Mudhead Kachina

The Koyemsi, or Mudhead Kachina, is a clown who is seen in many Native American ceremonies.  They are called "mudhead" because of the mud applied to their masks - in fact a dancer without a proper mask or late in arriving may easily become a Mudhead.  Most of the time Mudheads accompany other kachinas, but you could see a lone Mudhead acting as a drummer for a dance.  Mudhead Kachinas dance, play games with the audience, and may act as announcers for events. They often give food or clothing prizes for the races and guessing games they organize.
     This little guy presented quite a few trial and error challenges when creating him.  First off I created a background tile using the canes from my Sunface Kachina and a black and white step cane as a border.  It was cured and sanded along with little paddles that would be attached to the top and sides of the head and little tubes of clay baked around a crochet hook for the eyes and mouth.  My first go at this I made the face more shallow, but it wasn't deep enough for the inserted eyes, mouth and paddles to hold. They distorted the head when inserted, so I build up the face to be rounder.  I then added a red collar and a millefiori leaf to the forehead, did a final cure, and carefully sanded the complicated facial features.  In the future I'll probably readjust the design to be flatter again for wearability, but this was an  adorable beta version.

Sunface Kachina

     The Sunface or Sun Kachina is also known as Tawa.  It represents the spirit of the sun and the sun's warmth, bringing hope for shelter for the old and a bright future with playfulness for the young.  He often appears in the morning - like the Morning Singer Kachina.
     When I moved from Minnesota to Texas, there was so much I learned about Native American culture and how it's influenced decor in Southern homes.  I learned even more living in Albuquerque, visiting the wonderful shops, and admiring the street wears there and in Santa Fe.  There is something about Native American art that resonates in me - something we can all learn and something that leaves me wanting to understand more.  They are treasures we need to share with the world and that make the world a better place.  When I made my first Sunface Kachina, it was in spring 2009 as part of a guild challenge.  I loved the idea of using polymer clay to bring out the design detail in these wonderful masks.  The color, the patterns, and the overall concept all wrapped up in wonderful symbolism!
     I've included in my little pictorial mosaic below some of my earlier Kachina pieces.  They've all found wonderful homes and I'm sure this little mask will be home soon, too!

Clown Kachina

     Clown Kachinas are also known by the names Koshari, Koyala, Hano, or Tewa.  They entertain during Kachina ceremonies by humorously exaggerating improper behavior to remind people of acceptable standards.  They are loud, boisterous, play tricks, mimic spectators and act out absurd pantomines.  They are shown with watermelons as symbols of gluttony and are often drummers for dances.  It is the job of the Owl Kachina and different warrior Kachinas to keep these mischievous characters in check.
     In making masks on tiles that represent painted faces rather that actual masks, I had to figure out some design elements to make it work.   All these little masks are trial versions while I work out design elements that need refining or replacing, but I think I like the way this guy laid out and the feel of the face on the millefiori background.  I want the main focus of all these kachinas to be based on cane work, but this face is more suited to sculpture than caned elements, so I started with a tile background with various canes - the yellow and orange  zigzag canes from my Sunface Kachina and the arrow and swirl border from my Southwestern Bear Claw Tiles.  While my background tile was baking, I created a raised face that i covered in white clay.  All the facial details and the "horns" were added to finish the face, which was then attached to the already baked and sanded background tile with the help of some Kato Poly Paste.  A second baking and a thorough sanding and buffing resulted in the cute little guy shown below!

Byron Nelson Bobcats

     I've been wanting to create this cane since I moved to the Dallas/Fort Worth area, but there has always been something that has interfered with my time and creativity.  I had to struggle a bit with the clays I was using - though I leached them, they were still very soft and it made it hard to get crisp lines.  But reducing it down to the size I was using made the imperfections unnoticeable. 
    I made this Bobcat school design on a white background and a coordinating paw cane that was white on a black background.  For these initial pieces, I used a southwestern motif using the school colors of royal blue, black and white.  I made several bangles, earrings, and pendants in this design, but will be experimenting and adding other designs in the future.   

Owl Kachina

     The Great Horned Owl or Owl Kachina is also known as Mongwu.  This great spirit is considered beneficial to agriculture because it hunts rodents.  During ceremonies, the Owl Kachina is a symbol of intelligence and wisdom - keeping the Clown Kachina in line with the help of the different Warrior Kachinas.
     In making my Owl Kachina you may see several canes that I've used in the past for other projects.  The canes for the facial feathers, the side feathers, and the eyes are from my original red/brown owl cane.  The feathers on the top of the head and for the collar are from my original Sunface Kachina.
     This little owl looks wonderful along side my Southwestern Bear Claw tiles laid out as a bracelet!  I'm so looking forward to experimenting more with this design in some chunky necklaces with tapering tiles in various southwestern themes.  I sometimes wish there were more hours in the day for all the ideas floating around in my head that need out!

New Shapes and Wirework

      Lately I've been attempting to expand my knowledge and skill to include different styles and custom features.  There are so many wonderful polymer artists to learn from out there, but I always want to put my own personal spin on everything I do and I hope these pieces reflect just that.  I will continue to experiment with shapes and design features - adding my own twist and my own love for complex canes.  I do have to laugh because so often an idea I find floating around in my head I find has already been thought of or something I consider unique has already been tried by another.  Even so, I will continue to try to make my special dent in the polymer clay world.
      These pieces aren't as complex as they may seem.  They were all hand cut, though I will probably develop some templates of my own soon, since I like the shapes and want to make them more consistent.  For these pieces, I started out with a veneer from one of my lovely Stroppel Canes.   I cut off slices, ran them through my pasta machine at a #5 (medium small) setting to get a constant depth, laid them out next to each other, burnished the seams, added a few cane slices, and then cut out my shapes.  I used triangular 'shield' shapes for these because I wanted them to taper to a point, but any shape will do.  I plan on experimenting with other shapes as well.  I placed my shapes vertically a glass bottle that was about the diameter of a soda can.  (Actually a soda can would work well here also - as long as your shapes aren't longer than the can.)  I cured the clay on the bottle which gave me a wonderful dome shape.  The back of the piece was then filled with scrap clay, trimmed flat, and then wrapped in a sheet of black clay with my new signature cane.  Before curing, I inserted findings to hang the pendants or earrings that I had hand formed using a simple template I made with nails and wood.  One more curing, an ice bath, lots of sanding and buffing and VOILA!  
     I will be adding some 'frames' to some future pieces and experimenting with using this technique with caned veneers and kaleidoscopes.

My Signature Cane

     I've been wanting to do a signature cane for some time now, but (silly me) it seems like such an important statement.  Maybe I think too much about these kind of things, but I wanted it to not only represent my name, but also be a symbol of my work so that it's recognized on multiple levels.  At the same time I didn't want it to be so complex that the detail would get muddied in the tiny slice I'd use to mark my designs.  So after way too much thought I came up with this design.
     So - first off I wanted it to represent my name, Deb Hart, thus I took my first initial and my last name and came up with a heart pattern inside a letter D.  I used my magic swirl cane as the basis for my heart, since it's become so popular.  If you haven't seen my tutorial for the cane you can find it in my blog or in my newsletter.  I've made some wonderful creation with this cane and you can see an assortment below.  The black D was then built around the heart.  I went with the black D and white background to separate the many colors of the magic swirl from any color in the design I'm placing the signature cane on - to minimize any color conflicts.  And that's about it.  This one should last me a long, long time and then I'll have to go through the whole thinking process again.