Argentina: Dreamland for Cold Porcelain Clay

by Ernesto Baldini, Guest Author

It's hard to know when it all started, but it's clear that it was in the 80's when it exploded. The work of Marta Ballina in cake decoration (using sugar paste) made the foundation, and then it was only a matter of overcoming some prejudices. Certainly some TV shows in the last half of the 90's and easy access to supplies (many of them used also in cake decoration) did the rest.

Meet a New Clay: Cold Porcelain

Cute pig created by ADC member Cold Porcelain Designs

Cold Porcelain Clay is relatively new to the USA but is rapidly growing in popularity. It's easy to use and requires few specialized tools aside from a basic set of sculpting tools. There's a few commercially-made Cold Porcelain brands available for purchase and it can also be made at home from simple ingredients.

What is air-dry clay and how is it different from polymer clay?

by Mary in Oregon

Let me start by saying there's a huge variety of no-bake, air-dry, self-hardening clays!  Because of this variety, making a generalized comparison to polymer clay is difficult.

There are basically 3 types of clays for the home hobbyist... oven-cured, self-hardening and non-curing.... BUT..... the clays could also be grouped as oil-based, wax-based, resin-based, water-based, stone and cellulose-based.* (see Wikipedia definitions for more detail)    Polymer clays are not actually "clay" and must be heated to cure.  Although there are some air-dry & self-hardening clays containing polymers they are usually not referred to as "polymer" clay.  Oil and wax-based clays are the Plasticine clays often used to create clay animations.  This type of clay stays flexible (re-positionable) and it never hardens.  If heated, it will melt.