Clay is a natural material from which our ancestors made a lot of useful household items. Later, jewelry for women began to be made of this material. Her color scheme can be very diverse: red, brown, gray, white, blue, yellow, and combined combinations. It depends on its mineral composition. Now, in order to extract clay, it is not necessary to go in search of it in places of its accumulation. It is enough to contact any specialized store or creative laboratory. It is important to note that not every clay may be suitable for its creative embodiment into an object of art or everyday life.
How can clay be useful?
Any activity consisting in the combined interaction of manual labor and imagination, not only captivates the mind of the master, but also helps the young body to develop fine motor skills of the fingers. And this means that thinking, imagination, a sense of color, the geometry of the subject, and much more will give the child the opportunity to develop his own creativity. Moreover, it is well known that modeling has a calming effect and makes it possible to focus on a specific subject - "here and now." And a gift made by one’s own hands and from a pure heart will not leave anyone indifferent.
Clay firing at home
If you want to give your needlework a long life, then firing is a must. So that during this process the product does not lose its shape and does not crack, it is very important to observe the clay firing technology in accordance with its standards. Due to the effect of high temperature on clay, the product gains strength, it “stones”. And if after all the required manipulations to cover with glaze, then even your subject of creativity can be used in everyday life.
Nowadays, the practice of burning clay at home is very popular. There is nothing complicated, except that you should adhere to safety precautions and have the necessary space, sufficient power for firing.
Basic firing recommendations
Start with the fact that the product must be left in a dark place (or without direct exposure to sunlight) to dry. Changes in temperature and drafts will adversely affect the quality of clay firing - this is worth considering. The smaller the wall thickness of the product, the faster it dries and the less time it takes to get rid of unnecessary moisture, and vice versa. This also applies to firing time, the larger and thicker the object, the more time it takes to bake, the range varies from 4 to 12 hours. Averaged, it happens about 6 hours, but it's all individual.
When laying your works, you should observe their location according to the “pyramid” scheme: the objects should be the largest in size below, then higher with a gradual decrease. Weight is of no small importance: the heaviest products should be from the bottom. At this stage, you can’t be afraid that they can stick together - feel free to lay on top of each other. Close the oven.
Clay firing temperature at its maximum reaches 900 degrees. But warming should go with a gradual increase. If you have a professional oven with thermal control, then the first heating should be set at 150-200 degrees. This temperature will last no more than 2 hours. Then we add another 200 degrees and the remaining 2 hours we hold clay objects in the oven. And so we repeat until we reach the value of 900 degrees, and we stand for some more time.
How to burn clay
As a rule, at home, clay is fired in a homemade furnace. In this case, the temperature regime must be monitored on an ongoing basis. It will look as follows:
- We start from the first position of the switch, hold for 5 minutes and turn it off.
- After 5 minutes we turn it on, leave the clay to bake for 10 minutes and turn it off.
- After 15 minutes, turn it on, stand again for 10 minutes and turn it off.
- At this stage, turn on the oven, and maintain the clay firing until the products turn red.
- Here we turn on the switch in the second position and in the same way: 5-5 min, 10-10 min, 15-10 min stand. And here you do not need to turn off the oven, but only go down from 2 positions to 1 and vice versa.
- Regulation 3 applies if the furnace capacity is insufficient.
On average, it takes up to 6 hours to complete the clay firing process. You can determine "readiness" by the glow of the walls inside the furnace. As soon as the glow turns light yellow, turn off the stove.
Do not immediately open the door, leave the products to cool in the oven for a long time, for example, all night. This will allow to cool evenly after firing. Then you can cover them with glaze and let dry, so your creation will last you much longer.
Clay crafting
If you want to use clay without firing, then you need to choose it with polymer additives.
Before you start sculpting, polymer clay needs to be thoroughly kneaded with your hands, tapped with your palms. From these manipulations, excess air will come out of the material. This is necessary if you still decide to roast (but not necessarily). It is more convenient to shape the product by working with two hands, starting with larger items and ending with the smallest ones. A stack will come to help you, it is a modeling tool. When the work is completed, wipe the product with a damp sponge or brush.
How to sculpt
Clay, although a plastic material, is more durable than clay. Therefore, there are several important recommendations for handling it during sculpting:
- Clay should always be wet, do not let it dry.
- If cracks appear, smooth them immediately with water or a water-clay mass.
- Modeling work begins with large objects, smoothly moving to smaller ones.
- It is not necessary to roll in foreign clay into the clay, it is better to make separate recesses in the product for this.
When done, you need to leave your figure for a couple of days to dry. Although clay for modeling without firing looks great, you can additionally bake it in the oven or microwave, but this is according to your desire. PVA glue at the final stage can serve as the glaze for the product.
Polymer clay as a source of inspiration
When using polymer clay, firing is not a mandatory process, but it creates an amazing effect of the realism of the subject. It looks very impressive.
Firing polymer clay can be carried out in an oven with a thermostat and on a makeshift furnace. But the most convenient way is aerogrill. When creating flowers, an air grill will not work, as they will become thin. They need a temperature in the range from 110 to 130 degrees.
And this means that none of the proposed methods works. Therefore, firing clay for flowers is best done in glassware.
We bake polymer clay flowers
We place flower buds on toothpicks, which are stuck in any soft object, for example, in foil. We put all this in a glass dish with a lid, and send it to a well-heated oven. On average, about 2-2.5 minutes will be required for product readiness. But pay attention that their color does not change and petals do not become thin. If this happened, then you overexposed the product. You will be able to establish the exact time of firing exposure experimentally, depending on the operating mode of your oven and the volume of the product.
When firing polymer clay in the oven, it is important to take into account the temperature of the glassware - it should not be cold, it can be heated directly in the oven while it is being heated.