Strawberry Flower Pot Sculpted With Air Dry Clay
Introduction: Strawberry Flower Pot Sculpted With Air Dry Clay
This fun strawberry flower pot can be used by fruit lovers to display plants, hold pens or brushes. Made with widely available air dry clay, there is no need to use a kiln. It is painted and varnished with regular art supplies and sculpted mainly with hands and homemade tools.
I made several of these planters over the year. Each time I sculpted it in one sitting, I listened to tips from sculptors and used fillers to reduce the overall weight of the sculpture. However, I always ended up with one major problem - wobbling. The main reason being the structure was too heavy at the top and too light at the bottom. To overcome this I finally started sculpting it "the wrong way" by adding fresh clay on top of dried one. In most cases, when working with air dry clay you can't connect wet clay with dry clay because it shrinks as it dries and newly added pieces simply pop off. In this case however, it wasn't a problem because I used clay slip to connect wet and dry pieces and new, wet clay was wrapped around dry clay, so there was no way it could have popped off. I started using this method to pay special attention to the bottom of the planter to make sure it was level. I took additional 3 days to add layer after layer of clay circles to create a tapered bottom and made sure to let it dry upside down. Once I counteracted the heavy weight of the top part with a large amount of clay at the bottom, I removed the wobbling problem completely. I also realise that I could have made the strawberry with less tapered bottom, but I was dead set on making a sculpture as closely resembling a whole strawberry as possible.
You will need:
* 1kg DAS white modelling clay (I used the entire pack)
* Tools - If you don’t have specialised sculpting tools, don’t fret, you can always improvise. Use bamboo chopsticks, disposable cutlery, popsicle sticks. 994
For a dotting tool you can use a bead and skewer it with a sharpened chopstick. You will also need a rolling pin, but you can use an unopened can, glass bottle or a plastic pipe.
* Plastic cup, cling film
* Scalpel, craft knife
* Old or disposable brush
* Fine sand paper
* Red and yellow acrylic, enamel or spray-on paint
* Gloss varnish
* Fast acting, two part epoxy syringe (30ml)
* 3x6 mm rhinestones for seeds
Step 1: Plastic Cup & Clay Slip
I made this planter with a specific plant in mind, so I had to make sure it will fit once finished. To create a hole, I used a cup slightly larger and about 2cm taller than the planter and that’s done on purpose, so that the strawberry pot can be left to dry upside down. I marked that 2cm overhang with a sharpie so I wouldn't forget.
You don’t want to use a cup that’s too rigid, as you might have problems removing it from the strawberry once the clay sets. My cup was actually too flexible, so I had to temporarily stiffen the walls by filling it with rice all the way to the top and sealing the opening with tape.
Lastly, I covered the cup with cling film to ease the removal later on.
Prepare a small amount of clay slip. It will be used later on, but it takes time to dissolve. Take a grape-size amount of clay and rip it into small pieces, put in in a small container, add just enough water to cover the clay and put it aside. You might want to cover the container to keep the water from evaporating.
Step 2: Day 1
Roll the clay between 0.7 and 1.2cm thick and cut an appropriate shape to cover the walls. Make sure to leave 2cm space at the top. Seal the edges by pinching them and smooth roughly. This layer doesn't have to be pretty, we just want a hard outline of the cup.
Be extra careful to keep the clay smooth and level and cut out a circle to cover the bottom. Use a smoothing tool to connect the edges to the walls.
Leave it to dry upside down for 24 hours.
Step 3: Day 2
Gently pull the cup out. If it’s stuck, remove the rice and try bending it until you can slide it straight out.
Use a brush to dab a small amount of clay slip onto the seam cracks. Roll a thin roll of clay and push it in to cover the imperfections, scrape it with a tool and brush it with clay slip to keep it smooth. Fill in the wall cracks too. 994