I recently found out how to, and not to mix clays.

Q. Why mix clays together ?

A. For the same reason an artist mixes paints, to get a one-of-a-kind color. Sculptors who use polymer clay mix different clay colors to get a very unique color for their sculpture's skin tone.

I notice I'm doing it more and more now and I really like, if not, Love the results. You can come up with some very beautiful, unique shades of clay by mixing the correct colors together thereby adding to the one-of-a-kind aspect of your sculpture. Now onto the reason I'm posting.

I recently was working on a mermaid sculpture and I made her tail out of FIMO clay and her torso was Super Sculpey clay. Once she was ready to go into the oven, I cured her at the manufacturer's specifications, trouble is, I'm using two different manufacturer's clays on one piece. So I chose the safest and just to help you all out, this is what I did in case you all still want to mix your clay manufacturers;

Recommended Baking Instructions

FIMO: Bake at 230◦ F (110◦ C) for 30mins.
Super Sculpey: Bake at 275◦ F (130◦ C) for 15mins per 1/4 inch of thickness.

What I did was follow Sculpey's instructions and when it was done curing and cooling down completely I noticed the Green FIMO clay had darkened substantially. Luckily the tail was going to be covered with adornments but still, lesson learned.

Ideal Clay Mixing Scenario

If you're going to mix clays the easiest and worry-free way to do it is to mix clays from the same manufacturer so they have the same curing instructions, that way you won't have to worry about under or over backing one or the other.

If you still want to mix different clay manufacturers I  would recommend  curing in increments. Curing for 20-30 mins at a time and seeing how the clays are holding up in case your sculpture won't have the clay covered with adornments and it will be exposed.

Recently, about several months ago, I was doing research on The International Art Doll Registry (IADR) as I had seen that acronym used in Art Doll eBay listing and was curious to what it was, what it meant, so I went to their site and read up on it and what it meant to be a member. I then got to the Registry page where all the registered OOAK (One Of A Kind) dolls are listed and as I was going through the list I recognized A LOT of the artists name and dolls on there ... needless to say I got intimidated right away. I thought to myself "I haven't earned this yet !! To be amongst these artists that I've idolized, admired and looked up to !!" So I put the idea of becoming a member on the back burner for months.

I then asked for my fellow sculptor's opinions on the subject and many of them were already IADR members and got some very insightful views which all made sense as to becoming a member;

• It offers an official certificate of authenticity # to prove your sculpt is truly a One-Of-A-Kind
• It allows you to submit your work to professional artists for a critique
• There are rules to certifying your art
• The certificate of authenticity # may be the difference between selling and not selling
• There are also really good free tutorials from the art members

For more on the benefits of membership; Read More Here

You might have noticed that I'm not posting as many WIPs of the three projects that are on my Current Creations page, that's because I took some time to participate in a group sculpting challenge at the Forum that I'm a member and Moderator at, The Dollmaker's Studio.

The group challenge is called The Faces of June and you choose your challenge; you sculpt either 10, 20 or 30 sculptures faces in the month of June as an exercise to improve your skill and define your style, all while learning, asking questions, posting WIPs, getting critiques when they're asked for and building camaraderie with fellow artists ! My faces really needed the bump in skill so I decided to take the time and participate in this challenge because I know my sculptures can only benefit from it. It's incredibly exciting to see everyone's skill improve right before your eyes - oh ! and at the completion of the challenge, all who participated get a sculpting goodie bag.

I'll share some of the faces I've done so far ....

If you've been looking for a Forum to learn, have fun in, find support and encouragement, feel free to stop by and join the Forum as a free member. It's an incredibly friendly place and it's the first Forum where I felt completely accepted and included. Join my clicking on their banner above.

I'll hopefully see you there