February Polymer Collages

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 some silk screened sections. Both of these pendants are covered in resin, and are very shiny in person.

New Stroppel Canes

As I have mentioned, I've been working on lots of different pieces of jewelry for the June ACGOW show.  Not surprisingly, I also have accumulated a pile of "scrap" in a variety of colors and patterns.  What to do with it?... Why make a Stroppel cane, of course!  It's been quite a while since I've put one together, so I decided to make two, focusing on clay from a couple of different color ways.






Here are samples of some pieces made from the different canes.  Alice Stroppel originally used black clay between the color layers.  I find I also like other colors, particularly creams and whites. Interestingly enough, the design of these particular canes actually fit into the "Scenes from a passing Train" theme for the June show.

Bracelet/Earring Combos for the June Show

 While working on items for the June ACGOW Show, I also taught a workshop using the mokume gane technique.  Since I really like the mokume gane effect, I decided to make a few bracelet & earring sets.  The bracelets are polymer on brass channel cuffs.



I really liked the wavy effect in the blue set.  Perfect for summer months and time near the seashore.

Here is a red, gold and white set, also in colors just right for the summer months.













I'm including a set made with the "blurred landscape" sheet I made when working with Lindly Haunani.  It's fascinating to see all the different looks it is possible to get from polymer. It seems straight forward, but is really incredibly versatile.

ACGOW June Show Theme

Next month at the Westerly Gallery, I am one of two featured artists.   For June, the theme is "Scene From a Train:  Fleeting Moments."  As I looked for inspiration for my pieces to fit the theme, I remembered annual family trips taken from California to points all over the West and across the Midwest.  Although we traveled by car, the view out the windows was quite similar to those we would have glimpsed from the freight trains we saw as they traveled, paralleling our road.

I can recall mile after mile of fields filled with crops.  Some of the crops, like corn, were planted in straight rows, making stripes on the landscape. Others, such as beans, were bushy, blurring the lines between the plants.  There were fields of flowers abloom with amazing colors, and pastureland dotted with animals.  In the mountains, there were indistinct landscapes that still retained different colors and textures at each layer.  

For this show, I have created several different polymer design sheets that reflect the images I recall.  Some of those sheets are evident in the pins I showed here in recent blog posts.  Today, I'm going to share some earrings that also fit the theme.  Most of these pieces have a high gloss finish. The first photo shows a landscape in the distance, with distinct colors melding.

 The purple and the copper and black pairs represent plowed furrows.  The purple is a field in bloom, while the earth tones are from a field awaiting planting.

The purple and pink pair is again a landscape, blurred from the speed of the passer-by.  Finally, the black and silver set has an ordered row appearance, in a more elegant approach.