I FINALLY finished my big project for the Polyform, March "make it your own" contest.  It was very challenging and at times I thought I had bitten off more then I could chew.  I am glad though that I decided to push myself and do something big.  I learned alot about what works and what doesn't.  I figured out easier ways to do things and learned some new techniques.  In short, I learned things I probably wouldn't have learned if I hadn't done such a big piece.  I chose this piece to do because when I decided to make art a serious part of my life, I also wanted to make sure my environment inspired me.  These utility containers will hold different art supplies.  I bought the lazy susan on amazon.com. here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000QA2IJ0/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1  

It's a really big one, 16 inches.  The big container in the center is a large coffee can.  The 9 little containers are all empty cans of progresso soup.  (My husband and son helped me out by eating ALOT of soup in a short time. ;p).  I covered each can with a layer of black sculpey iii clay.  I wanted a base in case some of it showed through since I wasn't confident I could cover it evenly.  I made two large blocks of mokume gane.  I tried to make it as close to the same as possible so that you wouldn't be able to tell which can came from which block.  It didn't really matter since every can came out different and was dependent on what part of the block it came from.  I put the slices on as evenly as I could, I got a little bit better at the slicing towards the last six cans.  I also learned to run it through the pasta machine before putting it on the can, it helped to make the thickness more even.  I edged the cans with more black sculpey iii and textured it with a button I had.  I am not sure you can see it well in my photos but the edging came out looking like some sort of cloth I had molded into place.  Really cool effect and I will be sure to do it again.

The colors I used in the blocks of mokume gane were all from sculpey iii and consisted of:

Black, chocolate, hazelnut, tan, white, green apple, and emerald green. I used copper and silver foil as well. 

While researching mokume gane I came across quite a few different ways of doing it.  I was confused at first, until I realized that it didn't really matter how you made it, only what type of effect you were looking for.  I chose to layer stacks of color and distress them before slicing off layers.  I am sure that at some point I will try the other ways of doing mokume gane.  I had alot of fun doing these projects and will definitely use mokume gane again for other items.  Below you will find both a full view on the lazy susan and a close up of one of the containers.  I hope you all liked my little journey into mokume gane.  Stay tuned for more of my art experiments. :)

Stay happy,

Sharon

Happy Passover everyone!!  I hope your sedar is wonderful and that you manage to get through all four questions and glasses of wine. ;p


Next year in Jerusalem,

Sharon

I have finished my second entry into the Polyform, March "make it your own" contest.  This piece is also made with the mokume gane technique.  I also made ivory animal "teeth" to add to the necklace.  All the beads and teeth are made with polymer clay Sculpey iii.  The teeth took me a lot longer to sand then I thought they would, which is why I am posting a day later then I had anticipated.  I am having fun mixing different textures and seeing what I can come up with.  Here is a full shot of the necklace and earrings.

Here is a close up so you can see the pendant and teeth better.

Hope you like what I made.  I am working on my third entry and I hope to have it done in the next couple of days.  We will see.  Anyways, I will post it when I am done.


Stay happy,

Sharon

Ok, so here is the first piece I finished with polymer clay.  I am entering it into the Polyform March "make it your own" contest located on facebook at:  http://www.facebook.com/#!/PolyformProducts

I am working on other pieces, they should be done in the next day or two.  I fell behind a bit because we are having a series of really bad wind storms.  I unfortunately have asthma and allergies and wind storms always knock me out.  I have at least two more pieces that will be done in the next couple of days, possibly a 3rd if I get lucky on the big project and it cooperates.  I hope you all like this piece, it is a happy accident that came about because of a piece of leftover clay from my bigger project.

Here is a close up of the pendant, which is the main part of the piece and is the part using the technique "Mokume Gane".  Everything except the green glass beads and the copper wire was made by me.

 

 

 

Hope you all like it!!

 

Stay happy!

 

Sharon

 

 

 

 

Ok, so I had said I would try to post once a week, .....so I am a day late. ;p  Anyways.  I have been working hard on a project that I am entering into the Polyform Products facebook contest.  They do it once a month.  They are asking for people to do something in Mokume Gane which is a technique that can be done in polymer clay.  If you don't know what that is, google is your friend. ;p 

Seriously, it's a really cool technique when done the polymer clay way.  Unfortunately in my usual gung ho way, I am trying to do a really big thing for my first project so it's taking me longer then I thought it would.  I should be finishing it up this weekend and I will post it both on facebook and here. 

I also got my new stamp from my mother-in-law's shop which has a brand new website at :  http://sunnysidestampworks.com/

I haven't had a chance to try it out because of the other project, but I should do that this weekend as well.  When I do I will post it.  If I get a good response and people seem interested, Sunnyside Stamp Works will be selling my stamps. :)  I am already working on another one, so stay tuned to see it as well.  I was hoping to have a picture of my project to post today, but I will post a "in progress" picture tomorrow.  I got sidetracked today by mounds of laundry, dishes, and cat hair. 

As always, stay happy!!

