More Experiments with Polymer

I'm finally beginning to feel like I'm getting my mojo back again. I ended up staying with my mother for three weeks before eventually returning home whereupon I promptly went down with the flu. As a consequence I've been feeling very sorry for myself over these past couple of weeks but yesterday decided it was high time I pulled myself out of my apathy and DO SOMETHING, the result of which can be seen in the photos below.

I've always loved the art of Klimt - all those sensuous swirly rich colours, which brighten my mood every time I look at a piece of his work - so I decided to have a play with some metallic scraps of clay I had lying around, following a simple tutorial I'd found and bookmarked from the net a few months ago. The results of which can be seen here (spot the air bubbles I didn't quite manage to get rid of before baking in the button bottom left!);




and here;




then on with some more gaudy psychedelic colours here, again using pieces of scrap clay I've accumulated over the last few months;



before finally finishing up with some stripy stuff for good measure;



All bar the items in the last photo were made using a Makin's Extruder;



which I'd purchased just prior to my father's death, so it was nice to finally be able to get to grips with a new tool and just play around seeing what it could do. It kind of reminds me of a grown up version of one of those play doh spagetti factory toys - great fun but productive in the process.

I've been toying with the idea of making buttons and such like for a while now and found myself promising my Mum I'd donate a few to sell to members of the spinning group she runs in aid of charity. At the moment I'm trying to determine what the best thickness buttons ought to be to prevent them from snapping when being sewn onto something, and am also doing a few 'washing tests' with various coatings of varnishes and wax to see how well/if they hold up being put through a washing machine etc. If I determine it's a complete no go, I suppose I can always revert to Plan B and see if anyone would buy them as necklaces and earrings etc.....more practise needed I think!