Adventures in Polymer Clay

Let's face it, everything I do with polymer clay is an experiment! I have an idea in my head of the finished piece, and sometimes the results are close to my vision. Other times, I end up with something entirely different. That is part of the fun in working with a new material. One idea leads to another. One technique leads to another. One success leads to another, hopefully. Experiments lead to discovery and growth with the successes, and also with the failures.

My main objective in working with polymer clay is to create beads and components that look like artifacts, something curious that was recovered in an ancient excavation. Not to say that I don't venture off here and there. My clay surfaces are at times pitted or crusty. I like to use inclusions of broken gemstones, metal and glass. After baking the clay, I use a broad range of coloring agents, alcohol inks, Gilder's paste, shoe polish, old powder eye shadow and blush, acrylic paint, and pastels. The coloring is done in several layers until the piece has a pleasing range of color and depth.

The pieces pictured in the collage above are some of my most recent designs that illustrate my ever widening range in polymer clay in a variety of focal pieces.

In the photos on the right, some of my experiments with color. This one has a layer of acrylic paint and a layer of pastel.

This grouping is colored with more subtle pastels.

In this focal, I included a sort of copper mesh into the pendant design, and colored it with pigments from powdered eye shadows. After baking, I added layers of Swellegant copper metallic coating followed by a patina.


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Chrysalis Tribal Jewelry
Chrysalis Too on Etsy
and now * * * Chrysalis Tribal Jewelry * * * on Handmade at Amazon

The Kristi Kollaboration

Mayan Style Copper Clay Earrings

The "kollaboration" to which I am referring is between me and Kristi Bowman-Gruel. We found one another on Facebook, and I have been using her metal clay components since she first began to sell them. It was a pleasant surprise when I found Kristi because we share an appreciation of rustic style jewelry. So, of course, the components that Kristi designs are rustic and sometimes tribal, both of which fit well into my approach to jewelry design.

As you can see, we both have a wild side. I love to come up with new ways to use these amazing components, so you will see them often in my work. The earrings in the above left photo are called "Rag and Bone", and are listed in my Etsy shop.

Kristi is branching out into polymer clay (in the picture on the left) and is applying her uniquely original style (she calls it "wonky") to this new medium. I look forward to working more with her polymer clay creations and whatever brilliant idea she may dream up in the future. The bracelet on the left is also available in my Etsy shop.

Gloria Ewing
Chrysalis Too on Etsy
Chrysalis Jewelry on Artfire