Extruded Mokume Gane ~ Plus!

Back in April, Cynthia Tinapple posted the winners of the Spring Push extrusion contest on Polymer Clay Daily.  The entry by Karen Brueggemann, who won first place, really captured my interest.  I decided to experiment and see what I could come up with.  I had a lot of fun playing around.

 In the process, I discovered, as so often seems the case with mokume gane, that the pieces I was shaving off were as interesting - or more so - than the base I was creating.  Of course, this meant I had to use everything.  The two pendants to the left show both processes.  The left-most pendant is the resultant base after the top layer has been shaved off.  On the right is a piece made from some of  the shavings.  Very different effects, even though the colors are the same.
I thought I'd share the process and some of the end products here in case you'd like to give it a try, too.

The first step is to make a stack of circles of conditioned clay and extrude them into a long, round snake.  I tried using 2 different sizes of circles in the extruder, and preferred the smaller snake.  I really think this aspect is just personal preference.  Then take the snake and, using a hard, flat tile or similar surface, bend, cut, twirl and twist the snake around to make an interesting design.
Make sure there are no gaps in your design. I occasionally used cut pieces of the snake and stood them on end.  These created dots when shaved.  Above right is an example of a snake design.  
The sample below shows the shaved snake design made from the same colors as the example to the right.  When the tops are shaved off, all the various colors from the extrusion process come to light.

The next two sheets - one with yellow background and one with green - show random placement of the shavings from the snake design.  I love how changing the background changes the whole tone.

Here are samples of 2 pendants made from the green and yellow sheets of shavings.  Great effects.

Finally, below are a couple more photos showing shavings on a purple background, the snake design sheet from which the shavings came, and a piece cut from a snake design using a wider circle hole in the extruder.

From Fancy to Festive with Heather Campbell

This is the first year that polymer artist Heather Campbell was a presenter at CFCF, and I'm so glad they invited her.  Heather's techniques and projects pushed me in some new directions, both in terms of concepts and techniques.  Added to that the fact that she has a gentle and encouraging approach to teaching, my time with her was most enjoyable.  Her two workshops were very different in focus, and I'll share them both here.
The first workshop was a full-day affair in which she taught her "integrated transfer" technique.  Though I've done black and white image transfers before, and have my own approach, Heather had some tricks of her own which were good to learn.  For me, though, it was her integration of transfers with a variety of polymer shapes, decoration techniques and other embellishments that was a real eye opener.  I have always made the transfer the focus of a piece, and kept it clean and clear.  Heather integrates the transfer as just one of many elements in her pieces, and the effect is quite unique.  Heather calls these pieces her "Bohemian Nouveau" and I think that is a perfect description.  The piece on the left was my first piece and was the project for the class.




There was just a little time left to try something totally on our own, so I gave this piece a shot.  Unfortunately, the thermometer in the oven fell over on it when it was placed in, so some of the components got smooshed.  Thought I'd share the design anyway.



Now, to the second workshop. A couple of days later, several of us gathered for Heather's "Fiesta Dangles" workshop.  Using simple canes and solid clay colors, we created colorful and festive earrings.    
The designs were clever combinations of various techniques.  Several people experimented with different colors or different design options.  The challenge for me was to think "big".  I've never worn - nor made - earrings this large.  Once again, a workshop pushed me in a new direction.