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Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Things I like

two fold post
one fold: I reaslized I don't need to blog huge amounts of info when I blog, its ok to just post a quickie


two fold: I really like these little shrines, I find them very inspirational, and I want to make some
this is a Guardian Angel Box by SilverSunbeam


another two fold: Here is another loverly. wire wrapping and peridot colroed pearls, how can it go wrong? This tree is located at starsb117's etsy shop

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Mom says TV is a bad influence....


Zs tree cake front
Originally uploaded by Zoeowyn
How can TV be bad for me???
This is my soon to be 8 year olds cake. its a jungle tree. It is 7 "layers" of cake plus fondant tall. its all edible except for the leaves and inner supports. The bark is chocolate fondant and modeling chocolate. the mushrooms are those little melting candies and fondant.
The mantra for the 2 days it took to bake and decorate this puppy was "What Would Duff Do?"
WWDD
Yes I love Ace of Cakes
No I dont bake, thank the gods I have my friend Sarah. She actually said her job is to make it taste good mine it to make it look good. This is our second cake creation together. The first one was he son's lego cake.
We are planning what the next step in our growth cake wise is--recipes and piping and royal icing practice!

Thursday, June 5, 2008

Sugar Skulls



Today was my last day for the annual cultural teachers training camp.
Last year I taught just cane dancing. This year I was way so happy to be asked to teach some visual art classes in addition to the belly dancing.
The teachers who take this training camp are all wide open and receptive to other cultures (ok one of the reasons they come). I wish more area teachers would come
I know the director would like for more teachers to come.
Its fun, its wonderful, its a load of in-service credits, something teachers really need!
This week I taught bark painting, and henna, and andikra cloth decorating.
Today’s class was decorating the sugar skulls. I used plaster in the molds, and they turned out so great.
One of the other dance instructors came in and she is Mexican. So she was telling us how her grandmother would make sugar skulls, and how they would go have a picnic at the grave sites. It was great. I felt a bit like a fraud (this was all me—she didn’t once do anything to make me feel that way). Here’s this woman who grew up in this culture taking my class, and I’m teaching it because I LOVE making decorated skulls, and I love the whole concept of honoring people from our past.
All the teachers had fun with today’s class. I think they had more fun with today’s class than any of the other ones because it taxed their artistic skills the least.

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Shifting to neutral


neutral
Originally uploaded by Zoeowyn
Or, what is that color anyway?
Its more grey than brown, and more brown than grey. It may lean a little toward green, but then again maybe its leaning toward purple. It definitely not grey because grey is a mix of black and white, this color seems to be some muddy mess including all colors, with out actually being a color. Its "color neutral." Some people call it taupe. This non-color- color comes in a limited range of shades, because once it gets too dark it is definitely a brown, and once too light it becomes a bisque/ivory tone.


Now with all of the wonderful colors available in polymer clay would anyone actually want to work in "color neutral?"
That’s simple, when the clay is a base for a surface treatment. Color neural won't cause any adverse effects to the treatment color, it just lies there and "takes it," and lets the surface treatment be focal. Then again, there are times you just need mud.
Shades of grey wont cut it for mud, and the shades of grey are infinite. Yes grey is a neutral, so is black and so is white. Black and white are extremes and will alter the surface treatment results.

Grey is the extreme neutral, but it can also be "flat" and "colorless." It's not so simple to get a basic 50% grey.
That’s a grey that is perfectly balanced between the light of white and the dark of black. The pigmentation in black is intense. Be prepared to need more white than black. Also, add little bits of the black to the white as you blend. This will help control the sheer quantity you blend, as well as give you better color control.
Color neutral has some color body to it, so its not as flat. Like grey they are many shades, but they are in a smaller range. There are a few commercial color neutrals available to purchase, but the real fun is in blending your own. This is a great way to use up any scrap you may have. The best neutral colors come from blending a bit of everything.
It helps to be familiar with your color wheel when blending a neutral color.

Colors that are opposite on the wheel, complimentary colors, not only do these colors look great together, but when they are blended together they cancel each other out. This is good to know so that when you blend your pile of scrap, and notice that your "neutral" is a bit too green, you can add a red based color to even it out.
Now that you have blended your neutral color what can you do with it?
I like my color neutral clay to be a base for colored mica pigments. The pigment colors really show thru with out seeming "neon" like they do when on a black clay base.

Saturday, May 17, 2008

Interview!


dreambottles
Originally uploaded by Zoeowyn
I've been interviewed!
http://www.pcagoe.com
I am the member interview of the moment
yeah me!

Thursday, May 1, 2008

PCAGOE May Challenge Entries


PCAGOE May Challenge Entries
Originally uploaded by divadea
Hi folks its time to go vote at www.pcagoe.com
select your favorite floral item...I know this month is hard, Im cant vote as a member, but I really dont know which I would pick, after all they are all cool!
My top three:
the card in column D Row 2
Light switch column B Row 6
Fairy girl column A row 7

Monday, April 28, 2008

Evolution, maybe, then again










I've been making dragons out of polymer clay for over 15 years now. The blue dragon on the hair clip, is possibly my first one. And the little guy with opal eyes guarding the gems is possibly my first dragon bottle.
As Ive made protecting dragons Ive notcied a few things have changed.
One is the size, Im just getting bigger and bigger. Im also adding in more detail. Detail really makes the design more complete.

One thing that hasnt changed is the mica/luster powder finishes. Ive been utilizing that means of enhancement the entire time, and whats interesting, Im still using the same case of shimery eye shadows I used when I started. I still have them, they are from a gift with purchase make up kit from princess borgesia that I got in 1990/91. They still work great!