two parts fit together.   With a little adjustment they did well!   After cleaning the insides and sanding them so that the sides

Tortoise or the Hare? I’m going for the Tortoise!

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After my last post on the Reptile Show, I have decided to make a tortoise out of silver clay.   Thank goodness I have artistic license!   My vision (goal – hope) is to make a small recognizable tortoise that could be duplicated and used as a ring, a pendant, earrings, or beads.   Not having done any of this before, I decided to share the experience with any of you who might be interested!   First I need to decide on which kind of tortoise….so I Googled ‘tortoise’ and got some amazing pictures.   What a variety!   After looking and thinking, I selected the Star Radiated Tortoise.    It has a very pronounced star pattern and will be a challenge.      My plan is to carve a small tortoise out of polymer clay, a medium that is easy to work with and manipulate.   I chose red because I like red!   I put my new Craftoptic glasses on and start conditioning, moving and carving  referring to the pictures.   As I work with the polymer clay, it gets warm and a little squishy so that my finger pri