Could someone address or tell me where I could find information on the mica shift qualities of polymer clay?

I am enjoying the Polyzine immensely. Thank you to all the staff for your hard work and expertise.

Sandra D

Dear Sandra:

Funny you should ask this question. In this month's issues, the Technique of the Month deals with mica shift properties created by adding your own mica to translucent clay.

I suspect you want to know what mica shift is and how it works. I had the same question just a couple of months ago. Premo metallic clays, and to a lesser extent the other metallic clays, all are made metallic by having a material called mica infused in them.

Mica is an interesting substance. It is shiny on one side and dull on the other. Mica shift happens when all the mica particles are lined up in one direction. The top of the clay is shiny, but if you cut into the clay, the side is dull.

Because the mica has this property, one-color metallic clay is actually two-color clay: metallic shiny and metallic dull.

If you are good with keeping the top (shiny) and the side (dull) clear in your mind, you can begin to create patterns which use the same color -- the color of the metallic clay -- but reflect two different aspects -- the shiny side and the dull side.

Try this: purchase a block of gold Premo. Chop it into little blocks and roll it around in your hands. You will see gold, which is the shiny mica, but you will also see lines in the clay which indicate the dull mica.

Roll the clay through your pasta machine several times -- about 20 -- until the clay is entirely shiny, no lines. Cut the clay into even strips, and place those strips shiny side on top of shiny side to form a block.

You will see that even though the top is shiny, the sides are dull.

Cut a narrow slice horizontally off the end of the block. Then cut a narrow slice vertically across the top of the block. You will see the dull side and the shiny side stay in place, even when cut, just like a cane.

Chop the block into half lengthwise, then widthwise, then press the pieces back together to re-form the block.

Now if you cut a narrow slice vertically, the shiny-ness will be marked by dull lines, where, when you cut, you disturbed the mica.

That's about as far as I can get you. I know one women does bargello techniques with mica shift, and of course Pier Voulkos has done amazing things with mica shift.

Let me toss this out to anyone willing to pick it up: Who wants to write an article about mica shift or maybe do a project? Write to polyzine@yahoo.com and let us know!

Good luck,

Deirdre

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