Jan Geisen

2012-02-08T19:46:00.001-06:00

SPECIAL EFFECTS PALETTE KNIFE EXPERIMENTATION

I finally got a chance to start playing with my new set of Special Effects Palette Knives. (See photo of the tool set from my January 5, 2012 post for a photo). Here are photos of what I did using two of the knives. I used multiple colors of gilder's paste to patina the surfaces.

I like the cross hatching pattern (on the left). It made a nice background for my blue and copper scraps. I am making it into a collage pendant. The piece on the right is okay. I think it is telling me that it wants to be cut apart and only use the right side.

The straight impression of the palette knife (on the left) is really ugly. Maybe it will become a usable scrap some day. Right now I just want to throw it out. I really like the other pattern (middle photo) that I got by making multiple impressions at right angles to each other. It makes a nice area of interest, in contrast to the flat area, on what will become a pendant.

2012-01-05T14:02:00.000-06:00

NEW TEXTURING AND MOKUME GANE TOOL

I just got my order from Jerry's Artarama for a special effects painting palette knife set. It looked really cool and I thought it would be great for texturing and impressing clay for mokume gane. I need to try using it for texturing colored liquid clay also - to paint with clay. It is available online at: http://www.jerrysartarama.com/discount-art-supplies/brushes-and-palette-knives/palette-knives/creative-mark-fx-special-effects-palette-knives.htm

2011-12-31T11:33:00.000-06:00

GLUES FOR POLYMER CLAY

I just finished posting a comment on an Etsy forum about glues to use with polymer clay. I have struggled with glues not working properly for years. So I decided to post my comment here also and maybe save a few polymer clay artists the frustration I experienced:

     I used e6000 many years ago and I didn't like it. I used to store my brooches vertically in my closet - poked into the side of a cardboard storage box. I noticed that the pinback shifted over time, probably because of the weight of the brooch combined with summer's high heat and humidity in the closet. So I switched to super glue.
     I wasn't really happy with super glue either. I noticed that metal pieces (usually brass frames that I included in my jewelry) would fall off if I dropped the piece. So I switched to Gorilla brand "super glue" because its advertising said it was "impact resistant". Unfortunately I still had occasional problems with that too:

I have since found out a few things about both glues:
- Super glue is very sensitive to heat and humidity. It needs to be stored upright in an airtight container with dessiccant. I never did that. I think it probably failed on pieces that were glued with older glue.
- e6000 is supposed to be put on as a thin layer on both sides, left to sit for a minute or two and then put together. I think I was putting on too thick a coating.
     Now I again use e6000 for pin backs - but just two thin coating and I buy new glue once it starts getting thick. I use some brand of super glue for metal inclusions. I especially like Loctite brand because you use it upright, squeezing on the sides to get just a small drop of glue. This makes it so much easier to control application. They also make a bottle with a brush applicator.
     I use Pavelka's Polybonder glue if I have to glue something before baking. It also has a brush applicator. I found that it gets thick and gooey pretty quickly but I hadn't been storing it upright. It was in a ziplock back with dessiccant though. I haven't bought any and stored it upright in a glass jar yet. So hopefully that will extend it.

2011-12-21T23:55:00.000-06:00

OTHER ARTIST'S WORK USING EXERCISES FROM MY BASIC PRINCIPLES OF DESIGN ARTICLE

I wrote an article for the December 2011 issue of Polymer Cafe magazine called An Introduction to the Principles of Design. Included with the article were templates and excercises for artists to try. Jill Palumbo sent me this photo showing her experimentation with the templates.

My favorite is the one on the right. I like the contrast of the highly textured half circles with the flat gilded areas. The linear pattern in the circles also repeats the not quite horizontal lines of the center vertical element. Because the textural lines in the half circles are on a diagonal they also add dynamic movement to the piece.

Jill does some really interesting jewelry using a very heavy surface texture and bright colors. Check out her photos on Flickr:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jillpalumbo/

I especially like her Frida Kahlo series and the beads (or maybe brooches?) inspired by Olympia Corvino.

2011-12-11T17:42:00.000-06:00

YOU NEVER HAVE TO WORK ALONE

In 1990 I went to visit my friend Mary who lives 600+ miles away. Because she couldn't take time off work to be with me the whole time I was there, I needed to entertain myself. So I brought t-shirts and fabric paint to play with. Mary and I continued to paint t-shirts in the evenings. We had so much fun Mary asked if we could do it again the following year. Thus was born A&C (Arts and Crafts) Week.

The next year we discovered polymer clay and tried to create millefiori beads. We both collect African Venetian Glass Trade Beads. We were using Cernit brand. That brand doesn't hold its sharpness after baking, so we were disappointed in the final results. The following year we discovered Fimo brand. Nan Roche had also published her book The New Clay, which was the only book on the subject available at that time. A lot of us referred to it as The Bible. I still think it is the best book on the market for beginners.

A&C Week has continued every year since. We probably should call it something else since we only do polymer clay now, with a couple of days worth of exploration with precious metal clay. It is also 12-15 days of intensive clay play. It is very hard to go back to our regular lives when it is over.

Recently I was talking to Mary and she was feeling pretty blue. Winter was setting in, so all the fun outdoor stuff she does (like gardening) was done for the season. We had occasionally Skyped since we both have computers with webcams. However neither one of us has thought about Skyping while working - DUH.

So on Tuesday December 6, 2011 - A&C Weekly was born. Now we can still sit across the work table from each other and talk while we work. It isn't as easy to see what the other person is doing. Holding up something in front of the camera isn't the same as passing the item across the table, or getting up and looking over the person's shoulder. But it isn't bad. So if you have a laptop computer and friends with laptops that you like to work with who can't be there in person, try Skype (http://www.skype.com/). It's free and there doesn't seem to be a time limit. We worked for 3 hours with no service interruptions. We have reserved every Tuesday night for A&C Weekly until next spring.

