New Canes

Autumn Harvest Pansy

     I've been working hard the last few months on new ideas and new canes.  Unfortunately, I haven't gotten as much done as I'd have liked because my personal life is challenging, but claying as been my way of pushing past the hard parts and still "creating."  Let me start from top to bottom.  The top row of canes are mosaic canes inspired by Donna Kato's millefiori book - left to right: Rainbow Keys, Red Petals, Tropical Visions. They are simple rolled canes formed into hexagons.  The first two are created from a rainbow hued Skinner blend and the third one has different cane scraps, Skinner blended plugs and bulleyes, and stripes.   They were fun experiments with beautiful results.
     The second row is a wonderful variety of new canes - left to right: Autumn Harvest Butterfly, Yin-Yang, and Rainbow Pansy.  The butterfly cane was made from left over ends of the petal canes I used to create my Autumn Harvest Pansy Cane - pictured on the right.  I used the same dark navy/purple that accents the darker petals in the pansy to wrap the petal canes and make the bullseyes for the wing edges.

Tropical Visions with Butterflies

The top wings were made from the darker petal scraps and the lower wings were made from the top, lighter petal cane scraps.  The two finished canes coordinate beautifully and I've used the butterfly cane with the Tropical Visions Cane in the top right with beautiful results. The middle cane is a yin-yang cane I made for a Tae school.  I haven't had time to experiment with it a lot, but you'll be seeing new fun items in the future.  The last cane in that row is my rainbow pansy.  I made this during a class I taught for the North Texas Polymer Clay Guild in November.  I want to thank the ladies of the NTPCG for asking me to teach them during our monthly meetings.  I have to say, though I regularly teach painting classes, art classes, clay classes and do demos - I was horribly nervous to sit up in front of a group of my claying peers and show my pansy technique.  I was glad to have the experience and look forward to teaching more in the future.  They are a wonderful group of talented, generous ladies and I'm looking forward to future friendships and learning experiences.

Fiesta Pen

     The third row is a series of kaleidoscope canes that I made from my left over canes - left to right:  Feista, Southwestern Diamonds, and Pretty Petals.   I was working late one night clearing off my claying table and threw these three together while my step-daughter was supervising.  She approved.  =)  The Fiesta Cane is beautiful and reminds me of the beautiful colors and floral patterns that decorate San Antonio every spring.  It has some left over petal canes from my class with Lynne Ann Schwarzenberg, some left over diamond stripes from making the Southwestern Diamond Kaleidoscope, and some left over

Southwestern Diamonds Perfume Pen

simple flower canes from my step-daughter's birthday party.  It's fun to see how they mix.  The second cane was a section of my Southwestern Mosaic Cane edges with purple and beige diamonds.  It makes a wonderful diamond pattern on the items.  The last cane is one of my favorites.

Pretty Petals Pen

My Pretty Petals cane is made from more left over petals from Lynne Ann's class, left over heart canes from a class I did for my daughter's girl scout troop, and a half heart cane that has a skinner blend with blue and light blue stripes.  It makes such a complex and delicate pattern and the items I've made with it have sold well.  Unfortunately these last three canes are very small canes and so I'll get limited opportunity to play with them,but it always gives me ideas for more canes and teaches me as an artist.  I have so much more to catch up on, but that will have to wait until the next blog.  Until then - stay happy and keep claying!