beads beads beads.....

i was asked by a jeweler to make some classy beads...

well, i don't know about the classy, but this one turned out quite well, i think. i made a fuschia/purple blend, cut a circle and placed it on a light bulb. then i carved out the dragon and baked the bead. then i covered the whole surface with liquid clay with gold pearl ex mixed in -- thinking what a lot of sanding i would have -- making sure i filled every carved area well. baked that and was surprised that the sanding was not such a chore and went from 180 up to 2,000 grit then buffed. the small light shape at the top is a reflection, i found it very difficult to take a photo without any reflection, even in a light box, as the surface was quite shiny.....




this bead is also a lentil over a light bulb, but the design is based on a sheet of blended clay with small flowers inlaid. then baked.
the dragon is a combination of paint and liquid clays drawn on and then baked and then several layers of very thin liquid clay were added and baked between each layer. the last layer was also heatgunned for maximum clarity.

a few sparkles were added before the last layers of liquid clay.

i have been playing with making clay fabric lately, and this is just one way i have used it.
i am not a jewelry maker, but i am having lots of fun making beads. stay tuned for more variously shaped beads and new surface treatments. after all, beads are really very small sculptures!!!

playful experimenting time for me...


i have been going back to some sculptural work lately, so here are some photos of my work with clay and wire and wiremesh...
you can just see a bit of the mesh in the lower right with yellow clay. and there is wire mesh in the back triangular shape, which was then formed around a wire shape-- an open pod sort of thing... some wire is stiff and i wanted to see how the clay would do when the wire was manipulated with the clay around it... i am pleased and will use the idea in new work...


also using forms to hold the clay so that wire can be embedded...

this plaster form was made around some blister plastic that a light came in.... the clay pops right out, but i thought to leave it in for this photo...






here is a form made around a light bulb which was broken and the pieces removed carefully!

the wire stand will become part of the sculpture, which sort of looks like a cement mixer to me, interesting since i also do cement art sculpture...






here are two pinch pots. the yellow one was closed and then the top was pulled into the neck and the spout. it is however, closed but the bottom is hollow.

the other is pinched up to height and then the top was fluted into a nice shape.




i have also been playing with coiled forms, at first just keeping to more normal ways to coil... but i will also be going into more abstract shapes with coils. and playing with coils that are very uneven in thickness...






here are some slab triangular shapes that i have been putting together in various ways, these are hinged with tiny piano hinges--the large triangles; and tiny regular butt hinges--the small triangles






i have also been doing some surface treatments... carving and backfilling, making some ooak beads, and seeing what i can do with the various liquid clays...

come back soon to see them.....

lately i am finding it hard to get around to posting... many new ideas in clay keep popping into my head and i am doing some experimenting with new forms and ideas.

however, one of my resolutions for 2008 is to make 2 bottles of hope every day. well, i hate to admit it but i am behind in that, however, i am posting here the new bottles, as well as some from december. i love doing bottles of hope as i can learn all sorts of new techniques with them.


on the left, january's efforts

december's efforts on the right





i am currently waiting for a shipment of front surface mirror so that i can make more kaleidoscopes..... some hope scopes and cut mirrors for the participants at Sojourn, in Nanaimo, BC February 22 - 24, 2008. i will be teaching a tumblescope workshop there.

Welcome to another year.... resolutions time again . . .

where do the days go... however, i have made one major resolution for 2008, and that is to make two bottles of hope every day. it seems every time i even turn around another friend is diagnosed with cancer. so i intend to do what i can by making bottles of hope for our local cancer center at Kingston General Hospital. so far the nurses have been so wonderfully receptive that doing this small but significant deed will ease their days as well. kudos to all the nurses who give so much to their jobs and thus to the people who come to them for treatment. BRAVO!

this scope is for my friend maryann. i have known mar since we were 13 years old, so i send this scope to her with all my love for a successful treatment. love you, mar.


i am a kaleidoscope artist and while making bottles of hope i discovered that the same little bottles could be used for the chamber of my smaller scopes. some are made with an oil chamber and some chambers are dry cells. so i started making hope scopes also for near and dear friends diagnosed with cancer.


kaleidoscopes are magic... there are scientific explanations, sure, but looking thru a scope and seeing a never ending series of beautiful images is pure magic. so along with making scopes for a local gallery, see my geisha at Sandra Whitton's Gallery. she hides a scope under her skirt.
i love sculpture and so i have begun to make what i call kaleidosculptures...

i also want to wish to the world a year of peace and no more wars..... you cannot fight to get peace, you must live peacefully at all times, and then we will have peace.....