Exciting times and new ideas

The month of May was very busy and truly exciting for me as an artist. I was invited to be showcased in Portland, Oregon by Raw Natural Born Artists on the 24th. I had such a great time and would gladly do it again. I met so many wonderful people and made some great contacts that night. A few sales really rounded out the evening for me. I couldn't have done it without the help of my great Sister though. She was so helpful and I know I would've gotten lost in Portland without her.

A week ago I was accepted into the Creator's Gallery and Studio in Jacksonville, Oregon. I'm  honored to be included with many other talented Artists there. I'll be working there a couple times a month as well. In fact, my first day will be tomorrow and I can't wait.

I've decided to challenge myself by creating a true to life size floral arrangement. It's been quite the adventure but I'm making progress everyday. This won't be  your typical floral arrangement either but you'll have to wait until it's finished to see what I mean. Here are a couple of flowers I made so far.

Polymer clay Polar Bear

It's been raining here and looks like winter again outside. Perfect weather for staying inside and creating something. I started this polar bear since winter seems to be back here in Oregon. I was thinking maybe mounting him on an iceberg but haven't quite decided that yet. He still needs some detail work but he's coming along nicely.

I love working with polymer clay, it's so relaxing to me. I would love to be able to work with some real clay but that requires alot more equipment and investment than I can accomplish right now. Someday I'll give that a whirl though. For now, polymer clay will do.

Polymer Clay Salmon Sculpture

The finished Salmon sculpture. I need to seal it but I think it came out pretty good. I'm sure my Dad will love it.

It's a rainy day here today so I think I'll just hang out and see what I can create. I've got a few ideas but nothing concrete as of yet. Maybe I'll just read my new Polymer Arts magazine instead and give one the new techniques in there a whirl. The silk dyed polymer article looks interesting. Have you read this magazine yet? It's fantastic and chock full of information for all polymer clay Artists. I love it and I'm sure you will too.

Father's Day Sculpture

 I'm currently working on a Father's Day gift and wanted to share my progress with you. My Dad loves fishing especially for Salmon, so I decided to try and create a Salmon sculpture for him. Now you would think that a fish would be easy to make right? That's what I thought too but boy was I wrong. It seems the simple shape isn't truly that simple to recreate.

Unlike this little Chipmunk the salmon has no fuzzy tail or cute hands to distract from any design flaws and that's what makes it difficult. Nonetheless, I did enjoy sculpting this fish and hope my Dad will love it.

I've been out of the studio for so long it sure felt good to get back to creating again. I really missed the feel of clay in my hands. I know that sounds strange but I truly love what I do. I'll be revamping my Etsy shop in the next few days and adding some new things,so be sure to watch for that.

I had a great time up in Portland at the Raw Artists showcase,sold some pieces and met some awesome people. The contacts I made were incredible. One in particular, was Amy Roloff from the Tv show "Little People, Big World". She is so funny and has a big heart. Every September on her birthday she hosts a huge charity event to help children. Check out her site here. http://amyroloffcharityfoundation.org/  It's such a worthy cause and run by an incredible lady. I donated an Orchid necklace and will be making something special for the silent auction. I would encourage anyone to check out Raw as it's well worth the effort to become a Raw Artist.

Good Morning, I'm so happy to be back and feeling better. I'm ready to get some videos going for this blog and am very excited to share with everyone. I plan on making 1 a week. I guess we'll be learning things together as there are tons of things I've seen on the internet that I want to try myself as well as some of my own techniques. I hope you'll check in often to see what you can learn. It's going to be fun and maybe a little crazy too! Just wanted to give you a little update and let you know that I'm back so get your polymer clay ready and let's have some fun. Ok, off to clean my workspace and make a video...

I'm home and the surgery went well this morning. For those of you who didn't know I had my gallbladder removed today. I'll be taking some time to recover and will post when I can. I did manage to figure out my camera for the video tutorials while I was up last night so something good came from being nervous about the procedure. I should be back on my feet in no time but for now a pain pill is calling me. Have a beautiful day!

Ultra Solvy on Clay

I just found the most awesome way to get something on a piece of clay. Some of you might already have tried this but for me it's a new concept. I had some left over ultra solvy from my sewing days and thought I'd give it a try on clay. Yeah! It works like a charm. Draw something on paper and place the ultra solvy over it and trace with a black permanent marker. Lift it off the original drawing and press it into the clay with the marker side down. Then soak the clay in water (warm water works best) until the paper dissolves and you'll have a perfect transfer to work with. I'm making a key and earring set using this method and will post some pictures when it's done today. Oh happy day, I've found another way to use an image with clay!

Here's the Key I made using this technique. Not too bad for a first attempt. I used the top portion of the key drawing to make the earrings. Super simple!

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