Post #437920 by MadDogMike on Wed, Mar 4, 2009 8:42 PM

Folks, thank you for the strokes. Seems to be some interest in the woodgrained clay, I thought I would do a little "tutorial" so you can get in on the fun if you want.

I think this is probably classified as a milleflore or caning technique, I have seen it done with polymer clay. In the past I have done this with Soldate 60 (high fires to yellow) and Laguna WC373 dark brown, but it can be done with any contrasting clay colors or even clay colored with Mason stains. I am out of Soldate so I used Babalu's EM347 white and Amaco Indian Red 67.

I started out with a chunk of white, a chunk of red, 2/3 of a chunk of white and 1/3 chunk of red. (all measurements approximate :) )

Mix the 2 smaller chunks together, now you have 3 equal size blocks in 3 different colors.

Flatten the 3 chunks out and stack them light to dark

Roll this out to about double in size, cut in half and stack again

Roll, cut and stack another time or two. Be careful not to roll the layers out to thin or the colors will blend and you will lose your "grain"

Shape the stacked clays into a loaf

Cut the loaf into 4 slices

Lay the slices down and butt them together. The slices need to be gently but firmly pressed together. The clay needs to be fused together without disrupting the pattern too much.

Roll the clay out to the desired uniform thickness, flipping it over to roll both sides. Rolling will also help join the clay together. Look at both sides, one will have a better looking pattern.

Since working the clay causes some surface smearing, scrape slightly with a stainless steel rib to clean up the surface. After forming into your desired shape, you may need to clean it up again.