Clay Daze in Victoria BC

Inner Harbour at Dusk - Tourism Victoria Image Bank

The Vancouver Island Polymer Clay Artists Guild is hosting CLAY DAZE here in Victoria, BC, Canada from Frday January 22 to Sunday January 24th. It's going to be a lot of fun and very much organised in the laid back and congenial "Island Time" spirit. Everyone is welcome! Check the VIPCAG blog for registration details!

One World, One Heart 2010

I was so happy to see that One World, One Heart will be running again as an inspiring way to start 2010! I visited as many of the 911 participating blogs as I could last year and made many great new friends through the last event and look forward to making more creative connections this time around. Actually winning something was an unexpected bonus!

I'm hoping to see even more polymer clay oriented participants this year!

I'm heading to the worktable to get started on my offerings...

Considering the end of the year....

We had a great Christmas and Boxing Day here! I'm not a Boxing Day shopper, for me it's a day to light a fire, relax and read a good book- this year it's the new Dan Brown- The Lost Symbol.

I'm also in that reflective state of mind that comes at the conclusion of the year. As 2008 drew to a frantic close, the looming recession had many of us in a "circle the wagons" frame of mind. As a decorative artist/artisan I was very concerned about the effect of the recession on sales. I didn't want to spend 2009 making things with costly materials that didn't sell then having all sorts of extra work rattling around in 2010. I decided have an exploratory year- to experiment and to make several large pieces for exhibitions. I cut back any production work to a trickle. I'm very glad I did, 2009 has been a year of exciting discoveries for me and I'm happy with the direction I'm going.

After great sales with BeachStone bracelets at the Sooke Fine Arts Show I did some jewellery production work for the holiday season and sales have been very good! I plan to launch a wholesale line for 2010, mostly with the BeachStone concept but the mixed media photographic work may introduce a different twist on colours! Fusion Bangles will be back too. Most importantly, I'm going to continue on the path I'm taking with photography, clay and 3D canvases- I'm hoping very much to be able to submit work to more exhibitions in 2010.... enough meandering for now.... back to my book....

Christmas Eve....

International Polymer Clay Association Synergy 2 Online Exhibition- Arbutus

Earlier this year I was honoured to be invited to submit a "collaborative" piece for the Synergy 2 Exhibition. It was particularily exciting for me because it led to the new direction I took with the multi-media approach to my work. I didn't actually collaborate in person with another artist but, I considered the Forgetting Room by Nick Bantock that deals in a wonderful way with the creative process. Like the character in the novel, I ended up on a treasure hunt and ended up discovering things that I hadn't actually expected to find.

Here is Arbutus. The Synergy 2 link has more details on the process and on purchase price.

Twigging Mixed Media Approaches

I shipped the last order yesterday, I've tidied my worktable and had time to add a background to my blog. Now I'll be able to do some daydreaming, beachcombing and sketching for when I return to "hands on" mixed media work in January.

Today I saw a link for a lovely twig lamp by Wildwoodpapers on the Daily Art Muse that reminded me of a project I did in 1998 or so when I was working with gourd art. The twigs are blueberry twigs and have held up very well through the years! They are a beautiful burgandy colour. I think I'll buy up a supply fron my local florist for mixed media projects as I know the durability of the material.

Legacy Interactive Series- Polymer Clay Beach Stones

If you are in the downtown Victoria area this Saturday, December 12, drop by the Legacy Gallery between 1:00 am and 3:00 pm. I'll be doing a Polymer Clay BeachStone demonstration. There will be BeachStone Bracelets and Stemware Charms available for sale along with my mixed media canvases and Fusion Bangles. Hope to see you there!

Mixed Media Canvas- After the Storm

I finished the canvas.

It's titled "After the Storm" 5"x7" polymer clay, digital photo on silk & found objects on canvas.

It's heading to the Legacy Gallery tomorrow.

Mixed Media Canvas- day two

Here's my newest canvas on day two. Thanks for inspiration goes to the Daily Art Muse on this one- the post on Connie Ulrich's Road Kill Series reminded me of my stash of beachcombed and occasionally road-killed rusty-stuff. It's the perfect addition... I also used a section of cabling that had printing on it that was worn by the waves and shore to create a calligraphic effect.

I'm not done with this one yet...to be continued...

Starting Picture for new photo/clay collage...

I'm going to be doing some collage canvases, muses and beachstone bracelets as I do the table top. It's a good way to multi-task. I have a muse underway and yesterday I went through my Salt Spring Island photos for a photo base for the next collage. Here's the one I chose. I did some photoshopping with filters for a bit of a surreal effect.

Polymer Clay Beachstone Table Top

The project is underway and this is going to take a while. The table obviously won't fit in my oven so I'm using a picece of glass to position sections of beachstones. My plan is to place a second sheet of glass on top of the raw clay stones to flatten to a uniform height then I'll fire the section. Here's section #1 underway.