The Elephant by Jon Anderson

Several years ago, when I was still fairly new working with polymer clay, I was coming home from Arizona, killing time at the Phoenix Sky Harbor airport. I wandered into the gift shop, casually browsing, when I was literally stopped in my tracks by a display of wonderful animals. I had suddenly realized that these wonderful creatures were covered in tiles of different complex polymer clay canes. From the whole animal itself, to the masterful arrangement of the tiles, to the astonishing

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Since I decided that the best way to get volunteers for the lightfast experiment was to ask, I posted on two of my favorite groups. Both are at Yahoo groups and the group names are Polymer Clay People and clay-polymer. The response was wonderful. What a great group of polymer clayers! I think we have enough volunteers now from a cross section of climates.

One of the posters has had some experience already, with using polymer clay on

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First, I am happy to say, that I am adding two brands to the test process. In addition to Kato, Premo and Fimo Classic, I have added Cernit and Pardo. I received a new shipment of Pardo and Cernit and, I have to tell you, they were a joy to work with. I will cover my “take” on the workability of each of the different brands of polymer clay in separate article this week.

The canes are all created and I am now working on the little bird sculptures. I have never done a huge amount of sculpture work, over foil armatures, so this is good practice for me. I am working

.....Continue reading Update: Lightfastness of Polymer Clay Colors

The 2010 Cabin Fever Clay Fest will be happening from February 19 to 24 in Laurel, Maryland. The fantastic lineup of workshop instructors include Jeffrey Lloyd Dever, and 1-day workshops from Lindly Haunani, Maggie Maggio, Nan Roche, and Cindy Silas, Tony Aquino, Maureen Carlson, Grant Diffendaffer, Dayle Doroshow, Louise Fischer Cozzi, Laurie Mika, Kathryn Jo Ottman, Lisa Pavelka, Ronna Sarvas Weltman, and Sarah Shriver. There are still spots available at both the main conference and pre-conference workshops. The registration deadline has been extended to January 20th, so don’t hesitate, if you want to go!

The Orlando Clay Fandango workshop retreat is hosted by the Orlando Area Polymer Clay Guild (OAPCG) and will be happening soon! The 2010 dates are March 11,12,13,14, and 15, so there’s not a lot of time left to

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These items need to be able to withstand exposure to all the outdoor elements, from rain, to freezing, to sun. Knowing this, about four years ago, I began experimenting. I created a design cane, using the six colors of the rainbow, plus black and white. The brand of clay I used was Kato. I had intended to also get some Premo, to use for this experiment, but had too many other things going on.

I made a little bird sculpture out of the Kato rainbow cane, fired it, and put it

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However, it is almost more definitive to talk about what it is NOT. Polymer clay is NOT the same as the clays used to make pottery, ceramics, and other traditional clay items. It is NOT a clay that comes from the earth, as traditional clays do. Polymer clay is, in a word, plastic. However, that is too simple. Plastics have evolved enormously in recent decades and there are many different levels of plastic. From “cheap” plastics, that dollar store items are made from, to the super plastics used in medicine and space exploration, one can no longer equate the word plastic with something that is low-quality, unreliable and worthless.

Because polymer clay is NOT a traditional earth-based clay, it is no surprise that it is used for completely different

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When you are introduced to polymer clay, you get a couple of bricks of it, do some reading about how to use it and cure it, make a little project and find it all very interesting. It’s maybe a couple-hour project. You’re done and you now feel you know all you need to know.

When you are inducted into polymer clay, you do a little reading first, then a whole bunch of reading more, over days. Then you buy twenty to forty little bricks and several tools. You pack a largish box full of whatever you think you may need to learn and master this material over the three day weekend trip at the ocean, that you are embarking on.

Over that three day weekend, you

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