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.

The difference a mirror makes

I have made a mirror frame from mosaic strips of polymer clay. Some of the strips are plain coloured pieces and others show various surface techniques. I took a photograph before the mirror glass was put in the frame as, I know from past experience, it is often hard to photograph mirrors. See what a difference the mirror makes, in the two photos below.

The mirror frame without the mirror glass

and with the mirror glass in place

The Great Art Sale 2013

I will be putting a couple of pieces in this sale, at the Lake House Arts Centre, but it is difficult deciding which, as I want to keep a lot of my work for the Dunkleys Craft Show in October.

Post Script @ Friday 12 July 2013: At the end of the first hand in day (Friday), the Art Sale is full, so the two pieces I was planning to take on Saturday will not now be in it. So here are photos, the first piece "With all my love" has not been seen before, as it was made specifically for this event.

"With all my love"

"Coffee Time"

 

"With all my love" - work in progress

This is a piece I am currently working on. I have covered a heart-shaped wall hanging ornament with strips of polymer clay showing different surface techniques (skinner blend, marbled, retro cane and rolled metal leaf). I then plan to add a tied ribbon, made from polymer clay, with the wording "With all my love" on it. I will post a photo of the finished piece, when it is done.

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. 

 



A disasterous Friday

I started work today on a new sculptural piece. After sketching out a plan, I began creating a whole range of graded shades of clay, from purple and blue through to green and turquoise, for mosaic tiles to cover a ceramic form (the Maori 'fish hook' symbol).

 

I had decided to apply the mosaic tiles unbaked, so they would mould to the curved shape of the sculpture better. At the end of the afternoon, I decided to part bake the piece (which was not finished) that I had been working on most of the day. Then disaster struck...

 

Somehow, in the short distance from my work table to the oven, the piece toppled over, falling off the baking tile and smashing all over the floor. I will not repeat what I said, suffice to say I had just ruined a days work.

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.

Golden Wave - nearly finished

My work on this sculpture has been very sporadic. I had to wait for the Viva Decor Precious Metal Colour (gold) to come from America, which I have used on the inner surface of the wave. It took quite a few coats but looks good, very metallic and better than in the photo. On the website I ordered it from, it said that this product was hard to remove but I discovered that it comes off if wiped with alcohol.

So I feel I need to give this sculpture a finishing coat. I could use Sculpey Glaze but am concerned that it is not that durable so perhaps Envirotex Lite resin would be better, but I am scared of spoiling it, so I keep putting it off.

Mirror frame in progress

Here is a glimpse of a multi-coloured mirror frame I am making for Dunkley's Craft Show. It is made of lots of strips of polymer clay in plain and pearlised colours, some streaked, marbled or rolled with metal leaf.