04/24/2019
Over the Moon
Last year at Creativation, how-to book author Vesta Abel demonstrated how easy it was to make fancy buttons (for apparel) using Ranger’s QuickCure Clay. “It’s great for teachers and retailers who do make-and-takes because you have a beautiful completed project in five minutes. It will take the craft market by storm!”
It’s a great medium for Vesta, a renowned Tucson maker. Right now she’s writing a book on its many artistic uses, complete with examples she’s created herself.
Mixed-media artist Jamie Dougherty – whose techniques range from dimensional sculpting to watercolor to mixed media journaling and scrapbooking – agrees. “I’ve used all kinds of clay since high school, from standard earth clay to polymer clay and air-dry clay, but when I got to play with this, I was really excited. It’s a game changer.”
The magic is in the cure, which occurs in minutes using a heat gun – no kiln or oven needed. “It’s simple and quick,” she explains. “The finished product is strong and durable. It’s perfect for sculptors, paper crafters, jewelry makers, and mixed-media artists.”
Jamie demoed the clay at the Ranger booth at Art Materials World by completing a sculpture she started at home (see this issue’s front cover). She built the base and put it in her carryon bag when she left for San Antonio. “That gives you an idea of how strong the clay is – five times stronger than polymer oven-baked clays. It’s also more weather resistant, so it can be used in outdoor applications.”
She finished it at the booth. “You can add new clay to an already cured piece,” she notes. “I completed the base in steps; working on it a bit every day. I just picked up where I left off. You don’t have cover it or wet it – it just doesn’t dry out until you cure it!”
They allows the clay’s natural texture and finish to show through the colors. It has a stoneware-type finish – a fun, organic look.”
The possibilities for decorating the cured clay with other mediums are endless, she adds. Ranger suggests using its Archival Inks, Vintaj Patinas, Perfect Pearls, and/or Embossing Powders. “Applying embossing powders right after cooling will create a glaze-like effect,” says rangerink.com. QuickCure Clay expands slightly so it can be cured firmly in bezels. It adheres to wood, paper and many plastics.
It was invented by Dr. John Pojman, a professor of chemistry at Louisiana State University. “I was interested in polymer reactions that could organize themselves the ways these do, and now my push is, ‘Let’s do something useful with it,’” he said in 2015, in The Greater Baton Rouge Business Report. “I was giving a talk one time, and someone suggested I could use it for art.”
So he sent test products to an LSU art student who would sculpt with it and then suggest changes. After perfecting the consistency, Pojman launched his product line in 2013 – a sculpting clay, a putty that can be used in construction and home repairs, and a 2-D art medium. It was sold in art stores in New Orleans and New Mexico, says the Business Report and, “He started working with a sawmill in New Zealand to cook up a version to use in repairing cosmetic imperfections in wood.”
In 2018, QuickCure Clay was licensed by Ranger.
