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Etsy Shop

11/19/2017

Well, after about 4 years of promising myself, and my husband's continual nagging (!) I have finally managed to open an Etsy shop. I have chosen the name PolyOriginals, as it sort of sums up what I do, and will exclusively feature my polymer clay creations. It will be first time I have been able to offer a broad range of all my Polymer work for sale, as previously shops and galleries have only had a limited selection, depending on their own needs.

If you get a chance to pop on over and see what I am selling, that would be wonderful - you know me, never any pressure to buy, but if you felt at all able to like my shop, or an individual item, I would be extremely grateful.

Etsy is a huge market place, and any form of support will go a long way to being able to raise my head above a very large parapet!!

I will endeavour to get up to date with all the modern marketing tools, and link my shop to other mediums, but anyone able to share anything to do with my shop, please do. I will hopefully begin posting here more regularly too, but of course I do still need time to create as well, or I think I would go very slightly mad !!

Below is a Tiger face Cane Brooch, available from my shop.

IPCA Awards

9/11/2017

I was so happy to have won an award in the IPCA 2017 competition for my hang Gliding Lizard. This years theme was to boldly go, so I took the theme as thinking about man's first tentative steps into flight and then on, into space. Apply that to a lizard who decides that he can use the leaves, petals and twigs from the ground around him to build his own hang glider to launch into the air, and his own bit of space. Who is to say that his own journey is any less than man's first flight, and so the title I gave him 'One small step....one Giant Leap' seemed fitting.

He was entered into the Emerging Artist Category of the competition, and in the Non-Functional Sculpture and hanging Art Class. He won Member's choice in that category.

My second entry was this bowl, entitled Earth Flower Bowl. The thought behind this bowl was that the earth is like a flower held within the universe. It is a precious things and we need to take care of her. The underneath of the bowl is wrapped in orange tentacles, being the sun's rays nourishing the flower and keeping it safe. I won the Emerging Artist category for this bowl in the Functional Container class, and won both the Judges and the Members Choice.

A tale of Two Tigers

6/13/2016

Tiger Face Cane One

Some time ago I posted a picture of a Tiger Cane I had been working on. It was all finished and ready to reduce. I covered it all round with scrap clay and waited. While I was waiting, I posted a picture online of the finished cane, and expressed my worries about the reducing process.

You see, I did a number of things wrong with the cane.
1. I didn't prepare - it was a spur of the moment to complete the cane and I used what I had with me (I was not at home at the time) which was very old Fimo Soft clay.
2. I didn't have time to finish the cane, and left it half finished for 6 months.
3. To finish the cane I had to cut the whiskers into the bottom half of the face that I had done previously - and the clay wasn't that keen on re-joining itself.
4. I used extremely old scrap clay (nearly 10 years old) both for the background pattern and to cover around the cane

So all in all, not a good start. I waited several weeks before I began to reduce it, just to let the clay have a chance to settle, and become united. I had loads of good advice on how to reduce a large, old cane, and tried to do most of it, but I don't think any advice would have made a difference with the mistakes I had already made. Half way through reducing it (which was physically very tough as the cane was now 9 inches by 7 inches by 3 inches thick) I felt something move inside - and yes, I should have stopped at that point - yet another mistake!

I carried on reducing it and then I cut through - nothing, not even half a face left. That was probably the lowest point of my Polymer experience so far, and if it wasn't for the fact I had posted a picture on line, I would have simply crawled away with my tail between my legs, nursing my pain. Literally all I had left was the one photo of the finished cane, I hadn't even taken a slice off before I reduced it - which was great advice from someone - because by the time I got the advice it was already covered with scrap clay waiting to be reduced.

But because I had posted that picture on line, and because everyone had been so kind and supportive, I picked myself up and started again - determined this time to get it right.

Tiger Face Cane One

All that was left of cane one.

Tiger Face Cane Two.
Here is a slideshow of the second cane being made.

So, on to Tiger Face Cane Two.

