Make More Than One…

I will admit that there have been times when I have regretted making “More” before fully exploring the ramifications of a design. Like the time I set out to make fifty chocolate necklaces…I made fifty each of twenty five different beads = 350 beads sorted into small sandwich bags. It wasn’t until I went to string the first necklace that I realized that the holes in the dark chocolate cherries were in the wrong place, the scale of the caramels looked off and I definitely needed more bling!

However, the next time you set out on a project, consider making more…twelve donut beads instead of one, six collage brooches instead of two or three complete necklaces instead of one. There is something magical that happens when you get into the rhythm of  the process, the what if?  idea mindset takes hold, the construction challenges may lessen and “more than one” helps remove the onus and preciousness of “just” one.

Submissions…

I have just spent an exciting afternoon unpacking the image submissions for Color Inspirations for Polymer Clay Artists. I haven’t looked at all the Cd’s yet as we received nearly fifty in the past few weeks. What I’ve seen so far is proof positive that there is some really incredible things being made from polymer clay. Maggie and I thank everyone who sent images.

Observations for future Call for Entries…

Dancing with the Rainbow…

Hard to believe that it was only a week ago that I was teaching The Dancing with the Rainbow Workshop in Lisa Falk’s marvelous carriage house studio in Englewood, New Jersey. At the end of the month she will be hosting a workshop presented by Robert Dancik. I am always fascinated to see how the paper collages are translated to polymer clay. The most delightful aspect of this workshop is watching the participants’ confidence and ability to match and mix colors increase over the course of the two days. Take a peek at Libby Mills and Jenn Dorian’s blogs.

Clever Idea

Last weekend I taught Textile Inspirations/Increasing Your Color Confidence for the New York Polymer Clay Guild. What a fantastically welcoming and talented group of polymer clay artists! It is always inspiring to me to see just how many variations on the same patterns that each class comes up with. Each student was assigned a different color palette to explore. Rita Simms has posted photos of her textile inspirations on her web page.

I also got to see a very clever tool in action. Heather Dadak had attached a small lasy Susan mechanism to a 4′ x 8′ bamboo cutting board, which allowed her to adjust her viewing and cutting angles as she worke on each piece. I’ve seen similar set ups in pastry kitchens, sculpting studios and ceramics rooms…but it had never occurred to me to use it while working with polymer clay. 

Stroll Down Memory Lane…

Now that the delivery is complete, I can sigh with relief….and delight in the fantastic “stroll through polymer clay history”, Elise and I took as we unpacked Nan Roche’s polymer clay collection in anticipation of photo documentation and cataloguing. Stay tuned for more information on the exciting project that Elise is working on now…

I must admit I was laughing as Nan And I made the transfer from her van to my trunk last week in Maryland. In order to fit the four large boxes jammed packed with Nan’s polymer clay collection, I had to remove eight pasta machines and a full sized convection oven. I also had to restrain myself from looking into the boxes prior to their delivery in NJ, even though I have had the opportunity to view Nan’s vast collection of polymer clay work in the past. Nan’s collection is vast and diverse, spanning over twenty years of collecting and includes seminal works from many of the polymer clay artistic pioneers= Kathleen Dustin,Cynthia Toops, Pier Voulkos, Victorie Hughes, Kathleen Amt, Steven Ford and David Forlano.

Which leads me to wonder, their certainly have been many collectors of polymer clay art over the years… who has the largest collection? the most diverse? the most specialized collection? = perhaps just one artist, just beads, just dolls, just wall hangings? Do you collect polymer clay art?

Two Butterflies…