Two Birds and a Shrine

My Adventures With Polymer Clay

 

Two of the classes I took at Art Is You involved working with polymer clay.  While I am not exactly a polymer clay virgin, I'm also no expert.  Things I learned:  well conditioned clay is a must, as is an oven that keeps accurate temperatures.

 

First up, Mini Shadow Box Shrine with Laurie Mika.  Wonderful class, great teacher, and my fellow students were so very talented.  Laurie provided the shrine (a nicely deep shadow box), very clear and in depth instruction, stamps for texturizing, mica powders and paints for color, and we only had to show up with pre-conditioned clay, some basic clay tools, and assorted doo dads (optional) to use as decoration (if we wished....remember the word optional).

 

Here is what my shrine looked like at the end of class.  I couldn't decide what to place inside the shrine, so I waited until I got home for that step.  Everything except the costume jewelry on the top is clay.



 

At home I added some decorative paper to the back (the white part you see showing above), then built it up a bit with cork and attached a pin.  I may change that, but I wanted to see how it looked completed.  Fortunately, I can open the back and do whatever I want to the inside.

 

 The little triangles on top and bottom were supposed to be clay tiles, but I didn't measure them well, and they didn't fit.  At home I filled those spaces with rust colored micro beads.

 An angled view so you can see the depth of the shadow box.  The outside was painted then stamped with permanent black ink.

This is a close up of the top of the shrine so you can see those micro beads.

 

Here is Laurie discussing what each of us created.  Most of us finished our pieces, or came close to it; others left with a work in progress.  Finished or not, I think they all are awesome.

 

 

Check them out!

 

 

 

Two words I seldom use are delightful and whimsical, but both aptly describe my second polymer clay class, Sculpural Birds and Beasts Ornaments with Doreen Kassel.  The second I saw the illustrations that accompanied the description of the class I was hooked.  It was the first class I registered for.

 

We took plain glass ornaments and covered them with a thin layer of clay.  Then, with Doreen's assistance we added clay to form the features of our animals.  I stuck to the birds, but there was a dog, a cat, a cow, and even the man in the moon.  Here are some of the samples Doreen brought in.  One is more impressive than the next.  She is an inspiring teacher.

 

 

 

Here are my two guys, a bluebird and an owl, followed by a closer look at the owl.  After baking, we colored the creatures with oil paint, which results in the most beautiful kind of glowing effect.

 

 

A few more owls, done by my classmates.

 

 

 

 

My friend Pat working on her man in the moon.  You can see her completed owl on the table.

 



 

 

Next up, more metal!