Other Artists' Work Created Using My Jacobs Ladder Variations Tutorial

2011-12-04T21:52:00.001-06:00

I love seeing what other artists create using the same techniques as I use. These wonderful pieces were created by people using my "Jan's Jacobs Ladder Variations" Tutorial. Like I always say - Artists don't work in a vacuum. We are always getting ideas from others, then putting our own spin on them.

Created by Dr Mary Kertzman, Indiana

Fimomaus, Goppingen Germany

Jan Geissen´s Ladderman Variationen

Ich verbinde gerne Tutorials von Clay-Künstlern die ich bewundere. Hier habe ich die Blume von Iris Mishly mit der Laddercane von Jan Geisen gemixt.

I like to connect tutorials from clay artists that I admire. Here I have the flower of the Iris Mishly mixed with the Laddercane by Jan Geisen.

Check out her other work on Flickr for inspiration. She has experimented with a lot of different techniques.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/fimomaus/with/6454512949/

2011-10-17T19:54:00.002-05:00

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF DESIGN

I wrote an article for Polymer Cafe magazine - "An Introduction to the Principles of Design". I just got my copy of the magazine. They did a nice job. The article runs for six pages and includes both the article on the principles of design and also the excercises I created for exploring those principles. It looks like they didn't edit anything out.

http://www.scottpublications.com/pcmag/

2011-07-25T15:50:00.000-05:00

POLYMER CLAY TUTORIAL IS NOW FOR SALE

I did a tutorial on crackling polymer clay using alcohol inks for the premier issue of the new magazine From Polymer to Art. That first issue has been sold old and the publisher has given me permission to sell the tutorial.

I created a slightly expanded version of the magazine article. The tutorial has more examples of additional, more complicated, jewelry items that I created using the tutorial's crackle sheet. The tutorial is for sale my Etsy shop: http://www.jangeisen.etsy.com/. I always try and have one tutorial listed for sale. If there aren't any for sale please contact me, or just check again later.

2011-07-25T15:47:00.000-05:00

NEW POLYMER CLAY TUTORIAL FOR SALE

I have just finished another polymer clay tutorial. It was a lot of fun, but more involved than I expected - too many variations, not enough time. The tutorial shows how to create what some people refer to as a Jacob's Ladder cane. It contains step by step instructions for two variations of the Basic Jacob's Ladder, plus three of my own. I have also included a list of 15 other ways to vary the Jacob's Ladder pattern with three of them with photographs. There is also a section on ways to use the ladder, plus photos with explanations of 13 pieces of jewelry I created with the cane.

The tutorial is for sale in my Etsy shop: http://www.jangeisen.etsy.com/

2011-02-07T00:12:00.001-06:00

Another example of an artist's jewelry using my tutorial from the magazine From Polymer To Art

Another artist sent me a photograph of jewelry she created using my tutorial from the magazine From Polymer to Art. Her name is Cindy and she lives in the Netherlands. It is so much fun seeing what other artists are doing with the technique.

2011-02-05T11:14:00.000-06:00

CAUTION: SHAMELESS PLUG BELOW

I have put the necklace and earrings that I created for the magazine (From Polymer to Art) tutorial up for sale in my Etsy shop.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/67484887/handmade-polymer-clay-pendant-necklace

http://www.etsy.com/listing/67486720/handmade-polymer-clay-hot-pink-and-black

2011-02-02T19:16:00.002-06:00

OTHER ARTIST'S USE OF MY TUTORIAL TECHNIQUE

I love seeing what other people do using my techniques. It is amazing how much variation there can be when an artist puts his/her personal touch into a technique. These jewelry pieces were created by Madreselva61 who lives in Spain. You can see her jewelry on Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/46799817@N07/

I rarely make beads anymore. I am going to have to try making some using my alcohol technique. I really like how these turned out.

My alcohol technique looks really nice on irregular shaped disk beads too.

2011-02-02T18:58:00.003-06:00

TUTORIAL

I wrote a for the preview issue of a new polymer clay magazine, From Polymer To Art, that is being published in the Netherlands. The issue came out in November 2010. My tutorial showed how I created this pendant and earrings using alcohol inks

I love making more complicated, abstract, wearable art jewelry pieces. So for the article the following pieces were also included in the article with a short explanation of how they were created

2010-11-14T10:57:00.000-06:00

NEW POLYMER CLAY MAGAZINE

There is a new polymer clay magazine that has just been published. The premier issues became available November 8th. It is called From Polymer to Art. It will be published four times per year. Each issue will have a color theme. The premier issue's theme is Red. It is published in the Netherlands and is written in english. I don't know if it is available anywhere in the United States yet, but can be purchased online at http://www.frompolymertoart.com/.

I have a tutorial in it on using stencils and alcohol ink to get colored patterns on the clay. I haven't received my copy yet and am excited to see it.

2010-05-22T19:28:00.001-05:00

In April 2007, HGTV video taped me making a plant stake for their series That's Clever. They finally ran the episode (#532) last week, so I get my six minutes of fame. It can be found on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VX0eNm6BMwI Enjoy!

2010-02-19T20:07:00.005-06:00

ANOTHER JEWELRY PIECE FEATURED IN ART JEWELRY MAGAZINE'S BLOG

I received an email today that another one of my jewelry pieces was featured in today's Editor's Blog for their Friday Highlights From the Subscriber Gallery.

http://cs.artjewelrymag.com/artcs/blogs/artjewelry/2010/02/19/friday-highlights-from-the-subscriber-gallery-round-4-kristin-s-choice.aspx

This is the second one they have chosen to use. The first on used was on 11/6/09.

