Why it's good to be a "PLAYER"

It was last minute and very impromptu, but a bit of time for PLAY was necessary and what better place than Port Townsend, WA with Teesha and Tracy Moore at their PLAY retreat (and yes, everyone who goes is called a "player"). A group of very talented artists got together, shared ideas, techniques, and creative energy. It was fantastic! Everyone had an opportunity to work on whatever projects they chose, and many of us chose to create new journals using polymer clay following some samples and demos that Tracy and Steve Salic provided to guide us along the way.

I've never really worked with polymer clay before, so I thought I'd give it a try.....here's book number one:

The Book of Dreams

The crown and the keyhole are metal embellishments that were glued and then painted, the spine is leather, and everything else is polymer clay. I used a combination of molds, stamps and some freestylin' clay manipulations. All in all, not too bad for the first try.

Then, feeling fairly confident, I figured I'd make a journal for my oldest daughter, she has trouble falling asleep, so I thought that I would make her what I call a Tranquility Journal, where she could write down her thougths and quiet her mind before bed. I based it one of my drawings called Tranquility:

Tranquility sketch

Taking a drawing a turning it into something out of polymer clay, well, let me just say it was tougher than I thought it was going to be, but here's what I ended up with:

Tranquility Journal Cover

I must say that this isn't exactly the result that I was hoping for and there are definitely a number of things that I would differently next time, but it was a good learning experience. I also think that it was good preparation for my next polymer clay experiment which will involve making eyes in preparation for the next Michael deMeng class that I'll be taking in March. Yup, that's right, Michael is going to be teaching right here in Vancouver, if you are anywhere in the vicinity you are not going to want to miss it - he is a phenomenal teacher (and artist!)...check out his website for all of the details. By the way, if anyone out there knows how to make eyes out of polymer clay, I'm in desperate need of all the tips and tricks you've got!!!!