The Learning Orchid

Oh the Learning Orchid…

My first orchid I made separately. I created it first, cured it, and then attached it to the rest of the piece and then cured it again. The first problem was the double-baking. I had used wire to add some support to the petals. When they came out of the oven warm I bent them to give them some more shape. When I baked it for the second time to attach to the rest of the piece the flower cracked (see image in gallery below). I think when I bent the warm petals it caused some stress. When they heated up the second time, the clay got soft and tore at the stressed areas. There is another theory that it had to do with the wire – but I don’t think so. However, I am going to do some test petals to see what happens.

So, I snipped off the first orchid and created a new one. No wires this time. I just propped up the wet clay with cotton balls for removal later.

I also discovered that the wood base was too thin and it warped in the oven. I told Kevin and he tried to explain that if I put water on the OTHER side and let it dry it might flatten it back out. But, we had a misunderstanding and watered the wrong side and it got worse. So, now it’s curved just a little bit EXTRA. So, don’t bake thin wood. Don’t water warped wood the wrong way. Don’t bake flowers twice.

But, the bug turned out cute. So, all is not lost.

• Size: 5″ x 7″
• Materials: Warped wood, polymer clay, a bit of acrylic paint.