With this, and the 4th place win for Polymer Cafe's Monthly contest in their April issue, it has been a happy week.

2010-02-17T00:20:00.000-06:00

POLYMER CAFE MAGAZINE'S MONTHLY CHALLENGE - FAUX WHAT?

I just received my April issue of Polymer Cafe magazine. I was paging through it and got to the page with the winner of the monthly challenge which was "Faux What?". I love doing faux polymer clay and I thought - "Why didn't I enter this?". Then I turned the page and there was my necklace. I had sent that in months ago and forgot all about it. What a great way to remember. It definitely made my day.

Too bad the photo is so dark and muddy. I actually lightened it when I scanned it. Here is the photo I sent them.

2010-01-27T19:57:00.000-06:00

HOW DO YOU DO THAT?

TIPS AND TECHNIQUES, PART 4

ANTIQUING POLYMER CLAY – A COMPARISON OF TECHNIQUES

I had someone email me asking if I would consider doing an on-line class. The person really liked some of my techniques. Because my style is so "improve" I figured I could never do anything that structured. However I don't mind sharing my techniques. Feel free to use these techniques and make them your own. I think of polymer clay as "Adult Playdough". Play with the techniques and learn from your mistakes. Some of my favorite discoveries were from mistakes. This is the fourth post to answer my fan's questions.

Over the years I have occasionally antiqued polymer clay, so I thought I would do a test comparing different formulas. My test used seven different formulas. Remember that you can use any available color of paint. I just used the colors I had on hand. This technique is done to baked polymer clay. This photo provides a nice comparison of all the different formulas/products I used.

HERE ARE MY THOUGHTS ON EACH OF THE FORMULAS

1. Liquitex Raw Umber acrylic paint always works well. It produces a nice dark color in the recesses. The downside is that you have to work fast before it dries. It produces a nice low sheen on the clay.

2. I have always liked using a liquid clay and paint mixture as an antiquing solution. I mixed up a new batch of Liquitex Raw Umber acrylic paint with Kato Liquid Polyclay. It was about a 1:1 mixture. You can really see the difference between this and the raw umber that I used straight out of the tube for #1. The antiquing is much subtler. The advantage of this technique is that you have unlimited working time to get it just right. The downside is that the piece has to be re-baked. The result is a finish that is almost matt and has a slightly rough feel.

3. This is an old formula that I have used a lot. Unfortunately it is made with Transparent Liquid Sculpey, which is no longer available. My notes say that I used the TLS, raw umber acrylic paint and Pearl-Ex gold mica powder. The characteristics are very similar to the blend of Kato Liquid Polyclay and paint (formula #2) except that the finish using TLS is totally matt. I don’t know why the color is so different when I supposedly used the same color acrylic paint. What I really liked about using this formula is that it makes things look so much like stone. The finish is totally matt and the texture is rough. Here is an example of its use to highlight the impressions from a Celtic rubber stamp.

4. Genesis Heat Set oil paint has been my favorite antiquing method for quite a while. It produces a much different effect. In addition to filling in the depressions it also stains the clay. You can rub some, but not all of it, off. It is very thick so it does take some effort to get it into depressions. It also has to be heat set. I just re-bake the piece at the same time and temperature. It probably doesn’t need to be cured that long. I just haven’t taken the time to experiment and find the minimum time needed. It might work to just cure the paint with a heat gun. Try it and see. Here are a couple of brooches that used the Genesis paint. For the first one, B9014, I coated the bottom layer and didn’t wipe any the paint off. The texture on this layer is from the Genesis paint. For the Pod and Bone Brooch I used the Genesis paint like a stain. I put it on, then wiped it off. The surface of the clay was smooth. The pattern is in the clay itself.

5. Golden makes an airbrush acrylic paint which has a very thin consistency. This test used Transparent Raw Umber. It produced a subtle antique appearance that is similar to the liquid clay plus acrylic paint formula (#2). What is interesting is that it produces a very nice sheen that looks hand rubbed. The disadvantage is that you have limited working time, just like with regular acrylic paint. I also noticed that the paint stayed a little sticky, so I re-baked the piece and that took care of the problem. I just might not have waited long enough for it to dry.

6. For this sample I used Golden Black Opaque Airbrush Acrylic paint. This opaque paint left a nice sheen on the clay, just like the Golden Transparent Airbrush paint. It did stain the clay a lot. I don’t know if this was a characteristic of the paint, or just because I used black.

7. This sample was done with Golden Transparent Shade Gray Airbrush paint. It has the same characteristics as the other Golden Transparent Airbrush paint used in #5.

Good luck with your own experimentation. Don’t forget to have fun.

2010-01-25T12:52:00.002-06:00

WINTER BREAK

Now that the holiday season is over I need a break. Having to make a lot of jewelry for the gallery's christmas season caused a little burn out. So I needed to find something fresh and different to do. Normally I am a total improv artist. I don't usually do anything structured. So for something different, I started working on a scientific experiment. I am testing the crackling process of paint on polymer clay. It sort of got out of hand. To date I have tested nine different types of acrylics. It is amazing how different the crackle characteristics are for each product. I plan to turn this experimentation into a tutorial/reference guide for the process. However, now I need a break from that too.

Almost three years ago I was photographed for an HGTV program called That's Clever making a plant stake out of polymer clay, glass, and copper. Well they are finally in season 5 and my episode (532) should be shown in the next couple of months. They are airing episode 526 at the end of February. My episode isn't listed on HGTV's website yet.

So to give myself something different to do, again, I started making mini plant stakes (more like everlasting flowers). I am using jewelry components, copper and sometimes polymer clay. It has been fun. Each one is unique. They look good placed in a pot with a small plant, or in a small vase. They are for sale in my garden Etsy shop http://www.jangeisengardenart.etsy.com/

2009-10-30T22:04:00.008-05:00

HOW DO YOU DO THAT?

