Catching Up

I thought that I would make this a long one, and put up some examples of the rest of what I played around with up until very recently so this could become more of a daily blog than history...

Playing With Simple Canes

I did try doing some more canes....very simple stripes and a little more crushed Ikat....and then I slapped a bunch of different colors and shapes together to see what it would look like...

Don't ask me where the baby bonnet/peanut shell texture look came from...lol

I also got really excited about using anodized aluminum findings for a bit of sparkle....

I've come to believe that the way I work is by looking around at work that inspires me, ruminating on it for a bit, then something from here will mesh with something from there, leave it to marinate for a while, then voila...a new direction....

This gets tiring after awhile though...I keep wanting so just find my own unique voice and start talking....

A Tropical Necklace on a Cloudy Day

It's kind of hard to remember the exact chronology of how these pieces all came to be but I do remember this came to me on a very chilly, overcast day....and warmed me right up. Having lived in Central Florida for 28 years, I rather miss the bright colors and overblown beauty of that area now and then. Not often though, I'd much rather be making tropical necklaces than baking in that heat...no thanks..

My First Real Canes

I rented a video of Donna Kato's cane making and saw this crushed ikat....I was a bit nervous to try cane making but was so glad I did...it added that surface texture I'd been seeking...and it wasn't hard at all!

Then I rented a video of Sarah Shriver's and saw her make her incredibly complicated kaleidoscope canes....and I haven't made a cane since...lol

But maybe....soon

A Leap...

In a short period of time I made these three necklaces....I guess I was tired of working on such a small scale....

I truly enjoyed making these, I was learning how to do the Skinner blend and since I LOVE graduated colors(always have)it was a natural for me.

When I sat back at looked at them together as a group(and a few others that I wasn't as happy about)I just couldn't connect them somehow....what were the constants? what were the strengths and weaknesses?

"Spring Flowers"(far left) kind of represented my graphic design background-stylized, with Art Deco and Art Nouveau influences.

"Curlicue" has a more contemporary feel and is my favorite of this group, still very symmetric, stylized and Deco-ish.

The third one, "Android" was fun and mainly an exercise in using up scraps from other projects...
I did learn from this one though, that simply adding a ready made neckpiece just doesn't do it. Years ago I had a good friend, Robin, who did wonderful things with polymer clay...and she was musing over how to design the back of a mirror she was making....when I suggested she use one of the frame suppliers I used to add a cardboard backing to it, she said no, that she wanted everything in this piece to be designed and made by hand. At the time I thought that was kind of silly(no one sees the back)but since then I've had to learn that lesson over and over. Just "adding on" a manufactured component can really detract from the whole piece. I tend to get focused on one part and then slap something on it later to hang it with.....but I'm trying hard to make myself stop doing that.


Hopefully in time, that will just become second nature. For now, it's something I have to keep reminding myself to do.....

Thanks, Robin...

More Of My Journey...

Over the next few months I played with these elements, the circle and leaf shapes....the symmetry appealed to me, the balance seemed to give me the control I felt I needed working with a new material. I added some metal drops here and there, experimented with textures.

It was a wonderful experience..and I made maybe fifty of these, some more successful than others...

It was one of the first times I can remember that I stayed with a few simple design elements, and just worked with them....I am usually so distracted by every new image that draws me that it felt good for once to stick with something....but, of course, that wasn't to last.....

So this is what I started doing...

I enjoyed the softness of the greens and salmon colors I used...

and the simplicity of the flower shapes....

I did a group of these pendants and earrings and put them on Etsy...

Then I started using bolder colors and adding more "stuff".....I did sell some and that really encouraged me....

I decided that I liked Sculpey 3 polymer clay very much,

the colors are so vivid and the clay is easy to condition....

I began to check out what other polymer clay people were doing....got staggered by the sheer number of people out there who work with it...and also inundated with information on techniques, trouble shooting and just about everything polymer clay related. I don't think I've ever met such caring and generous artists.

I'm still marveling over it...

Where I Came From....

I started out in the seventies and eighties doing graphic art and illustration.

Then during the late eighties and nineties, my then husband and I collaborated on a line of
trompe l'oeil painted furniture that we sold at retail and wholesale art shows.










After about fifteen years, the marriage and the collaboration ended and I went back to art school, painted for a few years.












In the last few years I became obsessed with designing purses. Finally focused on the part I liked best, doing the handles. Particularly, resin handles. I do the originals with polymer clay, then make silicone molds and pour resin(dyed and with metal powders added, called cold casting). I sell them to purse makers on my website http://www.labeanabags.com/ I've truly enjoyed doing this, especially working with polymer clay again.









In designing these handles, I'd missed using color....so one day I played with some other polymer clay colors.....and soon I was making little sculptures and jewelry....(stay tuned)

Finding My Way....

I've been wrestling with "becoming" a polymer clay artist for a while now....for years I've enjoyed working with this medium off and on but never felt I knew enough about it to do anything serious....why do I feel it has to be serious anyway? It's like playing, really.

I've shared my angst with fellow EBSQ friends(a great online artists' community) and they've been great as always...giving me support, critiques, advice and sometimes just hugs...but I guess this journey is one you take alone....at least that's how it seems. The thing is....I love so many things about polymer clay that I am having a hard time finding my own voice. I keep jumping around and trying everything and end up with....a hodge podge lol...

But I guess this is my own way of evolving....and while I'm doing it I might as well share the ride..