Happy New Year!

So it's 2011. As I tell my kids...Odd years are always better than even. I hope everyone had a safe and happy new year's eve. Although it appears from my blog that I haven't been doing anything, I have been very busy. I leave tomorrow for Dallas, Tx to teach my face cane class. I am glad it was this weekend instead of last because I think both Charlotte and Dallas got hit with a snow storm. I know it may not seem much to you Northerners (which I was once) but for us Southerners is can be crippling. Everyone runs to the store to buy bread and milk. Whereas I know the two things I can't run out of are toilet paper and diet coke. But I digress...as far as my claying I have been in copy mode. I made a necklace for my daughter-in-law for Christmas that I stole the idea from Carol Blackburn. It was one of her spirally (is that a word?) type. I did write and tell her that I was stealing her idea. As I told her I thought my daughter-in-law would like her art better than mine. She did like it but I forgot to take a picture of it to show you. I have also been channeling Carol Simmons and her kaleidoscope canes. I have pictured several of the disks that I have made from a Carol inspired cane. My plan was to make some pendants for some friends. I got behind. They got nothing. Geesh what kind of friend am I?

I have started work on a new mosaic cane. I am excited about this one. It will be a few weeks before it is done. I am constructing it a little differently so that I will be able to get some slices of it before it gets reduced. I will keep you posted.

I also have pictured a collaborative piece that I worked on with Hollie Mion. Sorry it's not a better picture. I was too lazy to pull out the lights. I gave her some of my da Vinci cane and she mounted it in silver. I love the way it turned out. I am hoping to get into silver work. The silver clay kind because Santa brought me a kiln for Christmas. As I tell my children when they see all their loot under the Christmas tree, "I (They) must have been better than I remember this year!"

Sorry it has been so long since I posted. I will try to be better this year.

Christmas Gift Ideas

So Thanksgiving is over. Anyone feeling overstuffed? It was a quiet one for me, just my son and husband. Did our traditional big meal and then fell asleep to "A Christmas Carol". Life is good!

Now it's on to the important stuff - Christmas shopping! Now if you are pressed for ideas or hints to give your significant other, let me help you. Why not ask for a "Face Cane Class" taught by yours truly. What a magnificent idea you say! Tell me more. Well there are two opportunities coming up in the near future to do just that. I will be teaching a two day Face Cane workshop in Texas on Jan 15 and 16, 2011. This is being hosted by the North Texas Polymer Clay Guild. This will be two fun filled and jam packed days where we will build a complete face cane. See the picture above. I really like these black and white graphic canes. You can easily add color punch with a border around or leave them plain when making your pendants and other jewelry. If you are interested in this class )and I think there are still a few spots left) contact Babette Cox at Babette@BabetteCox.com Here is a web page that tells more about it.

If you are on the East Coast I will be teaching a one day face cane class as part of Cabin Fever Clay Fest in Maryland on Feb 19. Come join me along with other polymer artists such as Judith Skinner, Jeff Dever, Sarah Shriver and more. (I just love having my name associated with such great artists) In this class we will building a cane with just the features of a woman. I have been to Cabin Fever many times as a student and it is very well run. To hear more go here.

These classes are not made for the beginning clayer, But if you have been claying awhile and you want to take your caning to the next level (and have one Hell of a good time) then ask your Hubby to give you a class with Julie Eakes for Christmas this year!

Niche Award Finalist

Ok I don't know how to tell y'all something I find hard to believe. Today I received an email informing me that I am a finalist in the 2011 Niche Awards for polymer clay. I barely made the cut off for the entry but boy I am glad I did. I am very honored. The winners will be announced in Feb. These are the two pieces that I entered. I am not sure which one was selected. It has motivated me to get back to creating my own art. I have enjoyed teaching but it sure takes up a lot of time.

Speaking of teaching I just got back from Wisconsin and the Polymer Clay Fest. I had a great time. It was a small gathering but a good group. I had my first problem with TSA and clay. I had some clay that I needed for class in my carry on bag and they wouldn't let me take it thru. I told them I had taken clay on several flights but all they said was "well you're not taking it on this one". Insert expletive! That meant checking another bag (and $35) and going thru security for the second time. Insert expletive! Now don't we all feel safer now. Now I have two knee replacements so I am used to delays at security but coming home it was the first time I ever got a full body pat down. I had to listen to this woman explain how she was going to use the back of her hand for sensitive areas like my buttocks and breasts. Oh what fun. Yes you can insert expletive here too. I hated to tell her that I could have had a grenade between my boobs that she would not have felt but I didn't want to push it. I couldn't believe that they couldn't afford a metal detector wand. OK that's enough bitching about my flight. Back to the good news - A Niche Finalists Wow!

It's Here! It's Here!

