Time to get moving!
I’ve always been fascinated by Automata. I used to call into Cabaret Mechanical Theatre when it was in Covent Garden in the 80’s and 90’s when ever I was in London. In more recent years, I found the MAD (Mechanical Art and Design) museum in Stratford on Avon. I’ve thought about trying to make my own over the years, but it always seemed to be rather difficult – I finally took the plunge in 2024! (for those of you who don’t know an automaton is a moving, mechanical device, often constructed to look like a...
read moreDo you know your oven?
I am not sure why I haven’t shared this on my blog before as these experiments date back some years!As you may know, I used to work as a scientific researcher and had access to lots of cool tools and data loggers. I wanted to know what was happening to the temperature in my oven. I had been using those metal oven thermometers but I recognised that it was slow to respond as the temperature is indicated by the metal spring in the back that expands as it heats up. So it will tell you the temperature but it takes time to respond so it is...
read morePatterned Puffins
I love puffins! I also love creating geometric canes with polymer clay and I have discovered I enjoy sculpting so it will come as no surprise that patterned puffins have emerged!The first one I finished earlier this year had two different cane patterns covering its body, one darker and one lighter for its white tummy. There are also some different ‘tail feather’ patterns on the underside of the tail. The beak is a cane too. The eye was made by cutting and replacing different colours of clay. I have just finished my second...
read moreRabbit Sculpture
I have been experimenting with different sculpture styles. Here is a little Delft pottery-inspired rabbit. It’s just over 6 cm tall so only small. The beauty of canes is that you can resize them so I took some of my Delft-style blue and white canes and made them smaller to fit the size of the sculpture.
read moreStarting Sculpting with Polymer Clay
I hadn’t done much in the way of sculpture with polymer clay, except some small creatures made with my scraps (including the sleeping cats I have a tutorial for here) but during the Covid pandemic, I had a couple of opportunities to try out some sculpture workshops with some amazing artists and discovered I really enjoyed it!In December 2020 the British Polymer Clay Guild hosted a zoom workshop with Karen Walker making winter hares. It was a great workshop! Here is my hare. In 2021 I ran the Polymania event online which meant I actually...
read more#March Meet The Maker
I decided to take part in #marchmeetthemaker instagram challenge this year and you can find my posts on Instagram and Facebook. I did try last year but I was far too busy with 2 events taking place in March (Nordic Poly Camp in Sweden and Polymania which should have been in Bristol but ended up being online at the last minute). If you want to know a bit more about me, about my values, some work in progress do go check out my social media.
read morePolymer Clay Bail Tutorial
I’ve added a quick tutorial onto my tutorials page showing you how to make a bail from polymer clay for a pendant. I love this way of finishing the back of a pendant as it means I don’t have to add any additional findings. I use a 6mm knitting needle to form my bail which means I can thread most things through it so I can change the cord I hang my pendant on easily. You can find the tutorial here
read moreSigning your Polymer Clay Creations
Welcome to 2021, I hope it will be a good year for you all (or at least an improvement on the last one!2020 was a strange year and I really didn’t make anything very much from polymer clay, I just didn’t feel like it. 2021 is a new year and I hope to get back to spending lots of time experimenting, learning and creating with polymer clay – I do still love it really! I don’t do it every year but I do try to make a new signature cane to sign my work every few years. Last year I developed a couple of new logos including...
read morePolymer Clay Rainbow Canes
Rainbows are a cheerful sign of hope during this strange Covid-19 pandemic. You can make your own polymer clay rainbows starting with a colourful rainbow cane. Here is my short video tutorial and the accompanying sheet which includes a circle guide.
read moreLarge Blue and Green Cane Jewellery
Back in October 2019 I made a large cane using mainly blues and greens. I took slices of the cane in various sizes to make some jewellery. I finally got round to taking some photographs of the jewellery so here they are.
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