How to create a miniature gate in copper art clay

No miniature garden is complete without a gate! As part of our 'miniature garden' series, Candy Chappill creates a great copper clay gate for your miniature garden scenes.

Miniature gate tutorial

By Candy Chappill.

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You will need

Art Clay copper
Roller
Spacers 1.5mm
Wooden texture tile
Sanding pad 180 grit
Paint brush
Pot of water
Swivel pin vice
Drill bit 2mm
Firing method
Brass brush
Copper jumpring
Copper wire

Download the template used in this project here.

Method

1. Roll out your clay 1.5mm thick. You need around nine planks. For ease, roll onto a homemade wooden texture mat made from some textured laminate flooring or other suitable material.

2. Once your wooden planks are dry, arrange them on a template and sand to size. This tutorial makes a cute curved gate, but you can choose any shape. Don’t forget to make two horizontal planks.

3. Glue your gate together by applying water to each plank under your horizontal planks. Let the water soak in and apply gentle pressure for a minute or two.

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4. Once your joins are dry, sand the ends of your horizontal planks to give it a nice clean edge.

5. Using a 2mm drill bit, drill a hole in one of the planks for the handle.

6. Fire and finish your piece. Candy fired hers in a kiln at 970°C for 30 minutes and then finished it with a simple brass brush.

7. Attach a jump ring and secure in place with some copper wire, to create your handle.

We love the finish and level of detail on this miniature gate! The joy of this tutorial is once you're familiar with the process, you can adapt it to different gate styles.