Big Sculpted Orchids Tutorial

A new tutorial for sculpting polymer clay orchids is now available on my site. The tutorial shows how to make three different types of orchids and contains nearly fifty color full-size pictures.

Sculpting Orchids
Video on http://www.youtube.com/

A couple of weeks ago I had this wonderful (or so I thought!) idea. I decided to make a short video that would work both as a tutorial and an ad for my new line of orchids and then post it on youtube.com. I also wanted this tutorial to be quite original and artsy. I did not want to sit down in front of the camera, recite all the tools and materials, and then demonstrate every step with my comments and explanations. It was supposed to be different...

So, after 2.5 hours of videotaping and two weeks of clipping and editing, I am happy to report that the video is ready and it was uploaded to be seen by everybody interested in polymer clay, sculpting, and/or orchids (in any order).

It is still not ideal in my view, and I would really like to work on its sound track some more, but I simply cannot take it any more right now and need to step away from this project for a while. I may polish it some more later.

While I am waiting to hear people's comments, I shall say that I had lots of fun and have tons of ideas for the new films.

If you cannot see the embedded video, here is the link: Sculpting Polymer Clay Orchids

EnviroTex Lite, Two-Part Epoxy Resin

I was repeatedly asked by people who like my polymer clay tutorials whether they can buy any of the resin I recommend in some small containers. I understand that some people would like to do the project described in the tutorial only ones or twice. They do not intend using this technique often enough to justify the purchase of a quarter gallon of the resin.

To answer these inquiries, I decided to list a trial-size resin kit in my Etsy shop. To try things out, I have only one set in my shop for now, but I can always add more if there is enough interest. Here is the link: my Etsy store

Fire Mountain Gems Contest Results

I've got my necklace with sculpted orchids "Les Fleurs des Fer" back from Fire Mountain. It took the third place in the polymer clay category!

The necklace is in my Etsy shop now.

I realized recently that I am drawn to the Etsy shops that show their jewelry on models. I think it is a good idea, since it is so difficult sometimes to imagine how a necklace would look like on a person. So, here is the result of my experiments in this direction.

Catching Up

So, I've neglected to write in my blog for a long while, and now have too many news for one post. Blogger's wisdom tells me I shall spread my news over a few posts...

The last two weeks of summer I spent in Washington and Oregon. I have not been to these states before, although I've seen lots of pictures and wanted to go there for a long time.

I brought back tons of pictures myself, and eager to share them, but no picture can reflect what I felt standing behind a 170' waterfall in Oregon or wondering through the mist at Artist Point in Washington.



We drove from Seattle, WA to Portland, OR, then Corvallis, New Port, Florence, Eugene, Bent (all in Oregon), back to Portland, through Seattle, up north to Bellingham and Mt.Baker, and back to Seattle. Every day was absolutely different from the day before and from everything else we ever saw before.



In Portland, my 10-year old daughter was enchanted by some particularly friendly squirrels (never mind the hordes of them in our backyard in Maryland). The Portland squirrels were readily eating from her hands, and one even chewed on the edge of her pants.



In Yachats, OR, we dined in a local restaurant with an amazing coastline view, and the gulls were walking outside on the windowsills begging to share our lunch with them.



But my favorite images were the many waterfalls we saw during this trip. I do not want to use any cliches about rugged beauty and such, but they were widely beautiful indeed...



I guess this experience and these images shall influence me as an artist in some way. I cannot report any connections yet, but I am sure I will be able to draw them in time.

Meanwhile (a note to myself) I shall post more often. Check back in a day or two - I have more interesting pictures to share.

...See more pictures from the Washington and Oregon trip in my photo album.