Linda's Magic Workshop - Linda Britt Design

Last Friday I shared my first buttons in polymer clay.   This week I’m sharing my first bird cane in polymer clay. For those of you who do not know what a ‘cane’ is in polymer clay, it is a long roll of clay that has other colors and patterns in it.   When you make slices from the end, the same pattern appears with each cut.   Look at last Friday’s post for better pictures. I decided to make a bird we have locally, the Black-headed Grosbeak who lives in our pine-oak forests.     I had those colors of clay and I like him.   He has a short stout beak for seed cracking and is butterscotch and black with some white.   I traced a picture of the bird, made a copy to put under my glass workspace and found my clay colors – butterscotch, black, white and tan.   The limb is copper and gray.   The body was first, then the head and last the wings.   I put green around and all this sounds so much easier than it was and took longer too! ...

A friend of mine is looking for a new job.   I imagine all of us have friends or maybe ourselves looking for jobs.   After having coffee with her, I thought about the many times I started over due to a store closing or downsizing or moving.   I was reminded of my photos of windows and doors.   Windows have so many shapes and sizes and so many things on the other side.   They remind me of opportunities, dreams, and stories.   I can always make up stories about what I could do or what someone else has done or should do.   For me windows are the possibilities.   Doors on the other hand require action.   Do I want to go through that one?   Am I prepared for what is on the other side?   Can I walk out again?   What if I pick the wrong one?    What if someone closes it and won’t let me in?   Job hunting was always a little scary, unsettling, depressing, overwhelming and discouraging. ...

If you’ve been following me, you know I like to work in many mediums and learn new techniques.   So when I bought Donna Kato’s book, The Polymer Clay Millefiore Techniques, I knew I’d be making canes! http://www.amazon.com/The-Polymer-Clay-Millefiori-Techniques/dp/0823099180/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1340064070&sr=1-1&keywords=Donna+Kato .   I also took several classes online with craftclass.   www.craftclass.com   One day I was playing around on Facebook and joined a group of polymer clay addicts!   ‘Just Polymer Clay Tutorials’ where artists post tutorials about polymer clay for free and for pay.   I’ve downloaded several, watched a few and was sure I could do any of it!   I understood the concept. A friend and I took a trip to a quilt shop. She quilts – I don’t!   I wore my new brass/polymer bangles https://www.etsy.com/listing/102355695/classy-bangles and that got me some attention and started a conversation! ...

Our last stops were the national monuments of Wupatki and Sunset Crater.   Besides just enjoying saying the name ‘Wupatki’ we really enjoyed seeing this pueblo and the exhibits.   Wupatki is north of Flagstaff, Arizona in the shadow of Sunset Crater.   Today occasional earthquake tremors still get residents attention.   The remains of the pueblos in this area are from the 1100’s when the people banded together to build a farming community.   Sunset Crater’s eruption left a thin coat of ash that enriched the soil by absorbing moisture and preventing evaporation.   By 1180 thousands of people were farming here.   By 1250 the buildings stood empty and the people had moved on.   Some resettled in areas close by and their descendants still live in the area.    Artist's concept of the original pueblo  Ruins Today I found the techniques of building with rock interesting.  There was a variety of natural color, shapes, textures...

If you are like me, you have boxes of things that you just might need one day.   When I’m making something that looks good but isn’t what I want right then, it goes into one of those boxes.   And yes those boxes are organized with the hope that I will remember to look in them.    We jewelry artists work with tiny parts and I still wonder how to organize, catalog and remember to look.   Maybe part of the creative process is the surprise of finding one of the pieces. I just finished a necklace and did not like any of the clasps I had in my fastener box.   I took out my wire and made one.   I did not think it looked like the necklace either.   So I made another and another and finally made one I really liked.   Into the ‘fastener box’ went the ones that were not perfect for this project.   I realized that I was starting a collection of my handmade fasteners.   I have brass, bronze, copper and silver.   I think I need to mak...

The Navajo National Monument was a magical place for me.   It was small as monuments and campgrounds go. We drove around to get our bearings and to see what we wanted to do the next morning.   We talked with the rangers and decided to take an early morning walk on Sandal Trail.   Both campgrounds had open spaces for camping and on this trip that was unusual and welcome.   We arrived early evening and were able to take a short walk.   There were beautiful blooming bushes, a few birds and sunset!   After making ‘camp’ in the back of the truck and setting out dinner, I even had time to sit and enjoy the sounds and smells of the forest. Sandal Trail is a paved trail from the visitor center that ends at Betatakin Overlook.   I stood looking out at a breathtaking cross-canyon vista and then looking down at what is left of an ancient village framed by a sandstone arch while time stood still.   I could almost see the children playing on t...

A couple of months ago my friend, Helen, asked me to make her a ring for her thumb out of copper.   She’s been having joint pain and thought maybe the copper against her skin would help relieve it.   Of course, I said ‘Sure’!   I came home and thought about how to make a ring that would fit or could be adjusted to fit.   And the copper really needed to touch the joint.   And Helen lives 200 miles away so there would be no ‘fitting’. I cut paper and played with a design that would wrap around the thumb and not get in the way of daily chores.   I came up with this design.   During one of my practice sessions with my jeweler’s saw, I decided how to cut it and how to decorate it.   I practiced. The copper sheet I chose for the final ring came from my junk yard treasures.   It has striations on it and the plastic protection coating was still on one side.   I carefully sawed on my scribe lines and filed and sanded all the edges. ...

Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park is located in Arizona and Utah and covers 91,696 acres.   It’s a place where you can almost feel time stand still and peace envelop you.   The large and varied rock formations were formed by erosion and range from 100 ft to 1500 ft tall.   Many of the formations have been given names – Elephant Butte, Camel Butte, The Three Sisters, Totem Pole and more.  Camel Butte (Can you see him?)  Tourism is big business here.   “The View” is a beautiful new hotel and every room has a view of the monuments.   We saw more rental RV’s than we could count.   And well over half the visitors were from other countries.   I was most interested in seeing the rock formations, the striations and faces of the rocks, the light and shadow as the sun moved across the sky.   The colors and textures made me want to get clay out and model while I observed the changes.    I have no doubt that this ...

First Exercise in the Class Craftcast with Alison Lee is a really great online source for classes mostly about jewelry making.   I find myself signing up for almost all of them because they are so well done.   When the class ‘Zen and the Art of the Jeweler’s Saw’ with Michael David Sturlin was offered, I waited to take it.   I thought, ‘ok, I have a jeweler’s saw and I’ve used it and so why take a class?’   http://www.craftcast.com/ I’m going to Art Unraveled in Phoenix in August and I’m taking three classes in metal jewelry techniques.   Every one of them lists the jeweler’s saw as a necessary tool.     I got my saw out and tried it. ‘Hmmmmm’   I thought, ‘guess it is time to take the class’. There are recordings of the classes you can buy if you miss the live class and boy am I glad I signed up! http://www.artunraveled.com/ First of all my workspace is too low for correct posture and for keeping the saw vertical.   As you can see i...