TIPS AND TECHNIQUES, PART 3

PAINTED SURFACES - CRACKLE PATTERNS

Most of my pieces incorporate surface treatments. One of the techniques I use involves coating a sheet of polymer clay with paint, letting it dry, then running it through the pasta machine. Since paint doesn't stretch like polymer clay, it will crackle. I have used four different types of paint. Each produces a different effect.

1. ACRYLIC PAINT

The first paint treatment I ever tried was acrylic paint (the kind in the tube). The one characteristic you need to know is that acrylic paint stretches. So to get it to crackle you will need a thick base sheet. I keep adding a new base sheet until I get the crackle effect I want.

I used acrylic paint on these earrings. I made them a long time ago, so I don't remember a lot of the specifics about the technique I used. I did cut the painted clay sheets into thin strips and put them on a new clay base. I looks like I did this twice, laying the second strips 90 degrees from the first direction. That is how I got both vertical and horizontal sections. Some of the colors might be from clay, not paint.

One benefit of using acrylic is that you can lay down colors and either blend them or not. If you don't want them blended just wait for the first color to dry before painting on the second color.

2. TEMPERA PAINT

The paint treatment I use the most is Tempera Paint, in metallic colors. It is water based and since it doesn't stretch, it crackles very nicely. The crackle pattern is much coarser than the acrylic paint. The one thing you can't do is lay on multiple colors, and NOT have them mix.

These earrings were treated with four colors of metallic tempera paint and crackled. The base clay was white.

These earrings were treated with some the same tempera metallic colors as the first pair of earrings. However the base clay consists of multiple colored clays.

The effect of the surface treatment can be as bold, or as sutle as you want. The more you crackle the paint, the smaller the tempera particles will get. Gold and silver paint was used on both the brooch and the earrings. The earring's paint treatment is reduced to subtle, tiny specks. Both pieces used multicolored base clay.

3. BYZANTIA TEXTILE AND CRAFT MEDIA

This is an acrylic paint I found at Polymer Clay Express ( http://polymerclayexpress.com/paints2.html ). It is thinner than tube paint and works very well on black clay. It's crackle pattern is very subtle. I noticed other really interesting types of paint on this Polymer Clay express web page. More things to to try!!!!!!

4. ACRYLIC INK

At Dick Blick I found something called Pearlescent Liquid Acrylic by Daler-Rowney Ltd. It is like a very thin metallic acrylic paint. I don't have any examples where I used it for this surface technique. I do remember that it works very well on dark clay. It seems to crackle more like Tempera paint than tube acrylic paint. It works very well with a surface technique I will discuss in a future blog.

2009-10-30T15:32:00.020-05:00

MY BELLYDANCER TORSO PROJECT

A close up photo of a dancer's torso led me to do a Bellydancer Torso Project. I went through four years of dancer photos I had taken and found nice ones to crop into just torsos. The result was a 13 month 2010 calendar. It is for sale at: http://www.lulu.com/content/lulustudio-calendar/bellydancer-torsos/7751601

You can view all pages of the calendar on the website. Just click on "Preview" located below the photo of the cover.

2009-10-09T23:58:00.025-05:00

HOW DO YOU DO THAT?

TIPS AND TECHNIQUES, PART 2

IMPRESSIONS IN CLAY

Rubber stamps aren't just for paper, and neither are other impression making tools. Use anything that makes a nice impression. I am a great fan of the on-line store Polymer Clay Express http://www.polymerexpress.com/. They carry a very nice selection of rubber stamps, texture plates, texture rollers and "molding mats". Since this is a store dedicated to polymer clay the stamps they carry are all nice and deep. That is really important for getting a good impression in clay.

Remember that you will get the reverse impression in the clay. I like having a mix of both "iny and outy" stamps. Polymer Clay Express even carries some stamps that come in both a positive and negative.

You need to use some type of release agent to prevent the clay from sticking to the texturing material. I prefer to use corn starch. I have never had it affect the clay. Some people use water. If you don't like how the impression turned out, just smooth out the clay and try again. A couplt coatings/impregnations of the clay with corn starch has never been a problem for me.

I am always hunting in craft stores, hardware stores and anywhere else for items that I can use for impressions. I got in the habit of doing this many years ago after watching a Victoria Hughes video on Mokume Gane. She used a wide assortment of objects to press impressions into her clay - phillips screwdriver, adding machine paper core, plastic carpet protectors were some of her favorites. I now have a couple of drawers full of fun texturing tools. Look for thinks that will push the clay, not cut it. Anything with too sharp an edge will cut, not push and distort.

The best texturing plates I ever found are the Cuttlebug Embossing folders. They are stiff plastic folders designed to emboss paper. The paper is put in the folder and it is run through the Cuttlebug embossing machine. What is so cool about this product is that it simultaneously embosses the front and back of clay. One side is positive and one side is negative. I purchased some of my folders at Michael's crafts, scrapbooking stores and on-line. Hobby Lobby and JoAnn Fabrics may carry them also. I just dust with corn starch and put a sheet of clay inside. Then I run a roller over the outside. Because the clay is sandwiched inside it can't slip so I get a nice clean impression.

Oh yeah - don't forget to try impressions in clay with an inked stamp. You will have to use a archival permanent ink pad. Do not use Dye Ink pads. These do not dry. Be careful, the ink may not try until the piece is baked. I don't remember if they dry before baking, it has been quite a while since I did anything with an inked pad. I will have to try that technique again.

Here are some jewelry examples the incorporate textures.

