Polymer Clay
Project Description: Students will be creating at least two projects using Polymer Clay. The subjects are student choice, but think creatively! Also consider if your mini sculpture will have a finished purpose such as a key chain, pendant, or clothing pin.
WHAT IS POLYMER CLAY?
Polymer Clay is an art medium that is known for its versatility, pliability and simplicity to work with. It is an oven bake modeling material composed of polymers, resins, coloring agents and fillers. Not a natural clay, it is man-made from a plastic, polyvinyl chloride (PVC) base.
Polymer clay is used by artists and hobbyists ranging from children to professional artists and movie makers. It stays continually soft and can be baked in a home oven, retaining its color and size. It is available in many colors, including metallics, glow-in-the-dark and "stone." It can be used to simulate many materials: stone, semi-precious stones, porcelain, wood, and glass.
WHAT CAN I DO WITH POLYMER CLAY?
Polymer clay can be used in an assortment of crafts, including jewelry, home decoration, pottery, scrapbooking and sculpture. Techniques for working with the clay are borrowed from glass-making, metal-working, ceramics, sculpture and textile.
Clay can be used to cover anything that won't burn during firing, such as wood, frames, pens, and mirrors. To create your own colors, polymer clay can be formulated like paint, or colored with powders, chalk, ink, glitter, colored pencils, powdered makeup and paint. After baking, polymer clay can be sanded, buffed, glazed, or painted. You are limited only by your imagination, and even then, there are plenty of projects and ideas from others to choose from!
History of Polymer Clay
Polymer Clay has been around, in one form or another, since the late 1930s. The idea was born in Germany, where Fifi Rehbinder, a doll maker, was having trouble finding her usual supplies, due to the political upheaval of the time. A resourceful woman, she developed a plastic clay she called "Fifi Mosaik", which she used for sculpting doll heads. It wasn't until 1964 that Rehbinder sold the formula to Eberhard Faber. The manufacturer tweaked the formula into the Fimo brand of polymer clay and sold it in toy stores in Europe, where it was viewed primarily as a toy for children or a medium for sculpting dolls and miniatures for use in doll houses.
Polymer Clay made its first major appearance in the United States in the 1970s. The Shaup family, immigrants from Germany, received Fimo as a Christmas present from a grandmother still living abroad. The Shaups' clay creations soon caught the eye of friends and neighbors, and in 1975, the family began to import Fimo into the United States. American companies shortly followed suit.
Meanwhile, other people in the United States were also experimenting with polymer clay. In the 1950s, clay illustrator Gordon Swenarton used a vinyl dough he obtained through his father, who was a chemist. And in the 1960s, Zenith Products Company in the United States "accidentally" created its own variety of polymer clay. The compay developed "Polyform" in hopes of using it as a thermal transfer compound. While it didn't work in its intended industrial capacity, a young visitor's interest illustrated that the product had great potential as an arts and crafts medium. (The owner's daughter sculpted an elephant from the clay.) "Polyform" was the original version of what is now known as "Sculpley". Though the white Polyform/Sculpey was sold as early as 1967, it didn't get its present-day brilliant line of colors until 1984. Until that time, artists had to add their own pigments to colorize the clay.
WHAT IS POLYMER CLAY?
Polymer Clay is an art medium that is known for its versatility, pliability and simplicity to work with. It is an oven bake modeling material composed of polymers, resins, coloring agents and fillers. Not a natural clay, it is man-made from a plastic, polyvinyl chloride (PVC) base.
Polymer clay is used by artists and hobbyists ranging from children to professional artists and movie makers. It stays continually soft and can be baked in a home oven, retaining its color and size. It is available in many colors, including metallics, glow-in-the-dark and "stone." It can be used to simulate many materials: stone, semi-precious stones, porcelain, wood, and glass.
WHAT CAN I DO WITH POLYMER CLAY?
Polymer clay can be used in an assortment of crafts, including jewelry, home decoration, pottery, scrapbooking and sculpture. Techniques for working with the clay are borrowed from glass-making, metal-working, ceramics, sculpture and textile.
Clay can be used to cover anything that won't burn during firing, such as wood, frames, pens, and mirrors. To create your own colors, polymer clay can be formulated like paint, or colored with powders, chalk, ink, glitter, colored pencils, powdered makeup and paint. After baking, polymer clay can be sanded, buffed, glazed, or painted. You are limited only by your imagination, and even then, there are plenty of projects and ideas from others to choose from!
History of Polymer Clay
Polymer Clay has been around, in one form or another, since the late 1930s. The idea was born in Germany, where Fifi Rehbinder, a doll maker, was having trouble finding her usual supplies, due to the political upheaval of the time. A resourceful woman, she developed a plastic clay she called "Fifi Mosaik", which she used for sculpting doll heads. It wasn't until 1964 that Rehbinder sold the formula to Eberhard Faber. The manufacturer tweaked the formula into the Fimo brand of polymer clay and sold it in toy stores in Europe, where it was viewed primarily as a toy for children or a medium for sculpting dolls and miniatures for use in doll houses.
Polymer Clay made its first major appearance in the United States in the 1970s. The Shaup family, immigrants from Germany, received Fimo as a Christmas present from a grandmother still living abroad. The Shaups' clay creations soon caught the eye of friends and neighbors, and in 1975, the family began to import Fimo into the United States. American companies shortly followed suit.
Meanwhile, other people in the United States were also experimenting with polymer clay. In the 1950s, clay illustrator Gordon Swenarton used a vinyl dough he obtained through his father, who was a chemist. And in the 1960s, Zenith Products Company in the United States "accidentally" created its own variety of polymer clay. The compay developed "Polyform" in hopes of using it as a thermal transfer compound. While it didn't work in its intended industrial capacity, a young visitor's interest illustrated that the product had great potential as an arts and crafts medium. (The owner's daughter sculpted an elephant from the clay.) "Polyform" was the original version of what is now known as "Sculpley". Though the white Polyform/Sculpey was sold as early as 1967, it didn't get its present-day brilliant line of colors until 1984. Until that time, artists had to add their own pigments to colorize the clay.
GOALS (LEARNING TARGETS)
-You will create at least two polymer clay sculptures. Design is up to you, but think creatively.
-Sculptures will be small. No bigger than a business card.
-All pieces are created and attached well using the tips and tricks from the video. Consider a clear coat after firing is complete.
-Think about how you want your sculpture to be used afterward. If it is intended to be attached to something later it will need an eye hook attached during the creation process.
-You will create at least two polymer clay sculptures. Design is up to you, but think creatively.
-Sculptures will be small. No bigger than a business card.
-All pieces are created and attached well using the tips and tricks from the video. Consider a clear coat after firing is complete.
-Think about how you want your sculpture to be used afterward. If it is intended to be attached to something later it will need an eye hook attached during the creation process.