New Studio Works

I've had time in the studio over the last couple of weeks and was able to try my hand at Bettina Welker's pixelated retro cane.  I've done a lot of work with extrusions, specifically the retro cane.  What's different about this variation is the smaller circle die to extrude.  The technique was fun and I was able to create a number of pendant pieces with just a few slices of cane.  A little clay goes a long way.

Each pendant (or group) has the actual cane below.  Take thin slices and apply to a thin background sheet.  Smooth the slices to adhere them.  My slices were relatively consistent so I was able to run the background sheet with cane slices through the thickest setting on the pasta machine for consistency.  The red group was made using cutters and my flexible blade to create applique elements that were then pieced together.  The pendant with the metallic insert was made with a metallacized button that shows through a cutout.  I'll try more with the added metal accents for interest

This pendant was made with two sizes of oval cutters; I splurged and bought the nylon cutters so I get a much cleaner cut.  I'm showing the bail.  Very simple fold-over bail that gives lot of options for the type of stringing material to use.  This was a fun project and very easy to create.