Sharon

I finally finished my design doodle.  I have been working on it for almost a week in my spare time.  I will be getting this design turned into a stamp through my mother-in-law's stamping shop.  It was hand drawn using a Pilot G-2 07 gel ink pen.  The sketch pad used was:  Strathmore Sketch premium recycled paper 5.5" x 8.5"  The size will be reduced to 4" x 6.72" to be able to fit in the pasta machine I use for rolling clay.  I will be doing other designs in the future.  Would love to see what people think of it.  If any clay craft people see this, let me know how you think it would do on clay.  I am thinking that next time I will outline a border of 4" x 6" before I start and then I won't have to reduce the size.  Because of reducing the lines are closer together then I intended and I am not sure how well that will come out in clay.  Advice from anyone that has made stamps from their own hand drawn sketches would be appreciated. :) 


Stay happy,


Sharon

Ok, so I went over some pictures of some of the projects I have done in the past.  These are some of my favorite pieces and I thought I would share them just to give you an idea of what I have done.  I haven't taken pictures of everything I did, so if some of my family and friends don't see a picture of a piece I made them, feel free to take a picture and either link it or send it to me. Unfortunately most of my craft/folk art didn't have pictures.  They were usually things I made as presents.  I only have a few pictures, hopefully they will give you an idea of the different kinds of things I make.

These are a few of my ceramic pieces.  I don't do ceramics anymore because I don't have access to a wheel and kiln.  These pieces were made at Bellevue College.  I live in a small town now that doesn't have a community college.  Some day maybe I will be able to afford to buy my own kiln and wheel.




This is a planter I made.  I got the idea one day when my cat was playing with one of my plants. ;p

This was done using a ceramic technique called Raku, which is a type of firing.  I loved doing raku, and I wish I had somewhere around here to do it again.  Had alot of fun creating stuff with the Raku firing method.

This piece suffered some problems with the glaze.  We had a bad batch that ruined some pieces.  I was lucky, this was the only one of my pieces affected, but I liked it enough even with the smearing.

This piece I threw on a wheel and then hand carved.  I originally was going to do a color wash, but I just fell in love with it as is.

This piece is called "Masquerade".  It was featured in the Bellevue College student art exhibit of 1999.  I was so proud I could have burst.  I had many offers to buy it, but I just couldn't part with it.  It was my first major piece and hangs to this day in my home.  It is made with ceramics using a Jackson Pollock method.  It incorporates feathers and glass beads.  I was inspired by Mardi Gras.

As you can see this piece has suffered some damage.  It used to have a headdress on top, unfortunately it broke during my move from western Washington state to central.  I plan on someday fixing the edge and maybe adding a new headdress although not with ceramics as was the original.

This is one of my favorite pieces.  It was thrown on a wheel and then fired using the Raku firing method.  I experimented with glazes and got this wonderful lizard like texture.  It's hard to see here, but it has iridescence.  I included three views because each side is different and I couldn't decide which one to show. ;p

This is a ceramic tray.  I used a painting technique to create the scene.  It came out better then I hoped for.

Here is another piece using Raku.  It was a test piece for my experiments using glaze, but it came out so cool that I kept it.

This piece is a stylized teacup and teabag holder.  The teacup actually comes off as you can see below.  It was created as a display piece.

Here is one of my more whimsical pieces.  It is a soup toureen.

Here are a couple of my paintings.  I don't paint paintings much, I have no wall space, and I am involved in so many projects, I don't really have the time to devote to painting anymore.

This is one of the first scenic pictures I ever painted.  I liked the way it turned out enough to keep it.

This piece means alot to me.  It was made at one of the most turbulent times of my life and was part of my way of saying thank you to my mother for all of the support and love she gave me during that time.  Sadly she passed away a few years ago, but till she did this painting was her favorite and hung in a place of honor in her home.


Here are a couple of things I made for some friends a few years ago.  I was experimenting with thin guage metal.

This is copper metal, the design was traced and embossed using a stylus by hand.  It is mounted on a black painted wood board.  My friend makes beer and it seemed appropriate.

This was the matching card I made for it, hand painted.

This card was made as a match to the box, I hand painted the card and added the metal disc that I hand embossed.

This box was hand painted and contained a necklace for my friend.



This was a project that I did with my sister-in-law and niece.  We each made a 3 picture stained glass using plastic transparencies that I ran through an ink jet printer for the outline and was then colored with permanent markers.

These are presents I made for a few of my son's teachers when he was little.  I didn't have much money, but I used a variety of media and tried to make something unique that they could each enjoy.  The candle holders were made with plaster which I made the molds for using paper.  I painted them with acrylic and a high gloss varnish.  I bought the pots and painted those as well.  The little things on sticks are felt sewn by hand and mounted with hot glue on wooden dowels I painted black.

And finally, I made this suncatcher last week.  I had fun making it so I am making some more.  I will post the others as I finish them.  I got the idea for this off of pinterest.

Well, that's it.  This is just a small sample of things I have done.  I will post more things as I make them.  After I am done with the suncatchers I am going to be starting with polymer clay.  Ceramics and polymer clay are alike enough to scratch that pottery bug I have.  They both have advantages and disadvantages.  I am hoping to create some cool things using the polymer clay, while exploring how far I can take it. :)

Hope everyone likes my creations.

Stay happy,

Sharon

Hey everyone!

Ok, so I have been meaning to do this for awhile.  This will give me a way to post the projects I am working on with pictures and maybe instructions.  I will be able to link this to Facebook and Pinterest.  Hopefully my stuff is interesting enough to people that they get something out of it.  If nothing else its a fancy journal for keeping my thoughts and focus. 

Anyways, I will be uploading stuff in the next couple of days as a start.  I don't know how often I will update this.  I will try to commit to at least once a week.  I might do more if I finish more then one project, we will see.  I don't want to overwhelm myself.  The purpose is to put some of what I am doing out there and, if I am lucky, get some feedback.

Look for more information this week.

Stay happy,

Sharon