Friday, March 15, 2024

New Polymer Lidded Box

Just a couple of weeks ago, the Kansas City Polymer Clay Guild (KCPCG) sponsored an online polymer workshop. Polymer artists Laurel Swetnam and Lea Gordinier guided us through the steps of creating a really different little lidded box they had created. The process and the steps they developed for teaching this box were specific and clear to follow. Both presenters were excellent, answering questions as we worked, and sharing tips and tricks they have learned from making many unusual lidded polymer boxes. The KCPCG arranged the 2 day workshop with an "off" day inbetween, so participants had a day to work on the base before moving ahead with the other components on day two. If you like little boxes, and get a chance to take a workshop with these women, do sign up. Even though I've made boxes in the past, the unusual shape of this one meant the approach was very different, and I learned a great deal. Here is a photo of the front of the box. The other photos show the box with its lid off and also the top of the lid. One of the things they suggested was we have some way of indicating how the lid needed to be placed. Even though we were making a rectangular base and lid, it was important to know how the lid lined up with the base. So, I made a small notch in my lid, and placed a flower bud on the base at the spot where the lid notch would fit. Fun project and a very sturdy little box.

Tuesday, March 5, 2024

Early Greens

Wow! Somehow February just sped by! I did spend quite a bit of time putting together some pieces for a Mokume gane display at the Westerly gallery. However, I I forgot to take photos... So, here are some pieces that speak to the beginning glimpses of spring in new green near the streams. The oval pendant makes me think of the first touches of greens coming up in rows in a planting bed. The earrings do, too. Then of course, there are the cattails - one of my favorites that grow wild here along the ponds. As you can see, I'm thinkig spring and green!!

Tuesday, January 30, 2024

February Polymer Collages

Several members of the Westerly Artists' Cooperative met today to "hang" the February show. I had some new pieces I put in my display area. I enjoy the concept of "collage" and it's fun to do in polymer. Here are some pendants I made to include in the show. In the pendant on the left, the largest section was made with pan pastels as background, and black mica powder through a silk screen for the overlay design. There is also some gold clay and a shiny section with copper leaf. I left this piece with a spayed matte finish. The two pendants below contain sections with textured clay as well as some silk screened sections. Both of these pendants are covered in resin, and are very shiny in person.

Friday, January 26, 2024

Spectrum Upcoming Show

Since I'm on the topic of show themes, I thought I'd show you a couple of pieces I made for the upcoming show at the Spectrum Art Gallery in Centerbrook. The theme is "Life in the City." The picture to the left is one I'm calling "City Nights." To add a night time effect, I used gold leaf on the moon and in the window areas of the buildings. The stars are AB crystals. The photo below shows a scene I think looks like city buildings in a heavy rain.

Thursday, January 25, 2024

January Theme

Hello! It's hard to believe we're already into 2024. I'm look forward to another year of creativity and learning.
At the Westerly Artists' Gallery, we've started a new year of monthly shows, many with a theme. This month's theme is "Inner Worlds/Outer Worlds. Artists are encouraged to try to create something that fits the theme, if appropriate. I had a couple of ideas, so created three pendants demonstrating my interpretation of the theme. The first and last pendants show an outer world with an opening to an inner world. The middle piece shows a little creature from the inner world peeking out at the outer world. It was interesting and fun to make these. What would you do to "fit the theme?"

Monday, December 25, 2023

Lady ( and other) Bugs

I made these little bugs for a demonstration on how to make stick pins, post earrings or magnets. They're pretty straight forward to make, relatively quick, and fun. They also use very little clay. Since the back is totally flat, adding the flat portion of a post earring or a stick pin is done by adding a thin circle of clay over the post and against the flat bottom of the bug. For magnets, a hole the size of the magnet is made before baking. After the piece is done, the magnet is glued in place. Magnets cannot be baked because high temperatures weaken a magnet's strength and magnetic field.

Monday, December 18, 2023

More 3-D Jewelry

Just wanted to share a few more pieces based on Jana Roberts Benzon's techniques. Instead of using a traditional polymer design cane, I made a design stack along the lines of those developed by Carol Blackburn. Since these were not canes that could be covered around the edges, the design shows everywhere, giving these pieces a different look. The rectangular shape of the stack also inspired me to decorate a brass cuff. Fun!!

Sunday, December 17, 2023

"Painting" with Mica Powders

I haven't done this particular technique in a while, and thought I'd give it a try for some holiday pendants. Basically, after you impress a design in the conditioned clay, you use tiny paint brushes and "paint" various parts of the design with mica powders. Pan pastels will also work, and give a more muted look. After baking, I added Magic Gloss resin to help protect the powders from wear.

Friday, December 15, 2023

Angels

The Westerly Art Gallery is all festooned for the holidays. In addition to the little lit trees I posted the other day, I made a few decorations based on an angel theme. Here are two angel ornaments, about 3 inches tall (not counting the silver hangers) and one of my angel votives, about 6 inches tall. These items were new for me, and it took a while to figure out forms and shapes and how to put things together. It's fun to try new things!

Wednesday, December 13, 2023

Snowflake Hangings

Well, for those who have no snow on the ground, I decided to make some snowflake hangings. These can be placed on a wall, door, or in a window to catch the light. They all have very sparkly snowflake shapes, as well as crystals in open spaces or imbedded in the polymer snowflake itself. They were fun to make - though I did have to be careful about cleaning up the glitter afterwards. I made a couple more in other color combos, but these give you a good idea of the concept. They are hung on strong fishline that is knotted and glued.

Tuesday, December 12, 2023

Polymer Trees with Rainbow Tea Lights

A huge thank you to Fiona Abel-Smith for her generosity in sharing this wonderful polymer holiday project! If you haven't ever watched any of Fiona's polymer YouTube tutorials, you're missing out on some amazing ideas. If you have watched and/or followed her tutorials, you know exactly what I'm talking about! When I saw this tutorial, I had to give these sweet trees a try. I experimented with my own bases, so I ended up with 3 different heighths. I also took a photo of one of the trees showing the color from a rainbow tea light shining through. These are especially lovely in a dim or dark room, or just in a spot where the colored light can show up well.

Friday, December 8, 2023

3-D Jewelry a la Jana Roberts Benzon

Once again, I had the chance to spend a wonderful day learning from Jana Roberts Benzon. As I have said before, she is really amazing. This time, the class was on dimensional pieces formed from canes of varying complexity. We made a variety of canes from complex kaleidoscopes to stripes, bulls' eyes and all sorts of options in between. Jana guided us through the process of assembling slices from the various canes into pendants and earrings. There are just so many possibilities, and the work the participants have posted on our group site have been amazing. Above is my first pendant and below, a pair of earrings to harmonize.