Year of Clay - Sandblasted Beads
When I make beads I use a tumbler to sand the smaller ones. I love my tumbler, particularly since I upgraded to a nice, quiet Lortone last summer (from Green’s Lapidary, the source of many temptations and wonders). With it I can sand hundreds of small beads in a few days with a little sandpaper, water and the tiniest dab of dish soap.
I started reading on the forums and hobby groups that people had begun using rocks or other grit to tumble their clay beads - faster and less wasteful than sandpaper - so I picked up a few bags of stones here and there to try out and tossed a load of scrappy beads in with the first bag.
Oops.
The result was sweetly smooth beads but the end appearance was like a sandblast, mottled and pitted appearing (they are smooth to the touch though). For most of the beads in the load, this was not good as they had bright shading and clear, specific lines and detail. However, one of the sets in the tumbler actually looks better - or at least more interesting - after a sandblasting go. You can compare it to the originals in this picture which were nice but a little ho hum.
I think a very gentle buffing and I will leave them matte and ancient looking. And, update, the ones that were damaged perked back up after a couple rounds back in the tumbler with regular conditions.
Worn Out Perspectives for Artists
In my daily reading list on my news feed there was a great article today: 29 Worn Out Perspectives in Need of the “Oh Really” Factor. These are a few on there that specifically talk about art or creative items or just general life which I have heard more times than I care to think of. They lend themselves to all sorts of equally trite or smart alecky answers:
1. I don’t have the time. Better hurry along then.
8. I need an MFA to get published. (need a snappy one for this)
9. Art is good, but if you want to make a living, you have to get a real job. Because real jobs are devoid of art, fun, colour, and exist in this outer, Orwellian world that I am unaware of. Or the converse, because Art is all fun, all the time and has no elements of ‘real job’ness.
15. I have to know how it ends before I begin. It’s (insert something creative) not the recipe for PB sandwiches!
20. I’m not creative. Even your excuses are dull.
24. I don’t have any choice. You need a better imagination.
26. If you’re an artist, you need a career to fall back on. ’cause everyone should have multiple, concurrent careers by your dictate.
29. There’s nothing I can do about it! Try harder.
A few more from my experience:
I can’t do that. (or its cousin: That’s too hard) Suck it up.
That’s not art. Says you.
Oh that’s nice but don’t you think you should look for a real job? No, I like eating bonbons on the couch all day.
And there’s the whole collection you get working at craft shows - the i-can-make-that / isn’t-that-a-little-expensive? / my-five-year-old-uses-sculptey-too - that make my hackles rise.
Of course, I find myself using some of those sometimes, so go figure. I just need to train myself to stick my tongue out even to the ones I do.
The Tooaquarius Store
It’s taken some doing and some testing and a bit of hair pulling but here it is, The Tooaquarius Shop. To start, I’m offering polymer clay canes, available singly or in sets. The beads are being added each day.
All of my canes are made using a combination of the old Fimos, Premo, Kato and Sculpey 3. Regular canes are approximately 12mm or 1/2″ diameter by 50mm or 2″ long. This first batch that I’ve uploaded has some sweet florals, bright spring colours and a few accent or novelty canes like butterflies and dragonflies. There are more than 40 flower canes alone!
My beads are made from the same clays as my canes, properly cured, and with 1.5mm(1/16″) holes unless otherwise indicated. The cane covered beads are available in several colour-related themes and are sanded and buffed to a nice sheen. If a waterbased acrylic finish is used on them, this is noted in the item’s description. Prices vary by quantity and size but a single millefiori round will be $2 CDN with sets having discounts (ex: buy 5 get 1 free).
The slice beads are smaller beads, slices off my own - or fellow artists - canes and perfect for charms, accents, sewing, fringe or quick fun projects like these earrings or this daisy chain set or these wine charms. They are available 25-50 cents each, in groups of 12-20 for $4-5 or bagged groups of 50. Most of these are tiny, 1/2″(12mm) or smaller with 1.5mm(1/16″) holes.
Year of Clay - Into the Bright
These are a little out of my comfort zone, made with a mudpile mokune gane technique from some eye-popping bright scraps, as are their Natasha bead friends currently doing time in the tumbler. They turned out so cute though, so here they are, nuggets to become bracelets for upcoming spring shows!
-
Groups
