Linda's Magic Workshop - Linda Britt Design

   My last post told how a mixed media wall piece combined wood, metal clay, feathers and ribbons to produce a story.   I introduced the 'Gastornis' - an extinct flightless primitive bird.  This week I'm sharing the 2 pendants I made at the same time I made the 'Gastornis' wall decor.   This post is about telling a story with jewelry and shows how color can add to the message. The pendant on the left above combines warm brass beads, meaningful red prayer beads and a handmade bronze wire clasp.  Does it made you feel excited?  The pendant on the right combines Hubei turquoise with silver and bronze.  The greenish color along with the silver cools the bronze.  Maybe this pendant makes you feel calmer?   Each of us bring our own color experiences with us.  I find it helpful to understand what we like and why.  That makes selections more meaningful and enjoyable.   Let's look at the pendant on the left and...

One of my goals is to use my last container of Hadar’s Steel XT clay!  I want to start on some of the new clay and am determined to use patience as I deplete my stash of the older clay.  Here goes a new project! Usually I just thumb through my new book Art Forms in Nature book by Ernst Haeckel but for this project I wanted to get serious and really think about the underlying structure or skeleton forms in nature.  Focusing on a couple of pages that reminded me of what sea creatures might look like under their shells, I sketched some ideas, closed the book and started to create. Mixing Hadar’s clay is so easy – as long as I creep up on the amount of water and not get it too wet - and it has a reasonable working time.  After mixing the steel XT clay it went into the refrigerator as I made the molds for my creation. Several months ago, this muffin pan, a treasure from a thrift shop, was sawed in half to fit into my convection oven for polymer clay....