Worth Having Two…

Microplane’s were originally designed to used a carpenter’s tools. Luckily, an avid cook discovered that they could be very useful in the kitchen for grating spices, ginger, citrus zests and Parmesan cheese. The teeth on these microplanes are much sharper than those on most box graters. When I received another two as gifts one year, at first I was a little disappointed (after all who needs three in the kitchen?)

I was pleasantly surprised when I tried grating polymer clay with one of my non-kitchen microplanes. There are times when the color combination on a surface needs to be spiced up a bit or obliterated/masked a bit. A good way to do this is to liberally grate several contrasting colors of clay over the top of your piece. These “crumbs” can then be burnished flat or lightly tapped in place to maintain a subtle surface texture.

Essential Tool…

Gizmo=Programmable digital oven thermometer with probe and remote pager…probably great for someone doing heavy duty BBQ or baking

Essential tool,for polymer clay artists = a set of two Mercury thermometers to be used in calibrating your curing oven and to check temperature during curing. More often than not, the temperature dial that comes with your oven can be off from anywhere from 5-25 degrees, which can make a big difference in your baking outcomes.

To calibrate an oven;

Tool, Gadget or Gizmo?

Yesterday  I caught myself watching on of those Thanksgiving weekend television show marathons one of my favorite television channel= Food TV. The featured show for the evening was, “Gotta Get IT” The premise of this show is the opportunity to feature new kitchen gadgets, gizmos and tools.  

• Laughing, when they tried to demonstrate a turned crank wheat grass juicer
• Perplexed , when they presented an egg blender that scrambled eggs in their shells?
• Aghast, when a chef from a well known culinary institute showed how a re-adapted potato ricer could be use to extrude ice cream and then suggested that it might be used to make “pasta” out of polenta
• Affirmed, when my favorite lemon zester was presented as an ingenious tool favored by many accomplished cooks

Which lead me to consider the differences between what I consider to be a useful tool, a gadget or auxiliary gixmet in my studio.= the theme of my next few posts.

Wise Hands…

Perhaps you’ve seen one of those fast forward video spots where the subject is progressively aged from twenty to ninety in thirty seconds?  Or perhaps you took a good look around at the hands of the elders’ at yesterday’s Thanksgiving festivities? What will your hands look like in twenty years? Will they look wise and graceful?

 My last two posts were in part fueled by an increasing awareness of stiffness in my hands and persistent reminders to follow my own advice. So, after a couple of hours working with clay this afternoon- it was evident that it was time to take a “break”. While changing activities an be a useful strategy, I found myself absorbed in answering email for an hour. “From the frying pan to the fire.”… from a tissue blade to a track-pad on my laptop and a mouse on my desktop.

Taking a break= hands off, be kind to your hands= stitching to an activity that focuses on a different muscle group=ex. take a walk.

Be Kind to Your Hands…

Admittedly this  picture is a grand example of skipping a manicure, but you need to be aware of how you use your hands when working with polymer clay.

• Whenever possible use your entire body as leverage. For example: If you need to roll a large rope of clay, stand up and use your upper back muscles and body weight to roll
• Avoid small pinching motions with your thumbs- this puts an enormous amount of strain on  the ligaments in your thumbs and your elbows
• Avoid becoming engaged in long periods of repetitive motions. Drilling holes in two hundred beads in  one session may seem like a productive plan?
• Switch activities from small to large movements
• Take frequent breaks to stretch, refocus your eyes and stretch your hands

Three additional cautionary notes:

Hands On…

Last Saturday I taught a workshop in Annandale, Virginia. The format for these three hour Artful Afternoons differs for many of the workshops that I teach in that I bring all the equipment, the supplies and present a project that is completely doable within the three hour time frame, One of the most rewarding aspects is that often there are participants that have never worked with polymer clay before.

Each time, I learn something new. Often I am reminded about an important teaching concept- this time it was the importance of intention and involving ones whole body when working with the clay. Many times the best way to do this is to actually put ones hand on top of the students and let them feel the movement, intensity and result.

While reading books and watching videos can be very informational- the way I actually learned to knead bread, play my Tibetan bowls,massage a tense neck, saute onions, condition clay and a reduce a cane- was when a teacher was willing to let me “feel” hands on what was happening.

Going Green…or Purple?

Recycling, the E.U”s  ban on phylate plasticizers, the re-formulation of FIMO and reactions to this news  have been hot polymer clay topics on the web in recent weeks.. Understandably….

Tomorrow I plan to meet with a dear friend who is on the liver transplant “List” at Georgetown University Hospital. Note: her status has NOTHING to do with working with polymer clay, rather as a nurse in  a liver clinic she inadvertently contracted hepatitis C .  

In Maryland, the state where we both live, when one renews their drivers license there is the opportunity to sign up as an organ donor. If you haven’t already done so…consider  ultimate recycling, the gift of your organs in the event of your untimely death.  

Pasta Machines…

I was reading an ad for a polymer clay how-to book  this evening-”the most expensive piece of equipment **** uses is a pasta machine,but you may substitute a rolling pin or a brayer.” Which, while true is somewhat akin to telling a chef- “If you don’t have a 10,000 BTU stove, you may substitute a can of Sterno.”  I consider a pasta machine to be an essential piece of equipment in a polymer clay artist’s studio.

As an artist/teacher who owns twelve Atlas Pasta Machines, including two 180’s and two beloved “field stripped” machines one over seventeen years old- and has witnessed many students have machine failures with the Chinese knock-off pasta princess- I recommend that you purchase an Atlas 150. (Yugo or Lamborghini?)  Many of my machines experience the ultimate test, nine year old boys at summer camp, who like to put eight in thick pieces of clay through the machine at the thinnest setting while screaming “oh, NO! Bill!) 

Malma Frame…

Over the past eight years I have gone through nearly four hundred Ikea Malma unpainted wood frames as the base for the project for my Dancing with the Rainbow Workshop. Seemingly the glues used in the construction have changed and the pre-preparation has become more important to ensure sucess in covering the frame with polymer clay 

Fantasy Chocolate…

I eventually used the bittersweet chocolate covered cherries with the holes in the middle farther up on the chocolate necklaces. The add-on beads were larger and feature a hole about two thirds of the way up and farther back. The faux  Heath Bar slices hit the trash can= not realistic enough and distracting from the flow of the necklace.

• Best polymer clay Peanut Brittle= Linda Pederson 1992
• Best edible Peanut Brittle = See’s
• Fabulous Teacher’s gift= Rita Sims’ polymer clay chocolate sampler