Linda's Magic Workshop - Linda Britt Design

Finished Jellyfish! While taking my latest metal clay class with Hadar Jacobson, my muse took over and said, "Oh this could be a jellyfish!"  And so my mokume gane project took this shape! For anyone not familiar with mokume gane it is a Japanese metal technique that merges several different metals.  Artists of metal clay came up with a way to merge different metal clays to form similar patterns.  Artists of polymer clay developed a totally different method.  (more on that in another post).  In Hadar's class we used bronze, copper and steel to form the patterns and inserted those pieces of dried clay into a bronze base.  The mokume gane pattern shows well on the body of the jellyfish. This was a piece that I brought home in dried clay (greenware) form and fired the piece in my kiln.  I was so happy that it fired well and finished beautifully.  In the greenware state I added wire loops for attaching the polymer tentacles.  The partially completed jelly

It is springtime and time for bugs!  This is a framed bug (dead – pretty much the only kind I like) from Malaysia that I purchased at a Reptile Show.  I could feel a spring project in the making! I studied the form of the body and thought about what materials I could use to construct my bug.  The result is a body made of Hadar Smart Bronze clay formed in segments.  The wings had to move and the best way was to make a hinge as an integral body part.      A nickel chromium wire feeds from tail to head.  The tail became one with the wire but the head remainedseparate. I finished the body and finally stabilized the head to the first segment by soldering.  With the body finished, the wings were next.  The colors were mixed with some translucent clay.  I could have used more translucent but generally the combination of 672 yellow,1150 Lemonade,380 Buried Treasure, white and translucent polymer clay worked well.    I made the cane, sliced the win