This bead is a simple rubber stamp impression with an inked stamp. You get a nice dark impression. I don't think you would get the same amount of detail if you just stamped without ink and used paint later to antique it. Because I stamped on to a flattened oval bead I got an impression only on the top flat surface. I like the effect of the flat edge all around the impression.

This brooch's squares texture was made using a Cuttlebug Embossing Folder. It incorporates both the positive and negative sides of the clay. I will discuss the coloration techniques in a future posting.

Another way of getting a raised texture on clay is with a stencil. Even a paper stencil will work. Lay the stencil on the clay and run over it with a brayer. The clay will puff up through the openings. If you are using a metal or plastic stencil you can increase the puffyness by pressing down on the metal surrounding the openings. The spiral on the pendant to the left was made with a stencil. While the clay was still covered with a stencil I highlighted the spiral with silver mica powder.

And don't forget the impressions of Mother Nature!! If you are using leaves look for ones with nice thick veins and take the impression from the under side of the leaf.

You can also press items (leaves, rubber stamps, etc) into a thick sheet of clay and use it as a mold to reverse the image. Use the mold to get the final impression for your project. These earrings were made from a mold I created by impressing a Queen Anne's Lace flower.

2009-10-03T16:59:00.002-05:00

2010 POLYMER CLAY CALENDAR

Marjorie Oxman has just published a beautiful 2010 polymer clay calendar. One of my brooches is included in the calendar. (Item #20, August)

Check it out: http://www.lulu.com/content/lulustudio-calendar/2010-polymer-clay-calendar/7238894

Order now and save 25% until 10/11/09
Use coupon code FALLFOTO at checkout.

2009-09-29T23:05:00.002-05:00

HOW DO YOU DO THAT?

TIPS AND TECHNIQUES PART 1

3-D COLLAGE - ADHERING THE ELEMENTS

I had someone email me asking if I would consider doing an on-line class. The person really liked some of my techniques. Because my style is so "improve" I figured I could never do anything that structured. However I don't mind sharing my techniques. Feel free to use these techniques and make them your own. I think of polymer clay as "Adult Playdough". Play with the techniques and learn from your mistakes. Some of my favorite discoveries were from mistakes. I will do a blog post on some of those in the future.

How do I do 3-D collage jewelry, and get the pieces to stick together?

I work with both baked and unbaked pieces, and also incorporate other items into my collage brooches and pendants. The pendant on the left was made from baked clay pieces plus a metal imitation coin. (The techniques for creating the colors and textures will be explained in a future blog post.) The brooch on the right was constructed with baked and non-clay elements on a base of unbaked clay.

CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO SEE A LARGER VIEW

There is no need to use anything to adhere unbaked to unbaked clay. It will stick to itself. However you should use something to adhere baked to unbaked clay. They will stick to each other, but I have found that the bond is not very strong and may not hold if exposed to any trauma. Liquid clay is the best "glue" for adhering clay to itself - both baked to unbaked, and baked to baked. I use Kato Clear Liquid Polyclay. Fimo used to make a liquid clay. I don't know if they still do. It used to come in transparent, opaque white, opaque black and opaque gold. That would work too. I would not use Fimo Decorating Gel. I know that it has a rubbery consistency . I don't know how that would work as a glue. I have never tried it. I don't find the rubber consistency characteristic appealing.
When gluing with liquid clay, don't use a lot. It makes the pieces slippery so they the elements don't stay where you place them. Also it oozes out the sides. Kato clay dries shiny so it will show after baking were it oozed out and will need to coat of varnish to hide. This could be a problem if you don't want to, or can't, coat the piece. Some of my patina techniques can't handle a varnish coat. So I am very careful about how I apply it.
Kato Liquid Polyclay can also be used as a clear coat. To get a good shine the piece needs to be heated with a heat gun immediately after pulling it from the oven. I have only tried this a couple of time. It does work, but you need to be careful so you don't get the piece too hot. I think that causes it to bubble. I also don't think it works after the piece has cooled.
Gluing non-clay pieces to clay has caused me some problems. For many years I used Zap-a-Gap, a gap filling cyanoacrylate glue (like Super Glue brand) to adhere elements to clay. This was recommended by Victoria Hughes in her articles and videos. Recently I have had problems. I don't know if the glue has changed, or if I am asking too much of it for the gluing tasks I am now doing. I have recently read that it isn't "impact resistant". (I read that in an ad for a new type of Gorilla brand cyanoacrylate glue that says that brand is). I will have to try it, because I have had some brass frames pop off when the jewelry piece was dropped. Someone also told me that the glue goes bad after about 6 months. That may be true. I have had some problems with pin backs coming off. I had been using the same bottle of glue for a while.
I have switched to 2 part epoxy resin to glue on pinbacks. It holds really well, but is messy to use. Be careful not to get any glue on the pin mechanism. Been there, done that! The mechanism doesn't work well when glued shut.
A lot of people use E6000 to glue on pinbacks. I used to, but not anymore. I used to store the pins I wore stuck into the side of a carboard box in my walk-in closet. It got hot in there in the summer and over time the pinbacks slide as the glue softened.
I now use 2 part epoxy to glue non-clay elements to be collages, if the pieces are big enough, so that I can put the glue in the middle and not have it ooze out the sides. I also sometimes use it to glue on my outer frames like in the pendant pictured above. Because the glue will ooze out on an outer edge I can wipe it off before it dries.
Another glue I have gone back to using for adhering tiny elements is G-S Hypo Cement.
My favorite source of polymer clay and related products is PolymerClayExpress.com. I see that they now list a new type of Zap-a-Gap glue. The description for Flex-Zap says "Use this CA glue where the bond needs to be flexible, such as for gluing buna cord into closure beads, or gluing layers of cured clay together." Check out the webpage: http://polymerclayexpress.com/adhesives.html That page also lists a cyanoacrylate glue from Lisa Pavelka that says it is bakeable. I have re-baked pieces that had Zap-a-Gap glued elements without any problem. I will have to try some of these new glues.
I have also been using G-S Hypo Cement to adhere the frames. The tube had a very tiny nozzle, hence the name, that allows it to be put into tiny spaces. It seems to work well.
Because I don't really trust any glue and have had some problems with non-clay elements coming off that I have glued to the surface, I have started using both clay and glue to hold elements together. You will notice copper textured clay in the center of the coin of the pendant above on the left. This isn't mere decoration. It actually overlaps the top of the coin and acts as a rivet. The coin was glued on, the clay was added using liquid clay to adhere it to the baked base then re-baked.
For the brooch above, on the right, I pushed the head pins and beads into the unbaked clay base then added elements on top to hold them in. Again there is clay in the center of the brass square to act as a rivet that helps hold it in.

