Whimsical Critters with Holly Gage
Thursday, March 20 - May 8
6:00 PM to 7:00 PM, EST
(8) week 1-hour live, and interactive online group sessions on Go to MeetingAll levels of ability
Bold Critters full of personality are ready to jump right off your bench. This masterclass is for those seeking a sense of fun and whimsy in their work making it hard not to chuckle along the way. Using Photopolymer plate-making techniques you'll create your own textures, as well as utilizing found textures to form the Metal Clay body of your favorite critter. This outer layer will be laid over a “backbone” structure creating a hollow form. Using dried to dried construction you'll put the critter together allowing you to explore proper dimensional construction, forming, and carving.
Finally, you will be presented with options for including a gleaming glass eye. Either a premade eye from a professional glass artist will be fired in place in a 2-part firing, or you will learn how to hand paint your own and add it in a cold connection. This class is nothing but fun, fun, fun!
Master Class Whimsical Critters with Holly Gage
- 50 g Art Clay 950 (I was mixing PMC Sterling with Art Clay 999 to make 960, but since PMC is no longer making their brand, we are replacing it with this)
- Your own original drawing or photograph
- Borosilicate Glass Eye (test fire to 1250˚ F) buy or bring,
- UV Light, - at least 25 watt
- (5) 2 x 2.75 Steel backed photopolymer plates, maybe a couple extra for practicing using your UV light.
- Exposure frame
- Soft brush
- Overhead Projector Sheets compatible with your printer
- Black fine tip markers of any 3 sizes
- Super Sculpey® Original Polymer Clay (Beige) or Sculpey® Premo (light color),
- 21 g. Sterling Wire if you are making a pinback
- #0 Conical rubber shaper
- Carving tools or dental tools of your choice
- Needle files
- Diamond drill bit assortment
- 1/8” foam paper or applicator for smoothing
- 3M polish paper
- 400 grit sandpaper
- Polishing cloth
- Rotary tool, Eve® Rubber polishing wheels and knife-edge for Silver, blue (medium), pink (fine)
- 3M Radial Bristle Brushes 400 grit to fine for a rotary tool.
- Basic Tool Kit (whatever you have), Kiln
- If painting your own glass eyes:
- Vitrea 160 paints, white black, and the colors you want to paint the eye.
- Glass cabochons the size you want for the eyes.
- Aves Apoxie Clay (2 part epoxy clay)
- Prior to class, approximately a week before class, I will send you a PDF file of the lesson. (Please keep this for your eyes only due to copyright)
- Students will receive a link to a Go to Meeting (no account needed) and should arrive 15 mins. prior to the start of the first class. (I'm in PA eastern standard time)
- During class I'll talk about design and demo major steps
- You can ask any applicable questions you need during class.
- If you need to try something while I'm there to watch, no problem.
- If you miss a class, bring any creative development homework to the next session.
- Please take progress picture(s) of your piece. I will have a Private board for you to upload the pictures, so we can all view it, this way I can reference it, or point to it during our session to describe what needs to be done next. Please send this creative development homework it at least 30 mins. before class if not sooner -- stopping to upload pictures disrupts class time.
- Holly Gage cannot be held responsible for technical difficulties arising bad internet connections. You should have a camera on your computer to participate. Other people on your personal network may also impede the session, so it is recommended that only one person in your household should use the network at a time. Headphones are recommended.
- If technical difficulties prevent an individual from communicating during the group session or impedes an entire session, I will communicate with that person after the session to rectify the problem. If technical difficulties disrupt the entire session, make up time shall be added to the end of the sessions.