Live and learn. Before I started with the paper clay, I did a lot of looking around online for information about how to use it with limited success. Trying to break my habit of spending more time looking and reading than doing, I shut down the laptop and got to work. Oops.
The paper clay head was cracking across the back of the neck and I was afraid it was going to fall off. I slid the piece off of the dowel and found the clay on the underside of the neck still soft. Good news! So I rammed a piece of chopstick up the neck to give it some stability and re-wet the cracked area, packing on a little more clay to fill the crack. I'm sure this isn't what one would read in an advice column in terms of managing cracks, but it appears to be working. THEN I found more info on the internet about using paper clay. Ugh, a day too late for this first piece. There was frequent advice about building up in gradual layers to prevent cracking, as well as using more structural support than just a blob of foil in place of a brain. Oops again. Better luck next time.
