Summer's Coming!

Yea!  Summer is just around the corner, and it's time for some bold new colors on your wrist! Here's a new cane made up on brass cuffs in some of the latest colors for the summer season.  Can't you just picture the outfits to match?

Sweet Little Floral Jewels

I have really enjoyed making these little flower and jewel earrings.  When they're all lying on a mat together, they make the loveliest garden!





The colors for the canes are all custom mixed, and I'm really pleased with the way they turned out.






I left the flowers and leaves with a matte finish to provide contrast with the shine of the beads, crystals, and pearls which form the centers of each flower.

You'll see different flower designs:  trumpet styles, closed flowers, calla lilies and a fuchsia. Do you have a favorite?

New Flower Shape

I enjoy making flowers in polymer, especially when they're blooming all around me outdoors.  And I love manipulating clay shapes to see where they might go.  As I was playing with petals, and shaping them into flowers, I tried pushing and folding the clay and came up with a new shape and flower.  I realize this is probably a shape someone else has also "discovered" yet it's new for me, so I'm calling it "my" shape.

I've used it in both 6 and 8-petal flowers. The 6-petal flowers remind me of trillium.  Perhaps the 8 petal flowers are a new strain of dogwood? There is an example of this shape in my April 27th posting. I like the 2 layers of petals, and their differing sizes.  I also think it's a perfect application for the "crushed wedge" cane I like making so much.

As you can see, I had to start experimenting with the center of these flowers, too. Great place for a rose!

Roses, Roses, Roses

May brings intense lime green leaves to our trees here in New England, and they are a brilliant accompaniment to the spring flowers in bloom everywhere.  Nature is definitely influencing my polymer work these days, as you can see by the photos here.

Today I'm sharing roses.  They always remind me of Mother's Day, which is just around the corner.  The best thing about these roses is they never fade.

I've been mixing some colors which are in keeping with the new palettes for spring and summer.  That's another thing I love about polymer - there is no end to the colors you can create.  I'm especially enjoying  the purple and lime combinations.

I hope you are enjoying a lovely spring, wherever you live.

The Regional Show

Each May, there is a juried regional art show in Westerly.  The show is open to any artist in the area.  This year, for the first time, I decided to enter.  The judges are different each year, and this year they were owners of an art gallery in Connecticut.  I entered 5 pieces, and was surprised and pleased that 4 of them were accepted into the show.  I tried something new on a couple of the pieces, and thought I'd share them all here.
This first piece is a new flower shape I've been exploring. Sometimes I make it with 3 sides, others with 4.  I'll post other examples at later time. For this necklace, I used a nylon cord that compliments the flower.  Two extra attached cords were perfect for flower buds.

A second piece was another blossom cluster necklace. I love the sterling silver chain I use on these - it's full of tiny rings that move and make the blossoms seem alive.  This one uses colors from a different end of the rainbow spectrum, and the blossoms are smaller with ruffled edges.  

The pieces I'm most excited about are the next two.  I have been working on different ways to incorporate beadweaving into polymer.  The coral and brown piece has an insert of flat peyote.  The beading also creates the bail and holds the loop on the cord. The cord is a kumihumo cord I made with copper crystal bicones woven in with other fiber.

The last photos show two sides of the same piece.  The beaded circular flower in the center is open to both sides, letting light pass through.  The small rectangular shape on the buna cording slides to allow size adjustment.  The piece is reversible, with slightly different designs on each side.

Polymer & Beads - New Pendants

If you've read some of my past posts, you know my first adventures with creating jewelry were with seed beads. I still love beadweaving, and have been playing with different applications, mixing polymer and beads. I'd like to share a few of the most recent pieces.
The turquoise/pink piece to the left was my first one of this design. It sold the first day it was in the gallery, so I guess someone else liked it, too.
For the purple piece, I used a large cane I had made and decorated it with seed beads and glass magatama drops.
The last piece in this posting developed from the edges of a cane I was cutting for a different purpose. It just looked like a flower opening and needed pearls added - so I did.

