27 videos, step by step, beginner cane workshop
What people are saying about this tutorial.
jennifer rose
Just finished this first workshop on how to make canes, and I must say I learned so much. This is exactly what I have been looking for, someone who could explain cane making in a step by step that process that I could replicate. I watched the videos, went into my studio and began to create all of the canes Alice showed. I finally have results I can be proud of, and I say thank you so much for doing this workshop. My only question now is when do we get more workshops. If you are only going to take one online class let it be this workshop. Thank you Alice for your hard work, and your dedication to helping others learn the joys of polymer clay.
I know I said I wasn’t going to post today, but I wanted to say Happy 4th of July to everyone here in America. It’s a grand day for our country so celebrate and enjoy.
Plus…….I finished this girl last night and wanted to share.
When I was little my sister had a set of paperdolls that she drew herself. She created a girl and a guy and the girl had the most wonderful clothes. I loved the way they looked and wanted so badly to be able to draw just like my big sister. The paperdolls aren’t around anymore, I wish they were I’d love to look at them again.
When I made this girl I was reminded of my wish to be able to draw my own paperdolls, somehow I feel like that little girl wish from years ago kind of came true. The difference is her clothes are made from polymer clay and can’t be removed. Still having fun here and fulfilling dreams.
These are some of the sample items I made for my class last weekend and I think they are a good mix of styles from the same group of patterns. The face on the bracelet in the middle is the same face that is one the figure in blue surrounded with black and white canes.
If you are a student in my P&I class the patterns in pdf form are emailed to you after class, usually the next day. If you can’t make it to the South East anytime soon, you may want to consider my tutorial and these patterns. Both are for sale in my Etsy shop.
Now that I’ve started coloring on clay, and I kind of feel like I’m 10 and have all these wonderful coloring book pages in front of me and all the colors to go with it. I just can’t stop.
Carole, Ellyn, Charlene, Sydney, Tyra, Marty, Terri, Vicky, Pat, Karen
It was a hot day in Central Florida, but we had enough fun to make up for it. This was a great group of woman who created some fabulous work. I’m always inspired by the diversity of the pieces. Even though we all start at the same place we end up with such different creations, it’s a joy to witness.
Most of these shape were created with Barbara McGuire’s Antique Door Plate stamps. You can purchase them from me, just leave a comment on this post if you’re interested.
Here are the works of art in the order of the stairs ….. pendants first.
Carole
Carole wanted a blue surround and made quick work of putting together blue canes for her soulful girl. Love her eyes.
Ellyn
Ellyn and I are on the same wave length, I love mermaids and this one is going to be such fun to wear.
Charlene
Charlene freehanded this cool ribbon cat and step away from the rest of the group with a gold surround for her face. Charlene is President of the Orlando Area Polymer Clay Guild that sponsors the Fandango retreat. You should think about attending next year.
Sydney
Okay, so Sydney just kept adding until hers is now too big to wear and is going to grace the front of a journal. A mixture of canes and ink and markers, can you tell which is which? Can’t wait to see the finished piece. Sydney is involved in the Florida Gulf coast Polymer Clay Guild, if you live in that area you should check it out.
Tyra
Tyra created her own drawing of this interesting mythical character and we were all impressed. Lots of wonderful detail.
Marty
Marty kept saying she couldn’t draw and didn’t like her pendant at first, but by the end of the class she walked out with it around her neck. I think she was mistaken about the drawing part.
I don’t have a pendant picture for Terri. Terri, if you have a picture send it to me….. please.
Vicky
Vicky created these fabulous faces on her own shapes. I just love the colors and her imagination. Vicky has a website with more of her beautiful work displayed.
Pat
Pat outlined her face in red, a great accent against the black. Fun! Love those lips.
Karen
Now Karen’s face is right up my alley too. It’s strange and funky, and yes very cool, I love that.
Terri
Terri created this sweet girl and used her imagination to cover a mistake in coloring. I know she’s going to love wearing this bracelet.
Carole
Carole combined the pen and ink with a hair cane to come up with this unique bracelet. There is three different faces, it’s really cool.
Ellyn
Ellyn has three faces on her bracelet as well. I love the softness of this face and the coloring of the hair. She emailed me the next day saying she wore it home and it made her smile. YES!!! that’s my goal, so mission accomplished.
I’m busy making samples for my classes and drew the faces in the video to go with Barbara McQuire’s stamps. Yesterday I wanted to see they might look on a bracelet.
I decided to show you this new bracelet in a video because it’s hard to capture the look in still photos. The face patterns will be available for purchase next week sometime. I’ll post more about them when I’ve added them to my Etsy Shop.
I’m excited to tell you that I’ll be teaching two 1 day workshops at Mount Dora Center for the Arts in Mount Dora, FL in October 15th, Pen and Ink and November 12th, Cane Mapping, details to come.
