Botanical Necklace – PolymerCAFE Cover Shot
November 2005
In 2005, after a very rewarding US West Coast teaching tour debuting our workshop, "The Cutting Edge," we were asked by Joan Clipp at PolymerCAFE magazine to contribute a how-to article featuring our new techniques. At the time, we weren't sure how we could. Using a Peeler as a new tool for polymer clay, "The Cutting Edge" workshop was an entire weekend suite of techniques. Day 1 featured a number of methods for revealing graphic patterns in clay slabs: Holes, Lines, Inserts, Texture Without Texture, and Peeler Mokume were some of the techniques that made up what we would later refer to as "Polymerology." On Day 2, we debuted "Matrix Canes," taking simple striped canes and turning them sideways. It was, quite literally, a different approach to peeling (and canework), but an equally open-ended patternmaking system. We were excited at the time to share all this new stuff, but because it was a challenge to fit everything into a 2-day workshop, we couldn't imagine how we might fit even half of it into a few pages in a magazine. What we decided to do instead was isolate just one of our new Peeler possibilities, and feature it in the article. We zeroed in and debuted "The Cutting Edge" in print by focusing in on one of its most accessible and fundamental techniques: Lines.
Knowing that there was a chance this could be the cover story for PolymerCAFE, I decided to do my best to create a piece that would be worthy of a cover photo, and then use it as a departure point for the tutorial. My experience has been that every new technique plays coy at first, never revealing itself to you completely. You think you're done, but then a little something new and unexpected will surface, coaxing you in to investigate even further. What follows is a back-and-forth: question, answer, new question, new answer. A series of tipping points will occur until it becomes apparent that the thing you first thought was a small tangent of something else is actually an independent thing of its own. This was the case with Lines. In the midst of so many Peeler options, I hadn't gone very far with this one part of my Cutting Edge repertoire. I wasn't sure I could pull it off. But this necessary focus was a perfect opportunity to discover its potential, and once I challenged myself to make a multi-beaded necklace featuring only Lines, I realized how versatile it was.
Sometimes, deliberately limiting your options can give you the freedom to explore a narrower range more deeply. In the end, I designed and built 27 slabs, for 27 beads, in 27 different colours, each with a unique Lines pattern.
Our friend Lisa, a photographer and graphic designer, took this shot. We spent the afternoon at her house, dining room as studio, hanging out and taking notes during the shoot. Our son was the one-year-old photographer's assistant that day.
photo by Lisa Salazar, CGD
Botanical Necklace – PolymerCAFE Cover Shot
November 2005
In 2005, after a very rewarding US West Coast teaching tour debuting our workshop, "The Cutting Edge," we were asked by Joan Clipp at PolymerCAFE magazine to contribute a how-to article featuring our new techniques. At the time, we weren't sure how we could. Using a Peeler as a new tool for polymer clay, "The Cutting Edge" workshop was an entire weekend suite of techniques. Day 1 featured a number of methods for revealing graphic patterns in clay slabs: Holes, Lines, Inserts, Texture Without Texture, and Peeler Mokume were some of the techniques that made up what we would later refer to as "Polymerology." On Day 2, we debuted "Matrix Canes," taking simple striped canes and turning them sideways. It was, quite literally, a different approach to peeling (and canework), but an equally open-ended patternmaking system. We were excited at the time to share all this new stuff, but because it was a challenge to fit everything into a 2-day workshop, we couldn't imagine how we might fit even half of it into a few pages in a magazine. What we decided to do instead was isolate just one of our new Peeler possibilities, and feature it in the article. We zeroed in and debuted "The Cutting Edge" in print by focusing in on one of its most accessible and fundamental techniques: Lines.
Knowing that there was a chance this could be the cover story for PolymerCAFE, I decided to do my best to create a piece that would be worthy of a cover photo, and then use it as a departure point for the tutorial. My experience has been that every new technique plays coy at first, never revealing itself to you completely. You think you're done, but then a little something new and unexpected will surface, coaxing you in to investigate even further. What follows is a back-and-forth: question, answer, new question, new answer. A series of tipping points will occur until it becomes apparent that the thing you first thought was a small tangent of something else is actually an independent thing of its own. This was the case with Lines. In the midst of so many Peeler options, I hadn't gone very far with this one part of my Cutting Edge repertoire. I wasn't sure I could pull it off. But this necessary focus was a perfect opportunity to discover its potential, and once I challenged myself to make a multi-beaded necklace featuring only Lines, I realized how versatile it was.
Sometimes, deliberately limiting your options can give you the freedom to explore a narrower range more deeply. In the end, I designed and built 27 slabs, for 27 beads, in 27 different colours, each with a unique Lines pattern.
Our friend Lisa, a photographer and graphic designer, took this shot. We spent the afternoon at her house, dining room as studio, hanging out and taking notes during the shoot. Our son was the one-year-old photographer's assistant that day.
photo by Lisa Salazar, CGD