Sunday, October 30, 2011

Modified Design






I decided to remove the brass findings at the sides of my vessel and drilled holes through the bottom and top, to suspend it, in the traditional way of inros. I was worried that the attachments could eventually be bent, through wear, and possibly crack the clay at the sides. I also saw that, to my eye, the extra brass, though attractive, seemed to make the piece too busy. The modified style does not have either of those drawbacks and should be even more durable.
I took some informal shots again to demonstrate. Once varnished the depth of the colors will be emphasized to a greater degree, and will be more obvious in higher quality photos. This is just one of the quick shots I've taken, as I progress through the little project.


Thursday, October 20, 2011

Wearable Vessels Evolving







I've been continuing on my quest to create wearable vessels and have been mastering new techniques. This also includes new forays into caning and mica shift. In my newest piece, the canework captured the mica shift beautifully.
I molded the clay around an original form so it is truly one of a kind. This vessel, based on an inro, (small lacquered, wearable vessels originating in Japan) is bigger than my first, and I plan to gradually work up to more practical pieces big enough to use as small purses.
The Japanese inros were decorated all the way around, from what I understand, and so are my vessels.
I have some shots of it, in it's still unvarnished state. I may make some matching slider beads, and accent beads for dangles. These are informal quick shots, done on the fly.

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

New Explorations in Polymer Clay










The passion for claying continues and I've been exploring new techniques and materials which combine so well with polymer clay. Wearable as well as functional art jewelry is one avenue I've been exploring, as well as drilled hollow forms, in the context of big lentil beads. Pearl Ex powders are used in one of my pieces shown here as well.
The photos will demonstrate where I've been going.