CFCF 2017

I'm just back from Laurel, Maryland, and Cabin Fever Clay Festival 2017.  Once again, I had an excellent time.  The participants and instructors were wonderful, I learned lots, got to see some great creations and wonderfully creative ideas.  Over the new few posts, I'll share a bit from the classes I took and hopefully wet your appetite for learning more.  Many of the presenters take their workshops and classes on the road, so be on the lookout for names and projects that pique your interest.

For this first posting, I'll share a bit from an all-day workshop with Ann and Karen Mitchell of ANKARA Designs.  This workshop was on various uses of liquid polymer.  The sisters have all sorts of ideas, including tips and tricks, which they willingly shared with the participants.  In the morning, we worked on mosaic pendants which were later encased in liquid clay.  One tip was to be careful about putting the liquid clay over the metal leaf sections on our pendants. The leaf was easy to rub off unless the liquid polymer was added carefully.  All the pieces on the mosaic, with the exception of the seed beads I used, were made from various processes using polymer.

In the afternoon, we worked on a project that I found fascinating.  The Mitchell sisters have developed a process for transferring images onto regular fabric. After baking, the fabric may be cut and the pieces used.  The photo here shows an edge of fabric with the transfer on top of the majority of the fabric piece.  The leaf shape was cut from the treated fabric piece and shows the back of the fabric. The holes are designed to allow sewing of beads or other items through the polymer/fabric to create shapes for items such as jewelry.  All-in-all, it was a very interesting process, and one I plan to revisit soon.

Some recent - and updated - projects

I've been off on a bicycle touring vacation in Minnesota and Wisconsin - pretty country.  We're home now, and I've had a chance to get back to some polymer.  I miss having my "fingers" in the clay when I'm away from home, and it feels good to be making some pieces, and augmenting others.
Just yesterday, I taught a workshop on painting polymer with Pearl-x powders.  We had as many different results as we had participants, and everyone had a good time experimenting and learning.  Here are a couple of pieces I made as part of my demonstration.  On the red clusters with bronze stems pieces to the left, I used a micro-pearl for the background.  These pieces I finished with Magic Gloss.  The next set with the basket weave pattern was finished with several sprays of Preserve Your Memories II.The two finishes make the pieces look quite different.  The Magic Gloss adds a depth that looks like a piece of glass. This creates a really shiny surface that seems to distort the background slightly.  The PYM II makes a shiny satin finish that leaves the colors and textures clear.  It certainly is a matter of personal preference.

While I was using the Magic Gloss, I decided to finish up a few mosaic pieces I'd made a while back and hadn't finished.  Each of these pieces now has a layer of Magic Gloss.  On the mosaic pieces, the gloss adds depth but there is no distortion of the design - probably because the design is so specific and sharp.

The last photo is another mosaic piece that still needs "grout" and a final finish.  I really like the colors in this one.

Both of these techniques are a lot of fun.  They are time consuming in some ways, though I find that I get caught up in the processes and don't notice the time it takes.