It's done!

Ok First I have to apologize for last nights whining. Did I fail to mention I also started a diet. Thanks for those who wrote and advised me to step away from the clay. I took you up on that and I returned with a blade. GOODBYE GRINCH! Here is the finished "One Armed Bandit" cane. I will admit I did have a little use of my right hand by the end but the name remains the same. As you can tell I did cut down on the size a little. I am pleased with the way it turned out. Removing the Grinch made the colors better. The one small part I am not completely satisfied with is the small squares that I used the extruder on. It was early on when I made that portion and I really only had one arm and I used a vise to hold the extruder to the table so I could use it with one arm. The finished can is 4 X 4 X 2. I won't be able to reduce it until my shoulder is more healed. I plan on making some cuff bracelets for the auction at Cabin Fever Festival which they are having to raise money for charity. Some have written and asked why I made the cane in the form of a triangle. To answer this I say look to my friend Jana Roberts Benzon. If you haven't seen it yet I would highly recommend her DVD on Arabesque Caning. I owe the success of my face canes to the techniques I learned from her.

The bandit continues

OK so I'm not crazy about some of my color choices. The green reminds me of the Grinch but alas I said I would plod on and if it turns out like @#$% then I have done it in public. Here are some pieces to this One Armed Bandit puzzle. The pieces are not packed well because this is hard to do with one hand. I know I am going against my therapists orders and using my right hand too much but it's hard to keep from using it.

Color, Color, Color???

Do y'all struggle with color? I do. I am pretty good at mixing colors but not great at coming up with a pleasing palette. Sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't. For my one armed bandit piece I decided to go with the bright colors. The cuff bracelet that I have posted pics of here was one of the first pieces that I made that I really liked. I had discovered the greatness of fine grit sandpaper and I loved the smooth finish I got. Unfortunately it was before I discovered Kato clay and the bracelet cracked. The canes were just a mish mash of canes but I liked the vibrant colors and thought I'd go for a more planned attack for this cane but get similar end results. (And hopefully better results). I have included a pic of a colored in picture to give me a better look at the colors. I use my computer a lot when planning my canes but with one arm I went back to colored pencils for this. It still gives me a look to follow. I also have included some Ikat cane slices that I made. I made these after watching Donna Kato's DVD. (I just have to add that I just love Donna Kato! It was watching her on Carol Duvall that got me into polymer clay and for that I thank her. Well more on her later) Sometimes I have a habit of creating too complex a design and it gets lost in the final results. That may be happening here but we shall see.
I hope you all had a Happy New Year!.

One armed bandit cane

This is my new project that I am working on that I call "one armed bandit" cane. Alright y'all are thinking Where's the face cane? Well I had shoulder surgery on Dec 2nd and have had my arm in a sling since then which really cuts down on your claying. Well I made this little sketch of a complex cane just for something to do and then I figured out I could do some skinner blends and Ikat canes with the use of my one arm and my trusty motor. I will post some pics of my canes later that I plan on using as components of this massive cane. I hope you enjoy the process of seeing it come together in later posts. Until then Happy New Year.