I don't know much about art but I know what I like

First I have to say that I am happy with the sales of my class on CraftEdu. Thank you to all of you who have taken it. I haven't heard anything so I am going to assume that y'all loved the class and made beautiful canes. And if you didn't I surely wouldn't write about that here! It took me a long time to do the class and I have an idea for another class. This one will be more project oriented. And hopefully won't take me as long to finish. Of course I have several other projects in the works so there is no telling when I will get that class up. Stay tuned if you are interested.

If you are reading this (and it amazes me that people do read this) you know that I am into face canes. I like doing face canes because they are a challenge. I don't do shows to sell my work but I do put some items up for sales at various events that I might be teaching at or attending. Recently I was teaching at Cabin Fever in Baltimore. I have to admit I am glad that I don't do shows because I would hate trying to figure out what people like. Now I had a few items made up with my latest mosaic cane, the birth of Venus. Now this is my favorite cane. Up until now my favorite had been my African woman. I sold only one piece. Not too surprising since I have decided to up my prices a bit. But what surprised me was the reaction of my donated auction piece. This was made out of a cane I made last year. It is a mostly black and white "graphic" image. I think I could have sold several if I had had any with me. People commented that it was more wearable which I guess is true. But the amount of work that went into the birth of Venus cane and the end result (at least to me) puts it up there as a work of art. (sorry if I sound pompous here) I still like my mosaics better but I have decided to do a "pop art" piece next. I think I just wanted to be more whimsical not just bending to the desires of the public. (But hey if I sell some that wouldn't be bad either) I guess the other thing is getting that thicker skin that is required when people look at your work. Everyone in Baltimore was complimentary of my work but I have to tell you a story. As I have told you I am a bit of a media whore and I check my blog stats to see how many hits I get each day. Well not long ago I had large increase. I checked Polymer Clay Daily which is what has caused bumps in the past but that wasn't it. The best I could determine was that I had gotten mentioned on a Russian website that must be big in polymer clay. After a while I found the link. I had to use Google translator to translate a comment. Basically it said that my mosaic "wasn't that hard to do just tedious". I had a few comments for the author (I don't think Google would have been able to translate what I said!) It just brings me back to how grateful I am that I don't have to sit at table and listen to people remark on my work. My hat is off to those off you who go through that.

If you are still reading I have to assume you have no life. Sorry that I got to rambling on this post. Now go work on some clay!

New Class on CraftEdu

Well it has been a long time coming but I finally finished my class for CraftEdu.com, 5 from 1 Cane Building Class. It shows you how to make five complex canes from one simple cane. Starting tomorrow for 24 hours you will be able to purchase the class for a reduced rate. I think it is a good class. It has over an hour of detailed instruction. The class will be posted here sometime tomorrow (3/29/2011)

New Pieces

I really wanted to showcase my canes in larger form so you can see the individual canes better. I decided to put them in frames and I really like them. The smaller pieces are pins that can be worn as pendants. I get torn when it comes to putting these canes into finished pieces. Part of me says make some beads or something else to go with the focal bead but the other half of me says that something else would detract from the face. I think of them as the "new cameo". I made some simple ribbon cords to use if you want to wear them as a necklace. I hope you like them.

Here She Is!

Somebody got it right. My latest cane is of Botticelli's Venus. You can tell that she is a favorite of mine. I had previously done a cane of her as shown in the second picture. For the mosaic version I opted to make it in the 6 segments which allowed me to take a couple of slices off before I joined the pieces prior to reduction. I cut off the end as I had done on the da Vinci cane. Because I built it in pieces I was not totally happy with the way the pieces looked when I put them together. You can sort of see where the segments were joined. I will try to remember to post a picture of this at some time. I am happy to report that the reduction went well. I was a little worried because some of my Kato clay of late has been a bit mushy. I don't know why the companies can't come up with a consistent product. I really think I am going to have to give fimo classic a try. I am trying to get a few finished pieces with this new cane to take with me to Cabin Fever Clay Festival where I am teaching next Saturday.

Final two pieces

No guess yet on what my latest mosaic is. I will tell you that I did the reduction this morning and she came out beautifully. I have to say she is my favorite cane so far. I will be debuting pieces for sale at Cabin Fever Clay Festival in Maryland in a few weeks. That is if I can get some pieces finished by then.

parts 3 and 4

OK Here are the next two parts. Can you tell what it is yet? I'll be posting the final two parts soon. I am actually going to try to do the reduction tomorrow.

One step closer

Here is the next part of my latest mosaic. Can you tell what it is? I ended up having to replace quite a few pieces in this one. I am a little concerned that I don't have the contrast right. I actually have 5 of the six segments completed I just haven't taken their pictures yet. As usual I am worried that it is not coming out right. But I am pressing on.

The other picture is a credit card holder that I made for a friend of mine. I covered a bungee type card holder with a sutton slice veneer. It looks better in person. I wanted to show that I do more than just canes.