Clay Leaf Bowls

I've mostly been on hiatus from my creative life these last few months. I needed the step back, the stillness, the time to just be instead of always doing. But the inertia of my summer seems to be fading as quickly as it began. My son has returned to school, perhaps a psychological prompt that it was time to move back into productivity. All I know is that my brain is moving again.

I haven't made anything for myself in months, which is the danger of being a professional creative type. But there's nothing better than making something just because. No client dictates, no deadlines, you can even fail. I indulge in it far less than I should. But last week I suddenly felt the urgency to make use of the remainder of the season. 

I went back to something familiar, working with air-dry clay, but decided to explore it in a different way. Instead of working with the usual shapes (circles, ovals, rectangles, and squares), I wanted to work with natural forms, making small bowls out of leaf shapes, working with thinner clay.

The fig leaf bowls are my favorite because they are both graceful and highly detailed, though they're a bit more fragile than the bowls made with solid shaped leaves. But they're all good sizes for small things - jewelry or desk supplies, perhaps. At some point, I'll have to decide how to finish them, though I think I'll keep them neutral instead of coloring them green. But I'm undecided for now - that'll just have to wait for a more productive part of fall.

 

 

 

 

 

Materials:

 Air-dry clay (I prefer DAS brand)
Leaves 
Clay rolling mat
Acrylic clay roller
Clay scissors or sharp scalpel
Aluminum foil 
Wire baking rack for drying (optional)
Fine tip tweezers (optional) 

Directions:

 1. Begin by rolling out your clay to approximately 1/4-inch thickness, then place the leaf, vein side down, on the surface of the clay. Use the roller to roll directly over the leaf, both pushing it into the surface of the clay and thinning the clay at the same time.

 

2. Lift the clay off the mat, with the leaf still in place, and trim the excess clay with scissors (I just cut a general shape around the leaf, then go back and do the detailed cutting). Put the excess clay back in the package to keep it from drying out.

At this point, you have two options. You can cut around the leaf, using scissors, or you can keep the clay on the mat and use a sharp scalpel to cut around the leaf. I prefer scissors, but it's entirely up to you. The fig leaf has fairly easy contours to follow and might be easier with a scalpel, but I'll show you some detailed leaves that I found easier to cut with scissors. But the bottom line is to use the leaf itself as a template - and don't worry about the little breaks in the leaves that may occur with rolling. As long as they aren't too severe, they won't affect the end result much.

 

3. Make an oval shaped ring from a piece of aluminum foil and gently arrange the leaf covered clay inside, making sure the bottom of the clay is resting on a flat surface (so that your "bowl" will sit upright once it's dry. The aluminum foil is mostly to support the outer part of the leaves). Carefully remove the leaf and let the clay dry before removing the foil, at least overnight. At that point, you can turn it over so that the underside dries as well.

Note: If your leaf is too firmly embedded in the clay and you risk tearing the clay removing the leaf after it's been arranged, remove the leaf covered clay and put it on the mat and remove the leaf first. Then carefully arrange it in the aluminum foil ring.  Fine tipped tweezers can be a help for leaves that are too firmly embedded.  

 

Leaf Cutting Detail:

I used scissors to make the detailed cuts of this leaf, following along the edge. I made snips from each side of the points in the leaves, rather than trying to make continuous cuts. 

Leaf Arrangement:

With the strawberry leaves, I wanted to see how I'd fare with overlapping leaves. I arranged it in a small wooden bowl (which was the perfect size) for the first few hours, then transferred it to an aluminum foil ring afterward to complete its drying. In the end, after it had completely dried, I had to reinforce the overlapped leaves by adding a little glue (Beacon 527 Multi-Use glue), which worked just fine.  

P.S. I've enrolled in an introductory pottery class, which starts next week. While my primary focus will be thrown pottery, I hope to learn some good techniques to share with you that can be used for hand building as well. Stay tuned!

 

Comments

[Suzonne]

Sandra, I have completely stopped mixing paint with glaze when working with clay. I decided that I really love the soft matte finish of the clay after it dries. So now I just make it and leave it. It holds up well, too. I have pieces that I made several years ago and they still look great.

[Sandra]

I came across your post and love your leaf imprints. I am interested to read your comments re mixing paint with glaze but couldn't get to the post (here's the link referenced above -
http://urbancomfort.typepad.com/urban_nest/2011/12/evergreen-imprinted-clay-dishes.html)
Could you share that info with me? Thank you. Sandra

[Suzonne]

Ruby, they're so much fun to make! Enjoy!