This morning I started to do samples of what we are going to be doing in class on Saturday but I ended up drawing a grown up Red Ridding Hood. Grown up you might ask, well the story goes that the wolf died and she lived to grow up right? So here she is, with a silver frame ready for the eye pin and a chain.
Okay so the truth is the hood just showed up by itself and I colored it red. I use photos or pictures as my guides, but I don’t sketch out my work ahead of time. I just dive right in and begin and correct as I go letting the piece create itself.
That’s why I like working with polymer clay as a base and my pen and ink technique, I can easily correct most lines and sometimes colors. I do most of the black work first and add color at the end, then reapply black here and there.
I probably would benefit from more planning including sketching the ideas in my head instead of just making notes, but then I’m not so sure how things like the red hood would ever happen. But it’s something to consider.
International Polymer Clay Association’s Polymergence editor Suzanne Ivester wrote a wonderful article in this month’s newsletter entitled All About Sketching! It’s an interesting read, you’ll enjoy it.
This cat just called to me, no explanations, no excuses. I’m going to post this and get back to my original plan..samples…step by step samples.
I have my work cut out for me for the next few days, I’m going to lay out the steps for my class on pen and ink on polymer clay. I have been busy making blanks from white pc in all different shapes as well as covering bracelet blanks with white. The more I do the better I like it and the more ideas jump into my head.
I haven’t been so busy that I haven’t had time to enjoy the lake and our beautiful oak trees. I love swimming and playing with our dog, but I love sitting and watching my guys play too.
This butterfly is for a friend, in appreciation. I started by making just the character in the middle and then decided to try some wing stamps by Barbara McGuire that I brought home from my visit to Woman Creative in GA. Well once I added the wings she got quite large.
I decided to place it in a frame so that she can hang it on the wall or wear it if she’s brave enough. (It’s big, really!) I hope she likes it.
I got carried away. but with what exactly, I’m not sure. I used another of Barbara McGuire’s stamp sheets to makes some shapes to play around with pen and ink on.
I just let my self go and there she was. I kind of like her. She’s going up on my wall. Love, love, love, playing with clay and colors.
I’ve been working on finishing up the face pendants I created at Fandango. This is the first one and I’ve mixed black and white canes with the pen and ink face. I also made black and white beads and strung the whole thing on black Buna Cord.
This is like one of the projects planned for my up coming class on the 25th of June here in my studio. We’re going to make a pen and ink bracelet first, then spend the rest of the class working on the necklace.
The class is full, but I will be posting another one for July 16th, so if you think you might be interested, mark your calendars.
I promised you and myself videos and photos from another wonderful Orlando Area Polymer Clay Guild’s Fandango, that’s true, but all I have is this one photo taken here at home. And it’s only of my stuff, not of the instructors, not of the demo artists, the students or the wonderful Fandango Committee.
You ask why??? I packed all my cameras in my large black camera bag and left it by the door, put my very huge tripod in the trunk the night before so I was all set, right! The problem was, at 6:00 the next morning, I left the camera bag sitting right there by the back door. I was 50 miles away from home before I realized what I had done, or rather hadn’t done.
There is an up side to this, I didn’t have to worry about getting the pictures, rounding everyone up and being responsible. I just played, visited and enjoyed my short time there. So even though I’m paying for it now and you don’t get to see videos from this year, I truly had a carefree time at Fandango.
I really did have a great time, seriously, I met so many wonderful new friends and loved seeing all the friends from last year. I have to tip my hat to this years Fandango committee, they did an outstanding job. Wait until you see who the instructors are for next year, start saving now! And don’t worry, I will still shamelessly plug fandango and the Orlando Guild throughout the year.
The picture above shows some of the faces I worked on while I was at Fandango. I also finished another bracelet with eyes and lips and that went home with my new friend Kathe Keck, thanks Kathe.
The face on the right was one of the first faces I did using my Pen and Ink Technique and a stamp from Barbara McGuire’s collection. The other faces I’ve done recently. I can see how I have improved, can you?
Granted, they are still silly faces, not realistic at all, but that’s the point with these guys. But I like the definition in the nose and better coloring.
The solitary eye is on a 2″ x 2″ canvas. I painted it with liquid clay and then used my technique. Fun! I’m getting closer.
Everything we do, we do better the longer we work at it. Clay, drawing, life!!! I decided I wanted to draw faces and in the beginning I wasn’t doing too well, but I have continued to try and I’m happy with how far I’ve come. There is still miles to go before I’m able to show my work next to some of the artists I look up to, but that’s okay, I am truly having the best journey.
And as I learn, I want to teach what I’ve learned because I enjoy teaching and sharing! I can’t wait to share this pen and ink technique and I’m going to be teaching here in my studio in Sebring.
I met several wonderful clayers at Fandango that said they would like to spend the day creating their own special pen and ink “masterpieces” so here is the first of many classes I’m offering.
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