Left overs

Some members of my guild (the NW Polymer Clay Guild) have been getting together for a day of claying around in the South Puget Sound area.  It is closer to home than the official Clay Days in Shoreline (north of Seattle).  We have had two gatherings so far and hope for more.

I had not played with clay all winter, so at my first gathering I got ambitious and tried for Mokume Gane.  I really did not like the look I got.  I forgot to add Julie Picarello's secret ecru blend that really make colors more harmonious. So, I had half a block of stacked clay left. What is so great about polymer clay, however, is the fact that (repeat after me) "there is no such thing as wasted clay"!.

I took the block home and it sat on my table for about a month, till I had some time to work in my studio.  I ended up cutting the stack into sections that I thought I could make a jelly roll out of. It wasn't wide enough however, so I ran it through my pasta machine at a thinner setting. This caused the lines to widen, but they were no longer straight.  They had waved a bit.
    I then took this wavy section, laid it on a thin layer of black clay and made a jelly roll.  When I sliced into the roll, I found that each slice had different colors meandering though the spiral.  Kinda neat.  I wish I had taken pictures of the process, but since I was just playing I had no idea that it would turn out cool.

Here are the beads that I made from the jelly roll.

I love how the colors blend and overlap in the spirals.

The Zen of Sanding??

I have read and talked with some clayers that really like to sand.  They say they find a "zone" and it actually is kinda therapeutic.  I would LOVE to feel that way. Instead  I find it wet, tedious and boring.  But I have to admit that I really like the end results. The beads are so smooth and almost sensual to the touch.

  Artybecca had posted on flickr a mini  mokume gane tut on using the threads on a large screw.  I did not have a large screw so improvised with a tracking wheel.  The first time I only went in one direction so ended up with stripes.  When I did the finish with LPC, I really didn't like the feel of the beads.  The veneer bubbled in places. That was when sanding, as much as I hate it, became something I had to consider. I really like the ones on the left but only had enough clay for two beads




The next time, I went both directions with the wheel and ended with squares.  These squares got larger when I ran them through the pasta machine to make the veneer,  I tried a new shape too.

These were the first that I sanded. The long barrels are almost 2 inches long.

Not sure I like the shape

These took almost two hours to sand, That amount of time is not good if I decide to start selling them. I hear that time is money.

My next beads are a combination of yellow and crimson. A very Holloweeny color.

Used my scrap pile for the next set, just to experiment with diagonal threading.  The resulting color was not something I would normally aim for, but I like it and am going to try to recreate it.While sanding is not something I think I will ever enjoy, I am very pleased with the results.  I just wish it were easier. 

The Lady or the Beast?

Ok, so a cow doesn't *exactly* fall into the Beast category. Maybe the Minotaur..... but I suppose that is stretching it a bit.

Mokume - you never know what will show up with the next slice of the blade.  I didn't even see these patterns until I was sanding.  Now I have to decide which way to wear it.  I might be able to put a hole in it if very careful....

I used to have Fingernails on my Right Hand

I hate to sand.... really, I HATE it.  So when I discovered that Julie Picarello sands all her lovely creations, I was dismayed.  I was fortunate enough to take her Mokume class several years ago, and really loved the look I got, but sanding was just not something that I was willing to do.

 Then her book came out and I, being the collector of as many polymer related tomes as possible, just had to have it. This time though, the book did not linger on the shelf for long.  I cranked up the old PM last Sunday and created a bunch of veneers. Took me all week, a bit at a time, to finish them.  And last night after work, I sat down with a pan of water, my sand papers in varying grits, and actually sanded!!!! I know, took me by surprise too.  I must say though, that I really like the smooth texture that it imparts to the clay. 

I can't really say that I like sanding anymore now than I did before, but .... well, it is not as bad as I once thought, considering the outcome.

Here are a few pieces that have not yet decided what they will be when they grow up. I call them Pretty in Pink (I warned you all to bear with me while I get this naming process underway)