I made an ‘owl in a tree’ cane a few weeks ago. Here’s one of the lapel pins I made for this autumn:

 

And I finally pulled out a peacock cane I started a while back at Clay Camp. I covered it with a layer of Play-Doh, because I was going to then wrap it in scrap clay, reduce the cane, and be able to peel off the scrap and have a ‘background-less’ peacock. I think I’ve changed my mind and I’m going to put him in a tree, Tiffany-style. So here’s the first photo of my progress. More photos to follow as I work at it… it will be a while, as he’s about six or seven inches high.

This is a bracelet I made from polymer clay ‘disc beads’ in colors inspired by a recent visit to the Mexican coast. I started with simple bullseye canes, then sliced and stretched each disc until they had the organic feel I wanted.

 

 

…and here’s a ‘whimsical beads’ bracelet strung on memory wire I made a few weeks ago. My challenge was to create no two beads exactly alike with this mostly neon palette.

 

 

… and here is a hydrangea flower I made out of polymer clay. It was a lot of work!

(Just kidding- it’s a bush on my back patio.)

 

…but here’s some lilacs I made from polymer clay. Really.

 

 

 

I’ve been in a whimsical creating mood these days.  A friend of mine asked me to create some pendants for her that showed a “Happy Home”. I decided to challenge myself and only use extruded clay pieces for this playful cane project.

The chunk of clay in the upper-right hand corner is the cane itself and the rest are the finished pendants. Here’s a close-up photo of one of them:

I made the window from fluorescent clay so it would glow, and you can see the triangle extrusions that make up the roof- squares were used for everything else. A friend says these pendants would make great key chains for house keys. Good idea, Shannon!

 

Last month I created a sitting Santa sculpture at Clay Camp 2013. Dennis Brown was our teacher for this class, and when we walked in he told us we wouldn’t be using any tools except our hands to create our sculptures- ack! I survived, we had a great afternoon learning, and here is my work-in-progress- cured and half painted with acrylics:

 

And for those of you who have been asking, I will post the progress of the reduction of my ‘Peacock’ cane here, too. That’s one of my next projects! Stay tuned!

 

 

Here I am (sorta) with my lovely assistant Lydia at the Northwest Artisan Gift Show last weekend. I was fortunate enough to earn money to donate to Northwest Harvest this year- hooray! Thanks to all the NWPCG volunteers who made this event happen, and a big thank you to the folks who bought my things knowing my proceeds were going to a great cause.

Northwest Harvest is the only non-profit food bank distributor operating statewide in Washington with a network of more than 350 food banks, meal programs and high-need schools. They provide over 1.7 million meals every month to this network- and 92 cents of every dollar donated goes directly to feeding people.

 

Here’s a few photos of my polymer clay rune and faux stone beads, as promised-

Mermaid scales and rustic green copper swirls…

 

 

Autumn colored faux stone beads

 

 

Deep red mica-flecked beads

 

 

Faux turquoise and copper Celtic beads

 

 

 

This rune is ‘Kenaz’, which represents fire, creativity, and clarification. (It’s on its side in this photo.) I created the faux serpentine bead inclusions with crushed tea leaves and black pepper.

 

 

 

…some faux jade and amethyst beads…

 

 

 

… ‘Tiger cane’ beads, faux sardonyx, and runes…

 

 

 

… faux antiqued silver rune bead with purple accents…

 

 

 

… “ancient” Algiz rune bead, which represents protection and friendship. I embedded copper wire in the clay, which I made to mimic poppy jasper, and then sanded it flat.

 

 

 

 

…and a faux amber (or peach adventurine) bracelet I made, all out of polymer clay.

 

 

 

I call these “dillstone” beads because I added dried crushed dill to the clay before curing. The rune on the bracelet on the top is ‘Jera’- the rune of balance, harvest and bounty. The runes on the bottom piece are (from left to right) : Jera, Othila, Sowelo, Berkana, Laguz, and Gebo. They roughly translate to Balance, Homeland, Sun, Feminine Energy, Water, and Gifts.

 

 

 

Rustic copper swirls and my signature Celtic crow. (Yes, it’s a crow, Jay.)

 

 

 

Faux green and yellow aragonite beads that I made with crushed tea leaf inclusions (Earl Grey) …

 

 

 

I call these ”Butter amber” beads (made with alcohol inks and different brands of translucent clays), paired with freshwater pearls and copper…

 

 

 

…and a few more strands of my faux stones and runes for luck. To see more of my work, please visit my Gallery page.

 

 

 

Come and see me at…

I’m excited to be a part of this show once again- it’s a wonderful opportunity to showcase my latest stuff! It will be held at ArtWorks, at 200 Dayton Street in Edmonds, Washington on November 10th and 11th.

I’ve been incorporating rune symbols into my artwork, and I’ll reveal some of my latest projects here in the next few days, before the show. Elder Futhark runes are the alphabet used by pre-Christian Anglo-Saxon, Germanic and Norse peoples over three thousand years ago. They were carved onto weapons to give them strength, onto buildings and boats for protection, onto gravestones to ease the departed on their way to Valhalla… many things.  Like the Vikings before me, I carve them onto jewelry for good luck and decoration.

My fellow NWPCG members might recognize my ongoing interest in working with polymer to create faux stones- amber, jade, chrysoprase, jasper and the like. I’ve come up with a few new ones, as well as several beach glass variations…

 

Now I can say that I’m an “Award-Winning” clayer (ha-ha)… I won the ‘Best in Show’ ribbon at our guild’s annual Clay Camp. Sure, the ribbon was laminated cardboard, but hey… it’s an AWARD!

We all were challenged to create a nametag that best represented ourselves. My essence boiled down to a crow eating a bowl of Phở with lots of sriracha!

 

I also experimented with pearl clay and some tiny ball chain embedded in the tinted translucent. I don’t know what I’ll do with them yet, but I’m happy with the results:

 

And here’s a bracelet that I made from some more ‘faux river stone’ beads. I think I’d like it better if I oxidized the silver. I guess I have to live with it a while and see…

This has absolutely nothing to do with polymer clay… or does it?

I read a few recipes for making faux jade recently and got the bug to try it myself. I didn’t have the ingredients on hand to make these complicated recipes, so I made up my own and here’s the results! Here’s a faux amber I made also, and a technique I’ve named Mermaid Scales… My jadeite and amber techniques are described below:

For the green jadeite, I used Premo and Pardo brands translucents.

Condition about a half ounce of each brand of translucent clay (separately), and create a thick sheet out of each. Also, mix a little of the two together, create a sheet and set this aside. (You will have three sheets total, but only coloring two.) On the first sheet of translucent (it doesn’t matter which brand) drop 10-15 drops of alcohol ink in a yellow-green color. On the second sheet drop 10-15 drops of a darker, grassy green color. It’s very important to let the ink dry completely if you don’t want a mess to clean up! On one of the green-inked sheets, I recommend a light sprinkle of black pepper/dried chopped oregano for realism. When the ink is dry, roll the sheets (separately) into logs all the same length. Loosely braid these three logs, mush them around a bit but don’t completely mix them- and you’re ready to pinch off chunks to form beads or veneer or whatever you please!

The partially-cloudy amber is the same technique, but using different colored ink, of course. I used a honey-yellow ink on the first sheet of clay and a darker brown ink on the second. I wouldn’t sprinkle black pepper, but I’ve thought of experimenting with a few inclusions of loose tea, or… saffron strands! (Then it really would be a semi-precious clay-ha ha!) I recommend an ice-bath for the amber when it comes out of the oven to help give it a translucent look.

 

Happy Experimenting!

-Maria