Last vessel of 2016, probably finished

Tags

ArtVessel, frog, nature, polymer clay, vase, white poppy

I decided to spend the time between Christmas and New Year tidying up my studio in preparation for new projects. After a couple of days I couldn’t stand the accusing stare from the glass cabochons of my unfinished vessel, so I decided that finishing off a project counted as tidying. I was determined to finish it before the new year.

Frogs and Flowers Vase by Cate van Alphen

I started this vessel back in June where it stalled until October. After several days’ work and a few days into 2017 I think I’m finally finished, or maybe I’ve just had enough. Because I spent a long time on this project, here is a proportional number of photographs.

Frogs and Flowers Vase by Cate van Alphen

Frogs and Flowers Vase by Cate van Alphen

Frogs and Flowers Vase by Cate van Alphen

Here is a photograph of the effect I was aiming for.

I wanted to suggest a rich ecosystem of plants and creatures, although not literally current earth species. I’m not looking at it too closely in case I find more bald spots that need filling. I haven’t decided yet if I should antique it or not (currently I quite like the bright colours of the polymer clay).

As you can see from the detail shot above, I included a leftover white poppy (and made a few more), and some little frogs like the ones I made for the Art Charm Swap.

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Art Vessel – week 18

Tags

2016PCchallenge, ArtVessel, polymer clay, recycled jar, vase

I almost had my 2016 Polymer Clay Challenge piece finished on time this week, but it was sunny yesterday so we went for a walk instead :). This week my vessel is a progression of the lantern I did a few weeks ago. I have used a variation of the solid backing from last week and added a bit of shaping to the filigree snakes.

Polymer clay and glass vase by Cate van Alphen

This time lined the inside of the top of the jar as seeing the thread through the glass really irritates me. It looks a bit chunky as I needed to build up the layers to cover the bumps, but I have an idea to try next time.

There are a few things I’d like to do differently next time, but I think I’m making progress.

Art Vessel – week 17

Tags

2016PCchallenge, ArtVessel, polymer clay, vase

I have been finding my weekly challenge to create vessels pretty difficult. Part of the inspiration to do the challenge was the fact that I have been collecting glass jars (among other things) for years but I never get around to decorating them. Even with the challenge I’ve only used three of them, and not been happy with two of those. So for week 17, I decided to employ some help.

Boudoir Bottle by Heather Campbell

More than two years ago I bought a tutorial by Heather Campbell for a Poly Fiber Boudoir Bottle. I bought all the supplies, and then I never got around to trying the project. I decided to start off (mostly) following the tutorial, but I’ve already got ideas for a couple of variations that I’m going to try.

Here’s my jar vase:

Vase by Cate van Alphen

It was really helpful to start off with an interesting ground to decorate rather than a naked glass jar! There was also no cracking which was a problem with the first jar I did and which I think has discouraged me from totally covering a jar again.

Art Vessel week 1

Tags

2016PCchallenge, ArtVessel, glass jar, green, mokume gane, polymer clay, vase

For my 2016 Polymer Clay Challenge I have decided to make a vessel each week. I’m planning a wide range of objects from inros to bowls to covered jars so my first dilemma was deciding where to start!

Since I had a sheet of mokume gane lying around (as one does), I decided to start by covering a jar you either love or hate ;). It was already dark glass so I didn’t feel too guilty covering it with an opaque sheet of polymer clay.

Green jar by Cate van Alphen

My idea was for it to look like a chunk of lava rock that had been shaped into a vase with a the sides polished off to reveal the bright mokume gane inside. Something almost completely, but not quite, unlike a bolder opal.

I started off by baking pieces of mokume gane onto the flattened sides of the jar so that it would remain smooth while I textured the black polymer clay around it. Unfortunately my simple idea soon turned into a rescue mission as one side cracked. I tried filling it with liquid clay for the next bake and I ended up with a bigger crack and another on the other side. (It’s only just occurred to me that I should have popped off the mokume gane and started again). The more I tried to fill the cracks, the bigger they got. 😥

Since this is my first jar, I’m not sure if this is just something that happens when you cover a glass jar with solid polymer clay or if it was because when I baked the patterned sheets I did a part bake as I knew I would be adding more clay and doing further curing. I do have (up to) 50 more* times to practice, but any suggestions to prevent cracks would be appreciated.

I have started a group on Flickr for Art Vessels if you’d like to join in with your own creations. It’s not limited to polymer clay either, just in case you make chocolate tea pots.

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* I am determined to also have a go at making an inro before the end of the year!