Combining Copper Clay

It occurred to me a couple of days ago that I should try combining the regular Copper Clay and the newer White Copper Clay so that's just what I did. I had it in my mind it might look a bit like Shibuichi and I think with a little more practice it will.

Please excuse the terrible quality of the work in progress photos,

 the lighting at my work station is not intended for photography.

I started with something very simple,

 lay a sheet of copper on top of a sheet of white copper and make a jelly roll.
I remembered way in the back of my brain from a class long long ago that when combining clay like this you should have one a bit thicker than the other. I chose to make the White Copper clay the thick one. I made it 7 cards thick and the regular Copper Clay 4.

Take slices from it and flatten them out.

I would roll one direction then turn it and roll the other direction,

I was not aiming for a perfect circle.

I made these 4 cards thick, I think next time I might go for 3 cards thick.

For those who might not know what I'm talking about

we measure clay thickness by using regular playing cards.

Tape 2 cards together, tape 3 cards together and 4 cards etc. 

Personally I use almost exclusively 3 or 4 card thicknesses, if I need more I just stack them on top of one another.

Here they are dry and almost ready for the kiln!
Just have to decide where to put the holes.

 And below here they are out of the kiln.

I LOVE the result

I love the way the metals alloyed to create a t least one more color,

exactly what I was hoping they would do.

My favorites of the finished pieces.

The things I would do differently next time I try,

Make sure the 2 pieces of clay have a solid connection to avoid the cracks

Not that I mind the cracks but I think a little more care would improve the end result.

Copper......Mixed Copper/White Copper....White Copper

I took the unusable ends of the jellyrolls and mushed them together.

I love the resulting color so I'm going to experiment more with mixing the 2 clays

 together to form this wonderful gray.

I'll be playing with the recipe to try to get a more distinct color.

Kristi

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