My "Pollock" Tribute

Some techniques in polymer are messy. Others are fun. This one is messy AND fun!

The theme for the May PCAGOE Challenge is "Artist Inspired". I chose American abstract-impressionist Jackson Pollock as my inspiration. His "drip" technique lends itself wonderfully to tinted liquid polymer.

I keep bunches of tinted liquid polymer for use as glazes, primarily when doing my liquid polymer gauze "thing", or the recently published chopped translucent technique. They also tend to drip on things, so I decided to make use of that property. I discovered that it isn't just a matter of flinging the color. The piece has to be heated between each layer of color, or it all just levels out and runs together. There is a reason that Donna Kato's instructions for Kato sauce say NOT to apply to hot surfaces, but in this case, that's exactly what is needed :)

After building up many, many layers of colors, here was the first piece which resulted from the fun flinging of liquid polymer:

And, here are some from the latest batch:

Sometimes, it's really fun to be messy!

Teaser for The Polymer Arts - Spring 2012

Copper and Silver Pendant

Purple Stained Earrings

Here's a bit of a teaser for the upcoming issue of The Polymer Arts. "Yours truly" has a technique article included, which is entitled "Chopped Translucent Polymer", and in it you'll learn how to recreate the base material for pieces such as these. I can't give away the specifics here, but I will tell you that like many ultimately good things in life, this technique started with a "boo-boo"!

Want to know more? Well, those of you who are subscribers, be sure to check your mail/email boxes for the Spring issue, which is due out any time now. I hope that you enjoy the article, and of course, the rest of Sage's gorgeous publication!

Vote in the PCAGOE Monthly Challenge!

Since Facebook seems to be having issues for some of us regarding posting of blogger links, I couldn't leave my regular format monthly reminder. But, I can apparently link to my own blog, since my URL is custom - go figure!!!

Anyway, please vote in this months theme, which is "Not Jewelry, Not Wearable". This is also the launch for our new voter prize format. If you are chosen as one of the random prize winners, you get to pick your own prize from over a dozen different shops! How cool is that? So, click to vote, but first, I wouldn't mind if you signed up to follow this blog <grin>!

Presenting - Polymer Pomander Pods

In 1997 my husband and I were fortunate to be able to visit Egypt through our zoo travel program. One item on our itinerary was the Khan el-Khalili bazaar in Cairo. A bewildering maze of narrow streets, filled with shops, cafes and restaurants, the spice vendors remained one of my most vivid memories. One item that I bought my mom was a small lidded container made entirely of woven whole cloves.

A year or so ago, I brought this souvenir home with me and put it on a side table in our living room. Even with the spices almost 15 years old, I still get whiffs of clove from this box. I thought about pomander balls, the ones made by sticking whole cloves in oranges, then letting it dry out. Then, I considered the version that is a perforated (usually) ceramic ball, with whole spices inside.

It struck me that if I could construct an appropriate container, I could enclose whole spices in polymer. So, I built some 3" dia. lentil halves, with holes that were large enough for air to flow through, but not large enough that a typical whole clove could fall out. Before sealing, I added in addition to cloves, some whole allspice and a couple of whole cardamom.

I also made a base for what I'm calling "pods" to rest in. (Pomander "pods" sounds better than pomander "lentils", don't you agree? Alliteration and all that...) They will just naturally emit a subtle fragrance, or you can pick them up and shake gently a few times for a more intense jolt. Also, they look nice just sitting there.

So, without further ado, let me present 11 BOLD street's newest brain bomb - Pomander Pods, in polymer, of course!

  

Copper Washers Aren't Just For Plumbing Anymore...

Remember the copper washers from a few weeks ago? The ones that I had fun hammering and making into toggle closures? Well, I used the first of these in a bracelet, featuring polymer lentils and more hammered washers.

Gunmetal black and copper beads and wires complemented the copper polymer lentil beads. I gave them black, "hammered" texture backs, just because we all know that the backs of items should be as nice as the front!

Fun with Faux Jasper

Jasper isn't an expensive stone, but many inexpensive natural stones don't come in the shapes or SIZE that I want. Good thing that Tory Hughes showed me how to mimic lapis lazuli (which isn't inexpensive) and turquoise in her book Polymer: The Chameleon Clay.

I've used combinations of those techniques again and again as a springboard for faking real and fantasy materials. Witness my latest adventure with "red jasper":

Can you believe that this mess











got molded into this

and ended up looking like this?

Then it was transformed into this?

BELIEVE. With polymer, almost anything is possible....

Finding Time for Findings

Getting my hands on a new book always seems to bump up my creative urges.

The most recent acquisition is "Handcrafted Wire Findings" by Denise Peck and Jane Dickerson. I've been making my own sterling and copper necklace closures for a while, and have some other publications which demonstrate this technique, but I always love to see other versions. This post isn't intended as a book review, but I'm glad that I picked this one up, as it has some subtle twists (so to speak) on earring, hook, toggles and connections.

Thinking about toggle style findings, I decided to spend a day or so creating a few to have on hand. IMO, toggles are good bracelet closures, and more in scale with a typical 11BOLDstreet design than the average (and now barely affordable) sterling lobster claw clasp.

A hammered finish is one of my favorites, and very practical, as a mirror finish is both difficult in execution and for the wearer to maintain. But, shortly after I began hammering some of my favorite blank stock material - copper washers - I noticed that my favorite ball-peen hammer surface was leaving tiny lines in the hammered texture. So, I got out the 400-grit sandpaper and went to work smoothing out the ball surface.

Then, I stripped some 14 ga copper electrical wire and fashioned various bar shapes, trimming to make sure that each fit into it's intended ring. It's a fine line size-wise for a bar that will fit the ring, but not slip through on it's own. The completed pieces all assume a tiny bit of flexible leader on the bar to get them through the ring. The big decision is how to finish copper.

If they were earwires, I'd definitely opt for a clear varnish/sealant. For the moment, I'm settling for a thorough polishing with Wegol's. Working sort of "backwards" this time, I have a couple of ideas about some polymer components to both complement and show-off these babies :D