How to make "unearthed" beads

[SlickMariaVic]

I found a link to this gallery of polymer clay work
http://www.rubarbdesertdesigns.com/beadgallery.html
and she had quite a few beads with alot of surface detail that I really loved.
http://www.rubarbdesertdesigns.com/2006/unearthed.jpg
Im new to polymer clay so I was just curious how to produce such a look. Would you make a base bead and just create little snakes and apply them to the surface? Should the base bead be raw or baked? Much thanks!

[zitrone21]

It certainly looks like she added the sculptural elements to base beads, especially looking at the beads that only have a few curliques and whatnot on them.  I haven't done much with poly clay but I *believe* you can bake the clay multiple times as you add elements.  It would make sense, because then you can add all your little decorations and squish them around the bead without worrying about misshaping it as you go.  I know I've read about techniques that require multiple bakings, but I can't remember where or when or anything more helpful like that

Those are awesome beads, though.  I saved them to my "inspiration" file. 

[FishStikks]

WOW, those beads are simply gorgeous. I haven't done much with clay either but would love to learn even a small portion of the techniques she must have used there. Great find!

[SlickMariaVic]

I know the are cool arent they! If you guys are using the pic for inspiration you should def. check out the gallery because she has a bunch of different variations!

[FishStikks]

I did look at the gallery and and and, I'm simply blown away.

BTW, love your rattie avatar.

[McJulie-O]

When you find out, be sure and tell the rest of us! Those are awesome!

[something_wierd]

I would make a base bead out of scrap clay and bake it.  Then I would stick on the little bits of clay and texture it as you go, maybe using a little liquid polymer like TLS, Fimo gel, or Kato just to make sure that they don't fall off. 

You can definitely bake in stages,  Do a little bit, bake it, and do a little bit more.  After that, I would brush some brown paint into the crevices and wipe off excess.  After that is dry, I'd give it a little sanding, maybe with some steel wool, and then buff it with a muslin wheel or my jeans.

Hope that helps.

[Diane B.]

These are kind of a combination of the "onlay" and "Balinese Filigree" techniques. 

Onlays (originally called "appliques" by some) are pieces of clay which are added to the surface of a bead or other clay surface, but not flattened into it... they're left dimensional. They can be placed just here and there, or right next to each other, etc., and could be little bits and pieces, cane slices, or whatever would leave a bas relief effect.
 
Balinese Filigree is an onlay technique in which mostly ropes (round, square, etc, and often extruded from a clay gun) are onlaid onto a clay base in spirals, rows, and other patterns --often covering the whole base and seldom leaving bare spots though they could be left. 
Sometimes the ropes, etc., are also impressed with various tools to add texture after onlaying, and/or they're highlighted or antiqued to add visual texture.

In this case, the shapes/ropes/etc. are a brownish clay, and they've been antiqued with a brown paint after baking... others at her site use more than one color clay for the onlays, but still a brownish color for the antiquing. (The color of the base clay isn't visible.)

Those are similar to Christi Friesen's techniques, so you might want to check out Christi's site too if you like those:
http://www.cforiginals.net/cfj/index.html

(Onlays can be added while the clay base is raw and they'll stick more easily then, but it's just good to let the base cool a bit before adding them just so the base won't easily distort. 
If the onlays are added after the base is baked, then some kind of "glue" will be necessary to hold them on --like liquid clay, Diluent, etc.)

Other colors could be used for antiquing though, e.g. white really will give an ancient out-of-the-earth look, or red is sometimes used for faux jade, or black or any color could be good, but brown is the most traditional.
Sometime onlays like this are also partly-covered or completely covered with a metallic powder or wax to simulate Medieval or other metal jewelry, etc., sometimes with other stones, etc.:
http://www.oken3d.com/html/indsculpt.html
http://creaplastic.free.fr/03_04.htm
http://www.janetfarris.com/images/2005_11pics/images/silveramber3.jpg
(these are from stampings
http://polyclay.com/onlaid.htm)

Klew often uses cane slices for her onlays:
http://klewexpressions.com/drum_beads.htm
http://klewexpressions.com/leaf_pod.htm

(Sanding and buffing after antiquing isn't necessary but would give the upper areas a sheen or gloss, but leave the antiqued areas matte with the paint.)

There's lots more info and examples re onlays and Balinese Filigree, if anyone's interested, on these pages:

http://www.glassattic.com/polymer/onlay.htm
(... click on Dimensional...)

http://www.glassattic.com/polymer/claygun.htm
(... click on Balinese Filigree near the bottom of the list...)




Diane B.