Red - Self Portrait

Red

Polymer Experiences

While covering this switch plate with the gradient flower cane, I have discovered that the two weeks of resting conditioned the cane just perfect for covering. It was just hard enough to keep its shape during slicing and covering but still soft enough to work with.
Here is a few tips for cane work:

Use hard clays. You will have less distortion of the pattern and color mixing will be less.
If you have soft clays, try to keep them in freezer for a few minutes before slicing.

Use a sharp razor for slicing. If you observe distortion during slicing, put the clay back in the freezer a little more.

Due to lack of time, instead of wrapping the cane in foil and storing, I had left it on my desk for about two weeks. In long term, this will cause the clay to dry. But in these two weeks, it just got hardened and made my job easier. If you have time, you may want to try leaving your cane out for a while before working with it.

Hapy New Year