I hope you find this information helpful. Please feel free to leave comments.

2009-09-22T21:31:00.019-05:00

ART JEWELRY MAGAZINE'S E-NEWSLETTER FEATURED ONE OF MY NECKLACES

Art Jewelry Magazine's September 2009 e-newsletter featured one of my necklaces. Needless to say I am thrilled. It is an amazing magazine. Here is a photo of that part of the newsletter.

http://links.mkt746.com/servlet/MailView?ms=NDIzODkxNAS2&r=NDgyNDI2Njg5NgS2&j=MTM4MjQ3Mjk5S0&mt=1&rt=0

2009-09-11T23:00:00.018-05:00

BALTIMORE CLAYWORKS EXHIBITION AND SALE

My polymer clay jewelry will be featured, and for sale, at Baltimore Clayworks "Adornment Adored" exhibition October 3, 2009 through November 6, 2009.

Baltimore Clayworks 5707 Smith Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21209 http://www.baltimoreclayworks.org/exhibition/exhibition_gallery/09/adornment_adored.html

Jewelry pieces included in the exhibition:

2009-04-19T10:50:00.007-05:00

FINISHING TECHNIQUES FOR POLYMER CLAY

Recently I was reading a posting on a polymer clay discussion group. The artist was grieving over the loss of her favorite finishing material. It was her method of getting rid of the dusty look on sanded polymer clay. For many years I used Carnuba wax to finish beads when I didn't want the high gloss finish achieved by buffing beads. A few years ago I discovered Renaissance micro crystalline wax polish. So I decided to partially wax a bead and photograph the result. The tiger striped bead was first sanded with 400, 800, then 1500 grit wet/dry sandpaper. I taped off one half then waxed the other half. Here is the result. The black/pink bead was sanded the same way then buffed. The wax gives a nice satin finish. It brought out the mica shift in the gold clay though not anywhere near as much as sanding/buffing the bead to a high shine. I also use it to finish unsanded beads. It doesn't provide as much shine as on a sanded bead. I use it just to protect the bead. I have never been fond of varnishing beads. I just can't get an even finish that way.

I purchased my Renaissance wax from: http://www.restorationproduct.com/

2009-04-10T13:01:00.019-05:00

NOMINATED FOR SISTERHOOD AWARD

I have been nominated for an award called the "Sisterhood Award." Given to me by NKdesigns http://www.nkdesignslindariopel.blogspot.com/. It was given because she thinks my blog is creative and inspirational, and in return, I get to nominate women whose blogs inspire and encourage me. I have chosen: 1. Marcia Palmer http://www.marciapalmer.blogspot.com/ 2. Organic Odysseys http://www.organicodysseys.blogspot.com/ 3. Dharmadesigns http://dharmadesigns.blogspot.com/ 4. Pipsjewelry http://pipsjewellery.blogspot.com/ 5. Beadbunny http://beadbunny.blogspot.com/ 6. Beadazzled of Oregon http://www.dini-beadazzledoforegon.blogspot.com/

So go check out their blogs.

2009-04-09T10:40:00.021-05:00

COMBINING MY PASSIONS

I started my artistic life as a photographer decades ago and later fell in love with polymer clay. Now with the advent of high quality digital photography and wonderful image manipulation tools I have been having fun combining these two artistic passions.

The thread that runs through all my work, independant of the medium used, is a love abstract composition. I have been having a great time taking photographs of my polymer clay jewelry and using The Gimp software (an open source image manipulation program similar to Adobe) to create digital mosaics.

Here is a brooch I call Pod and Bone. It made some great digital mosaic photographs. This was my first successful digital mosaic created from my jewelry. I was still learning how to use the software so didn't use any special features of The Gimp software, except to made the layers transparent. I also added a border.

This variation is very similar to the first one. I just added a small section of the mirrored image and rotated it. Good composition works when viewed from various angles. Though there is usually one direction that is most pleasing.

For this variation I used less saturated colors, in addition to using transparencies. I liked how it changed the feeling of the photo.

Here is another successful digital mosaic. The brooch is called Circle of Endless Possibilities. I gave it that title because it looked good no matter which direction I turned it. Using it to make digital mosaics really creates endless possibilities.

FIRST ARTISTIC COLLABORATION WITH BEADAZZLED OF OREGON IS UP FOR SALE

2009-01-03T19:29:00.004-06:00

My first collaboration necklace with BeadazzledofOregon, which she calls Trifold, is now up for sale at her Etsy shop - http://www.beadazzledoforegon.etsy.com/. Check it out and see additional photos of the necklace.

ANOTHER COLLABORATION NECKLACE

2009-01-03T19:08:00.009-06:00

Dini Alves (Beaddazzled of Oregon) has created another wonderful necklace "Cleopatra was Here" using one of my polymer clay pieces - Eye of Horus. It is for sale in her shop at Etsy.com. Check it out and see better photos. The eye of Horus is also called the Udjat and is the symbol of health, healing and completeness.

