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Polymer Clay ‘Sutton Slice’ Experiments
Whilst on the polymer clay cruise last week, I won a “Polymer Clay Treasures” DVD and ‘Complete Book of Polymer Clay‘ by Lisa Pavelka:
lisa pavelka 'polymer clay treasures' DVD
lisa pavelka book
From these I decided to attempt the ‘Sutton Slice’ technique, where you use a rubber texture stamp to create a raised design. For my first go I thought it would probably turn out to be fairly poor, so I just used a base of scrap clay with a bit of green clay on top. I was surprised when the end result was actually OK! Next I tried blue on black, but that wasn’t quite as successful (some of the tiny pieces of the design got stuck inside the rubber stamp):
sutton slice
Then I became a bit over-ambitious, and attempted a multi-coloured version:
sutton slice gone wrong
I think I need to watch the DVD again…
Polymer clay cruise 2011
Wow – I have just had the best holiday of my life.
First of all I went to Las Vegas with my mum for six days:
mum in Vegas
Red Rock Canyon - nr Las Vegas
MGM lion in Las Vegas
Then I went on a cruise from Los Angeles to Ensenada (Mexico) and back to L.A. – which was the main reason for the holiday because it was full of polymer clay workshops and was hosted by Lisa Pavelka. It was incredibly inspiring – not just from the artistic point of view, but also from the other people on the cruise.
Lisa showed us how to create ‘mokume gane’ patterns using texture stamps:
Cool tool
We received TONS of goodies, including polymer clay, tools, stamps, jewellery findings, books, magazines, a DVD, plus storage boxes and bags:
treasure trove of goodies
And then I had the opportunity to attend a jewellery-making class with Lisa, at the Brea Bead Works shop in Los Angeles. I made a crystal column necklace, using Swarovski beads:
crystal column necklace
It really was one of the best holidays of my life. Would love to go on another of the “Art Across the Oceans” cruises, but need to save up for another five years first. In the meantime, giant thanks to everyone on the cruise, including:
Lisa Pavelka, Lisa Lambright (at JHB), Karen Lewis (yes, the KLEW), Lynne Ann Schwarzenberg (wow), Judi Weers (a.k.a. ‘Dr MetalClay’), Jackie Truty (president of Art Clay World USA), Penny Vingoe at Clayaround (my fave UK polymer clay provider), plus all of the other contributors, donors and students).
Brill.
