Into The Forest



Polymer pine cones and rocks in my forest!

I'm participating in an international polymer artist collaboration.  We are all going 'into our forests' and really looking at the organic forms  that abound.  Since the project is international there will be lots of different forest life represented.  (Real things - no fairies or gnomes!) Each of us will make our individual version of things we see in polymer clay (and make at least 10 of each item), send it to the coordinator and a team of artists will create colonies that overlap to create a mural with the theme 'Into the Forest'.  It will be seen November 7 in Pittsburgh PA.  

Pine cones, pine needles, leaves, rocks, wildflowers, tree bark, insects, birds and animals are some of the things I find in my Prescott National Forest.  I'm selecting pine cones and rocks as my contribution and sharing the making of pine cones with you today.  I have a minimum of 8 more to make this month.  Guess I better get busy as they do take a bit of time!

First I took a real pine cone apart to see how it really should be assembled.



Then I made a mold using 2 part Alumilite Mold Putty of the different size petals (I call them petals)



If you really look at the colors of the petals, the end tips are lighter.  I used Premo Burnt Umber for the basic leaf and Premo Raw Sienna for the end tips.

 

After making a core of polymer, I added the petals starting at the top of the cone.



The cone is ready to cure but I was concerned how the petals would stay separated.  I dusted them with baking soda and set the cone in the baking soda so it would keep its shape as it heated.  When it was done, I rinsed the cone in cold water spreading the petals as they cooled.



The finished pine cone!



Anyone who really knows me knows that I can get carried away with an idea!  If you've read this far, I feel I should let you know that I also made pine needles.  I arranged my fake rocks, pine cones and pine needles out in the real forest and took a picture.  This is the finished group that will be mailed this week.  Enjoy!


Labels:
Location: Prescott National Forest, 2971 Willow Creek Rd, Prescott, AZ 86301, USA

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Learning As We Go!

Image
Viking knit is the oldest method of chain making and I've become fascinated by it.  Once I conquered the single knit, I decided to add beads.  I could have googled or asked how it was done but it seemed like something I could just figure out.  And I've learned a lot as I proceeded first with tumbled turquoise beads and then with pearls.  I thought I'd share a few of the things I've learned.   Iif you want a great tutorial on viking knit technique, Trina Ann at http://blog.trinaann.com/  has written a clear concise easy to understand tutorial.  I highly recommend it.    Tumbled tuquoise beads in viking knit  I used tumbled turquoise beads in the first viking knit chain and I did not really know what I was doing.  But I went right ahead and as it turned out, I liked the end result.  Since the beads were irregular in shape there was a random quality to the finished product. During that process, I beg...
Read more

Polymer Clay Conversation

Image
One of the polymer clay groups on FaceBook is 'Polymer Clay Collective'.  This is a group of artists working in polymer clay who share ideas and support each other.  I'm so glad to be a part.  A new feature of this group is the 'Polymer Clay Collective Conversations' where a different member answers a set  of questions.  I get to be first - the trailblazer! I hope you enjoy learning a little more about me and in two weeks I get to learn more about someone else. • Tell us a bit about where you live. I live in Prescott AZ right next to the national forest.   When I look out my studio windows, I often see large black ravens swooping between the pine trees.   Binoculars are always available for close viewing of our smaller forest birds.   You’ve probably read about the forest fires we have had in our area this summer.   The monsoon rains we are having are so welcome. • What do you do when you're not polymer claying? As of 2010, I...
Read more

I'm Back with New Pieces of Art Jewelry

Image
It’s been a while since my last post and while I missed writing them, I hope you also missed sharing my adventures!  Between a road trip to Berkeley and having painful (very painful) shoulder tendonitis my activities really slowed down.  Now I’M BACK!  Ready to explore new techniques and have fun. When I see a good tutorial about something new that catches my fancy, I buy it and eventually the day comes when I just have to try it.  Staci Louise Smith wrote a tutorial “Gold Rush: The Rustic Crackle Technique” for Craft Art Edu.  I loved the pictures of her necklaces and wanted to see what I could do.  If you like the crackle effect  on my pieces or want to try something new, check out her tutorial on   www.CraftArtEdu.com    They have good classes on many subjects. When I started following tutorials, I expected my pieces to look like the instructors.  That just did not happen and it is not the fault of the tutorial or ...
Read more