Bead Fest Pity Party - Class of One

I have stacks and stacks of books. I can't stop myself from buying them!

A more recent acquisition is the book Polymer Clay Global Perspectives by Cynthia Tinapple. Cynthia Tinapple is the found of the popular blog Polymer Clay Daily where she curates incredible finds from artists across the globe. I have devoured her book from cover to cover. I was expecting a huge eye candy laden tome of remarkable pieces from artists the world over. What I found is all that and more. I was so delighted to find very in depth interviews with renowned polymer clay artists like Tejae Floyde, Fabiola Perez Ajates, Genevieve Williamson and Rebecca Watkins. One particular profile I took great notice in: Christine Damm. I am uber excited that I will finally get to meet Miss Christine at the ArtBliss workshops coming up at the end of next month. I love her approach and I can't wait to learn from someone I consider a Master teacher!

I stumbled on this whole polymer clay adventure I call the Great Experiment a few years ago and every single thing I have learned has been self taught. Really you cannot screw up with polymer clay. It is very forgiving and open to possibilities. It can mimic other more precious materials, like gemstones and metal, but it can also be a humble supporting cast member as well. For me, polymer clay is a canvas that I can transform with inks, stains, paint and impressions. There is so much that I don't know. And the more I play with it the more hungry I become to push the limits of what it can do.

I am incredibly honored that Miss Cynthia included some of my rather rudimentary offerings in her book. She found me somehow a few years ago and approached me to create some jewelry with her polymer clay beads for her trip to Nepal to teach women there how to make the beads and see what they could become. Knowing that something I made was carried halfway around the world to be an inspiration for other women is so awesome. You just never know how you will touch someone's life, including those you may never meet in person!

{This necklace featuring Cynthia Tinapple's pumpkin shisha beads is in the book!}

Miss Cynthia's beads are so amazing, don't you think? I still have a few in my stash that I really should use to make something. The colors, the painstaking details, they make my head spin. Since I only use pearl clay for the most part and I have my own ways of adding color and patina. But I really want to see how to use the wide array of colors to take what I do to the next level.

I traveled to Michigan in May to work with Heather Powers on how to make canes and I loved that. It was my first time with colored clay and mixing shades and building the intricate details. But I am lazy and lack the patience and foresight needed for creating such layered pictures like Heather does. Now that I am home and lost my directions, I can't remember how we did it, but I love the result! I guess I will leave that sort of cane to the experts. However, one thing we did while there is take little bits of scrap and built an abstract cane that I really loved. I wanted to recreate that experience.

So I did a little searching and came to find out that this is called the Stroppel Cane (link takes you to the YouTube video) named for Alice Stroppel who developed this technique and shared it with the world about two years ago. This prompted almost immediate worldwide attention as people took the idea and morphed it to suit their styles, tastes and palettes.Really cool how the internet brings knowledge to everyone so instantly and helps to further art everywhere!

I decided that I would use this technique to represent the painting for the Art Bead Scene for August called Tres Personajes by Rufino Tamayo.

Since I don't play with clay the way the Alice Stroppel does resulting in leftovers, I made some mini canes and just some little pieces in the colors of the painting and embedded them in the layers of thin black clay. I sliced the thin canes to reveal the almost sedimentary striations of color matching those I saw in the painting and made them into my stick pendants.

{Tres Personajes stick pendants}

Each one is just a bit different. And I see great potential in this technique for those times when only color will do, but I will find a way to include my messages with this, just you wait. These Tres Personajes sticks are available in my Etsy shop. And today, instead of a gift certificate, I would like to giveaway one of these new pendants. It won't reach you to make something for the Art Bead Scene blog hop that I curate on Friday, August 30th, but I bet it will get your juices flowing!

To win, answer the following question {and be sure that I have an email to contact you if you win!}:

Add a link to an online tutorial or a book for any creative endeavor that you have tried or would like to try.

Don't forget that I am having a Bead Fest Pity Party in my Etsy shop through Monday, August 26th. Use the code PITYPARTY13 for 15% off your total of $20 or more.