On My Workbench: Eye Candy and Razzle Dazzle

Why is this ship painted this way? Is it a modernist art piece? The whim of a wealthy eccentric? Perhaps a retired warship put to some strange new use?

Nope. This is the USS West Mahomet in 1918, bedecked in US-Navy-approved camouflage. The particular type of camo is called razzle dazzle or simply dazzle. Dazzle was not intended to conceal a ship, but rather to confuse enemy targeting systems so that they couldn't tell if a ship was coming or going, its size, and where exactly the bow, and other parts of the ship, were located.

This type of camo was used extensively in World War I, and less so in World War II. Did it work? No one is one hundred percent certain, since controlled trials were impossible, and every ship was different. Dazzle design was the work of skilled artists. Vorticist artist Edward Wadsworth supervised the painting of over 2,000 dazzle ships during WWI, and the dazzle ships caught the attention of Pablo Picasso, who credited the designs to Cubism.

More examples of amazing dazzle camouflage:

Razzle Dazzle SS Hannibal print	Another dazzle ship, name unknown

Sharply contrasting geometric designs, even when only employing black and white, pack quite a visual punch. They intrigue the eye and delight the imagination.

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In the studio, I have been creating my own set of black and white designs, as well as lots of new colorful patterns and luscious layered dangles earrings. Here's a peek at what's on my workbench this week:

Big beads ready to be strung!	Colorful multihued and black and white earring dangles

In style this season: Stylized, bold accessories with imaginative geometric patterns.  Even a small piece makes a statement. Geometric shapes and designs can be big and bold, or smaller and more subtle.






The patterns in these designs originate as small sections of caned clay, which are combined to form larger canes in ever more complex designs:

 

Of course, a bit (or a lot) of color can be nice too!

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Suzanne Anderson is the creator of YIKES! Studio Jewelry. Suzanne has been busy creating for most of her life. After graduating with a BA from Maine College of Art, she worked as a graphic designer and a painter. Suzanne works to ensure that YIKES! Studio creates work that is fun, beautiful, always interesting, and adorns the wearer with joy. Catch up with her on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or Etsy, or her website at www.yikesstudio.com.

How to Make Big Beads from Polymer Clay

I love to make necklaces with big beads. Larger beads and pendants are a great way to combine a variety of techniques and play with color and texture. Big beads can be attention-grabbing, beautiful and bold. They're in style right now and many people are interested in creating them for their own pieces.

Here I'll show you how I make my big beads from start to finish.

In making larger polymer clay beads, two issues that come up are dealing with the heavier weight (for the largest beads) and not wanting to use up valuable clay for the inside of the bead, which no one will see anyway. There are simple solutions for these problems.

1. Create a "Dummy Bead" Inside the Bead

For medium size beads, I roll junk clay into balls. I keep a plastic bag of "junk clay" bits and pieces from other projects for this purpose. The recycled junk clay makes up most of the bulk of the large bead.

For really large beads, I use a crumpled tin foil core. The foil cure helps to ensure even, proper curing in the oven and cuts down on the weight. If you choose to use foil, the foil ball should be nice and tightly compacted.

2. Cover the Junk Clay or Foil With the Desired Colors

Cover the junk clay bead with the desired color of clay. To get a nice, smooth covering on the bead, roll out your desired colors into thin sheets which you can tear pieces from.

Watch that no air bubbles are left in the clay. If you do see them, slit into the bubble with your tissue blade and smooth to remove. Round off your beads in your palms to smooth.

3. Add Canes and Coverings to the Bead

Make up your canes and coverings to apply to your beads. Here I have made a mokume-gane to use in some of the beads. (Try a tutorial for polymer clay mokume-game here or here.)

Layers of caning and patterns have been applied and smoothed...	Not bad, but I feel they are lacking a bit of something.

Now I am satisfied!

4. Pierce, Cure and Sand

I carefully cure these in a calibrated oven for one hour.  The beads above have been pierced and cured and are ready for sanding.

Making big beads is a wonderful way to experiment with various techniques and color combinations. Enjoy creating! ❉

What's On My Workbench

Fun, big ring parts to be assembled. The ring shanks are created from sterling silver. The polymer has a sterling bezel set and the sparkles are Swarovski crystals from Austria.

To be completed: (1) A jacquard peach and fuchsia disk bead necklace, (2) BoHo pendant and earrings set, and (3) flat dangles in mint and emerald. ❉

 

Designing with Big Beads

Bits and pieces!

Some really fun stuff is happening in the studio recently. I've been using line in design and big, big beads. Higher contrasts with black and white. It wouldn't be fun if I couldn't push it!

The first Downtown Ellsworth Art Walk is this Friday from 4-7 pm. I will be there with some of my new pieces.
Come out and see what all the art is about in Ellsworth this Friday! Who knew there were ten galleries in Ellsworth, wow!

DO Something WiLD--Fundraising for Heifer

Hand crafted beads created for the "Do Something WiLD" fundraiser necklace.
Keep watching for updates on the necklace's progress.

Do Something WiLD!
Fun Fundraising for Heifer International

Ideas tend to come to me in a very sudden way. I then proceed to jump in, both feet first. That is exactly what has happened and I now find myself with several very large projects going.

First of all I am formulating and working out the details of doing a fund raiser for Heifer International. If you are unfamiliar with Heifer they go something like this. You present a cow to a family, they in turn get milk from the cow, the cow goes on to have a calf and now there are two cows. They family now has extra milk and can sell what they don't need. They then have another calf which they then give away to another family and the cycle gets repeated. Building up the village to sustainablitiy. This is a simplified version and you can read more about it on their website Heifer.org. Anyway...my husband and I have been giving small donations over the years to Heifer hence we receive their publication. I opened it the other day to find a campaign they are doing in April call Do Something WiLD.

The acronym stands for Women in Livestock Development and the focus of this campaign is on the work Heifer does in empowering and enabling women: one of the most effective tools for a peaceful, prosperous society. The graphics in the ad caught my eye and seemed to relate to YIKES! Studio.

I thought, this is something I want to get involved with, but how? Create a necklace, sell a chance to win it and donate all proceeds to Do Something WiLD ! That was it! So last night I set about (til midnight) the beginning stages of the necklace creation of which I will post pictures.









Beginning stages of the Do Something WiLD necklace.
Making lots of face canes...

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Make a $5 donation for Heifer International and a chance to win the finished necklace (valued at $200.00).

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