Linda's Magic Workshop - Linda Britt Design

My father loved rocks.  He was happiest when he was rock hounding or cutting and polishing rocks.  As a child, I did not want to have anything to do with my father's hobby of rocks or rock hounding.  And that was definitely my loss.  Today I have many cabochons that he cut and polished.  It is why I started designing and making jewelry.  One day I came across Cynthia Tinapple’s information on making rocks and I took her Craftscast class http://www.craftcast.com/class-or-recording-item/166269-making-beach-pebbles-from-polymer-clay .  I've been collecting tips from other polymer artists and I decided that would be my first project for my ‘Polymer Clay Personal Workshop’!  Before Curing - nature's rocks in center I can almost hear my father say, ‘You made rocks?  Why?  You can just go out and pick them up!”  I guess my answer would be, ‘Because I can!’   I remember him being astounded that I bought large rocks for my yard in Tucson.  His comment as he shook

The rocks captured my imagination on our recent trip to Joshua Tree National Park and I thought you might enjoy seeing some of the pictures.   The scale of rocks -boulders to gravel, the repetition of the rock shapes – rounds after rounds or jags upon jags and the shapes that are made by wind, sand and water fascinate me.   Some of these natural images will influence my future jewelry designs.   Some will bring me peace and joy as I look at them.  

Isn’t it interesting how each of us looks at the world and sees different things?   On a recent trip to Willow Lake here in Prescott AZ, I walked to the water’s edge.   It was a lovely late morning and the water shimmered.   The rocks on the other side caught my eye.   Maybe it was the morning light and play of shadow that held my attention so that I could see the rocks and their reflections making new shapes and patterns.   I was so glad I carried my camera!

As most of you know, my Tuesday blogs for a few weeks will be about my trip to several Utah monuments and parks.   Friday blogs usually have something to do with jewelry and creativity.   I always take a sketch pad and camera with me on trips.   So many things I see spark an idea for a piece of jewelry I want to make.   This trip was no different and one of the ideas I had after seeing the magnificent rock formations was to combine the vertical slabs of rock with the angled layers.   Since I’ve been taking several polymer clay classes, I decided that would be the medium.   Rock colors (copper, black, white, gold) mixed with some metallic mica powder and pepper represents the minerals.   I made some canes that combined the colors and that I could flatten for the long vertical rock formations.   For those of you who don’t know what a polymer clay cane is, picture a long cylinder of clay that has a design running through it.   You slice off a thin slab and apply it to a base of c