Check it out: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=19283902

Artistic Collaboration

2008-12-21T10:45:00.010-06:00

Many years ago I made a pendant that I liked a lot and strung it into a necklace I wasn't really happy with. Fancy bead stringing isn't my strength! That necklace was for sale at a Christmas sale at my fellow polymer clay artist's home. She bought the necklace for herself and restrung it. She has always been very good at stringing! That was my first collaboration.

I always liked the idea of collaborative art. Until recently this necklace was the only one. Not long ago a jewelry artist (Beadazzled of Oregon), who does really nice assymetrical beaded necklaces, bought a few of my pins to incorporate into her jewelry. She just emailed me photos of the finished necklace. See more of her work for sale at: http://www.beadazzledoforegon.etsy.com/

Bead Style Magazine's e-newsletter featured one of my necklaces.

2008-12-05T12:47:00.005-06:00

Bead Style Magazine's November 2008 e-newsletter featured one of my necklaces. That was a very pleasant surprise for me. Check it out using the link listed here. http://links.mkt746.com/servlet/MailView?ms=Mjg4NDMyMAS2&r=MzgxNjQxMTM5MgS2&j=MTAyNzUyMjE1S0&mt=1&rt=0

Here is a photo of that part of the newsletter.

Other Artists' Influence on My Work

2008-11-11T13:46:00.022-06:00

As mentioned in a previous post, work I have seen in books/magazines influences work I do years later. That is why I love looking at as many jewelry pieces as possible. Those images hide in the nooks and crannies of my brain and pop out years later. Here are some examples of my work and a little about where I saw the artist's work.

Convertible pendant/brooch (left) and Chinese coin pendant (right), were created 11/2008. Definitely influenced by Donna Kato. Her latest book, The Art of Polymer Clay Creative Surface Techniques, is full of examples of her simple and elegant asian designs. I love her sense of design.

I remember seeing photos of brooches by Kaz Yamashita in Nan Roche's book The New Clay and absolutely loving them. They were collages made of sheets of unbaked clay forming beautiful, slightly 3-D, abstract wearable works of art. Until today when I looked at the book again to write my review of it, I didn't realize how much of an influence those pieces of jewelry were. Here are two of my pieces made of unbaked scraps of clay. The necklace at left was made in October 2008. The brooch on the right was made in 2006 or 2007. Yamashita used a lot of foiled clay sheets. I haven't used foil on clay for a long time. I think I need to work with that again.

My Favorite Polymer Clay Books

2008-11-11T12:57:00.009-06:00

I have listed the polymer clay books I own in previous posts. Now it is time to talk a little bit about some of my favorites. The New Clay by Nan Roche 1991. If you are new to polymer clay start with this book. As far as I know, it was the first book ever published on polymer clay. Us early clay people called it "The Bible". It really helped me. A friend and I tried reproducing african trade beads (glass venitian millefiori beads) about a year before the book came out - with limited success. This book really helped us improve our techniques. It does spend most of its time on millefiori cane techniques. It also covers surface techniques and mokume gane. It has a lot of examples by Victoria (Tory) Hughes, an early clay pioneer and one of my favorite clay artists. Looking at it again, after a very long time, I am amused to see how much many of the examples influenced my work. Polymer the Chameleon Clay by Victoria Hughes 2002 Tory is one of my favorite polymer clay artists. I first came across her work in The New Clay and also in articles in Ornament magazine for creating jade and amber. This book covers techniques for creating faux jade, amber, turquoise, ivory, lapis lazuli, coral, agate, faience, and silver. It has very nice example of work by lots of polymer clay artists. The Art of Polymer Clay by Donna Kato 1997 Donna Kato is my other favorite polymer clay artist. This book covers a lot of interesting techniques. One that I liked a lot was her way of making kaleidoscope canes. Caution: If you try this technique and follow the number of steps in her photo of the steps, your cane won't be as intricate as her examples. Repeat the steps one more time to get a more detailed pattern. This was the first example I ever saw of incorporating translucent clay into a millefiori cane. It really expanded my repetoire. Another one of the techniques I came to love is her Balinese Filigree - using tiny clay snakes to create an all over pattern. She has nice techniques for imitation natural materials including the use of inclusions in the clay. I have made great use of other techniques in the book including her Nonpareil Marbled Paper( what I called feathering of the clay sheet) and manipulating cured clay. She also covers making vessels and sculptures. It is just a great book full of lots of techniques and elegant examples. The Art of Polymer Clay, Creative Surface Effects by Donna Kato 2007 This is Donna Kato's second book. It is a great book with lots of techniques and gorgeous examples by her and lots of clay artists. It is a good companion to her other book. Techniques covered are mica shift, image transfers, creating texture, paints/inks/powders, special effects with liquid polymer clay and some 3-D effects (armatures, molds, bas-relief, making stencils) 400 Polymer Clay Designs - A Collection of Dynamic and Colorful Contemporary Work - Lark Books 2004 (intro by Irene Semanchuk Dean) This is the book I look at most often. In fact the pages are now falling out. Once you learn techniques for working with the clay this is a great book for inspiration.

