Printed and Painted

blurred image borders, blurred colors, fingerprints, &
swiped ink images from printer heads

 About the time that I discovered that my polymer clay could be rolled into sheets thinner than my fingernail, I also discovered that--once baked--polymer clay could be PRINTED ON.  And, you know me, being the experiment queen, I decided it was time to give the "cross-your-fingers-and-hope-it-works" try for using my inkjet printer on a sheet of newly cured clay.  So, I rolled out some clay, cured it, taped it to a piece of paper and crossed my fingers for my little HP printer.  Tutorials I found from my clay guild mentioned that reverse-feed printers were the most risky, but after testing the clay, I decided it was flexible enough.

flexibility demonstration--this sheet was about 3/4mm thick

The first experiment was almost a total failure.  Between taping the clay too close to the edge of my paper, which was the guide keeping the clay from sliding everywhere; to discovering that the amount of ink volume was directly proportionate to how many fingerprints I would end up with in the end design from testing if it was dry, the first printing was definitely not an A+ assignment.  It ended up not being a total bust--I found out that multi-colored images with too much ink led to a blurry image and blurry image border, and that water could easily wash the design off.  I also found that the thinner I rolled the sheet before I cured it, the farther it could bend before it broke off.  Despite the initial failures, these extra discoveries led me to continue to experiment.  After my family's visit last weekend and a quick drop-in from Chris and Lori these past couple days, I set up on my kitchen table (much to my husband's continued dismay and comments of "can we PLEASE get you a big art table?") to roll out some more clay sheets.

The messy workspace--clay, paints,
and of course the ever-present Dr. Pepper. :)

The second experiment turned out infinitely better.  I was able to roll my sheet even thinner to the point where I had to use a razor blade to scrape raw clay off the guide papers.  Prior to printing I decreased the ink volume on my printer in hopes of decreasing drying time, and the image turned out fabulously.  Ten minutes of heat-set curing rendered the ink completely dry.  It wasn't impermeable to water, but the next part of the experiment exited me further:  I colored the image with lightly thinned oil paints, which are either linseed-oil or safflower-oil based, and no part of the image blurred or distorted!  I was even able to place the sheet back in the oven for 30 minutes of heat-setting for the oil paints and they dried almost instantly.  The colors faded slightly, but the image itself looks lovely now.  I now know how some brands/types of oil paints interact with the clay; for instance, pthalo colors (pthalo blue, pthalo yellow, pthalo green) leech through and yellow the back of the clay; reds seem also to leech in tiny amounts.  However, no colors bled around the inked, printed image, and the leeching to the back didn't seem to interfere with the front of the image.  I wonder if it's part of the accelerated drying time with heat, but that is an experiment for another day.

Here are some images from experiment number 2.

Work in progress--Grumbachers!!  You don't see the linseed oil off to the left of the photo.

Before & Afters:

Oil painting--after curing, scanned flat/straight view

Back view, pthalo leeching (yellow color).  Some of the reds you can see, but the sheet is also very thin.

I loved playing around with the clay in this way.  I'm also liking the pastel-y look that the oils dry to once cured.  My next task is cutting and setting the thin clay layer in a clay bezel for a pendant, perhaps?  Or a bracelet, haven't decided yet. :)