You're really growing on me!

I can’t believe it’s been a fortnight since my last post. Where has the time gone??? A lot of it has been spent playing with my bronze clay. I didn’t realise that I’ve spent 2 weeks working out firing schedules and coming up with new ideas, so this is pretty much all I have to talk about this week.

To start, an update on the pieces I made 2 weeks ago. If you follow me on Facebook, you may have already seen that I cracked the firing schedule, and managed to successfully sinter the lentil beads and hare pendant.

It took 4 days of constant firing and adjusting, but I’m now confident that my creations will stay in one piece.

A good tip I picked up while researching, was that the majority of problems with pieces not sintering properly is to do with the first part of the firing and burning off the binder rather than the top temperature. Once I’d discovered that, I altered the schedule and it worked. It was a happy day! 

The lentils didn’t work brilliantly, they turned in to bronze with no problems, but they warped as they were fired and one cracked, I wonder if bronze clay is similar to ceramic clay in that it will warp if dried too quickly? A test for the future! 

I didn’t have anything to polish the insides with so you can’t make out the designs too well, and unfortunately the CZ clouded, but it’s all lessons learned (and the opportunity for shopping!)

One thing I really like about this brand of clay (Goldie hard) is that it’s really easy to fix. As I said, one of the lentils cracked, so I packed in some wet clay, left it to dry and ran through the schedule again. It filled the crack perfectly!

Once I had a couple of firings under my belt, I tried some more complex designs. Another hare, this time with an embedded bronze setting and some leaves and flower vines.

And then finally on to an idea that has been sitting in my head for a long time… making bezels. 

I rolled thick pieces of clay and carved out the inside with an undercut around the inner edge to set a tiny sculpture. 

I really like the variation of effects and colours you can get with this bronze. When first fired, it's rough with a grainy texture, but once polished, it's lovely and shiny and can range from bright and yellow to a warm gold.

Originally, I wanted to fill it with ceramic clay, but the firing temperatures are too different and trying to work out the shrinkage would have been a nightmare, so I created the design in polymer clay which was carved and baked in place. (I didn't realise how mucky I'd got it, I should have washed my hands properly after the polishing!)

Once cured, I painted it with acrylics.

I have some sealant on the way to finish this off and make it more durable, but I’m really pleased with how it’s looking so far (although I think his eye needs a bit more colour) and have a hundred and one ideas for more!

Metal clay, I owe you an apology, you’re not that bad after all!

Cross pollination

cross-pol·li·na·tion (krôspl-nshn, krs-)n.1. The transfer of pollen from an anther of the flower of one plant to a stigma of the flower of another plant.
2. Influence or inspiration between or among diverse elements:

There are many different threads here on the blog about the new year, and we are all addressing it in our unique ways: Jen's musings on goals, direction, journals; Sue's new experimentations in polymer; Linda pondering the freedom to play...  I spend a good bit of quality time in January with coffee and my sketchbook. And of late - my iPad. Its the quietest month for me as to teaching and shows; I like to pull inward and hibernate a bit. This also provides me with a time to refuel, research, and be inspired. 

Today was all about cross pollination. I may not have had my hands on many projects/materials/tools but I had my brain in overdrive. ideas crossing over from one medium to the next, making connections, inspiring new collaborations... so you see cross pollination at its finest. 

While I have you thinking of bees, while ideas are buzzing...  I have some mixed media pieces, just finished that were inspired by a novel, and a crazy Victorian obsession. 

I knew of the  Victorian "Language of Flowers" - also called floriography, is a means of coded communication through the use or arrangement of flowers. Flowers have been ascribed meanings in cultures across the globe for centuries. You will find it in work by Shakespeare, Jane Austen, the Bronte sisters...  The Victorian era was rather straight laced ( literally and figuratively) so flirting and illicit rendezvous were hard to accomplish. Enter flowers. A red rose - love. A white rose - innocent love.  A yellow rose - jealousy. But dill - lust? and purple columbine - 'resolved to win'? Wow. there was a bit of drama in the florists trade! Who needs reality tv? 

Over the holidays I read "The Language of Flowers" by Vanessa Diffenbaugh. I loved the book, it was heartbreaking and wonderful, with surprises and fantastic characters. The Language of flowers is the thread woven through that motivates, unites, and redeems the people, and in many ways it heals what is broken. 

Flowers were on my mind after finishing the book, and I was making the polymer parts for the January Component of the Month. I was playing around with a few shapes I intended to paint, gild, and stain then use as bezels. There was a set of 9 that didn't make the cut for CoM...  <light bulb moment> 

Vintage images meets antique book text in these Victorian inspired floral vocals. ( polymer, paint, paper, resin...)

Its all because of this stack of vintage (Geez - they were from my childhood and they are just approaching vintage... harumph) illustrated children's encyclopedias. They have the best illustrations, in limited colors, and so small... Some were mine, others have been given to me by friends who saw their potential. I may never finish mining these for fantastic little images. And I AM cutting the books up directly, no scans, no color copies. These are truly one-of-a-kind!

Flamingo, anyone?

So in the language of flowers - to you readers - I would make up a posie of Canterbury bells ( gratitude), Chrysanthemum ( abundance & health), Ivy ( friendship), Geranium ( true friendship). 

Have a great New Year! 
And may your creative ideas buzz about like bees to a flower! 

Jenny
www.jdaviesreazor.com

Resources: 

Language of Flowers Wiki

A great alphabetical list 

Victorian Floriography