A Review of May 2010

This month I have tried to concentrate on making my first Art-Brooches from polymer clay. Apart from the last, heart-shaped one, they are all circular. I am so pleased to have finally found some good circle cutters that keep their shape, I seem to be going circle crazy. The cutters are made from plastic and have been well-designed, so they do not distort, which is the problem I have found with all the circular metal cutters I have tried. They came from a kitchen clearance shop, so unfortunately are no longer made – I will have to treasure them with my life!

I really need to work on the finishing the canvases for the brooches I have made so far. Once I have done these, I will re-photograph the brooches, on the canvases, and add the complete Art-Brooch photos to the GALLERY.

After much research and deliberation, I have decided to use the 3/4" deep canvases, which look much more in proportion with my brooches - I always felt the deeper 1.5" block canvases, that I originally used, looked too 'chunky'. Here in New Zealand, I cannot get these slimmer canvases (in the brand I want to use, which has the canvas neatly finished on the back) in the small rectangular dimensions I would like. So, to overcome this, I will just use 6"x6" canvases and paint coloured bands down each side where I need the central piece to be more rectangular, for elongated brooch shapes. As all the canvases will be a consistent size, it will make displaying much easier. I intend to re-mount Art-Brooches CF032 - CF035, on the slimmer canvases and think they will look much better (will post some photos when they are finished).

Rather than jumping from one technique to another (which what I seem to be doing at the moment, as I want to try everything now), I think I should work my way gradually through each technique, perfecting my ability to a reasonable standard before moving on. I will make several brooches, using a specific technique, and keep the best one as an example for my proposed future exhibition (see post Wednesday May 26, 2010).

End of “Anything Goes” Exhibition

Arrived this morning, to take down the exhibition, and am pleased to report that I have sold two pieces.

‘In progress’ photos

Last night I took these ‘in progress’ photos, just using my OTT (daylight) lamp, as I think I may struggle to complete them in time to photograph this coming weekend.

In progress

They still need a bit more fine sanding and each one will have resin added to certain parts to provide a glossy contrast to the matt clay surface. I am not sure whether to use MagicGlos (UV curing) or the two part mixing resin that I have. The MagicGlos gives a good domed effect but if I use this I will be relying on natural sunlight to cure it. This week we have had really wet ‘stormy’ weather here in New Zealand, as we are heading into Winter, so if I do decide to use the MagicGlos, the brooches may not be finished this weekend.

Post Note: I can see that I have returned to the comfort of some of my favourite colours, with these three brooches, after doing the 'orange-gold' one - I am really not an orange person!

More brooches in the making

This weekend I have finally finished this brooch, which I started about two weeks ago. It has taken me two weekends to track down a circle punch of the right diameter for the round piece of metal leaf - so a big thank you to Colin, for driving round every scrapbooking store on the North Shore, here in Auckland.


This is just a scan of the brooch because, with the winter nights here, there is not enough light to photograph it this evening. I need to think of a name for it - at the moment it is just called Orange-Gold.

I have also started three other brooches but they are all in various stages of production. I hope I can get them finished in time to photograph them in daylight, next weekend.

"Ocean Blue" brooch

Here is the photo of "Ocean Blue". This brooch started as a piece of blue marbled polymer clay - the colours naurally made me think of the sea.

'Brooch disappears from show'

Cutting from the North Shore Times - 7 May 2010

Opening night – and missing brooch

Here are a few photos from the opening night of the “Anything Goes” exhibition.



The highlight, or should I say lowlight, of the evening was discovering on arrival that one of my Art-Brooches had been ‘stolen’. (It must have disappeared sometime between the hanging of the exhibition on Saturday afternoon and Monday evening). The canvas was still there on the panel but the brooch was missing. I guess I should be flattered but it was disappointing that it was the brooch I had made especially for, and named after, the exhibition ("Anything Goes"). So now there is a little notice stuck on the canvas, apologising for the brooch not being there (just visible in the top centre of the photo above).


This is the missing brooch - any help in locating its whereabouts would be greatly appreciated. The design is a one-off original, with the Design Number CF036 on the back.

Finishing brooches

Spent today finishing off the brooches shown in the May 25th post, as I intend to wear one of them on the opening night of the “Anything Goes” exhibition, tomorrow. I could not wait for the rubber stamp of my initials to come, to imprint the clay backs before baking, so I will have to print it on the surface of these ones at a later date. It was quite tedious but I spent a good part of the afternoon sanding, working my way through the different grades of wet ’n’ dry sandpaper, to get a good finish.

I have also finished another brooch that I have been working on for sometime. It started as a circular piece of interesting blue marbled clay, to which I have added some white triangles to represent yacht sails and then set it in a raised darker blue rim. It will be called “Ocean Blue”. I have just put resin over the centre part, so I cannot photograph it until it has set but I will post a photo in a few days time. I am really pleased with how this one has turned out, in fact, dare I say it, it looks quite perfect.

Hanging the “Anything Goes” exhibition

Today, I went to hang the thirteen pieces (4 small paintings and 9 Art-Brooches) at the Bruce Mason Centre, Takapuna. Here is a picture of my panel, which is well positioned, being one of the first ones you see as you come in the main doors.


I am really looking forward to the opening night, on Monday 3rd May