Fast Forward a Few Years

I attended a retreat a few years ago and to participate in a swap we all made 25 slides.  I had been busy making my Flora Beads and variations of those, so trying to come up with an idea was challenging.  A while back, one of our member artists at Yucca Art Gallery was using bamboo tiles to make resin tile bracelets.  I bought a bunch of the tiles from her in different colors and sizes.  I remembered that I had them and decided to make something for the swap.  

Some months later, I wanted to experiment more with appliqued tiles.  I made the above black and ecru earrings that had the same design, but reversed.  Cynthia liked them so much she featured them on Polymer Clay Daily and in her new book Polymer Clay, Global Perspectives.  Cynthia is now in possession of these earrings...as it should be :-)  

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Sooo...the bits

I liked adding little bits and antiquing them...and still do.  Although now, I like using black as the color to accentuate texture and depth.  I remember wearing this bracelet when I did my first big show in Tucson in 2007.  I got so many compliments :-)

I was still enjoying the lentil shape and so for these, I just rolled some plain lentils and arranged the tiny bits of clay in a floral design down the center of each bead.  I also found and old post which shows other versions of how I incorporated a technique into my own work.

This is what I want for my students.  Yes, you can make exact copies of what I teach (and sell them too!) in my workshops.  But I'm betting that you won't  :-)

The Dragon and How Inspiration Evolves

Many moons ago, Christi Friesen came out with her first book "Dragons" (Christi's link on her site didn't work) and I was asked to review it for the IPCA (then the NPCG).

Generally, I do not take classes or do projects from books, but since I was reviewing it, I had to make my own dragon.  Christi first inspired me to use bits of clay and she knows that, I've told her and thanked her. Christi used brown acrylic paint to enhance the texture.  I also reviewed a DVD of Dayle's Doroshow's about that same time and she also showed how she used acrylic paint to age or antique certain pieces.

In the coming days, look for a few more posts which will show how I used applique and antiquing in my own work.   I will also share how a recent visit with some polymer friends staying in Santa Fe,  pushed me to create my most recent designs.  I showed up with supplies and ready to clay, but had no idea what would happen :-)  Love that...