Additions to my polymer clay book library

2008-11-11T11:14:00.007-06:00

Since posting a list of my polymer clay book library, I have added a few more. Polymer Clay Beads by Grant Diffendaffer (2007) In addition to covering some comon techniques (mica shift, mokume gane, bead shapes) he does some very interesting techniques for bead shapes and texturing that I haven't found elsewhere. Polymer Clay Creative Techniques by Judy Belcher (2006) I like this book for its good clear explanations of a lot of techniques. It also has a lot of nice examples in its gallery sections. Some of the techniques covered are skinner blend, tesselation, encased beads, mokume gane, enameling, Ikat, dye resist, mica shift effects, simulating wood and raku). OOPS! Turns out that I already owned this book. I am going to put it up for sale at Etsy.com Polymer Pizzazz, 27 Great Polymer Clay Jewelry Projects, Kalmbach Books. These book is a compilation of polymer clay articles that appeared in Bead and Button magzine over the years. If you haven't had a subscription for many years this a a good compilation. That magazine doesn't have many polymer clay articles anymore. I bought the book even though I have them all in the magazine just to get them all in one, easy to find, place. Some good techniques are covered - marbeling with liquid clay, surface painting, filigree beads, mica shift using texture sheets, Sarah Shriver's complex asymmetrical canes, Patricia Kimle's leaf impressions, image transfer with Lazertran Silk. lockets and inro boxes, and faux techniques (cinnabar, enamel, stone).

In the Beginning......

2008-04-17T12:48:00.017-05:00

I starting my artistic life with a BA in Art decades ago. Originally I was a photographer and printmaker. I started working with polymer clay in 1990. I don't remember how I found out about the clay. I do remember that the first clay I found was Cernit. A friend and I tried to recreate the African millefiori trade beads that we both collected. The beads were a good imitation, until they were baked. They didn't stay hard edged. The contours were soft and the appearance translucent. Eventually I discovered Fimo and got the nice hard edgez, and opaque colors, I was looking for.

I have purchased A LOT of books, videos and magazines to learn how to work with the clay. I will post lists of the books, and videos, in future blogs and I will talk about some of them in the future.

My first book purchase was The New Clay by Nan Roche, 1991. This was the "Bible" for us early polymer clay people. I think it was the first book devoted to working with the clay. My skills really improved once I had this book. Even though I find a lot of the examples simplistic now, it is still a very valuable book. It covers a lot of techniques with easy to follow instructions.

When learning to work with polymer clay, it really helped me to learn with someone else. It also didn't hurt that my fimo buddy has a PHD in astro physics. Two brains are better than one. My brain leans right and Mary's brain leans left. So between the two of us we have a nice big balanced brain. Unfortunately she lives in another state. But we do get together every year for our annual Arts and Crafts week. It is total clay immersion for 10 days. We seem to be in sync each year about the polymer clay, and precious metal clay, techniques we want to work on. There just might be something to that astrology sign thing. We have the same birthday, though different birth years.

I discovered while making my very first millefiori cane that I would rather play with the scraps. As Mary was busy making new canes, I was busy playing with the scraps from my one and only cane. Here is what I made with the slices from that very first cane. I have to laugh every time I look at it. I've come a long way since then! However, one thing that hasn't changed is that I still love asymmetrical abstract composition.

My Library of Polymer Clay Books

2008-04-17T03:57:00.011-05:00

In the 18 years that I have been working with polymer clay I have accumulated a lot of books. In future postings I will give you my thoughts on them. In my first posting I talked about my very first book, my polymer clay bible - The New Clay by Nan Roche. Here is the complete list of the books I own, in alphabetical order by author: - The Art of Jewelry - Polymer Clay by Duncan Aimone, Katherine 2006 - Creative Techniques for Polymer Clay Jewelry, 40 Projects by Bananto, Nanetta 2005 - Polymer Clay Creative Traditions by Belcher, Judy 2006 - Making Polymer Clay Beads by Blackburn, Carol 2007 - Creative Clay Jewelry by Dierks, Leslie 1994 - Creating Your Own Antique Jewelry by Dupou, Chris 2000 - Polymer Clay, Exploring New Techniques and Materials by Fago, Celie and Sargeant, Georgia 2002 - Creating with Polymer Clay - Designs, Techniques & Projects by Ford, Steven & Dierks, Leslie 1996 - Polymer Clay, Creating Functional and Decorative Objects by Gikow, Jaqueline 2001 - Fast Polymer Clay by Heaser, Sue 2003 - Polymer Clay Techniques Book by Heaser, Sue 1999 - Celebrations with Polymer Clay - 25 Seasonal Projects by Helm, Sarajan 2003 - Polymer the Chameleon Clay by Hughes, Victoria 2002 - The Art of Polymer Clay, Creative Surface Effects by Kato, Donna 2007 - The Art of Polymer Clay by Kato, Donna 1997 - Polymer Clay Inspirations by Kimle, Patricia 2005 - Polymer Clay, The Art of Clay Modeling by Maguire, Mary 1996, 2003 - Polymer Clay Surface Design Recipes by Marshall, Ellen 2005 - Stamping Effects in Polymer Clay by McCall, Sandra 2006 - Foundations in Polymer Clay by McGuire, Barbara 1999 - Creative Stamping in Polymer Clay by McGuire, Barbara 2002 - Creative Ways with Polymer Clay by McMillan, Dotty 2002 - Images on Clay by McNeill, Suzanne 2000 (Can Do Craft Series Booklet featuring Nan Roche and Barbara McGuire) - Images on Clay II by McNeill, Suzanne 2002 (Can Do Craft Series Booklet featuring Barbara McGuire - Stamping Polymer Clay and Wire by McNeill, Suzanne 2002 - Expressions in Clay by McNeill, Suzanne 2003 (Can Do Craft Series Booklet featuring Barbara McGuire - Romantic Brooches Made of Fimo by Meyer, Marlis (Booklet put out by Fimo's German Manufacturer) No Date - The New Clay by Roche, Nan 1991 - Faux Surfaces in Polymer Clay by Semanchuk Dean, Irene 2003 - The Weekend Crafter, Polymer Clay by Semanchuk Dean, Irene 2000 - 400 Polymer Clay Designs 2004