For a first time experiment to make an insect with translucent wings, I think this turned out pretty great. I’m going to make a new, better cicada now with the knowledge I have obtained from this one. Thank you, original cicada.
He’s propped up against my phone to tip him up towards the light, in case you were wondering.
Okay, now I know what I’m doing. I’m making some three-dimensional beetles and other insects, maybe some moths or cicadas that I will mount on boards. I just finished a nice beetle using a combination of polymer clay, wire wrapping techniques and composite gold leaf.
It’s about two inches long, to give you some proportions. I think it’s coming along great. We’ll see how this project develops.
Sometimes, as a crafty crafterperson, the bug bites you (so to speak) and you must create something RIGHT NOW. That’s what happened to me last week. I suddenly desperately needed to make beetle molds out of polymer clay. I stayed up until 1:00 in the morning for a couple of nights, toiling over teeny tiny bits of clay, and voila: polymer beetles made from molds.
The pieces are all black, but I painted them gold so you can see the details better. I have absolutely no idea why I made these, but I figure in time a reason will come to me.
I finished making all the changes to the orb frame. I inverted the black and white parts so it can be made into a rubber stamp, and after I order it, I’m going to use it for my polymer work. Methinks it’s gonna look pretty durn rad.
It’s coming along great. I spent about four hours figuring out how I wanted it to organize itself, and I think I got a nice look. It’s well-balanced. It’s not quite done yet, I still have to put in some clearer delineation, but otherwise, I’m pleased with it.
My thistle drawing from last week wasn’t doing what I needed it to do, so I looked through this book I just got for inspiration. It’s called Fancy Design 1920.
I looked through and came up with a new design that is more in the direction that I want to be heading.
I’ll keep you appraised of the development.
I haven’t blogged at all this week because absolutely nothing of interest has happened this week. You want to hear about the RFP I designed this week? It had a lot of charts. No? Okay. I also started working on a frame design that I want to execute in polymer clay, a frame with thistles on it. I have learned that thistles are a colossal pain in the butt to design. Stupid thistles. Here’s what I have so far.
It’s a start. There aren’t any leaves yet, so I have to work on that. And I have to decide if I want insects on it as well. We’ll see how it develops.
I didn’t really see the possibilities in polymer clay before because most of the work out there is, for lack of a better work, clunky. There was nothing delicate, nothing precise and defined. And then I found Jeffrey Lloyd Dever. JLD is a renowned polymer artist. He’s in galleries. He’s in museums. He is my polymer hero.
I mean, look at this sculptural teapot, for crying out loud. How awesome is this thing?
It is also over $4,000. I don’t often use emoticons, but I will make an exception here. 🙁
One of the reasons I went to this convention was to study at the feet of the master. I consider myself able to speak fairly coherently, but when I met Jeffrey Lloyd Dever, I turned into a total three-year-old. (“HELLO. I CAME TO THIS CONVENTION BECAUSE I LOVE YOU.”) However, he seemed to be okay with that, and he gracefully dealt with my tendency to stare unblinkingly at him whenever he was around.* But the best thing was that JLD had a few pieces for sale. Granted, they were pricey, but not atrociously so. And… I bought one. I totally did! It’s a little piece. It’s supposed to be worn as a pin, but I intend to get a small shadowbox and hang it on the wall. I loves it so very much. It’s like owning an original da Vinci for me. Here’s a crappity picture I took of it.
*What? He might do something creative and genius and I would miss it. Must… maintain… constant… eye contact…
I bet you thought I was dead, didn’t you? Well, I wasn’t! I was at a convention in Baltimore, my very first convention about anything. It was for polymer clay. As you may or may not know, I have taken an interest in polymer clay lately because I see buckets of potential in it. I wrote a whole entry on it previously. The convention was lovely, I must say. Everyone was really nice and informative and I learned all kinds of new techniques and what the material is capable of, etc.. I took a whole mess of notes. Unfortunately from a picture-taking angle, we didn’t actually make anything. We just learned about making things. So almost all of my classes looked like this:
And we were not allowed to take pictures in the gallery or exhibition hall, so I have no cool pictures of the convention to share with you. However, I am able to show you some pictures of the hotel we were in. It was so very pretty. It’s called the Tremont Grand on St. Paul Street in Baltimore. It was built as a Masonic Hall in 18-something-something, and the architecture is impressive. It’s not how I would decorate my house, but it is definitely stunning.
And the architecture in Baltimore itself, oh, it is something else. The many crack-addled people sauntering around the neighborhood the hotel was located in (anybody see The Wire? Yeah, it was like that), even they looked beautiful against the turrets and bay windows and columns. It’s just beautiful. Here’s a building that caught my eye. I wouldn’t mind living there, not one bit.
And here’s a building from the Art Deco period with owls (must I remind you of my feelings for owls?), but more importantly, angry sparrows! And the city’s mascot, the crab!
Tomorrow I will tell you of my exciting Baltimore convention purchase.
Upon arriving to work the other day, I was greeted by the Imperial March blaring from gigantor speakers outside my office. When I leaned out a window to see what was going on, I was greeted by this sight:
Yeah, so Foot Locker is coming out with Star Wars-themed shoes. This is to bring awareness of the shoes to the public. Following the “standing there” portion of the morning, Darth and the storm troopers decided it would a good idea to weave through midtown traffic. I don’t know, Darth Vader looks considerably less imposing when trotting past a Sunglass Hut. Note there are very few storm troopers behind them because they cannot navigate around the cabs. It was a weird morning.
But on a totally different note, I designed something purty! Most of the work I do here is not particularly creative, but every once in a while I get to bust out my artsy chops and bring the illustrating hammer down. Which I did this week. There was a request for graphics representing “growth”, “new talent”, “leadership”, and “regional offices”. And they liked what I did, so the illustrations made it into the book we produced.
