Big World Studio

A good friend is on the board of Share Our Strength in Orlando, a group from the hospitality and restaurant industry that is working to end hunger.  She has been an admirer of my art, and encouraged me to donate an item to a silent auction in their upcoming Taste of the Nation event.  I was quite flattered and happy to oblige.   This is a good opportunity to promote my web site and get my artwork out in the community.

I chose these two pieces as my contribution.   The necklace is an art-jewelry piece using Mokume Gane, an ancient Japanese metal-working technique that has been applied to polymer clay.  This piece started out as a “dry run” using a leftover portion of a Mokume stack from a project I completed over a year ago.  I was playing around with shapes and these new steel cable neckwires I had just ordered.  It turned out so well that I decided to make it the donation piece.

This lovely little vase is one of my feathered leaf creations.  I start with a glass vase, which I wrap in a thin sheet of solid colored clay.  Next, I create a polymer clay cane, which is essentially a thin log with the pattern running all the way through it.  Thin slices of this cane are affixed, ever-so-gently, to the clay-wrapped vase.  On some of the pieces in this series, I strive for perfect alignment of the little cane slices.  With this one, I was going for more of an organic, haphazard look. 

 I really hope these two pieces are well received.  If you will be attending the Orlando Taste of the Nation event, bid big and bid often!  Thanks, Ellen, for inviting me to participate.

It’s been a long road, but I now have an online storefront.  So far, just 4 items are posted in the store, but from what I’ve learned there are benefits to adding new items every day or so, rather than all at once.  I also want to learn as I go along, learning from each item posting and applying that knowledge with each new posting.

March, April and May were just crazy at work.  My travel schedule was intense, and the deadline pressure didn’t let up.  This month, I’ve been able to re-focus mmy energy on polymer clay creations, so I have about 6 more items that can be listed over the next few days and another dozen that just need some finishing work.  Stay tuned!

Most of my recent work has been focused on this tiny leaf technique that results in a highly textured surface.  People seem to respond really well to these pieces, probably because it engages another sense - that of touch.  They are first excited about the intense colors, but they really get excited when they get their hands on one of these creations.

It’s a huge plus that I really enjoy making these pieces.  Most of the work is invested in creating the polymer clay cane.  Imagine a log of clay with the leaf pattern going all the way from end to end.  By slicing thin pieces, these individual leaves are created.  Putting them together in a finished piece is fairly fast and easy once the cane is made.  

 Next, I want to experiment with more complex versions of the leaf cane.  I need to find the right balance between creating more interest and not getting too busy.  What fun!  Now, I just need more hours in the day free for claytime…  

One of the many challenges I face in setting up this web site and preparing to sell my artwork online is the need for photographs that can really convey the details of each piece.  My work ranges from small earrings and beads to 18″ tall vases, so I needed a setup that would be flexible.  It also needed to be easy to store and inexpensive. First stop - Google!

With just a bit of surfing I learned that the pros use some type of box system where the object would be wrapped in white with some type of diffusion material on the sides.  The lights go outside the box.  The result is a well-lighted object without any harsh shadows.

I found a tutorial from Bill Huber at Pbase.com showing how to build a photo frame from pvc pipe.  It seemed to be a good solution and was a clear winner compared to the light tents available for sale for $75+.  The frame was easy and quick to build and I got all of the materials at Lowe’s. 

The light sources are two $10 gooseneck desk lamps from Staples outfitted with 26 watt compact fluorescent bulbs.  Based on some advice I found (where else) online, I was careful to purchase bulbs marked as “day white” with a color temperature of 6500k.  This is important, because the typical compact fluorescent bulbs are soft white warm light and will give your photos a yellowish cast.

My old camera had seen better days and refused to go into macro mode, so this was a good time to find a new digital camera.  I chose the Sony H3 because it packs a 10x zoom lens into a fairly compact package and has some manual controls to allow for exposure and white balance control among others.  Love, love, love the new camera!

My photo geek husband had several tabletop tripods for me to try out, and the clear winner was the Slik Mini Pro.  It was far more stable, flexible and easy to use than the others. 

You can see the results of the studio throughout this site and soon on my etsy store.  Enjoy!

I’m passionate about creating with polymer clay and it’s time to share that passion with the world.  Every day that I get my hands in the clay is an amazing process of discovery.