The Doors

     It's been a rather busy few months here for me and it's looking like it won't slow down for awhile now. =) It's exciting though! First off, the next few days, I'll be catching up on new creations - lots of fun new canes from a custom order. The first set of canes I'm showcasing today will be all my door canes.
     There is lots to learn in making canes of doors and maybe the first how to minimize the natural distortion that comes from cane reduction in order to keep the lines straight.  There are several ideas I've experimented with during this caning adventure. The deeper you make the cane when first creating it, the easier it is to reduce without the edges warping and pressing the edges against a flat table top to keep the ends from drawing in helps TONS.  I'm also thinking in the future I may use a layer of scrap clay around the outside to help with reduction.  All in all though, these are meant to be whimsical and they succeed.  I did a bit of experimentation with the shading inside the door as well.  The glass in the door with the window is a light skinner blend of white and silver.   I'm looking forward to doing some experimenting with various house scenes and barn scenes and these will come in handy.
     Now for all the news that is keeping me so busy.  First off, I have been invited by the folks at CraftArtEdu to become an instructor.  YEAH!  I've been teaching art and craft classes privately and professionally and running craft groups for almost 20 years.  Creating my own designs and sharing my learnings is one of my passions in life, so I think CraftArtEdu is a perfect fit for me.  I look forward to bringing new projects to the polymer world and I'll be sure to let all of you know about all my new adventures.   Secondly, I'm now selling my jewelry through the Museum of Modern Art in Fort Worth, Texas and will be doing a trunk show and demo on August 1 at their monthly First Friday event.  I'll be posting more about specifics of the demo in another post once I get my design all laid out.  It's going to be a great evening.  And there is a number 3 that was on my list, but that'll have to wait until later so I can give you all the details.  =)  Come August though, I'll need to catch up on my sleep.