by Libby on July 18, 2007
I spent this weekend at Rivier College in Nashua, NH at the Klay Karma Polymer Clay Retreat. It was great! It’s really fun to gather a group of polymer clay enthusiasts (fanatics?) together for a weekend like that. This retreat had the perfect pace for me, time to mingle and chat, meet new people, renew old friendships, admire a wide variety of amazing work and work on something I wouldn’t normally work on at home.
I am not the sort of person who can just whip out my usual work in a group environment like a retreat. I don’t have all my tools and supplies (although if you have ever attended a polymer clay retreat, you know we all haul a boatload of stuff) and I just can’t focus in on my usual work with all the activity around me. So for this weekend I chose to concentrate on making some texture sheets that I could mold and use in my work. It was the perfect choice, just focused enough to give me something to do, but not so complicated that I couldn’t talk while I worked or stop and start at will. I ended up making three. The left one was a quick “what if” and I’m not sure how useful it will be, but I can’t wait to mold and use the other two.
The 1 inch square swap was a lot of fun. It’s a small enough size that there’s not a lot of pressure and yet it’s big enough to showcase a technique. I love how different all the squares are. I was kind of caught up with working on my texture tiles and I didn’t get around to swapping with everyone, but I think I got a pretty great selection.
Thanks to all the hardworking committee members from the Massachusetts and New Hampshire Polymer Clay Guilds! It was a really great weekend. I hope you’ll all join us next summer at Clay ConneCTion 2008.
by Libby on July 10, 2007
I am continuing to ride this creative wave. Such fun! I’m calling this necklace “Copper Falls”.
The concept for this necklace has been rolling around in my brain for months. I just couldn’t get all the elements and the engineering worked out. I played with the shape in a couple of different formats until it occured to me that I could cut it out of sterling sheet. It lays very flat against the body which was a challenge in the other versions I tried. I’m happy with the way this piece is engineered overall. The polymer clay veneer is very thin and the attachment for the beads is a simple kind of hinge. (sorry I forgot to get a picture of that) I love the way the copper sheet around the opening folds around on itself. It looks like fabric.
The color inspiration for this ecklace came from my desire to play with some coppery brown beads. I am still on a brown kick, although I think I’d like to try this basic style in black and white with maybe a punch of some other color.
Tomorrow I’ll take a picture of the back of the piece. I have been texturing the back of these pieces. It’s a small detail, but it adds another layer of interest.
Thanks so much to everyone for the encouraging comments. It’s one of the best things about blog writing. I’m still not sure about the best way to respond to the comments, via email, in the comments or not at all. But I definitely wanted to say thanks. Feedback is great!
What is it about your material of choice that excites you?
I had a funny lesson last night in the very specific pull between artist and the “right” materials. My sister was here last night. She’s taking a week long pastel landscape class in the shoreline area of Connecticut, and I convinced her to stay over with us for a night before heading down to my dad’s. Wendy’s a painter, but she’s put her art aside for the last few years. In preparation for the class, she had to sort through her rather extensive collection of pastels to gather a useful cross section of colors and values. She was in a hurry to get on the road, and so she brought the whole kit and caboodle. She gleefully sorted through it all while I attacked some small pieces of metal at my bench.
I wish I had taken a picture. She had drawers of color in pastel form all spread out on one of the work tables in my studio. The array of color was seductive, but the material did nothing to get me excited or to grab my creative spirit. Wendy, on the other hand, was carrying on an excited dialogue with each piece of pastel she selected. She had stories to tell about the qualities of each special color, how wonderfully fun and useful they were. She even had a couple of quiet admonitions to some sneaky colors which looked much better than they behaved.
It was a blast to be an observer to her excitement, her intimate relationship to her materials. And I chuckled at how the experience illustrated the concept of “to each his own”. Lay out a similar rainbow of beads or inks and I would be every bit as excited and engaged as my sister. It also brought me to the realization that polymer clay doesn’t quite grab me as a material in the same way. Ultimately, the polymer is a bit more like a canvas for me. Don’t get me wrong, I love it and what it can do, but the clay by itself isn’t as seductive for me as beads or inks and paints.
It’s really exciting when the idea I’ve got in my head cooperates with my fingers and my latest technique obsession to produce something I like as much as the piece I imagined in my head. It’s a rare occurrence. Most designs evolve pretty far from the original idea, but every once in a blue moon the planets align, and I make something that I really love, and it’s exactly as I hoped. This is Iteration Number 3:
I got a few positive comments on my last versions of the riveted silver and polymer pieces. You know, the ones I didn’t like as much as the bezeled pieces. It isn’t so much that I don’t like the idea of flat silver and thin polymer clay as that I didn’t like the particular design(riveted buttons) in that format. The squares were a bit boring. I decided curves might work much with the flat textured silver.
This piece was so much fun to make all the way through. I cut the shape out of 24 gauge sterling silver sheet and textured it with my collection of hammers and design stamps. (It’s got an overall pattern on the back too.) I even managed a successful tube rivet in the hole at the top. Then I patinated the piece, and rubbed it to a nice soft satin finish. The thin polymer element is a combination of Kathleen Dustin’s Layered Translucent technique and my simple bisque glaze finish. I really love the contrast of the smooth pattern and the textured side. Here’s a detail shot of the pendant:
The polymer clay and silver were joined with a trio of copper rivets. I purchased the chain footage while I was at the Bead & Button Show and it was the overall inspiration of the piece.
I made a funky pair of earrings in a similar style as well.
There’s a lot going on this weekend: a swim meet, painting project and a visit from my sister. Keep your fingers crossed that I’ll be able to find some more studio time. I don’t want to stop!!!
Not all iterations of a design are entirely successful. Last night I experimented with a simpler version of the silver and polymer clay riveted button pendants.
Well, I don’t really dislike the results, I don’t think this variation is as successful as the box bezel version. If I had started with this style I probably would have been pretty happy, but it feels like an over simplified version in comparison. The look may improve when I string the pendants into necklaces. I think they’d look best strung on multiple leather or bead strands rather than a simple single cable. They need something to balance the simplicity perhaps.
This is not to say that I have given up on the concept of a flat style, but I think it’s more suitable to other shapes (curvy shapes maybe?) and different polymer patterns. I also think the margin of silver showing should be thinner. It’s something that I’ll have to think about. Designs have a tendency to evolve slowly for me.
It was pretty exciting to find myself mentioned on Polymer Clay Daily today. I really love what Cynthia Tinapple has done for the whole polymer clay community with that blog and it’s a rush to be featured. Thanks Cynthia!
