A New Cuff!

A few months ago, I purchased a bracelet cuff tutorial from Bettina Welker, an outstanding German polymer artist.  Among other things, Bettina is known for her clever hidden closures, clasps, and hinges.  I really like cuff bracelets, but usually they have to be slipped over a person's hand and then they may, or may not feel right on the wrist.  This new design allows you to create a more custom fit that does not have to slide over the hand.
Today, I'm sharing with you my first cuff using her tutorial.  Now that I know how she created the closure, I have plans to create more using my own designs and ideas.  Her tutorials are available on her website under the heading "Instructions"  :  https://bettinawelker.de/anleitungen/   Below are 3 photos.  One shows the cuff from the front, one from the back, and one shows part of the closure.

Brilliant Bettina Welker!

A few weeks after Clayathon, I returned to southern New Jersey to attend Clay Back East, 2019. This polymer conference was sponsored by Donna Kato and her conference crew.  It was really marvelous!  The format was based on workshops from top-flight polymer artists.  We had 3 full-day and 2 half-day classes, with instructors moving from room to room.  This meant we all attended every workshop in reasonably sized groups.  Great plan!
Today I'd like to share the closing bracelet cuff that Bettina Welker developed.  The clasp is unique, hides itself within the overall design, and is comfortable to wear.  If you get a chance to take her workshop on this design, do so.  I can't go into detail, since it is her invention.  Just know that she really has come up with a clever and strong method of securing the cuff so you can wear it without worrying about it possibly slipping off.

That is the clasp between the pink and purple rectangles.  Pretty cool!





We also had fun decorating the various rectangular shapes and placing them on the cuff.  I used a ribbon cane that Donna Kato introduced to us to make the wavy stripes.  I like the different look.

Solid Bangles in Patchwork Design

Recently, I taught a workshop in which the participants learned to make bracelets without armatures. This requires a few layers of polymer and multiple bakings, but it also is a way to guarantee the resulting bracelet fits the wearer perfectly, and is not going to accidentally come off.  We used extruders to create the various designs on the bracelets.  The result is a sort of rustic and fun patchwork of shapes and designs.  On these two samples, I used a solid color to line the inside.  However, it would be possible to use any decorative sheet the artist desires, creating an internal "surprise".

Feeling Wistful

Yes, I'm feeling wistful - missing leaves on the trees, flowers, grass, colors other than brown, white, and gray...It may only be the beginning of February, but we've been having more than our share of winter here in Connecticut. Guess that's why, when I picked up some brass bracelet forms to work on, I ended up with leaves, vines and even a flower or two.  The large teal and turquoise flower to the right is secured to a white-coaated, filigree brass bracelet cuff.

The other bracelets are on brass open cuffs.  I like these cuffs. They are lightweight and lend themselves to decoration.  To ensure they stay on, no matter what the wrist size, I added a magnetic clasp.  Here's the first one:

Below are three more.  These are all made from the same cane, just done in different colors.

Ropey Cuffs

Sometimes I start out headed in one direction, and end up somewhere else entirely.  I planned to work with striped torpedo beads.  Torpedo beads are often shaped by hand, and usually have pointed ends.  I had just gotten one of the new bead formers, and wanted to give it a try with the striped torpedo effect.  However, as I was playing with the clay to make a striped stack, the "bead" got too thin and morphed into a very pretty striped snake - with a pointed end.  A brass cuff was sitting on my work table...Well, one thing led to another, and I found myself engrossed in making the ropey cuffs you see above.  I especially  like the one on the top left which was made from a rainbow stack.  It reminds me of an old fashioned quilt.  I'm sure I'll get around to making some torpedo beads in the near future - or I could end up playing with more 3-D, ropey effects. Either way, I get to play with clay!

On a (Jelly) Roll....

Sometimes, revisiting a technique learned a long time ago can spark new ideas.  I was looking at some old jelly roll canes, and started playing around with them. Pretty soon, I was making new rolls, and cutting slices and making sheets from the canes.  That, of course, led to some jewelry pieces.

