Wednesday, May 28, 2014

The Push to the End

I'm heavily focused on finishing up the school year with the boys right now but here are some bits and pieces I've managed to make time to work on. There is SO much almost ready to come together on that darn work table! June should be a pretty good month in my Etsy shop for new work.

 

soft petal floral colors for summer


7 comments:

  1. Those petal colours are beautiful... they make me think of soft summer light and ice cream shades...! Hope things aren't too hectic for you :)

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    1. Thank you!
      Things seem to calm down in stages at the end of the school year. Yesterday my oldest son had his evaluation, tomorrow we have our speech and science fair event, next Wednesday my youngest has his evaluation and then we will turn in our portfolios to the school district in June 16. So each step of completion feels pretty satisfying!

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    2. That does sound pretty hectic! But you sound calm and organised about it so it must all be under control... :)

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  2. I just noticed where you live. We used to live near Pittsburgh, just for 18 months, but I did not know at the time and dreaded the future when I would have to start evaluations and portfolios. Good luck with it all. I have to ask you, can you recommend a book or maybe an online class (by the way, if you ever think about doing one, sign me up right away)? I know the basics and cane making (but that does not interest me ) I love organic shapes and finishes. I got stuck on using the salt method and seem to have trouble moving on. Any advice?

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    3. You don't have to start evaluations/portfolios until age 8 in PA. I don't know why I get myself so worked up about it though because it isn't unreasonably strenuous and we have always done really well.

      I have a project published in the book Polymer Clay Global Perspectives that came out last year and I've done a couple free tutorials farther back in this blog. But…I'm considering selling some more detailed tutorials and doing a design class that uses polymer as the material. Would that be something that would interest you?

      My best advice to you is…
      1. Search the web for tutorials - a lot of the free ones are actually quiet helpful.
      2. Take a class with a "master" (Kathleen Dustin et al) because you will learn MUCH more than just the steps to make the project in the class.
      3. And lastly…just explore, play with the clay. Polymer doesn't have a centuries old tradition and I think that masters in the field are still learning in fact. But most importantly, spending time exploring on your own helps you develop YOUR individual style - which for me, is more important than technique.

      Hope that helps!

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