Making Faux Pate de verre with Polymer Clay

Pate de verre definition: 
 a decorative glass made in a mold 
in which powdered glass of various hues
 is mixed, blended, and fused. 
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The dish in the photo above is a prime example of pate de verre and was the inspiration for this tutorial. Since polymer clay comes in translucent, but not transparent, it is impossible to get the same glass effect but the result is still worth the effort, in my opinion. My main objective was to make the separate colors gradually blend together.   The most important part is to keep the clay as translucent as possible.

This is a messy job as you will see. :) 

I used White Premo Translucent clay that was conditioned with a pasta machine. Use as much as you need for the size dish you want to make. To add color, I started out with some dark green soft pastel then switched to tube water colors.  Apply the water colors to thin slabs of clay and fold them over,

 layer the slabs into the general shape you want to achieve. At this point, the most important part is to get the colors right, you can change the shape later. Adjust the colors to your liking. I added water to help blend them. 

keep building up the layers as you go.

When you have the colors the way you wan, use a roller to smooth the clay. 

Begin pushing in the edges of the clay to make the rim thick enough to sculpt. The modeling was done with assorted sculpting tools and a knitting needle.  

 At this point, I noticed the color wasn't right in the center of the dish so I added Veridian Green.

The texture was added with a ball tool, as shown.

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To bake the clay, I arranged a bed of Polyester batting in a bowl as shown and gently laid the clay inside to achieve a gentle slop.

Keep adjusting the batting until you have soft slopping effect you want.

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To cure the clay, I placed the dish in a cold oven and set the timer for 1 hour and 20 minutes.Then set the oven to 275 degrees.

That's it, hope this tutorial was helpful. :)