Carving Your Own Stamp

I did a couple of sketches (below) and got out my polymer. Conditioned it and ran it through on the thickest setting on the pasta machine.

Cut a rectangle. Preheated my oven, baked my rectangle for 45 minutes and gave it an ice bath when it came out of the oven. You can use a pencil to sketch on your polymer or you can free-hand it. I used my linoleum cutter (polymer handle) to gently carve on the lines. Move your piece as you turn corners, not the lino cutter.

I wanted a primitive piece. Ancient, no modern.

Continued tomorrow.

Bead Journal January

I finished my January Bead Journal Project! My first ever. Yay.

I really love this quote from Bette Midler. It's so true of life. My art is the sequins and fringe in my life and it gives me a path to balance out those tears of human spirit.

Above is a side view and below is an open view.

The green is flexible polymer clay by Sculpey. The quote was scanned in my printer, flipped horizontally, printed on a silicone baking paper and applied to the yellow Kato clay. It was baked, and while still hot, I applied liquid polymer clay and adhered it to the green clay.

I was going through old sketches looking for something to symbolize the tears among the sequins and found a sketch I did in 1967. I cut it up a little to give it some dimension and then applied a gel medium to adhere and seal it.

Above is an "open" side view.

I think the transfer was the hardest part for me, but I like the experimenting with different mediums. Most of all I like being able to express something meaningful to me. This past year from January '09 to January, 2010 has been hard, painfully hard, and this piece says it all for me. Nothing is black and white, there are smooth patches in with the bumpy roads; times we go in circles, there a rough edges that leave uncomfortable feelings, broken hearts, wounded souls, mistakes and hurts we can't undo, empty spaces, dreams lost.....but then, there are the moments that save us. Those little beads of joy, glittering sequins of love and a fringe full of life's moments of gratitude.

Tools

If I remember right, I learned this tip from the Jana Roberts Benzon workshop. Using a quilting mirror will give you a reflection of what the end result of your pattern will look like. Below is is my cane pattern- one piece of paper (the triangle in the middle). As I slide it toward the mirror, it is reflected multiple times by the two sides of the mirror. Below are patterns I have sketched out, some colored in and some not. But based on the first photo at the top, you can see how valuable this quilting mirror is for reflecting finished patterns. Below is a reverse magnifying glass. I learned this tip in a painting workshop. By standing back and looking through it, I can clearly see my light and dark values. The same with the below security door viewer. It is also a reverse magnifier. I like this one for polymer clay and the other for painting. Good Lord, look at those age spots! Things can always be worse, so I'm not going to sweat the small stuff. I've had a long fun day and am punchy. Time to hit the hay. Hope your weekend was good to you.

A Sketch Diary

I have sketch books, binders and files full of sketches. Inspiration is everywhere. I used to people watch and sketch them. I basically sketch out some form of something for a piece I may want to do later. The above and below photo is of a pencil drawing I did and love, but it is sitting in a closet because I just can't find a good spot for it and yet, I can't sell it.

I took a pottery class here in Sun City West, AZ and below are some sketches I did while sitting in the class (not paying attention). The clay pottery was fun, but polymer clay is where I belong.

I attended one of Cynthia Toops' (a polymer clay artist specializing in micro-mosaics) lectures/exhibit where she shared her sketch books and a display case full of its results. It was amazing and I was so inspired by her.

Her art education and travels were beautifully documented in her sketches. It was wonderful to see how her sketches tied into work. So, little by little I began my own little tiny versions of sketch diaries and I've kept it up.

Above are some quick scribbles and below are a few of the more detailed sketches.

For a while, all I wanted to do was pen.

A couple of pencil sketches.

I used to take the train downtown to work (in Chicago) and sometimes I would sketch as I walked. The below photo is of a pencil drawing I did while walking to the train.

I just got done looking through that folder full of "walking sketches" and I'm sitting here giggling again. What a sight I must have been. Time for art was precious then. I used every minute I could get. Now....time is just plain precious; whether it is for art or just plain living. I am acutely aware of how precious it is. So I am off to create something while the hubby is sitting in his favorite chair enjoying football. If you've never tried a sketch journal, give a try. It is a liberating feeling because the creativity just flows. And the more you do it, the more creative you will become.