Saturday, March 31, 2012

Dorodango IV

This is number 4. Almost perfectly round , not as shiny, but no hairline cracks.



This is number two. shinier but hairline cracks.


Below is the other side of this ball. I had added some water and now i cant get it smooth and shiny again.



Making Dorodangos has proved an interesting past time, but I will spend less time on it. It is a Zen activity and I will continue. It is nice to hold while siting at home. Now i would like to see what happens when I use same technique on wall plaster. i think a black polished clay wall in small sections could be cool looking. But it scratches easily.

I have learned :

- Yes clay can become shiny, it makes sense.
-at some point you can only smoothen and you can't restructure it won't bind together
-sometimes add more water.
-drying speed is important, otherwise cracks
-experience, experiment
-when adding dust don't polish
-has to be in bags
-in beginning get the water off, dry with cloth, later dry with clay dust
-it cracks try to add another layer, you cant close it.
-the broken one shows clay was not all mixed.
-only polish after fully dry

2 comments:

  1. wow you Dorodango looks great.....way to go erik...i'm too busy at the moment to get back to it...but i'm looking forward to trying...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If Matt reads your comment he will accuse you of busy with facebook!

      It was interesting process like i said. Makes me want to try some different things making bricks. I even am trying to get a clay plastered wall to look like that.

      Delete