Harvest Moon

Take time to look at your artistic progress and set realistic goals. You may prefer to do this by yourself or enlist the support and encouragement of a friend.

What would you like to accomplish in the next six months?

Perhaps it is acceptance in your local cooperative gallery, to join or establish a critique group, having an article you have written on polymer clay published, completing a project you have already started or “making” the time to spend more time in your studio? Write down five things you would like to do, experiment with, explore or accomplish this fall.

Put rhythm to this habit- first Monday of the month, third Sunday or the full moon!

Blue Light/Red Light/Yellow Light?

Why does the produce look so yummy at Whole Foods? Among other things, the water mister, the display trick, the freshness of the product…the lighting is EXACTLY right!

Having the appropriate lighting in your studio may not make the produce look great, but certainly will make color matching easier on your eyes.

Keep the Juices Flowing

While it is always interesting to see how ideas and techniques executed in polymer clay evolve, provide inspiration and fuel inovations…make a conscious effort to expose yourself to artistic mediums that you are not familiar with.

Subscribe to a different artist’s magazine each year. For example: Surface Design, Fiber Arts, Ceramics Monthly, Metalsmith or American Sculpture.

Finishing

One of the most frequently asked question on the polymer clay message boards is “How do I seal my polymer clay pieces?” Except for a few instances, for example: protecting the surface of a photo transfer or ensuring that a mica powder that has been applied to the surface doesn’t abrade there is absolutely no reason to apply a sealant to the surface of the clay.

I would imagine that you wouldn’t consider putting five coats of spar boat deck varnish onto an antique rosewood table…so why would you even consider putting Flecto Varathane or Future Floor polish onto your polymer clay creations? No matter how many coats that are applied, polymer clay will never look like glass- not to mention the propensity of these varnishes to glop, drip, bubble and drool! I’ve yet to see a piece that I felt was enhanced by the use of one of these varnishes and sometimes the glare makes it nearly impossible to see the beauty of the underlying surface.

When a piece of polymer clay jewelry has been worn a number of times it begins to develop a lovely patina from the body oils of the wearer. Other alternatives are to sand and buff your pieces to a high gloss, apply a light coat of Golden Acrylic Matt UV protectant or a light coat of archival wax (such as the Renaissance Wax book restorers use).

Call for Entries

After over a decade of teaching polymer clay color workshops, Maggie and I are finally writing a book on color for polymer clay artists.

The book is scheduled to be published by Watson Gupthill in the spring of 2009, but we need images much sooner than that to meet our deadline. We are looking forward to featuring as many polymer artsits as possible in the gallery section of the book, especially work that shows innovative, evocative, and/or sensitive use of color.

If you are interested in submitting images of your work, please mail images to us by November 1, 2007.

Submittal guidelines:

Try Something New

Buddha’s Hand Fruit – a symbol of happiness, longevity and good fortune, indigenous to the lower Himalayas and closely related to the lemon. Fragrant and floral citrus flavor.

Challenge yourself to try new approaches and experiment. Occasionally, or always depending on your temperament, push yourself to take risks or pose artistic challenges to investigate.

If you spend most of your time working on your production line, you may begin to feel stale. If you have a tendency to use the same colors in all of your projects, this may be the weekend to try a new fall palette or draw inspiration from a favorite piece of fabric.

If you always do what you always did, you will always get what you always got.

Gravity

To keep the handle of your pasta machine from falling onto the floor you can use the fingertip of a glove to washer the connection, a set of ultra thin earring magnets or tool grip coating. Or you can interpret the falling handle as a signal to take a stretch break.

Another approach is to let gravity work for you. If you are in an older building and the floor slants, mount your pasta machine on a stool and place the opening to the crank uphill. If the floor is level, placing 1⁄4 inch shims on the front legs of your work table is usually enough enlist gravity and prevent the handle from falling out.

Artistic Flow

Next time you find yourself in the state of artistic flow, stop and take a moment to evaluate and codify your sensory feedback. This will help you garner clues as to how to return to this state more often and readily.

For example: listen deeply, what are you hearing? Not hearing? Perhaps you have a favorite genre or piece of music that you enjoy working to. Or you may prefer silence, old TV movies or NPR? Are there any distinctive scents surrounding you? How does the clay feel on your fingertips? Are there specific aspects of the piece you are working on that encourages engagement? What is most exciting to you, the colors, textures, the repetitive nature of the construction or revisiting an idea?

Symptoms of positive artistic flow= loss of self-consciousness, a feeling of grace, suspension of time-seems either much slower or you loose track, joy, totally in the moment with the process.

Technique du Jour or YOUR new thing?

It is quite easy to be seduced by the technique du jour. In part new discoveries and techniques are what make working with polymer clay so exciting. Before investing in expensive equipment or supplies and more importantly your time, take a moment to reflect.

• How does this new technique interface with my artistic voice?
• Will it amplify my message?
• Would it be a pleasant diversion?

Ten minutes

Even if you can only squeeze in 10 minutes a day , you are maintaining momentum and growing as an artist. Don’t wait until you have a whole month off and have remodeled your house to include a seven hundred square foot artist studio.

Do something today….mix colors, straighten up your work area, sketch in clay, register for a workshop or start a new piece.