As you saw in my last post, I made a BIG cane - big for me, anyway. So then the question arises - what to do with it? I plan on using it as the veneer sheet on a box or vessel, but right now I'm in the midst of making things for the gallery, so don't have time to make a box. Instead, I've used some of the ends and a few slices to experiment with making the cane into a square shape. Then I used the shape to make a few items. Here are the resuts ..read more

Last weekend, I took an 8-hour online workshop with Jana Roberts Benzon. As you know from other posts on this blog, I simply love Jana - her ideas, her presentations, her manner, and the way she gently guides us through all the steps to both understand and be able to create some lovely work. We worked pretty solidly for the 8 hours with a couple of meal breaks - and emerged with a polymer cane. One cane you ask? Yes - and it was worth every minute to learn her tips and tricks and put them into practice ourselves. So, here is my cane. It's 3 inches on each side, and about 3 inches long. The fo ..read more

The Artist Cooperative of Westerly is holding their 29th annual Regional Art Show. The show is open to anyone, and is judged by a juror who does not know our members. Frequently, members submit items and are not selected for the show. People are allowed to enter up to three pieces, and the judge makes a determination on which ones meet their standards for that particular medium. Art is very subjective, and that makes the resulting show very eclectic and interesting. I always enjoy seeing what does and does not get selected. This year, I'm entering 3 pieces and we'll see what happens. The firs ..read more

Wow! Somehow February just sped by! I did spend quite a bit of time putting together some pieces for a Mokume gane display at the Westerly gallery. However, I I forgot to take photos... So, here are some pieces that speak to the beginning glimpses of spring in new green near the streams. The oval pendant makes me think of the first touches of greens coming up in rows in a planting bed. The earrings do, too. Then of course, there are the cattails - one of my favorites that grow wild here along the ponds. As you can see, I'm thinkig spring and green ..read more

Several members of the Westerly Artists' Cooperative met today to "hang" the February show. I had some new pieces I put in my display area. I enjoy the concept of "collage" and it's fun to do in polymer. Here are some pendants I made to include in the show. In the pendant on the left, the largest section was made with pan pastels as background, and black mica powder through a silk screen for the overlay design. There is also some gold clay and a shiny section with copper leaf. I left this piece with a spayed matte finish. The two pendants below contain sections with textured clay as well as s ..read more

Since I'm on the topic of show themes, I thought I'd show you a couple of pieces I made for the upcoming show at the Spectrum Art Gallery in Centerbrook. The theme is "Life in the City." The picture to the left is one I'm calling "City Nights." To add a night time effect, I used gold leaf on the moon and in the window areas of the buildings. The stars are AB crystals. The photo below shows a scene I think looks like city buildings in a heavy rain ..read more

Hello! It's hard to believe we're already into 2024. I'm look forward to another year of creativity and learning. At the Westerly Artists' Gallery, we've started a new year of monthly shows, many with a theme. This month's theme is "Inner Worlds/Outer Worlds. Artists are encouraged to try to create something that fits the theme, if appropriate. I had a couple of ideas, so created three pendants demonstrating my interpretation of the theme. The first and last pendants show an outer world with an opening to an inner world. The middle piece shows a little creature from the inner world peeking ou ..read more

I made these little bugs for a demonstration on how to make stick pins, post earrings or magnets. They're pretty straight forward to make, relatively quick, and fun. They also use very little clay. Since the back is totally flat, adding the flat portion of a post earring or a stick pin is done by adding a thin circle of clay over the post and against the flat bottom of the bug. For magnets, a hole the size of the magnet is made before baking. After the piece is done, the magnet is glued in place. Magnets cannot be baked because high temperatures weaken a magnet's strength and magnetic field ..read more

Just wanted to share a few more pieces based on Jana Roberts Benzon's techniques. Instead of using a traditional polymer design cane, I made a design stack along the lines of those developed by Carol Blackburn. Since these were not canes that could be covered around the edges, the design shows everywhere, giving these pieces a diffeent look. The rectangular shape of the stack also inspired me to decorate a brass cuff. Fun ..read more

I haven't done this particular technique in a while, and thought I'd give it a try for some holiday pendants. Basically, after you impress a design in the conditioned clay, you use tiny paint brushes and "paint" various parts of the design with mica powders. Pan pastels will also work, and give a more muted look. After baking, I added Magic Gloss resin to help protect the powders from wear ..read more