A Review of 2016

This is when I usually review the past year but this year I do not feel like I have accomplished much. Moving home at the beginning of the year took a few months out of my creative time. Four polymer clay workshops at the Estuary Arts Centre were all cancelled due to lack of interest, I had to close the Auckland  Polymer Clay Guild due to lack of participating members, and a few ideas/experiments did not amount to anything. Also, I have tried very hard not to be obsessive and spending every spare minute creating. So all in all it has been a rather depressing year in terms of promoting polymer clay and creating with it.

However, on a more positive note, I have continued with my dot mosaics and received a lot of encouraging comments on the few pieces I have shown, winning the People's Choice award at the Puhoi Art Show and selling a couple of pieces at exhibitions. This year I joined the New Zealand Mosaic Art Organisation (as the APCG no longer exists) and definitely want to continue with the dot mosaics, even if only as a hobby due to the time they take to create.

I do have another 'pocket money' project in the pipeline (Swirl-StoNZ) that needs refining before trialing it in 2017. Maybe this could provide the balance with my dot mosaics, allowing me to create some small items that are profitable to sell, as well as creating the dot mosaic artwork that I am so proud of. 

I made one of my New Year's Resolutions for 2017 to 'be proud of my creative artwork', so I must not lose sight of this in the forthcoming year.

No more polymer clay workshops for the time being

Sadly, I have decided to take a break from teaching polymer clay workshops for a year or so. This year, like previously, there has not been enough interest for the workshops to run. With only one or two, if any, students signing up, it is not viable for the local art centre to run them when they need a minimum of six students.

I will instead concentrate on my own creative work. Maybe in a year or two I will try again, looking at some new teaching material and ideas to try and attract interest in polymer clay as a creative medium.

The March issue of the local Millwater Magazine (for the area where I now live) has just been issued. Each month it has a feature interview with a local resident – and this month it is me J

My first post of 2014

This year I want to continue teaching polymer clay but for my own personal creative work I just want to "do what inspires me", as I spent so much of last year preparing teaching material and samples. In particular I want to:

1. Focus on one-off artworks/sculptures to sell through galleries, gallery stores and selected shops.
2. Experiment with lighting, starting with translucent polymer clay covered candle holders and then larger scale electric lighting (this may involve some non-polymer clay materials for larger scale pieces but it something that really inspires me).
3. Try and win an international polymer clay award, to add credibility to my teaching ability.
4. Expand locations to teach polymer clay workshops. 

A Review of 2013

When I look back at the plans I had for 2013, some have been more successful than others.

1.    Re-establish a monthly market spot – maybe the Devonport Craft Market or back to Coatesville Market. I started with the Devonport Craft Market for a couple of months, as this was specifically a 'craft' market and only a ferry ride from the city centre for tourists. I hoped it would be better for me than the farmers markets that mainly focus on food, but it did not attract large numbers of visitors. Then I discovered that a new monthly craft market had started in Browns Bay, so I tried that, hoping it would work out for me. It was so handy right on my doorstep and nice to be able to support a local market but after a couple of tries this actually turned out to be the worst market for me in terms of sales. At this point I decided that making lots of small, low cost items to sell at markets was not what I really wanted to do but that I would do the twice yearly Mission Bay markets to sell off old stock. However, the Labour Day Art & Craft Market at Mission Bay was poor  for sales this year and I reluctantly said to my husband that I would not even do that any more, as it was not returning enough to warrant his time as well as my own for the whole day. Although I will miss the customer interaction that I enjoy at markets (hopefully the teaching workshops and the Auckland Polymer Clay Guild will compensate for this), I feel it is now time to aim higher and focus on selling my work through galleries, gallery stores and selected shops.

2.    Exhibit at the Dunkleys Craft Show (North Shore) in October 2013. I had been looking forward to doing this all year but was very disappointed at the number of visitors to the show for all the time, cost and effort. Also the small number of people taking part in the daily workshops and the sign-ups that followed was disappointing. So sadly, I would not do this show again.

3.    Promote polymer clay through slide shows and demonstrations to encourage people to sign up for my workshops. I have not had the chance to pro-actively do as much of this as I would like, mainly due to my time being taken up preparing for teaching workshops and the Dunkleys show - hopefully I can do more of this next year. However, I did set up the Auckland Polymer Clay Guild in August this year (not in my plans!) and I am currently the President of this group.

4.    Expand my range of workshops to include some half day technique focussed sessions e.g. extruding with polymer clay and making canes. I have prepared a number of other workshops and now have five: Introduction to Polymer Clay, Retro Canes, Simple Canes, Polymer Clay Mosaics and Painting with Polymer Clay and am now looking to offer these at other venues, in addition to the Lake House Arts Centre, rather than running them from home. This means I do not have to spend so much time promoting and sorting the administration, which is quite time consuming when I have a limited amount of time.

5.    Complete my “50 clips for 50 years” project to promote CLIPT. This project has not happened as I had intended, in fact it has not happened at all. My original plan was to make one clip a week, illustrating a different technique. Unfortunately work, life, and exhibition, show and teaching deadlines have all taken priority. I would like to think that I will have photographs of the clips that will be featured in this book before my next birthday - but that may be a struggle with everything else that I need to do in the first few months of the new year.

Some photos from the Show

My stand at the Dunkleys Great NZ Craft Show (North Shore) 2013

A closer shot of some of my polymer clay work for sale

Here I am, ready to answer any question people might ask about polymer clay

Dunkleys Great NZ Craft Show at North Shore Events Centre, Auckland, 18-20 October 2013

Visit my stand at the show to see a wide range of work created with polymer clay. Please ask me anything you want to know about polymer clay and, if you have never tried it before, have a go at the 'Discover Polymer Clay' workshops running each day at 11am (see post below for more info).

