Sustainable Textured Relief Paintings Made with MR. CLAY LIGHT SAND 13
This time we're sharing the story of Ada, a sustainable creativity and ideas enthusiast — she creates durable textured relief paintings, coating her silhouettes with MR. CLAY's clay plaster, LIGHT SAND 13.
Each painting, roughly 1.5 m² in size, takes her 4–7 days to complete. To create the raised silhouettes for her paintings, Ada usually uses a variety of offcuts of wood, old plywood or thick furniture cardboard, which she then coats with clay plaster. She carried out all of the work without any prior experience in finishing work, having previously attended MR. CLAY's training Modules II and III, where she practised decorating techniques such as Domini, aged wall, Vulkanas, Sand Dunes, single-colour smooth plastering, and Svencelė.
Why MR. CLAY?
"Looking for a sustainable material for my paintings, I tried clay products from more than one manufacturer, but every attempt ended in disappointment — the surface would crumble, crack, or fail to stick to the base. Eventually I decided to look for training, and that's how I discovered MR. CLAY. After my very first course I knew I'd be back — the difference was obvious: I was won over by the texture and the range of colours, and most importantly, by how firm and stable the surface was once dry. That was the final piece missing for sustainable painting."
What Was the Hardest Part?
The hardest part was achieving a faster pace of work and smooth surface lines on the details. The silhouettes have plenty of edges and inner corners, so coating them calls for real precision. Work too slowly, and the surface starts drying before a detail is finished. Another complicating factor is the number of layers — the paintings are coated in a single layer only, so the final look has to be right on the first attempt.
How Did the First Attempts Go?
At first, I practised my skills on smaller mock-ups, experimenting with mixing colours and consistency, looking for my own style, and learning to achieve the final result while coating in just a single layer.
Bringing the Project to Life
Planning the very first painting, Ada prepared meticulously — testing consistency and pattern, practising her skills, and by the time she felt she'd planned and foreseen everything down to the last detail, she ended up coating the painting in a completely different pattern! This pattern was "born" spontaneously once she started work on the real project — the original, "ready-made" one no longer excited her. In that moment she let herself experiment even more boldly, quickly gathered a whole pile of different tools, and found herself in a spontaneous clay-pattern laboratory :)) Believe it or not, she came out on top — there was no need to remove the clay: she stroked it, rolled it, until it gave in and covered her entire first painting! And so, after this little "who's who" dance, they finally became inseparable ;)
We love this creative use of MR. CLAY and sincerely thank Ada for sharing her story and photos! :) You can find more of her work on Instagram — @ada.sena.nauja — and on Facebook under Ada Fiodorova.
Advice for Those Still Considering
If you're looking for an authentic, high-quality, sustainable and health-friendly material for your projects, don't hesitate to choose MR. CLAY. These are products that "want" to turn into a beautiful result and bring you joy. They also come with a friendly support and advice hotline, in case things don't work out right away! :)) For a smoother process from your very first attempt, I'd highly recommend trying at least one training programme. I attended two modules myself, but already had enough skill and knowledge after the first one to continue with my own independent projects.
Products You'll Need
- MR. CLAY Decorative Clay Mixtures – suitable for both walls and creative projects such as relief paintings.
- Colour Pigments for Clay Plaster – if you'd like to tint the mixture in a shade of your choice.
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