Rain,
Here is the quick answer as to what "plasticine" is:

Welcome to this forum! I'm running out the door to work.. hope to see you here again soon!

Here is a link that might be useful: plasticine

Hi, rain! Glad to have you with us!! Nah, time spent on the computer at work is NEVER a waste! See what you ( and we!) have learned already....never know when you might want to throw plasticine into a conversation! Don't know in what context you found it with reference to mosaics, but would love to know more. Sounds like something you couldn't use as tesserae...I have used a non-hardening clay to build a dam on a glass block in order to hold water while drilling a hole.

Anyway, glad you popped in...hope to see more of you in the future!

Pat

Modeling clay used by children, the stuff that doesn't dry or harden. Also used in claymation. I can't really picture it used in mosaics since it doesn't ever harden.

American equivelent= Sculpey clay. Wish I didn't have to work...researching clay is so much more important!

Sculpey is a polymer clay that hardens when baked. Fimo is another brand. I don't think plasticine is the same thing.

Wow!

Thanks for the welcoming words and responses!

Plasticine is a type of oil-based clay that remains soft and pliable and is, indeed, used in claymation. The author (and artist), Becky Paton, uses it to create the outer edges of molds for several of her creations. Darling little foot prints and colorful fish, for example.

I've attached a link to Becky Paton's book via Amazon. Many of you are probably already familiar with her work. It blows me away. Please tell me what you think of her creations.

Attempted to add a link to one of the actual pages in the book, but the link won't come through. Using the link below, you can search the book, using "plasticine" as the search term and then you can click to see the page if you are an Amazon customer.

There are recipes on the internet for plasticine-type clay, but the ingredients sound a bit intimidating -- perhaps even hazardous to one's health. There is a German equivalent, but I don't see anything available in the U.S.

What appeals to me is the ability of making my own specially shaped objects, rather than finding preformed objects or doing things solely in the type of geometric shapes that pizza boxes, tupperware(R) and the like allow.

You guys are a huge inspiration! A complete and utter lack of experience and, sadly, artistic ability, takes me well out of the realm of mere newbie-hood or neophyte. Consider me the purest form of XXVOO.

Humbly,

Rain

Here is a link that might be useful: Becky Paton via Amazon

Kathy (tasymo), you are right... plasticene is a modeling clay that will melt in the oven...sculpey is a polymer clay that hardens when heated. Sorry for the misleading info.

thanks for asking about that. I have Becky's book and also wanted to know what plasticine was, though still need to find something equivalent. she used it to frame a fish or other shapes that she wanted to make a mold of, the plasticine outlines it, then after the form was ready, she would take off the plasticine and shape if for something else...she didn't put it in an oven or anything, so maybe sculpey would work??? Trying to find my book right now, it has a lot of great projects in it..,

Mermaid4life and anyone else who is interested in making molds a la Becky Paton: I found some plasticine modeling clay offered by a US company online (love the name). Just ordered some and can't wait to get cracking!

With an eye on the mailbox,

Rain

Here is a link that might be useful: Dick Blick

Plasticine is any of that kind of oily clay that never hardens - you know, the kind that smells like elementary school and starts out in nice neat sticks of colors and ends up all mashed into a unified grey green at the end of the school year.

Thanks Rain, I've thought about ordering things through them before just never got around to it yet. Let me know what you think