Finally, photos

Today, I finally got around to taking photos of my work for my Etsy shop.  I had hoped to take them outside, in natural lighting, but had to opt for my living room instead since the outdoor light wasn't ideal.  This multi-strand necklace consists of seven of my polymer clay beads, shell beads, vintage brass chain and vintage brass beads.

A new necklace

Here is another necklace I recently finished.  One of my favorites, it is a double stranded necklace composed of handcrafted polymer clay beads and vintage brass components.  The brass spacer beads came from an amazing brass necklace made in the 1970's that I picked up at an antique market in July.  I love them so much.  They've incorporated quite well into my new work and I will be sad when they are all used up.

The polymer clay beads were featured in a previous post as they basked in the sun after a final dip in the glaze.

Again, I promise to take more professional photos rather than using my Hipstamatic app and my iPhone :) But I must admit, the Hipstamatic photos seem to have captured the warmth of the brass rather well.

More to come! Be well dear readers.

Works in progress

Here is a little sneak peak at what I've been working on as of late.  A few sets of beads basking in the sun.  These lassies have all been sanded using 400 and 800-grit sandpaper, glazed 3 times and are now ready to be strung.  I'm just awaiting a few more essential findings. 

                                                                         

Gustav and the Klimt Cane

It's funny- the inspiration for the color scheme of the Klimt cane I posted about was the image below- a dessert dish from Anthropologie depicting colorful Koi frolicking amongst the seaweed.  Now, I am being honest with myself by admitting that I did not nail the color likeness.  At all.

                               

Though many things were off, I think the greens were the main culprit.  Not only did I not mix them to the appropriate shade, but they took over the entire palette.  The result, I think, resembles more of the palette of a Klimt painting. (Ever. so. slightly.  Klimt's palette is absolutely genius. My beads are more of a reference to his work.)

                                          

   Gustav Klimt. Portrait of Emilie Flöge. 1902. Oil on canvas. Historical Museum of the City of Vienna, Vienna, Austria

Gustav Klimt (July 14, 1862 - February 6, 1918) was an Austrian Symbolist painter and prominent member of the Vienna Secessionist Movement and is this polymer clay cane's name's sake.  The pattern of ovals, squares and rectangles echoes the decorative motifs the artist utilized in so much of his work.

            Gustave Klimt. Hope II. 1907-1908. Oil and gold on canvas. Museum of Modern Arts, New York, NY

This observation, paired with my recent beautiful vintage raw brass findings acquisition, has given me the idea to do a series based on Klimt paintings and their palettes.  I think it will be a suitable homage to one of my favorite artists.

Gustav Klimt. The Beethoven Frieze: The Longing. Right wall. 1902. The Österreichische Galerie Belvedere, Vienna, Austria.

Klimt cane and a day of pendant experiments

[First off, allow me to apologize for the mediocre photos.  I have to take them in the daylight, using my actual camera instead of my phone's camera.  The lighting here is pretty poor and the camera's flash was blowing out all of the colors so I used my phone's camera instead.]

This past Sunday I was finally able to devote some serious time to working on my polymer clay beads.  I thought I'd share a sampling of what I came up with. 

These lovelies were made using a Klimt, or retro, cane design.  I'm very happy with the end result and I am very excited about the plans I have for them.  However, they still have a lot of prep work ahead of them before they are ready to be strung and donned around the neck.  The final steps of sanding and the varnishing can be rather tedious but I believe that the time put in pays off in the end.

The image above shows two of the six pendants I designed.  This was an experiment that I had been thinking about for quite some time now.  It again utilized the Klimt Cane- at left, before reduction and at fight, after the cane was further reduced and then quartered.  Again, the clay will be sanded to a smooth, level surface and then encapsulated in a pool of resin that will be poured into the bezel settings, atop the baked polymer clay.  I can't wait to get started on this. 

I also ordered some lovely raw brass vintage findings today.  They make me swoon.  I can't wait until they are sitting at my doorstep.  My (soon to be) pretties: a simple solid brass chain that I plan to use with the Klimt beads, raw brass head pins, and stunning vintage brass leaves on stem branch findings that I will use for wrapped filigree.  So inspiring, they've already given me ideas for future polymer clay jewelery designs.

I'll be sure to photograph them (in better lighting) as soon as they arrive!