The jelly roll is actually the second simple cane I learned about when I first was introduced to polymer, the bull's eye being the first.  The jelly rolls I first made were just simple stacks of clay, piled and rolled.  As you'll see in the examples I'm posting here, the jelly rolls I've been making have two outer layers (white and dark) and a Skinner blend laid on top and rolled in as the colored layer.  This is certainly more elaborate than the simple jelly roll I was introduced to, but it's also more colorful and more interesting.

The cuff bracelet and tube earrings on the left give you a good image of the cane.  You can see the layers of white and navy, and the Skinner blend on the wider sheet that swirls around the core going from navy to yellow blending into green along the way.

These two pendant and earring sets have texture in the dark areas, and are sooth and buffed on the cane sections.  The strip of light green down the middle of the pendant on the left is made from some sweet glass beads called "super duos"- I wanted something to define the line between the clay sections, and these beads just seemed to fit.

Time for a color-way change!  I moved, naturally, into some of my favorite colors: purples and teal with pale yellow for accent.

The first photo shows a couple of pendants and some small earrings.  Perhaps you've already noticed the curving strip of translucent super duos in the pendant on the top left?  No color or texture separation here, it just seemed like the piece needed a stream of beads running through it.


And, finally, a really purple pendant with colorful sun-drops!

Perhaps some of you will be inspired to re-vist the jelly roll. If you've never made one, summer's the perfect time to experiment and play with clay!

Coral Reefs with Jana Roberts Benzon

Jana Roberts Benzon is an amazing and creative polymer artist.  Her concepts, techniques, and ideas are always intriguing, and the projects we worked on at CFCF 2014 were no exception.  Much of what Jana does is organic, and always makes me wonder "how did she do that?"  She is a patient teacher, and makes everyone feel good about their efforts.

The all-day pre-conference workshop focused on a bracelet designed to look like a coral reef.  She taught us how to make a wide variety of sea shapes which we combined on a base.  Most participants used a bracelet cuff, though there were a few who used different base forms.  Each of the different sea shapes involved several steps, and we got to play with alcohol inks in a variety of applications.  It was great fun, and I really enjoyed seeing how the various shapes formed and evolved.
Included in this posting are shots of different sides of my bracelet cuff.  This should give you an idea of the variety of sea shapes we made.  My piece is rather jam-packed.  When I play with these shapes in the future, I'll probably make a pendant or pin of some sort, and spread things out a bit.

Mokemu Gane and Motion

Mokemu gane is one of my favorite techniques.  The results are always unique and unusual, and are influenced by the colors used,  the way in which they are layered, and the items pressed into the colored stacks of polymer.  I think my favorite step is the slicing of the stack after the design has been pressed. It's always a surprise to see what the patterns look like.

As you can see in the photos here, each piece has its own personality. I'm particularly fond of teals and turquoise shades, and the mixture here, combined with coppers and brown tones, is really lovely.  I decided to make a couple of two-part pendants.  The pieces in this first pendant show the different shades of blues.  The motion draws attention to the lines.  The pendant on the right has less of the copper and brown tones and has a different feel.

I wanted to finish the slices I had made, so created a couple of other pieces.  I think this last photo shows the shades and the design patterns well.  If you've never tried this technique, I recommend you do.

An Internet search will produce numerous descriptions and tutorials.  This is a most enjoyable and surprising process, and one I return to repeatedly.  Here is one more set I made in teals and purples.

Soft, Sweet Transluscents

I love the effect of translucent polymer.  This clay imparts a softness - almost a cloudy aspect to the pieces. It's not easy to see on the screen, but in person there is a luminescence in translucent pieces that is simply lovely.

One of the canes I enjoy making with translucent is the chrysanthemum or "chrissy" cane. I most frequently make this with a Skinner blended translucent layer and a solid white, thinner layer of clay.  These layers are rolled up jelly-roll style with indentations made by a credit card or similar item, and voila! Your cane is ready for use!

The pieces in this post were made with translucent solids and a few different translucent and white chrissy canes.  The bracelets above and the earrings on the right were all made from chrissy canes that shaded from yellow to green to purple to fuschia.  As you can see, mixing these colors with translucent softens the hue.

The earrings on the left were made with another color combination.

These 2 bracelets below were made from very different color pallets.  The upper cuff has dusty purples and light rose colors while the lower cuff is oriented a bit more toward fall:  copper, greens and rust.

Translucent polymer has myriad applications in layered applications, too. If you haven't explored this particular clay, you have a treat in store.

