Looking at Things With New Eyes

I am trying to purge and get rid of needless things but keeping finding cool stuff to use in art so it is "crazy time".  This week it was a Chinese tea block which I have had for years. I decided to use it as a mold then make a mold from it.

Supplies were:

Tea Block
Creative Paperclay®
Brayer
Liquid latex

I just put a pancake of Creative Paperclay® directly on the tea block and brayered it down. I didn't care if tea particles stuck to it as I was going for texture and was just experimenting.

When the Creative Paperclay® had dried it looked like an old architectural shard. I did brush off excess particles with an old toothbrush.

I added a wash then went over it with some dry brushing in raw sienna and burnt umber. At this point I have no idea what I am going to do with this piece but since my work is like creating puzzles I am sure this is just the piece I will need some day for one of my paintings.

The other day I had picked up some liquid latex so decided to see if I could make a mold off the tea block. After applying it to the block I left it on overnight. In the morning it was cured and I could peel it off. The result was so wonderful that I am ready to make tons of molds this way.

Then I decided to see how well it would stamp into the Creative Paperclay®. The mold seemed very thin so I wasn't sure how well this would come out but it worked very well.

Needless to say, I had a great time just playing around.

Play, dream in color and get your hands dirty.

Darlene Olivia McElroy