Stamped Mokume Gane- part5 YAY!

Condition and roll out in your pasta machine on the 2nd thickest setting a color of clay that goes with your Mokume Gane Stack. I have used a sheet that is 2" x 2", this is a great size for the sample. You can make bigger sheets if you wish, but I find that starting with a little and starting small is sometimes so smart, patience grasshopper!

I have used turquoise again, 1. because I LOVE this color and 2. because it was handy and already mixed.

I have slivered off sections of the stack I made and placed them on the sheet of turquoise.

I have added more slices until my sheet of turquoise is covered with one layer. I try not to over-lap the slices.You can then press these gently on to the sheet of turquoise.

<---- can you spot where I cut the lines with the back of the blade? Oh by the way be very very very careful when you do that.Back of the blade to me means, opposite side of the sharp side.

Turn the setting on your pasta machine back to the thickest setting and roll your sheet with slivers through on the thickest setting.

Turn the sheet of clay 1/4 turn and turn the pasta machine setting down to the 2nd thickest setting and roll the sheet through again. This will flatten all of the slivers on the sheet, you can add more if you wish to fill in holes or you can keep turn the sheet and the setting down each time you roll it through to get thin sheets of design to cover things with.

If the images on the clay stack start too random, destroy the stack again and start slivering off more slices.

This picture is to remind you what the colors and the stack looked like after all of these sections.

I have to go rest now...maybe someday I will post something I made out of this.

Stamped Mokume Gane- part4

Here you can see me using a paper clip as a texture tool!

I am using a heart charm as tool! And if you are real quick you will be able to spot the blooper.

Here is the imprint of an awesome rubber stamp that I have. Don't even ask. The company that made this one doesn't exsist any more. There are tons of other companies that make wonderful spiral stamps though.

Now sliver off slices of the top of the stack with your clay blade. I say sliver because it is easier than trying to take the whole slice.

On to the final part, I am sitting here at this point wondering if it is all worth it...

Stamped Mokume Gane-part3

Cut what comes out of the pasta machine in half and rotate one of the halves so the cut edges are on the same side and stack on top of the other.

Run those through the pasta machine on the thickest setting.









Cut in half. Rotate and stack again. Do not roll through again.











Cut in half again and stack one half on top of the other to form a block.







Now destroy the stack, pent up aggression? Me? Hell no….
I press my stack to a ceramic tile or my work surface or something that will stick to the clay first so after I am done destroying the surface I can sliver off the slices. Press all kinds of stuff into the top surface. Here I am using a piece of filigree to press in to the top surface of the block stack. The marks you see below the filigree area are cut with the back og the clay blade or a knife to make those marks, you will be able to see what it does in some later pictures.
I am seriously thinking about leaving you all hanging here...next

Stamped Mokume Gane- part 2

Mix a half of block of Cernit opaque white with Cernit pearl, this will be the color that runs throughout the stack that is the same.

Condition and mix the clay till it is mix thoroughly.

Roll out in your pasta machine on the 5th thickest setting (now say that real fast 5 times).

Now depending on how many colors of clay you choose to use you will need a sheet of pearl that is 2” x1” for every color.

I like to keep it to about 6 colors (No reason really, just the way I roll). So for these instructions you will need 6 pearl and white mix sheets and 6 color sheets. You can use the first sheet you cut to measure all of the others.

I am going to use purple, turquoise, light green, neon yellow, orange, and red. Condition each of the colors and roll out on the 5th thickest setting and cut the same size sheets as you did for the pearl/white mixed color.
Continue with the measuring of the colors.

Set down a 2” x1”sheet of pearl and add a purple, pearl, add a turquoise, pearl, light green and so on in a rainbow. Please, I like to demo in a rainbow, pick colors that make your heart sing, if you can not think of anything just use colors like shades of the same blue, browns, blacks and grays, ocean, fire, autumn, Indian sunset (hi Lala!), I think you get the idea. I don't know what Indian Sunset is to you but to me it it, purple, red, Christmas red, orange, lemon and yellow.

Your stack will look like so...

Flatten the stack to about ¼” thick, try to flatten evenly starting on one end and move a little at a time to the other side of the stack.

Roll through your pasta machine on the thickest setting.

next...

Stamped Mokume Gane- part1

I wrote this up in 2003 and I thought it might be time to publish it again with the clay I use now, Cernit, the link will take you to my husband's store the Clay Factory.
I will probably have to post this in sections until I figure this whole blogger thing out.

Mokume Gane is a technique that comes from Japanese sword making. It is a method of stacking different colored metals together, stretching and pounding and distorting them to make wood grain or water like images in the cross sections. A lot of Polymer clay people have adopted this technique to make very beautiful patterns in the clay; covering beads, glass, and incorporating the slices into their work. I think that Lindly Haunani made us all aware many years ago of the beauty that could be achieved with this dynamic and easy technique.
It is easy and the random beauty of each slice is something to behold. There are lots of methods of achieving this look but I find this is an easy (Oops!!!!! Did I say that again?), and quick way to make the patterns. I use a common color through out the stack like pearl, gold, translucent, white, black, or silver and a pallet of colors, i.e. the rainbow ones, red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple. You can also add sheets of clay that have metal leaf added to them or have been painted with different paints, thin washes of Lumiere maybe, or brushed with pearl-ex powders and then coated with a very thin coat of pearl-ex varnish and allowed to dry can be added to the stack too. It is fun to play with and a very easy (oops there it is again) technique to start with, and you will have dynamic results to encourage you to move forward through this addiction. LOL!
For the Mokume you will need:
1-2 ounce block of Pearl, silver, white, black or gold and enough of red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple to make the sheets below, probably less than a ¼ block of each color.
I am using Cernit phthalate free clay for this project but other clays will work just as well. Use what floats your boat, OK? I will use what floats mine.
Clay Dedicated Pasta machine
Clay blade
Rubber stamps- These need to be deep, bold, and defined stamps, better to use out line image stamps than shaded image stamps. Howard has something called Stamp Scraps that are perfect for this at the Clay Factory the link will take you there.
Needle tool, paper clip, filigree finding, and screw
Punch cutters by Kemper (these come in sizes from 3/16” to ¾” and several different designs, they are very tiny cookie type cutters with plungers to get the clay out.)
The settings on my pasta machine run this way, #1 being the thickest and #9 being the thinnest.