Some clay negative imprints taken recently at Pobbles Bay have fired well. The Barnacles, fossil shells and sea-worn pebbles of the ancient raised beach have all left good, strong impressions.
To make positive casts from these tiles I combined a ready made pale clay with some of the wild, glacial clay I previously collected from nearby Three Cliffs Bay. Deliberately not amalgamating the two very thoroughly is an experiment to see what happens. The result, when fired, will be a colourful surprise.
Having dusted the negatives with powder to help release the pressed in clay, the positives appear white in places. This dust will blow off when dry and anything left will burn off in the kiln.
I really like these first attempts at turning my negatives back into positives, the detail maintained is way better than I had expected. There is no loss of surface texture on the pebbles, or to the ridges of the barnacles. And the spiral of the fossil shell is nicely distinct.
I’m already thinking of ways to incorporate metals with the fired pieces, although it is something I will continue to mull over and then have some fun experimenting with!
The fired clay is certainly colourful and for an initial trial the results are hugely promising. Time will tell where I go with this next!
