Wed 16 Jan 2008
By Linda Riopel, NK Designs - Smithtown, New York
New Year, New Technique
As the year begins, I am anxious and excited to expand and strengthen my clay techniques and designs. In recent months, the kaleidoscope cane took my attention. How intricate and beautiful! Can’t be that difficult? Right.
Research and Investigation
Very little information exists for kaleidoscope cane tutorials on the internet. There are DVDs for purchase, books and videos, but I am determined to do it today - no, obsessed is more the correct word. Can’t wait for books or videos to come in the mail. I decide to go to the local craft store searching for some directions. Nothing. There is a helpful tutorial on Polymer Clay Central by Kris Richards (http://www.polymerclaycentral.com/kalcane1.html) and I am forever grateful to her for her unselfish posting of that tutorial. I see an advertisement for Jana Roberts Benzon’s Arabesque’s cane DVD. http://www.janarobertsbenzon.com. Her canes are stunning and gorgeous. The ad gives me a starting point and is a great source of inspiration. Maybe I can do this. Back to the net - Glass Attic, (www.glassattic.com) Of course! There’s got to be something there. I peruse the site: canes, kaleidoscope. There’s tons of stuff - all very confusing. Isosceles triangle? Oh right, from my geometry class. Yikes, that was a long time ago.
Getting Started
I take the plunge. I get out my Kato and Premo clay, pasta machine and sit down to create a lovely kaleidoscope cane. The first one is an absolute and total mess. Must have put the triangles together upside down or inside out. Something. The second one is so chock full of lines and spikes I’m dizzy. Onto the third and fourth - too much black, too small a design, colors are not right. What are you doing? Don’t know. Now my hair is standing straight on end from running my fingers through it - like I stuck my finger in a light socket. What are you doing? Ok, breathe deeply, take a break. Think. Get out the Scotch - oh wait, I don’t drink. The pile of scrap clay is accumulating on my table. Oh boy. But like I said, I’m determined. I start again. This time, I manage to get a “sort of” kaleidoscope. It’s very small though, only about ½ inch. Now, my problem is, how do I cover scrap clay (which I have loads of) with it to make a pendant? Putting four slices together yields a smeared, disorderly failure. It reminds me of when I put up wallpaper in my kitchen - find the match, find the match. Turning it into a square doesn’t help either. OK, back to the drawing board, as they say.
Success!
I decide to incorporate Skinner blend logs into my cane. I used a tutorial by Leigh Ross at Polymer Clay Central http://www.polymerclaycentral.com/poleigh/skinner.html. I create Skinner blends, a peach, a purple and a green. To this, I add black and white logs and a bullseye cane stacked into a triangle. Using the thin layer of gold, I place several colored logs and wrap the gold clay over the first set of canes. Then more logs on the sides and top (again in a triangular shape.) Since spikes are not what I was looking for, I exclude the top layer of gold and reduce the triangle (to about 8 inches). I then cut the triangle into two equal parts and place them together to form an isosceles triangle.
When I turn the piece over, the top is now at the bottom (forming the triangle.) I smooth out the sides, turning and smoothing as I continue to reduce the triangle further. When it is again about 6-8 inches, I cut it into three equal parts and place the three sides together to form a half circle. I cut the half circle in half and make a full circle with it.
Now, if all this seems a little too baffling, see the pictures. What’s that saying - A picture is worth a thousand words?