Oh happy day! My Simmons Slicer is here! I got it put together and I was slicing away in no time. I have two retreats coming up that I am teaching at. (Clay Fest in Wisconsin and Clay Carnival in Vegas) Both are having swaps. Now if you know me at all you know I haven't even thought about what I am going to do for my swaps. Well after today I don't have to worry about it. This baby can slice up any cane into thin and even slices. It's just a matter of making the back and applying the slice. And I can get so much out of an inch of cane.
I have been working on finishing some pieces for sale at above mentioned retreats. I will definitely make use of my slicer. I will post some pics when I get them finished.
It's back to slicing.

Come See Me!

Well it's only a few weeks until Cabin Clay Fest in Wausau, Wi. I will be teaching a caning class there. Kathryn tells me that there are still a few spots left so I hope y'all can join us. It's going to be a great time. (Of course it will! I will be there!) There is also a pre-confernece class with Jeff Dever. I have taken many classes over the years and I have to say that Jeff's class is one of the best that I have ever taken. I just love his style of polymner art and he is a wonderful instructor. I don't think he teaches many classes and you should really take advantage of the opportunity.

IF YOU WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT THE CLAY FEST GO HERE.

Other news - I am still waiting for my Simmon's Slicer. A few changes were made and I think it will be here soon. I can hardly stand the waiting. That's the good news. The bad news is I think that I have become allergic to something in my studio. It seems like I am well one week and then I work on a project and BAM! the nose starts running, I'm sneezing, sinus headache, etc. At first I thought it was the super glue but I wasn't using that the last time. I was baking though. Maybe my oven needs to cleaned out from all the polymer residue. Anybody else out there ever experience this?

I will be going to Asheville this weekend for our October Clay Play day. It has been a long time since I have been able to make a meeting so I am excited. It's a special day and is open to anyone if you are in the area stop by.

Check out this link that Cynthia Tinapple sent to me. I loved it.

That's all for now.

Finished Pieces

I know it is rare for me to finish many pieces but here are two. One is a pendant the other a wall hanging. For the pendant I tried to give it a look of a framed masterpiece. I worked up some intricate caning for the "gilded" frame. The other is my "end piece" mosaic. I added it to a canvas that I covered with clay.

I just got back from a class with Kathleen Dustin. It was in Santa Fe and it was wonderful. She was trying to help us all find our own voice with our art. I came with an idea of doing an organic piece but after talking with Kathleen I had renewed vision of my mosaics. I only had a small section of my latest cane with me but I worked on some new shapes and designs with it. I left with a new plan for more mosaics. To tell you the truth it was hard working in Santa Fe because we were on this lovely porch overlooking the mountains. I know... life it hard sometimes.

I am back home now putting the finishing touches on my book and my class for craftedu.com. Yes there are still boxes to unload but I figure they aren't going anywhere!

Another SLICE of Heaven!

If you have been following my blog you have read about my trials and tribulations over slicing one of my canes. Well you can see by the pictures that I have finally found a solution. Last May I met the Caner Extraordinaire Carol Simmons at a retreat. If you haven't seen her work you should crawl out of that rock that you are under and Google her. Her canes are amazing. Her technique is one that you want to slap yourself in the head over. (But you'll have to learn that from her. I was lucky that I heard her speak at Synergy this year.) Anyway, I was happy to be invited to her lovely home in Colorado. (Did you know that Denver, the Mile High city, is really flat??? I need to get out more. ... I know I digress.) Carol has been working with a friend and engineer on a new slicing machine. Well I almost slipped on my drool while using it. It is hard to explain how thin these slices can be. In fact, Carol kept asking me why I was dialing them up to be so "thick". I told her my brain just couldn't handle the really thin slices. Actually the makeup of the mosaics meant that they need to be a little "thicker" so as not to come apart. And by "thicker" I mean really thin. We put the largest cane I had with me which was my first mosaic cane. I'd say about 4 inches high. It sliced thru it like butter. Thin! Even! Easy! Drool! Drool! I have signed up to buy the first slicer. Now I don't think that this will be the must have item for all clayers but for me it was invaluable. Nothing worse than working three weeks on a cane to have it fall victim to crappy slicing. If you think about all you could do with thin, even slices you took will fall in love with this machine. Think of the things that you could cover. If you don't have equal slices when you go to apply them to an object you get distortion when smoothing them in. Or perhaps Mokume Gane is your love. Get your hanky out because I see drool coming. So far there are only two or three of these things in existence. I know we came up with a few modifications that need to be made. Ok now you have come to the end of this commercial... you know the part when you hear the bad news. I think it is going to sell for around $700. I bet that stopped the drool in mid-spit. For me it was worth it. Keep an eye on Carol's website for more information.