Mica Shift - Strange Whimsy

 Article by Strange Whimsy

I am in love with mica shift clays. I feel that it give's my pieces a deep luster that I can't acheive with inclusions of glitter or powders, in addition to being not overly shiny. My mica shift clay brand of choice is Premo Affects by scuptly, it's durable and its got a broad color selection to choose from. Its the shiny/dull side aspect that I use for my crackle technique and just general pretty two-tone color effects on my flowers and leaves. I've seen caner's use that effect to make some fantastic checkered cane's, but I have no skill in that direction

This necklace is the perfect example of casual mica shift. The pink color is achieved by mixing copper premo brand with some pearl and a tad of burnt umber. After conditioning I let them cool down so when I'm shaping the hearts I don't squish the variation of color out. I didn't glaze these beads because I was after the most subdued color.

This piece has a satin glaze to bring out the subtle shade difference's in this mica shift piece. I used silver with a couple browns for the base color, the crackle turned out beautifully if I do say so myself

On a side note, not all gold and silver clays are mica shift so check the label