[ruby]

Going to try these asap!! X

[Sandra]

Wow, beautifull,i am so going to make these with our 8 year old boy on a rainy day this coming week. Thank you!

[Suzonne]

Dawn, I'm so glad this project worked out for you (and hydrangea leaves are a perfect choice)! Your success makes me happier than just hearing you liked mine. Bravo!

[Dawn]

Nothing has caught my eye like these beauties for a long time! I made mine with hydrangea leaves and they're gorgeous! The veins are so deep! They actually look exactly like the pictures. No "Pinterest Fail" with theses ones:)
I'm making these along with a silver ball bracelet for teacher gifts this year
I will put the bracelet in the bowl and tie it altogether with a beautiful Christmas ribbon
Thank you thank you thank you!

[Suzonne]

Ember, that's a great idea. BUT air dry clay isn't water resistant, so you'd need to coat them with some type of varnish that was!

[Ember]

These would make pretty soap dishes, and great gifts with hand-made soap in them!

[paula pfarr jackson]

can't wait to see what you learned at your class I'm starting a clay class as well. I hope to see your results because it looks like you started a while back keep in touch and keep us posted please.

[Suzonne]

Safeena, that's a great idea! I will definitely try that next time. And I appreciate the mention of Precious Metal Clay - that's exactly what I need to take things to the next level. Thanks!

[Safeena Wagner]

I use nearly the same technique with Precious Metal Clay, except that to assure a patterned backside, take a much larger leaf and lay it down first, so that you roll pattern into the beauty side and the backside. People are always positive that they are hand carved.

Great tutorial.

[Suzonne]

Oh Laura, I'm sorry to hear that! I hope you'll try it again. I don't know how well other store brands hold up (I'm pretty addicted to the DAS brand), but mine are still going strong and I haven't done anything to them to protect them. I hope it works out for you next time!

[Laura]

I tried it and they looked great but then they broke. But that's ok, it was my first time with modeling clay and it was the cheaper store brand but I'll definitely try again. Yours are beautiful!

[Bakeca Incontri Roma]

Just beautiful!

[hala salama]

Very nice and cute. We can try it with porcelain clay to be more durable . Thanks a lot

[Tanya]

Every year i do a DIY christmas gift. I dont have much experience with clay but this seems really straight forward. I cantw ait to try it. These are soooo adorable! Thank you!!

[Suzonne]

Phyllis,

I don't think any paint will hide the impressions of the leaves unless those impressions are extremely faint, in which case an opaque color might make them less noticeable.

I ended up leaving them as is. I like the simple, matte finish. But there are things you can do - if you want to just highlight the veining, you can mix a little acrylic craft paint with a glazing medium. You can view this post: (http://urbancomfort.typepad.com/urban_nest/2011/12/evergreen-imprinted-clay-dishes.html) which will describe how to do that. You can also mix acrylic craft paint with a glazing medium and coat the entire leaf (without wiping it off). This will give you more of a colored wash to the entire leaf, instead of just highlighting the veining.

[Phyllis]

What type of paint is recommended so that it won't hide the impression of the leaf veins?

[Diane angle]

I was so excited to find your post I can't wait to try this. Thank you so much for sharing with us.

[Thea]

These are completely beautiful. I've just had a baby and I think when she grows a little and I get a snippet of my own time this shall be my first project!!!

Anthea
(Spoonful zine)

[Yvonne]

Thank you so very much. I can hardly wait to get at these. I too am a professional artist and love your writings. So very true and inspiring.

[Suzonne]

Hi Marilyn,

You're right, they're pretty fragile. I wanted a really thin look, more of what you'd get with porcelain, so I pushed the envelope here. I'm sure they'd be durable if they were thicker. I've been able to prop the largest leaf up on a shelf, so it supports its own weight, and I can use the bowls for things like jewelry, keys. etc. Anything beyond that would get iffy, I think.

[Marilyn Levine-Weiner]

These are really beautiful! How strong/resilient are these leaves after they dry as bowls? They look really fragile, I usually use B Mix clay for hand building, that I fire in a kiln, but I am thinking about using a clay body that doesn't need to be fired... My concern is that this air dried clay might not be strong enough, that it might not support my wall hanging like the B Mix would.. What do you think?

[Suzonne]

Dot, I think vegetable oil is going to discolor your clay. But what you can do is use a pair of fine-tip tweezers. Just pull up on the stem area (or somewhere on the leaf around that point) and the leaf will generally release pretty easily.