I need to start this week's blog by going back to Week 5 of the 52 Earrings in a Year Challenge... I wasn't very well last week (still not feeling too good mind you) and didn't have the chance to get my earrings made in time....so I will briefly mention them now....
I actually started Week 5 with an idea for a pendant. With all this lovely weather I have gone back to a beach theme and being a Geologist, whenever I think of the beach...I think fossils....Ammonites! So, I decided to make a jellyroll cane that looked 'kind of' like an Ammonite. I made it using green, blue and black clay but found that it was too dark. It definitely needed brightening up! I tried to achieve this by wrapping multiple layers of 'brighter colours' around the cane and ended up with this.....
I really liked the style of pendant I had made earlier in May for The Beach, and decided to make a similar one using this cane. I wanted to make a bright, bold pendant that would really catch a person's attention. Hopefully I have managed to achieve this.....
I was going to cut a slice a cane with the Ammonite spiral in the middle and then make this into a pair of earrings but it didn't look right. So I ended up taking slithers of the cane and placing them onto a sheet of clay. Putting this through the largest setting on my pasta machine and the cutting out random circles until I found the 'one'. I think this worked better....
Now onto Week 6.....
I am not sure what has been going on in my head this week (other than trying to fight off a nasty case of the flu) ... but I made these...
The idea just sprang out of nowhere! I was happily chopping out rectangles of stripey clay and randomly decided to crumple them up! It was almost impossible to make the crumples symmetrical but I did have a good try.... After they had been cured and sanded I noticed the thin turquoise strip running down the length of the bead. I decided to accentuate this with a strand of a very vibrant turquoise Tiger Tail and some seed beads. I wanted to liven the beads up, bring out some of the colours and make them a bit more funky!
Of course......I can't make earrings without making a pendant to match......
I am essentially a lampwork glass artist but I am really enjoying this challenge because it is giving me a chance to work with Polymer Clay and I am learning so much. I think it will be interesting in a year's time to see if/how much I have progressed.
Sarah xx