Taster Workshops at Dunkleys Show

 It is now exactly one month until the Dunkleys Great NZ Craft Show.

SHOW SPECIAL: Discover Polymer Clay - only $7 at Dunkleys Great NZ Craft Show, North Shore Events Centre from 11am - noon on each day:
Friday 18, Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 October 2013

"Squeeze, twist, shape & bake" + lots of ideas

This is your chance to have a go. Get some in your hands and squeeze the clay to condition it, twist the different colours to create a marbled effect, cut a shape from the rolled sheet and bake it to harden. You will take this away with you, along with many ideas for things you can easily make from polymer clay, and hopefully the desire to do more.

Polymer clay comes in a vibrant array of colours; easily cut, shaped or moulded into flat or 3D pieces with many fascinating ways to decorate and texture the surface. Hardened by baking at oven temperatures (no kiln required), it is so easy to use at home for all sorts of hobbies and creative uses.

To book ring Claire on 021 0297 7697 or email claire@clairefairweather.co.nz
 

 

Delighted with the Feedback from my Kaleidoscope Canes Workshop

 

Kaleidoscope Cane Jewellery Workshop

Random Kaleidoscope canes made by the students

Jewellery made from the Kaleidoscope canes

Delighted with the Feedback from my Retro Polymer Clay Jewellery Workshop

 

Retro Cane Polymer Clay Jewellery Workshop

 

Fantastic work from my students on the workshop today. Most of them had never used polymer clay before. I think there will now be a mass purchase of Makin's extruders!

The Auckland Polymer Clay Guild is born

A little piece of history was made tonight: a first meeting was held, between four founding members, and the Auckland Polymer Clay Guild has now been established.

 

The objectives of this Guild, reflecting those of the International Polymer Clay Association, are to educate the public about polymer clay, and to study and promote an interest in the use of polymer clay as an artistic medium.

 

The Auckland Polymer Clay Guild will meet on the first Tuesday of the month for a social get together, to exchange information and news about forth-coming events, ‘show and tell’, ask for advice and to place group orders for specific products. Additional weekend demonstrations or workshops will be arranged to cover particular techniques or topics, as requested by members.

 

Membership is free and is open to anyone with an interest in polymer clay. You may already use polymer clay, perhaps you are thinking about it or just want to know more; whatever your knowledge or ability, join the Auckland Polymer Clay Guild. As a non-profit making group, we are here to help and support our members, as polymer clay grows in popularity as a leisure, hobby and fine art medium in New Zealand.

 

Please contact claire@clairefairweather.co.nz to register as a member or for further information.

Polymer clay workshops at the Lake House Arts Centre

Here is a photo from my Introduction to Polymer Clay workshop, held last weekend at the Lake House Arts Centre.

I had six lovely students, who I believe left at the end of the day with a greater knowledge of this wonderful creative medium and plenty of inspiration. Due to the limited space in my two table top ovens, we concentrated on cutting flat shapes from colour blended, marbled and textured clay. Here is the students work, which I think is great, as four of them had never used polymer clay before.

 

 

Two new workshops are planned for next term - details will be published soon. 

 



Delighted with the Feedback from my Introduction to Polymer Workshop

Introduction to Polymer Clay Workshop on Saturday 22 June 2013

This workshop is running this weekend at the Lake House Arts Centre in Takapuna, Auckland.

Application accepted for Dunkleys

After months of deliberating I finally took the plunge and applied to have a stand at Dunkleys Great NZ Craft Show when it comes to the North Shore Events Centre in Auckland, 18-20 October 2013. I am delighted to have received confirmation that my application has been accepted.

 

My main reason for doing this is to promote polymer clay and advertise my workshops but it will be interesting to see how sales compare with the markets I have been selling at so far, as it will be a different type of visitor to this event. I hope to be teaching a workshop on each of the three days of the show, as well as demonstrating on my stand, and would love to generate enough interest to set up an Auckland Polymer Clay Guild.

Introduction to Polymer Clay Workshops at the Lake House

Contact the Lake House Arts Centre on 09 486 4877 or info@lakehousearts.org.nz
See www.lakehousearts.org.nz for more information on their Arts Programme for January - July 2013.

PRESS RELEASE: Premo sculpture showing at the Lake House

The growing popularity of polymer clay as a fine art medium can be seen at the Members Merit Awards 2012 exhibition, at the Lake House Arts Centre, Takapuna.

 

‘Spring Trio’ is one of two exhibits from local polymer clay artist, Claire Fairweather. It was created with Premo Sculpey, a brand of artists quality polymer clay, now available from Gordon Harris art stores. On the theme of Spring, the three multi-coloured spheres represent different stages of growth.

Claire says: “I had great fun making these pieces and love the tactile nature of polymer clay as an art medium”.

The exhibition opens on 18 September and runs through to 7 October at the Lake House Arts Centre, 37 Fred Thomas Drive, Takapuna.

If you are tempted to try this oven bake clay for yourself, Claire offers ‘Introduction to Polymer Clay’ workshops, as she is keen to encourage more people to try this incredibly versatile creative medium. For more information about workshops, see her website www.clairefairweather.co.nz

20% off Premo Sculpey polymer clay at Gordon Harris art stores throughout September.

Change to the remaining 2012 Workshop Schedule

To accommodate some other projects I am currently working on, I have made some slight adjustments to the dates for the remaining schedule of polymer clay workshops for this year. I have also changed the scope slightly, to cater for a wider range of interests. Please see the ‘WORKSHOPS’ tab at the top of this page for the latest information.