More PMC

It's so easy to add stones to your pieces with PMC. (Precious Metal Clay)

I used lab grown gems- less likely to crack.

You can put the stones in before firing and don't need anything special to "set" them with.

The tiny leaf was done with the slip form of PMC. You can paint this over any organic matter, leaves twigs, butterfly wings!- or use paper clay or cork clay- and it creates a replica in silver. The organics burn away and you are left with just the silver piece.

These pieces were done with simple slab techniques. Just roll the clay out, texture, cut, layer.

I don't think you could ever run out of possibilities with this.

Lots of options for textures. I used stamps and texture sheets from Krafty Lady plus some laces and metal texture sheets.

I've ordered more texture plates. *sigh* So many cool tools available for this stuff.
I need to get a few punch shapes, too.

I used some blacking on these pieces after they were polished to bring out the lines and textures.

I think I used some of the syringe clay on the upper left piece.

PMC

I still haven't gotten brave enough to fire up the new kiln.
I've been pretty busy with Christmas preparations anyway.

I do want to make a couple of things with PMC for Christams presents though- so I guess I need to find some courage somewhere.

I have some pieces I made in class with Linda Hanson that I will be using as gifts. :)

Somebody likes me....

Another artist, who I admire greatly, asked me to contribute to a community weblog she created.

Susan Reynolds- be sure to check out her stuff. She is great.

http://susanreynolds.blogs.com/museumofpaper/2005/11/zeborah_loray_m.html

Getting set up for working with PMC

I have my equipment and supplies for working with PMC now.
PMC= Precious Metal Clay

The kiln is small and doesn't take up much space- the rock tumbler for polishing pieces is small too. You really don't need a lot of studio space to dedicate to this.

Now I just have to get brave enough to open a package of PMC and start creating something with it.

I've taken two classes from Linda Hanson of After Midnight Art Stamps. Loved the classes- turned out some work I was pretty happy with.

It is a lot more intimidating when I'm by myself. My muse needs some courage.

Rust

I bought some more "rusting solution" from Modern Options. I love this stuff.
It is great to be able to make anything you want rust. Paper, plastic, wood, leather, you can apply this stuff to anything. Not sure what I will do with these.

I experimented with the texture mats from Krafty Lady molds with a couple of these. Textured rust. Cool.

East Meets West

One of the on line groups I'm with always has interesting ideas for projects. Jessica, creator of A Musings newsletter was talking about Zen gardens. I've always admired the simplicity and serenity of Zen gardens.

Someone (Barb?) mentioned that the project I did for the found object contest on amstamps looked like it belonged in a Zen garden. AHA! Now I knew what to use for the Zen garden I had been planning.

I put it on some lovely sand and found some nice smooth river rocks.

My muse wandered in. Her hair, dyed a horrific shade of magenta, hadn't been combed recently. She was wearing a poorly fitting gold lame' gown, some truly tacky costume jewelry and way too much gaudy makeup.

She put her cigarette out in the nice clean sand and said, "That ain't workin' ".

I don't know how she talks me into these things.

What can I say? I do admire the simplicity and serenity of traditional Zen Gardens. But I also grew up in Las Vegas.

Top view

Asian influence

This piece was created for a found object challenge with the After Midnight art stamps group. It started with a plastic film canister and some small plastic tie down strips.

Polyclay. How do I hate thee...

Let me count the ways.

1. PIA to condition. Finally got a pasta machine. It helps. It is still a PIA.

2. Lots of ugly colors. OK- I only buy it when it is on sale- and the colors on sale are all the ugly ones- but still...

3. I cannot get it to be smooth. Other people can. I think I don't have the patience for it.

4. How do you tell when it is actually baked completely? I never know if it is really cured properly or not.

5. Thin pieces are very brittle. It breaks easily.

6. It is hard to use in the molds. You can't get a thin piece to mold decently. It pops out of the mold when you are trying to get a good impression and moves around on you. PIA.

7. It shows every little fingerprint and you have to be really careful not to bump it or anything.

8. It picks up random bits of this and that and you can't get anything off it without ruining the piece.

9. It is hard to move it from one place to another before it's baked without distorting it. so you end up having to work on a surface that can go into the oven.

