Another Class!

I was invited to teach my faux cloisonné technique in Raleigh, NC. After a few days of negotiation we settled on June, 23. I am so excited! Being a professional teacher, I love sharing what I know, especially with an audience that is eager to learn.

To this class, I am going to bring results of my experiments with different surface finishes. I made series of small polymer clay tiles covered with various materials I have been playing with recently. Seeing them together, one next to the other is a great way of comparing their clarity and hardiness. I also managed to make a few tiles with some typical mistakes. I am planning to show how to correct those mistakes in class.

I am also looking forward to meeting people from North Carolina polymer clay guild and seeing their works.

It is going to be fun!

Look What I Found!

Sandee from Philadelphia Polymer Clay Guild shared a few of her creations with the other guild members back in March, but I found this picture just now. I absolutely love Sandee’s interpretation of faux cloisonné I taught in PA last February. I am talking about her pendant (or is it a bead?) with the white flower. The contour outlined with wire looks amazing even against such a light background. Beautiful! I love her other flower as well (the red spotted one). Nice details and simply stunning colors!

More here: http://papcg.wordpress.com/2007/03/27/legacy-of-a-guest-artist/#comment-56

My Necklaces Are Back!

My necklaces had finally came back yesterday after being photographed by Fire Mountain Gems. “Wild Rose” won the first place in the polymer clay category in the last year’s contest, and “White Orchids” was a finalist in the necklaces section.

“Wild Rose” is made in my faux cloisonné technique, and is one of the first necklaces I made featuring more than one focal bead. There are three of them in this necklace, with one design continuing across all three beads. Other materials include black onyx, red jasper, and seed beads. The necklace also has a custom-made faux cloisonné clasp in a leaf shape.

The second one, “White Orchids” is suitable for a bride. Hand-sculpted white phalaenopsis orchids are permanently attached to the mosaic base. Other materials used to make this necklace are mother-of-pearl beads and chops, fresh-water pearls, and seed beads.

The pictures of these necklaces shall appear in the next FMG catalog and in FMG ads on the backs of various beading magazines. I cannot wait to see it. Not only it is exciting to see my work in print, but I also wander how my jewelry is going to look like on the professional photographs. My pieces are extremely difficult to photograph, especially the faux cloisonné ones. Or maybe they are not so difficult for the professional photographers?

These necklaces will be available on my website as soon as I have time to photograph them myself.

More on Glazes and Finishes for Polymer Clay

Over the last couple of days I exchanged E-mails with a few people interested in glazes and finishes for polymer clay. One of them is Jeanne Rhea from Heart of Clay. Jeanne did an impressive study of different glazes for her sister’s non-profit shop in Toledo called Scrap4Art. Below are the links to Jeanne’s results:

http://artfortheheart.blogspot.com/2007/03/clear-dimensional-glazes-or-finishes.html


http://artfortheheart.blogspot.com/2007/03/photos-of-dimensional-glaze.html


http://artfortheheart.blogspot.com/2007/03/photos-of-dimensional-glaze_13.html

Bead Dreams

Yesterday I received a notification that one of my pieces was accepted for the Bead Dreams exhibit at Bead and Button Show this year. It is a huge honor and I am very happy.

I submitted two necklaces. It is interesting though, that I like the rejected necklace way more that the one that was accepted… Well, tastes are different, right?

Here is more info about the contest and the show:

http://www.beadandbuttonshow.com/bnbshow/default.aspx?c=ps&id=30