Painting with Polymer Clay

Is making jewelry from polymer clay the best way for me to be creative?  If we don't experiment with alternatives, how will we know?

How can I use polymer clay to create paintings?  This blog explores my attempts and growth in a technique of applying clay to canvas.  There was no class or written information that I found so I just started.  I'm showing my newest 'paintings' first so that you can see the changes in style and technique.

Monarchs

The beginning of the Monarch Painting

Painting the background of the canvas helped me define the movement of the grasses and the lighting.  I wanted to feel the low sun coming through the grasses while the butterflies took flight.  I also wanted to show a cocoon and give the impression of beginning pods of grass (at the lower edge of the canvas).  

This piece is to be a part of the fall 'Changing of the Colors' at The Prescott Art Market in September.   The color scheme and size of the canvas (20" x 20") are the only limitations.  First I made the flowers 3 dimensional because I wanted depth.  The grass, made with an extruder, lets me make consistent long strands that bend with the breeze.  My Monarch butterflies, sliced from polymer canes, were cured or baked sitting in baking soda to keep the wings in flight.  

This time I used liquid polymer to glue all the pieces onto the canvas.  I'm trying to find ways to attach the pieces to canvas not using super glue.  That stuff really messes up my nose!  The liquid polymer seems to work on all but the heavy flowers.  For those I embedded wire into the flower with glue and poked the wire through the canvas securing it with a spiral.  

Desert Wash

Beginning of Desert Wash

The Desert Wash painting is a smaller piece (12" x 12").  I really thought it would be a piece of cake since the canvas looked small!  Well, it looked small until I started applying the polymer and I realized how much it would take. 

The background is made of stacked layers of canes between solid layers.  The technique is called the 'Stroppel Cane' and I love making it and seeing how the colors appear when sliced.  I decided to use it for the greens of the desert. 

I also made forms that remind me of cells and flowers using Eugenia Topina's polymer clay tutorial:  Openwork Pendants: Under a Microscope" as inspiration.  These were cured before applying.  The rest of the polymer was applied directly to the canvas without liquid polymer or glue.  I wanted to see if it would stick and I knew if it did not that I could always glue it on.  After applying all the polymer, I cured the piece in the oven tented with aluminum foil.  It seems to have worked as the painting is still intact days later! 

I chose the tortoise, saguaros, flowers from the cholla plants hoping to invoke the essence of a desert wash after the rains. 

The 9 Patch Quilt

 In the 9 Patch Quilt painting, I explored alcohol inks, textures, borders, and color.  Click on the painting title to see more.

Summer Flowers

 Summer Flowers was my first painting.  I used polymer canes in the repetition of form and color.  It still makes me happy!  Click on the title of painting to see more.

I hope you enjoy seeing my progress and would love to hear your comments about what you like and don't like.  I'm still making jewelry and need to take side trips every once in a while.