10. It stinks.

11. I know it is toxic and I always worry about the residue that might be left on my hands and the fumes from baking it.

12. It takes too many steps to do any of the cool stuff with it- and then you have to bake it and cool it and... too time intensive for instant gratification girl here...

I could keep going, but I think you get the idea.

I do not like polyclays.

Finished the stick guy

I finished up my 'stick guy'. He ended up with a good bit of attitude. LOL
This was done for a challenge on one of my stamping lists.

http://www.amstamps.com/contestsandswaps.html

Used the Ranger alcohol inks to color the stand for him. Love working with that stuff on glass.

Journal Covers

I always keep blank books around. I don't use them as often as I should- but I love embellishing the covers.

I did these for an art show/sale I'm participating in this weekend. This is my first try at this type of venue. NO clue if my work will sell. The other artists are all "real" artists working in traditional mediums.

Hanging out with the other artists will be fun anyway. I love talking to other artists. Doesn't matter what type of artwork they do, I just love hearing about the process.

Not even sure what else I wil bring to this. And I have to decide - tonight. Tonight is the set up time.
Nothing like procrastinating. Queen of the Last Minute here.

Earth Goddess shrine

Working with that Delight air dry clay and embossing powder mixture some more. I like this more and more as I play with it. I added some powdered paint pigments to this piece.

Had fun going through my stash of "stuff" looking for earthy elements. I like the "shrine" concept. Hope to do more of these.

I'll at least have to do "Air" "Fire" and "Water" Goddess Shrines to go with this one.

Another take on air dry clay

It seems like I'm always experimenting with the materials in my studio. I decided to add some embossing powder to the Delight air dry clay before molding it. I let it dry and then hit it with the heat gun.

Not sure what I was expecting, but what I got was what looked very like a carved stone. No distortion of the molded piece to speak of. I think I may be on to something here. :)

More air dry clay

I like these air dry clays. I've been working with the Delight brand the last few days. Very lightweight- no mess, no odor, and you don't have to bake it. Picks up the detail in molds very well.

I've done some faux raku using the air dry clays. I let it dry, then use stamping inks and clear embossing powder on them. You lose some of the detail in stamped or impressed patterns, but you get a nice finish. I like the textures and colors.

Ok- so I,m not any better at keeping this updated...

I've been busy. That and my friend, Juliet, got me some new mindless video games. I waste way too much time playing video games.
I actually stamped something today. I am playing with tetrahexaflexagons. They are easier to make than I thought they would be. I got excellent instructions and a template from Annette from OZ. I'll be posting a link here soon for a webpage I'm putting up showing the "how tos" on these.

Speaking of Annette- it's funny how the internet can let you connect with people in other parts of the world- people you would never have been aware of otherwise. Annette is another artist that I really click with. Love bouncing ideas back and forth with her. She always has a totally unique take on things.

I've also been playing with the Kaleidoscope Kreator software. Another very addictive little computer toy.

Finding things

I have got to clean up and re-organize the studio. I can't find anything.

I was looking for my chalk pastels today. Couldn't find them. I remembered seeing them out and thinking, "I haven't use those in a while- I should put them away". I have two sets of these. I found both sets and put them someplace.

Where?
Who knows.

If you have two sets of something- NEVER put them away together. Why do you have two sets in the first place? Because you couldn't find them and ended up buying another one.
So if you store them in different places you will double your odds on being able to find them when you need them.

I'm working with some Porcelain Craft Clay again. Nice stuff. Airdry clay by Amaco.

I've been designing rubber stamps again. I'm using old photos and doing collage work with them this time.

Something new for me.

I have a wonderful mentor in this, Lea Cioci. I love her work.
She has been so supportive and helpful as I've been trying out this new approach.


I don't think I can come up with anything that approaches the quality of her collage work- but I am having fun with it.

I've been stealing images from My DIL, Jax Raven, and one of best best artist buddies, Tammy Schaaf.
I should probably mention this to them. LOL

They are both very generous with me though. I don't think they will mind. :)

The little heart at the top of this image is one Tammy drew- and the heartleaf background is Jax's.

Random Musings on art

Guess I'll give this a try.

I have a webpage where I post current work- but it hasn't been kept very current. Maybe having a page where I can post snippets without having to hand code everything and upload them to my server will get me to actually post stuff more often.

We shall see.