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Monday 1 February 2010

Chimineas and Ash!

Great site i found today: http://www.ceramicstoday.com/howto/htpaperclay.htm

Not much further along, lol. I fuss over these chimineas like my life depends on it, and dont think i will ever be totally happy with them.
While the insides are almost how i imagined them to be, i just cant make the outside look right.
Plus they are so hard to take a a decent photo of. The outsides have little flecks of a rusty colour with brown, but the camera is just not picking this up. The camera also makes the surface look glossy, which annoys me more because the surface is matte.
To make the ash around the hot coals i used paperclay and pushed it in here and there in the little gaps. Kind of smushed it in if smushed is a word.
I then painted the ash with a dark blue mixed with white, followed by a light grey and then the white, and allowed the brush to sweep a little using each of these over the coals.
Putting these away now ready for Kensington and will add the cauldrons at a later date. I will of course take pictures nearer the time.

9 comments:

  1. Nikki - these are brilliant! Additions if you need them maybe could include (if they are for outdoors) bird droppings on the top bit (or a bird perched there), moss around the base, or some dried-out ivy shoots trying to climb up the back (they got caught when it was fired up).

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  2. They are great Nikki, I think old coppery coloured ones like in the pic you showed would look cool too! Best get my butt to Kensington then lol Kate xxxx

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  3. I love how you've achieved such realistic ash…the whole fire looks so real! It's fantastic! I will have to experiment before I start on Hogwarts' inglenook floor fire! They are truly great little pieces! ;o))
    Michelle xxx

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  4. Pretty cool chimneys. The shapes are great!

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  5. Gosh doing a major catch up with your posts Nikki. Your Chimineas look fab and I'm in Love with your little snail baby from Jain, how wonderful. Hope your glass arrives soon so we can all see the finished tables..xxx

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  6. Hey Nikki!
    Love the chimineas! A little trick I just learned! Sprinkle a bit of ash and spray with hair spray! Don't laugh! It works LOL!!! I just did it on my peat fireplace and it works great!

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  7. Simply fantastic! You are so talented sculpting!

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  8. they are lovely, and realistic ashes...
    if it has rusty spots, then you have to add perhaps some oxidant colours, very lightly to the edges of the spots, like a kind of green or turquoise. or just drybrush some of those colours on the spots, when you have relief on the surface you will get some more colour nuances. hope you understand what I mean ?

    btw I found my wooden slices I even have smaller ones, got them in a garden and home store, just found out ;), If you want some just send me an e-mail...

    love, Andrea

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  9. I love your chimneys Nikki... I think they look like cast iron... Adding some rust and moss could be great. I´m really amazed by the authentic look of the ashes. I have a couple of terrible fireplaces that needs some ash-fixing. I have to take a look at your link :0)

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