According to the Ganoksin Project (www.ganoksin.com), Mokume gane translated from Japanese means "wood eye metal". It is a metal lamination process that was developed and used by Japanese craftsmen in the 17th century for the adornment of samurai swords. I guess, to be correct, I use a mock-mokume gane technique. Clearly I don't use metal in my clay projects, but the idea is the same.
First, I roll each color I plan to use into sheets, usually of different thicknesses. Then, I stack the sheets on top of eachother, and roll over them again to create one pile of clay. Usually at this point, I cut the sheet in half and stack them again to create more layers, and thinner lines of color.
After I have my stack of colors, I begin putting designs into it. The designs can be made with anything: paperclips, cookie cutters... my personal favorite is a superglue cap. Make abstract designs on the top of the stack (so only one color is showing). At this point, some directions say to turn the stack over and sharpen your image by pressing the clay around your design-- press this side with a negative of the top image. Personally, I haven't been talented enough to do this yet; perhaps I make my clay stack too thick, but I can never tell from the back where the front image is. So I skip that part and move on.
This is the fun part. Take a sharp knife and begin taking slices off the top (your layers of color will be parallel to your slice). Sometimes I push the clay in on the sides to fill in the holes I've made with my stamps. This way the top slices won't have holes in them. As you slice the clay, your design should show up. If you have red next to blue, you'll have a blue sheet with red designs on it, or vice versa.
Use your slices to make beads, ornaments, containers, or anything! You'll be hooked!
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