Something a Bit "Organic"

Here's something a little different. I've made lots of circular pieces, including hollow lentils and curved pieces, but not quite like these. The inspiration comes from Laura Tabakman - http://www.lauratabakman.com. Her circle-within-circle pieces have a native, primitive-culture look I find appealing. I was looking forward to taking her workshop at CFCF this past February, but Laura had to leave the conference unexpectedly. In true sharing spirit, Lindly Haunani and Nan Roche stepped forward and worked together to develop a workshop so they could present to us what they understood of Laura's processes. So, while I did not have the opportunity to work with Laura, I did have the chance to learn a bit about making the circle-within-circle pieces. For the class, we used simple jelly roll and bull's eye canes.
When I came home and started working on this design for myself, I immediately was drawn to the idea of using crissy canes. I like the almost ruffled edges of the cane, and I love the repetition of the circular theme.
While Laura's dangles are elegant and fit her pieces perfectly, my style is different. As you can see in the various pieces pictured here, I was having fun making these my own.
Of course, I needed a pair of earrings...and I couldn't resist taking this idea in another direction with the lime & purple canes I've been playing with lately.

Purple & Lime

Ah, another color theme. I really, really love these colors - the combination is so vibrant! This cane evolved from Ikat canes a friend, Laura, and I were making at a clay workshop. Laura put together an amazing combination that just really "hit" me. I quickly made a little Ikat cane using her colors with some modifications of my own, and brought it home. Of course, the piece was too small to do much, so I made a pendant which pretty much used up the cane. The pinwheel pendant above is the piece I made.
I was desperate for more. Unfortunately, I hadn't bothered to write down the formula for the colors and the mixes. Note to self: You most likely will not remember how you achieved specific mixed colors unless you write them down. So, while I waited for her to get back to me via email, I decided to try re-creating the colors on my own.
My cane came out more purple, while the original had a definite reddish cast mixed in. The cane I made was not an Ikat cane but rather what I call a "smooshed wedge" cane. I'm sure there's a more common - and better - name for it somewhere.
These are some pieces I made with my own color combo. Similar, but not the same. I hope you can see the subtle, but definite, color differences. Laura got back to me with her combo, and I have a feeling I'll be making that mix up again soon...

...And here it is. This piece just kept getting bigger - so it's a brooch. Love the starburst effect!

This is Orange

If you've been watching the new magazines in the polymer field, then you're probably familiar with From Polymer To Art from the Netherlands. Each of the issues is based on a color, and the issues are called things like "This is not Red" and "This is not Orange." Hence, the title of this post, since the items I'm sharing today are indeed Orange. ;)
I'm not sure how other polymer artists work, but sometimes I get caught up in a particular cane, and start making all sorts of pieces out of that cane. Other times, I fixate on a particular design or form, and make several pieces in that design from various canes. And sometimes, I fall in love with with both a cane type and a form or design, and get caught up, period.
Today's posting deals with the first situation. I don't do a lot of things in orange, so I decided I should make a cane and see where it led me. The necklace to the left is my first piece.
Then I decided to experiment with making a "bamboo" hoop (polymer of course) wrapped with small orange flowers and some leaves. The brown leaf loop at the top is the bail. Here are two shots to give you an idea of how it looks:

















Here's one more little pendant with a carnelian nestled in the bottom petal.


As you can see, I've been having fun - and am still working on assembling another piece or two from a few more orange flowers I made. Perfect for late spring and into summer.

An "Ode" to Lindly & Judith

I just finished my first blossom cluster necklace. I found a wonderful silver chain with double rows of rings, and it seemed perfect for a cluster of little spring blossoms. I love the way these little flowerettes dance about as the necklace moves. The makeup of the chain allows numerous adjustments, and it wears well from choker to princess length.

For the colors, I owe special thanks to two teachers from whom I've learned much. Lindly Haunani introduced me to the marvelous potential of the rainbow in polymer, and Judith Skinner gave us all "the blend."