Here are two more pairs of earrings in different styles. Pendants coming soon! Stay tuned.

New Brass Bracelet Forms

I like bracelets, and have made several bangles in all polymer as well as bangles and cuffs using brass channel blanks.   One of the problems with a closed bangle is sizing, since peoples' wrists vary widely.

Recently, I've found some brass bracelet forms that have given me some fun options for design. Here are some of my new pieces.

The red and yellow flowers were formed a petal at a time and pressed through the brass filigree to secure the flower to the base.  I particularly like these bracelet forms because they have a well constructed hinge. This makes opening and closing the bracelet very simple, and helps ensure the piece stays on. The filigree is a nice touch.

These last three bracelets were made on a different bracelet form, one with 2 thin brass bands.  These bracelets are very easy to put on and take off, but I wanted to be sure they wouldn't come off too easily during wearing.  I found a magnet and clasp combo that works just perfectly in the opening on these bands, and makes a nice "safety" chain.  The polymer flowers and leaves are on both sides of the brass bands, securing the design to the base.

 I think these bases work perfectly with polymer, and I'm pleased to have found bases that support 3-dimensional work.

Odds & Ends....

Today's post doesn't have a set theme.  It's just a collection of some things I've done recently that don't really belong to any particular category.  So - here goes!

 This bright and perky set was made from a scrambled cane. The individual pieces are folded in the middle over the buna cord and the whole pendant moves as one piece.

   

 I made these leaves from a series of what I call "wedge" canes.  I love the way these canes meld colors while keeping them separate enough to create a wispy striped look.

 Here is a first-time experiment.  I found the white finished metal filigree bracelet cuff, and decided to try decorating with polymer.  The cane is a compound petal cane, and each petal was placed individually as it was secured to the adjoining petal.  On the inside, there is a strip of teal polymer that is pushed up against the filigree and meets the polymer petals from the top.

This last pendant is convex, with just enough bend to allow the bead strand cluster to swing freely in front. This creates a simple, yet nice bit of motion.

Torn Patchwork - A Variation on a Theme

One of the first surface techniques I ever experimented with was the watercolor technique developed by Maggie Maggio.  A variety of directions for this technique can now be found on several web sites.  It uses a Skinner blended sheet layered over sheets of white and black.  The pieces are rolled thin, then torn apart and recombined in a random pattern.  The result is always unique, and the process is a lot of fun.
I was looking through some of my canes, and it occurred to me that using the same layered and torn process with canes that have stripes of sorts might create a different look.  As I worked on this, the resultant sheets looked to me like torn patchwork quilting, so that's what I decided to call it.
Each of the different canes I used were created in the same manner, so these patchwork pieces have a similar look.  You may also have noticed that I've been experimenting with a couple of new shapes...new twists for a New Year.

Southwest Color & More Extrusions

I've just returned from a vacation trip to the Southwest. We were primarily in Arizona, though we touched Colorado and New Mexico, too.  Traveling through the painted desert, the canyons, and the cliffs had me reveling in color.  The reds, pinks, purples and blues are both subtle and intense.

It's all so very different from what I'm used to here in New England.  The trees are in their glory, and their colors are vibrant right now as fall takes center stage.  Color is one of the things I just love about nature - and about polymer!  So, I had to start claying as soon as I got home.

The photos here play on the southwestern color theme.  I'm still having fun with extrusions, as you can see.  I used copper and browns, along with various shades of turquoise and blues, and just a touch of cream.  The cream layers in the desert really set off the reds and blues.  Amazing.

I hope the colors give you a taste of what I've just seen. The bracelets are from a slightly different color mix - more brown than copper, more teal than turquoise.  See why I love color!?!

Falling Petals....

Leaves fall in autumn, petals fall in late spring.  Hence, the inspiration for these pieces.  I started with the 2 wavy-edged leaves and the flowers just begged for some drifting petals. These two just didn't seem like pendants, so they became pins.

As I was tinkering around with them, I just happened to put them together in such a way that they spoke: "bracelet!"  So that's what I tried next.   These 2 cuff bracelets have a small armature at the join, but are otherwise all polymer. I'm looking at different ways to add a clasp of some sort of it seems necessary, and to see how they wear.