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Swirl motifs are one of my favorite. It's amazing how universal the design is. It can be found in just about every culture throughout history. Slices from a cane composed of striped strips were embedded into a clay base. The border is simple, textured clay with a wavy striped border made using a wavy blade.
I dedicate today's lid to my beautiful foster-daugher Anne. Sadly she lives far from Vegas, but I think of her every day. This piece was created using a technique I perfected, known as the Sutton Slice. Simple white offers the perfect contrast agains a gradient clay background. I thought the design was graceful and elegant, just like her. It also reminded me of her because of the ferns that grow where she. The colors are as vibrant as her personality. Sending you all my love darling girl!
For seven years, I had traveled to the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show each winter. There are actually dozens of shows that span the entire month and virtually take over the city. Occasionally I teach, but this year I'm only going to exhibit for two days at the SWAROVSKI ELEMENTS event. I will be there to demonstrate and offer kits January 31st and February 2nd. I created this lid with a Southwest motif since I've also been packing kits and I have Tucson on the brain. Gradient polymer clay sheets were aligned in strips and rolled smooth. A blunt tool was used to drag "chevron" pattern lines along the surface for a look that is reminiscent of Navajo rugs. The same gradient sheeting was applied along the rim and then textured with coarse sandpaper for a sandstone-like effect. Gradient bull's eye cane slices are staggered along the edge and a sterling bear paw finding with a turquoise cabochon was added to the center to for the piece de resistance!
I wouldn't say I'm coasting with this project, but a good number of my lids including this one utilize canes I have already made. This mirror cane slice was domed by applying it over an incandescent light bulb before baking (never bake polymer clay over a halogen bulb). The center is accented with a crystal. The focal piece was attached on a raised pedestal over a fucshia clay base. The striped border was created as a round rope and floats between the textured rim. Interference mica powder was applied to the raised surface of the rim to highlight the detail. The stamp pattern was created using a metal leather stamp from Tandy Leather Factory.
...or should I say the scraps? This cane was made using the scrap end of my sock monkey cane. You'll just have to wait until March to see the jar I created using the original millefiori cane. One of the things I love most about polymer clay is the versatility that is unlike any other medium I work with. The center is adorned with an iridescent nail head.The sides were created by rolling the uncured clay border in a custom mixture of thermographic embossing powders made for rubber stamping. These melt in the heat of the oven and create an enamel-like effect.
When I have left-over strips of foiled clay, I love to create embellishments for future projects. This works best with very thin layers (6th or 7th largest setting of a clay dedicated pasta machine). I create the shapes by hand, use a straight or wavy blade, and various size straws of circle punches. These are then baked on a ceramic tile. I then glued these to a textured layer of black clay for the lid. Along the rim, I cut sections from my "Fiesta Sunset" foil product and staggered them along the edge.
Gradient millefiori leaves were applied in staggered layers to the lid while a striped border was added to the rim. One of the supreme masters of leaf caning is my friend and world renown clay artist KLEW (Karen Lewis). Click on the link to learn more about her work or better yet, see it in person at one of her California based, "Spirited Bead" stores. KLEW is a regularly featured instructor on my Polymer Paradise creative cruises
...or do when it creates a cool effect along the edge! When I created the mirror cane that I used as the focal point, the end of the cane had a uniform dimensional quality. When reducing polymer clay canes, there is always distortion along the ends. These are typically rough and uneven. I cut these off and blend into new colors or use to make other canes or surface treatments. This is the first time I've ever had a cane end "puff out" in such a symmetrical and beautiful way. I sliced this off and set it aside, knowing one day I'd have the perfect use for it. Today is that day. Not being able to stretch it out without flattening the beautiful dimension, I adorned the exposed edges of the lid with striped veneer and simple leaf cane slices. Things really got fun when I decided to add a black to white gradient strip for the edge. After thinning the strip, it was so long, I thought it would be cool to layer or ruffle it to mimic ruched fabric. The best part was when I realized the edges that I was about to trim were also delightfully decorative. Voila! Several happy creative accidents combined with deliberate purposes created my favorite jar to date.
Any day I can create is a lucky one, Friday the 13th not-with-standing. My husband and I have several Dichroic art glass pieces throughout our house. In the 1990's I created the faux dichroic technique for polymer clay and introduced my line of foils for clay and crafting. I cover many techniques and applications with these foils in my four polymer clay books and two dvds. With the introduction of Magic Glos in 2005, the effect became even more realistic as there was no limit to the depth and effects that could be achieved such as layered elements. If you're not familiar with Dichroic glass (pronounced die-crow-ick) it's the an art form that can thank NASA for its origins. This intensely colorful medium is so vibrant it appears to be lit from within. Color variations appear when the glass is viewed at different angles. A special coating is applied with specialized equipment and involves the vaporizing metallic oxides, such as magnesium or titanium, with an electro-gun. Fortunately, the faux technique is easier, faster and less expensive to create.
This was a fun mirror cane to make from the ends of other canes. I accented the center with a nail head and then gave the piece a cabochon glass-like finish with three thin layers of my Magic Glos resin. The sides were covered with a simple layer of textured black clay.
