Tuesday, September 07, 2010

Polymer Clay and That Thing That Happened...

There I was, being a Good Girl and resting on the sofa. I spent the past week making the blog rounds, rearranging the furniture (so to speak) on my own site, and watching a LOT of movies from streaming Netflix. My back is beginning to feel marginally better and I started to get bored.

For the past few days I went into the studio for a short while and found that something wonderful had happened.



I decided to make some pins and earrings using really old canes. The slices I made were cracked and crumbly (we're talking 6 months old here). So, thanks to Alice's advice, from Polymer Clay, Etc, I reduced the canes down: small, smaller, and smallest. I had no idea these canes, originally about 1.5 inches square, could go down as far as 1/4 inch. They made beautiful borders.



I began building my brooches with a single large slice. As I played with my new mini canes, I realized that I'd need to add some contrast between the center area and the borders. I textured some 18 karat gold leaf-covered clay and cut it to fit. Add on the borders and... "Wowzer!"


While reducing some of the canes, I stopped at about 1/2 in and tiled slices together to make a larger kaleidoscope design.



This I cut into several different shapes and added black and gold leaf borders. A few slices from my favorite flower petal cane added an exciting detail to these new earrings and necklace.




I also had some regrettable "junk canes" sitting in a drawer. I'd mish-mashed some scraps of clay together and added some blue and white as borders. The final result looked uninteresting, to say the least. I reformed the round cane into a rectangle and cut some slices. Add some black, gold leaf, and bright border cane slices... NOW we're cooking. The final touch: a single honey-colored Swarovski crystal in the center of the junk cane slice.



I have no idea where these new pieces came from. I guess I should take more time off!
~~~
Now I need to come up with a name for this new series of pieces. They remind me of old-fashioned tapestries and/or Persian carpets. What do you think? The person who comes up with the name I decide to use will get a special prize - a pair of these pretty earrings:



So spread the word to your friends. All ideas are welcome! Just be sure to leave your contact info in the comment you leave here. The contest will end on Sept 25 and I'll post the winner in a blog entry shortly after that. Thanks for your help. :)


copyright 2010 Shibori Girl

16 comments:

Unknown said...

wowza is right Kate...your work is magical, like a Moroccan festival!!

x..x
s

Createology said...

Your work with polymer is beautiful and your jewelry is stunning. Who knew what magic you would create from "junk" canes!?! Happy creating...

DVArtist said...

Wow Kate these are magical. They have an have movement and the snece of the sea to me. So my name would be Aqautic Dances
Nicole/Beadwright
http://beadwright.blogspot.com

Bonnie Kreger at B-LEE KREATIONS said...

Kate, those are gorgeous. As soon as I looked at them it reminded me of the magic flying carpet. I would call them Aladin's Magic. They are really incredible.

rochambeau said...

Dear Kate,
SOOOOOOOOOOOO glad you are feeling a bit better!!
Even if some of the polylingo is over my head...... Kate that piece # 3 is over the top!! What a GREAT design, even for a rug! All are beautiful, but the green one is my AMAZING fav!

Will you get a new pup?

xox
Constance

rochambeau said...

ps~
Your site looks lovely!

The Odd Bird said...

Jezebel's Journey came to mind when I looked at these. Gorgeous..

Bonnie Kreger at B-LEE KREATIONS said...

Kate, I got a strange email today from a guy by the name of Larry appologizing for the blog stealing. He said he set it up for his daughter and the connected links showed up without them really stealing. He said he had 7 kids and would never do a thing like that. He said he was taking it down and apparently he did. It's bazaar. How's your back? Better I hope.

Christie Minchew said...

For a sick girl, you do good stuff! I love the new look of your site - very rich. And your new pieces are wonderful. Great compositions. Can't think of a name yet, but I know you'll get a good one. And I hope your improvement (back-wise) is still going in the positive direction. Take care :)

Alice Stroppel said...

See....what can happen? Magic seems to appear when you least expect it.
I'm not good at naming things.... but this sure are pretty....
Magic Happens

Alice Stroppel said...

Okay I meant to say "these" sure are pretty. good grief! If you can edit it Kate I'd be so happy.......

lori vliegen said...

it looks like you're taking full advantage of your recovery time.....your new banner is gorgeous and i love the changes you've made to your blog! and okay.....can we talk canes?!!! wow, girl!!! you're on a roll!!!! gorgeous!! xoxo, :))))

T.Allen said...

I like "The Moroccane Collection", or "Morroccane Magic", mayhaps? They're all super! Good luck with the name.

Fete et Fleur said...

I'm speechless. I think your clay pieces are beyond stunning. The first pin is TDF.

xoxo
Nancy

How about: Honey in Persia . . . or Honey Drops in Persia??

Fete et Fleur said...

OK one more . . . Persian Honey

Karin F. said...

Just took a look at your jewelry. Truly captivating!!!
Might I suggest:
Toranj is the Persian name for medallion, the centrepiece in a medallion layout.
Kalaleh, Kelim, Darakhstan (meaning shining) or Astera (star)
hugs Karin