This time I prepared, I conditioned all my clay to the same pliability (this time I was using Kato Polyclay) and mixed all the colours I would need.

I set aside 3 days to complete the cane, and off I went. This time it went okay I thought, as I completed the cane. I input the whiskers as I got to the appropriate point, and the clay, all being the same condition joined back nicely - indeed, this time I could just open up a gap to insert the whiskers rather than having to cut through the whole cane as I did last time.

This cane was also a little smaller, just under 6 inches (14cm) by 3inches (7cm) by about 1 1/4 inch (3cm) thick.

I then made a decision on reducing - this time I wouldn't cover in scrap clay, as I had felt so out of control last time not being able to see anything of the pattern as I was going smaller. So after cutting off a slice so I would always have an actual piece of clay in the final pattern, no matter what happened, I put registration lines down all the sides that the face pattern didn't touch. I had problems finding 2 acrylic blocks the right size, so cobbled together some smaller ones for the second one.

I waited several days and then, very, very slowly began reducing. It was extremely hard with that size and very slow going - trying to fit fingers in between the blocks is hard work, but gradually it went until I had the size I needed.

Then the moment of truth - cutting through. I wold love to say it was perfect - it wasn't - but it was good enough that after a bit of manipulation to his bottom cheek and jaw it had reduced to a passable finish. However, further down the cane got better, and the jaw came true. To the right is a pendant that I have made from the cane.

These pendants are a limited edition and I have just a couple left. If you wanted to own one, contact me using the contact page on this website.

As with everything I do with polymer, I have learnt so much from doing these two canes (I have only done 3 previous picture canes so am relatively new to these big pictures that need to remain unchanged with reduction, you don't get this problem with kaleidoscopes !! ) and I am eager to do another when I will put all my new experience into it and hopefully get it to reduce even better next time. Maybe not a tiger this time though,

Cookies and Crumbs for MacMillan

9/29/2015

Had a great afternoon at Castlethorpe Village Hall on 27th September, as I had a stand at their Cookies and Crumbs fundraising event for MacMillan. Instead of a Friday Coffee morning, they did Sunday afternoon Tea, with lots of scrumptious home made cakes.

I had my local scenes both as prints, and for the first time as greetings cards, and they were really popular.

Now I am off to make more Elephant Necklaces, (see photo) and to try and get everything organised for the South Northamptonshire Arts Trail, 10th - 18th Oct.

South Northamptonshire Art Trail

9/14/2015

I am very happy to announce that I am one of the artists participating in the South Northamptonshire Art Trail, this autumn. Running from the 10th – 18th October, I will be exhibiting with 5 other artists at the Alan Muxlow Landscape Centre, at The Bell Plantation, Towcester, NN12 6GX. I will be showcasing some new paintings, and new pieces of Polymer Clay jewellery and art. Over the next few weeks I will add more photos of pieces I will be exhibiting, and hope very much you will be able to come along to visit me, and all the other artists on the Trail.

Facebook link for the trail is:
https://www.facebook.com/arts.sn?fref=tsI am
www.arts-sn.org.uk very happy to announce that I am one of the artists participating in the

A Helping Hand

1/15/2015

A helping Hand.

People often ask me why I bother volunteering to man stalls and do demonstrations for the Polymer Clay Guild and other organisations for free. My answer is simple – because I thoroughly enjoy it. Sometimes however you can get a bit more than you bargained for, which happened to me at the Guild stand at the NEC in November.

On the 3rd day (the Saturday) I was talking to a very nice gentleman and lady about Polymer Clay and the techniques I was demonstrating. They showed a lot of interest and left their contact details. On the Sunday the gentleman came back and mentioned that he was also demonstrating, and that he was a sculptor, and would I like to see him doing a demonstration. Of course I would have loved to, but we discovered that I wouldn’t finish until after his last demo for the show was done.

