ArtFire

A delightful candy cane pink and cherry red swirly tiles laid on a white base. All hand made from polymer clay. This pair of coasters is attractive enough that you may not want to hide it with a glass. But DO. They are made to be used.



The process;
I start out by baking a simple square approx. 4x4 inch form out of scrap clay. This is to add strength and volume.
The mosaic tiles come from one of many blocks of clay I also produce. Here I chose a red mokume gane block (I've made many things from, look for pens and even a keyring made from this same batch.) And a pink block containing subtle shades of several other colors. Slices are taken from these blocks and baked. Then cut into random "tile" pieces.

Finally I cover my pre baked square with another sheet of background "mortar" color clay. Then my tiles are laid out and once I'm happy with the pattern they are carefully pressed into place. I seem to be sticking with a theme lately with one coaster with some random round or star pattern and the other all rectangles. Each set is unique!
Once that's done, I take an acrylic roller and run across the surface to make sure, as much as possible, that all the tiles are flat. ( We don't want any drinks wobbling ya know.)
The end result, are all the tiles are level.
Then the piece is baked again. Given a few protective coats of varathane and a cork back is glued on the underside.

These are very sturdy and since clay cures at 265f, even a hot drink will be fine on these.
Wipe with a damp cloth to clean.

polymer clay, cork, varathane