Cookie and Cathy

"Out of the Blue," I received a phone call from a lovely woman.  She said she had been carrying my card around for four years since she had purchased a some of my Flora Bead jewelry at the New Mexico Arts and Crafts show.

She said she looked for me every year since and she could never find me.  Since I joined Yucca Art Gallery and started teaching I haven't had as much time for shows...or I admit, had wanted to do one.

We made arrangements that Cookie and her pal Cathy come to the house and see what I had left in that line which amounted to about 10 pair of earrings and one pendant.  Not much to choose from.

They were so sweet, wanting to see some of everything I had been working on over the years.  You who follow my work know that I have a kind of "Art ADD."  It's very hard to keep making the same style of work for too long.  Polymer clay has sooo many applications and that it's just too much fun playing.

Anyhow, they settled on gifts for 2 friends and gifts for themselves.  Cookie said that she had always wanted a Flora Bead Bracelet and wondered if she could special order her very own.  How could I say no?  Such fun ladies, I felt like we were already old friends.

So, she hasn't seen this one yet...the flowers are actually smaller than I used to make for the bracelets so we'll see if she likes it.  I'll make another blue and pink (the requested colors) so that she can pick.

She may have opened up a can of worms again! :-)

Souffle Clay experiments

I was able to get a hold of some of Polyform's new clay "Souffle."  Per Iris at Polyform: "Michaels won’t be carrying Soufflé, it is going to be available at JoAnns, AC Moore, Dick Blick and online."

Here are a few of my observations:

• It is a soft, stretchable clay before curing and a very bendable clay after curing.  
• If you use it in a single layer as I did for these blue earrings, you can actually bend a convex shape into a concave shape.  I believe they were done on a #2 setting on my Atlas.
• It has a very slight grainy texture and sort of a soft matte feeling in your hands.  
• The raw clay also takes additional texture very well.
• The excess white oil paint that I used for antiquing could not be sanded completely off the surface.  So it made the color appear to be a lighter blue. 
• It's not made for sanding and buffing which is a big plus sometimes!

The Company of Women...

Here is the pendant that I started on Halloween Day in Santa Fe.  I had brought the earrings from PCD and Cynthia's book because I wanted donate them to her and the Samunnat Project.

After getting settled in the workspace the gals set up for me, I fiddled and made some ugglly stuff.  I had no direction and was totally stuck.  I stopped and looked to my right.  I hadn't noticed some beautiful wadded up balls of colorful clay.  I think those colored wads, the company of the artists and thinking about the Nepalese women and the earrings that I brought, inspired me to use my "Southwestern Palette" to create some pendants.

The curling ochre parts of the pendant was all I was able to get cured in the oven before it was time to head back Albuquerque.  Time flew by so quickly, but those few hours with some wonderful artists led me in a new direction :-)


While you're online this cyber Monday, "You too" can help the women build their second story of their new building...just click here.

Best Wishes for the Happiest of Holidays and a Peaceful New Year!

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...

Apologies, Links, Swags and Swirls

Apologies for my lack of blogging.  I mostly post on my Facebook and Flickr pages, so you may want to follow me there.  I also wanted to update you on my available classes on CraftArtEdu.com.  Go to my instructor bio page to see.  Here is my workshop page and teaching schedule in case you would like to set something up with me.  Thanks so much for you interest in my work :-)