|
I have been making art since I could hold a crayon and majored in, then taught, drawing and painting. But I was always spellbound by fine, hand-crafted jewelry throughout history; it is art on a tiny, wearable and personal scale. I discovered polymer clay in 1988 and immediately began making earrings for myself. Finally, I could have all the earrings I could dream up, and in every color! Soon I was selling them at craft shows. The medium of polymer clay allows me to combine many of my favorite elements at one time: color, pattern, geometric shapes and those inspired by nature, whimsy, classical and abstract design, dangles and wiggles. And all of this on a tiny, intricate scale.
There has been a photograph of magnified diatoms in my studio for as long as I can remember that has been continually inspiring; it showcases the utter brilliance of Nature and many of my favorite design elements. The patterns and images in my work are made three-dimensionally by layering, wrapping and/or assembling long pieces of different colored polymer clay into "canes". I stretch and reduce the canes and then slice cross-sections to make beads or other elements. The sliced bits are hardened in an oven at 265 degrees. I assemble most of my jewelry with niobium wire and nylon-coated steel cable (the width of a few human hairs) and tiny needle-nosed pliers. I never get bored.
|