To my delight, he came back to the stand later and said if I was now free, he would do a quick demo for me. I was delighted, but a few minutes later was absolutely floored when on seeing his stand, and the sculptures displayed there, I realised that the man next to me was none other than Andrew Sinclair ARBS who is, as far as I am concerned, one of the best sculptors in the UK, and I am a huge fan of his work. True to his word, he gave me a brief demonstration in sculpting the human hand, and his teaching technique made so much sense to me as a Polymer artist, that as soon as I could when I got home I made the armature of a hand, and was then just itching to cover it in Polymer.

It took me several weeks to finish all the jobs I had on, and then a lot of time to complete my hand sculpture as I was using scrap polymer clay, which was years old so it took ages to re-condition. I was originally planning to do only the underneath of the hand in scrap, and then cover it with a ‘coloured’ layer, but I fell in love with the muddy greens and browns of the scrap clay so did it all in that.

It is by no means perfect, I have a huge amount to learn, but it has given me so much pleasure to do, and I am doubly lucky that Andrew teaches workshops in Devon, so at some stage during the year I am planning to sign onto a course and learn much more.

It just goes to show, sometimes doing something for nothing, just for the pure love of it, can take you down a new path of discovery you never imagined. Thank you Andrew Sinclair.

Polydays Review

1/14/2015

I have been sadly lax in writing blogs, will try and improve in 2015! Here is my first.

In September 2014, I was lucky enough to go to Polydays, run by Alison Gallant, who, along with guest tutors Loretta Lam and Christine Dumont gave us 3 glorious days of workshops. I wrote a review for PolyNews, but sadly, probably because it was too long, I can be a bit verbose when I am passionate about something, it didn't make it into the issue. So, as it was already written I thought I'd publish it here, hopefully the phrase 'better late than never' applies. As you can see, I had a fantastic time and would love to go again.

Poinsettia Beads, Free tutorial.

12/15/2013

Bead Me Magazine

I have just been informed that my Poinsettia Bead instructions, originally published in Bead Magazine's Issue 34, has now been added into their free online publication Bead Me Magazine. It is in Issue no.4, page 10/11.

So if you want to download the instructions for free, follow this link;

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/bead-me-magazine/id694656630?mt=8

I wish you all a very Happy Festive Season.

A family of Dragons

11/17/2013

There be some New Dragons in the post......

Mama B and Papa R

Mama B, Papa R and Little Miss M

Mama B, Papa R, Little Miss M and Little Miss P.

Having had such fun making dragons earlier in the year, I have now done a commission for a family of four!! They are so nice to make, and each seems to develop its own character as it is created. Adding 2 grown up - or nearly grown up daughters was interesting to do, especially to try and fit into a family tableau. My only concern now is that they have to be shipped abroad, and even with them being made from Premo, I am a little worried about how they will survive through the post . So I have sent Mama B first, well padded with loads of stuffing, will see how she fairs and will then send the rest of the family one by one - a good way of checking out the postal system, and also not putting all my eggs in one basket - Ooooooh Dragons eggs in a basket, now there's a thought......... I'll let you know how the posting goes - keep fingers crossed for me!!
Fiona

Polymer Clay Daily and Polymer Arts Magazine Blog.

1/29/2013

I am stunned, but so elated to have been featured in Polymer Clay Daily, (PCD) and am so thank full for all the comments and feedback people have given on all the different pages and formats. As I said on PCD, I am a little lost for words as a result, but so inspired to go on and do more!

I was then further amazed to see that I was mentioned in the Polymer Arts Magazine Blog, on 26th January, discussing how to decide whether or not to keep working on a piece to further a technique. Wow!!

I have always found the Polymer Clay community to be wonderfully generous in the way people share and detail techniques and ideas, and now I find they are equally kind in providing comments. I have also been very lucky to have been in contact with Sue Heaser since I finished my initial Box Lid, and again, she has been ultra generous in giving suggestions for getting improved results for the initial box shape and structure, so a huge thank you to Sue, and all of you for all the help, inspiration, and comments you have given.
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