Tags
52 earrings, earring, faux, fordite, multi coloured, polymer clay, retro
This week’s theme for the 52 Earrings challenge is “Retro”. I initially thought 60s and 70s, but as the following theme is “Flower Power” I decided to go back further to the 1950s. So I thought of big red plastic earrings… automobiles… and fordite.
Fordite then cross pollinated with a pair of vintage wooden earrings, a touch of the 80′s gave a curve to the squares and I used earrwires instead of clip ons…
Faux fordite retro earrings.
LOL. Faux as Faux! Very nice!
Those are spiffing!
Hello, Cate — I love your blog. I don’t often comment, but I’m there! I wonder if you could give me some advice. Our local Art Club is doing an event that involves painting on a 12″ square canvas that has its edges wrapped around a wood frame. Most of the members are painters, but I think it would be very cool to do a polymer clay collage on the canvas. I’m thinking a design of various colors and textures. Do you have any ideas on how I could attach the polymer to the canvas? Would polymer stick if I coated the canvas first with liquid clay? Or should I cure the individual components first and attach them with rivets or thread or something else???? I would really appreciate any ideas you might have! Thanks!
I’ve never actually attempted anything like that, but it sounds like an exciting idea. My oven wouldn’t fit a canvas that size so I would need to cure small pieces individually and then stick them to the canvas using contact adhesive. Are you planning to wrap the polymer around the edges too (I think that would help it stay on if you were using liquid clay)? Rivets & wire/string could be a really interesting design feature. You’d have to test how strong liquid clay would be sticking clay to another surface like canvas as I’ve only ever used it for sticking raw clay to cured. I wonder if painting the canvas with acrylic paint first would help the liquid clay stick?
Good luck it sounds like an interesting project. Please let me know how it goes.
Thanks for your suggestions. Wire and adhesive would be good options. I could even add a few beads if I used wire. I think it would be safe to use my kitchen oven, if I cover the polymer completely, but doing smaller pieces and attaching them separately would be a good alternative. I will have 2 canvases to work with, so I will be able to experiment with one to find out what works. I’ll try some acrylic paint on part of it to see what happens, too. It has to be done by mid-September. I’ll let you know what happens. Thanks again!
Hello, Cate — I have finished my 2 polymer clay collages! I saw Joan Israel’s polymer collage in the October 2012 issue of “Polymer Cafe,” and Cynthia Tinapple helped me get in contact with her. She said she paints her canvases with acrylic paint, lets it dry, then covers it with Elmer’s glue and lets that dry. Then she can arrange bits of clay on the canvas and move them around until she is happy with it. She covers the canvas with an aluminum foil tent and bakes it in her kitchen oven. The only thing I did differently was that I didn’t cover the whole canvas with clay. So after baking, the areas that weren’t covered with clay were shiny and streaky from the glue, so I had to go back over them with paint.
I have just looked at all of your posts about painting with polymer. Your paintings have such fine detail! Are you thinning the clay first, or just using very tiny scraps? Do you apply each little bit of clay with your fingers, or do you use a brush or some other tool? You wondered to your blog audience why you insist on painting with polymer instead of just using paint. And why you are trying to get polymer to do something is wasn’t meant to do. I think the answer is that you are being a pioneer, just as all the other wonderful polymer artists over the years have been, and that’s why so many new techniques have been discovered to advance the art of polymer clay!
I will post pictures of my 2 finished pieces on my Facebook page: facebook.com/fourwindsjewelry.
Thanks for all your help!
Marty
Thanks for sharing your collages. I particularly like the one with the pink and turquoise flowers – the colours are beautiful.
I first started off trying to thin the clay with liquid clay, but I didn’t like the result. Now I use tiny specks of pure clay and apply it with my scalpel blade. I used to use various tools to blend on the “canvas” but now I just use the blade (even for blending). I make skinner blends with the clay so there is a range of colours to choose from. I’m using fimo classic which is quite a stiff clay. Perhaps something softer would blend more easily on the canvas for more of a water colour effect without requiring the skinner blends.
Thanks for your reply. I will be watching for more of your polymer paintings — and all of your other artisitc endeavors, as well!