Polymer Clay Vases (no faces)

This vase is the largest I have attempted. It is 9" wide x 14" tall. I made a leaf cane and a petal cane in various sizes and used an acrylic roller to apply them. I wanted it seamless, so I took an inordinate amount of time to manually smooth each area.

I cured it at 260 degrees for about an hour. After curing and cooling, I put on my magnifier and checked for bubbles and/or cracks and luckily, there were none. Very happy with the curing, color combinations and smooth texture.

This vase was an attempt to visually vary the canes and their placement on each side of a square vase to create interest. It's different, but I need symmetry. I've hung on to it because I love the colors, but am happy with the exercise.

I read jewelry artist, Kelly Russell's blog, Beadfuddled, where she talks about doing workshops for herself, challenging her creativity. She had a piece of jewelry she was using as an inspiration piece, but she did not want to "copy" it, but to create something completely different from it. The piece she created was an upside down interpretation that was stunning. Not quite related to vases, but to pushing the envelope. Pushing creativity; starting one thing and letting it take over, following its lead. Getting wonderfully lost in the process. Heaven in a nutshell.

Polymer Clay Fases Vaces #4

Fases Vace #4. This one is very primitive and rustic.

No smooth edges to these characters. I intentionally did not blend, smooth or integrate any of the shapes, texturing or layering.

Long face, blue tear and having a bad hair day (above).

Going to take a break from Fases Vaces and tomorrow am going to post a couple of caned vases that have clean, simple lines.

Polymer Clay Fases Vaces #3

Fases Vace #3. The largest polymer clay hand sculpted face is less than 7/8" (lower right bottom of vase). The average is less than 1/2" and the smallest is about a 1/4".

I did not use any tools; only my fingernails. I wanted it's "finish" to be on the rough side. Life can be tough and confusing with moments of going round and round with something and if we are not careful, we end up spiraling out of control, regretting our choices. Unhappiness at its best.

The vase was originally made to sit on a lighted, revolving base, but ended up in my curio cabinet. It is lit from above and the light shines through the blue glass just as nicely.

Polymer clay canes embellish the strip spiraling around.

I built up the top of the glass vase and ruffled it out, adding an orange and yellow marbled edge.

Purple Haired Ladies Spiraling Out of Control.

Polymer Clay Fases Vaces #2

Fases Vace #2. Triangular heads hand sculpted from polymer clay. Bulls eye and checkerboard canes complete the embellishment.

Tomorrow is "Purple Haired Women Spiraling Out of Control".

Polymer Clay Fases Vaces #1

Fases Vace #1. Individually hand sculpted faces; no molds. I have boxes and boxes of these. Once I applied for and received the copyright on Fases Vaces (yes, purposely misspelled), I did nothing but create these.

Polymer clay is portable to a point, so I could sculpt these pretty much anywhere. I sculpted, placed the heads in a compartmentalized container and cured them when I got home.

This Fases Vace belongs to my youngest daughter, Elaine. She has graciously let me hang on to it "unofficially". Tomorrow's feature is a Fases Vace with triangular heads with multicolored features.

Pitching a Tent Full of Art

This is my booth from the March SCW Art Fair. The portable (collapsible) check-out stand is from Woodland Marketing. I purchased two portable walls from Graphic Display Systems. They are extremely lightweight and easily stored. The tall director's chair is also from Graphic Display, as well as the wall locks & leg and wall stabilizers.

I bought the 10 x 10 EZ-Up tent on sale at Costco and purchased the weights from EZ-Up. They were well worth the investment as they eliminated any problems with the wind.

I was able to hang paintings on the front, back and sides of my booth and display my small sculptures on the display table.  I really look forward to the shows as they revitalize me and I always learn something new from each show.

Polymer Clay over Papier Mache'

This was an experiment in sculpting with polymer clay over papier-machẻ. I wondered how successful layering and sculpting would be. After blowing up a small balloon, then covering it with newspaper dipped in water & white glue, I let it dry for a couple of days. I repeated this process 3 times. I popped the balloon and started sculpting with some very old polymer clay over the papier-machẻ.

I never want to waste or throw out polymer clay if I think there is a remote chance of using it, so I had nothing to lose by giving this a try. I sculpted and built up the facial features layer by layer, baking each layer (according to the manufacturer’s recommendation). The eyes are glass and I used some acrylic paint to accent and age his skin. Because I used a lot of old clay, I decided to exaggerate the facial wrinkles, color and texture in case there was any discoloring or cracking later. But more so, he was a weathered, worn, "been through hell and back" character, so the exaggerated wrinkles defined him.

I placed a wig with a headband on him and thought, "Now what?" Now I had to get to work on how I was going to put together a body to go with this enormous head. I made the body out of PVC piping, polyester batting and old clothes. I sunk the PVC piping into boots that I had poured Plaster of Paris into and let it set. He stood almost 7’ tall.

I displayed my sculpture at an art show to draw people into my booth. Although I was not prepared for the amount of curious people. I had placed very large basket of my lower-priced beaded necklaces in his arms and draped several around his neck. I did a lot of talking about polymer clay and its many uses and sold a couple of necklaces, but I was shocked at the number of people who had not heard of polymer clay and they were just so fascinated.

Polymer Clay Candy

The fun was in creating the toppings. I used little seed beads, pearls, dimensional paints, Snow, modeling paste, glitter, embossing powders, crystals, some molds and interference paints.