Friday, June 12, 2009

Cherry Blossoms


I love cherry blossoms.

I recently learned several polymer clay techniques and I immediately fell in love with doing "appliqué" to make a miniature work of art on a bead. First and foremost, pink cherry blossoms!

Here, I share with you my sketches and a few of my new designs in the making. I love the look and style of Chinese disc beads. The soft, flat circles are pleasing to the eye and feel good to the touch. Add a chocolate brown branch of beautiful pink cherry blossoms and I'm hooked!

By definition, appliqué is a decoration or ornament, as in needlework, made by cutting pieces of one material and applying them to the surface of another. In my case, I've made a stone-effect disc bead and instead of cutting out a branch or flowers I hand-sculpted a branch of miniature cherry blossoms and applied it to the bead.

I make the pendants out of white or gray polymer clay with inclusions of art sand to mimic a stone disc bead. I began the design using a gray stone-effect, however, subsequent experiments lead me to prefer white because I think it's a better background to show off the pinks and browns.

I had no idea of the time and tedious effort it took to use an applique technique on polymer clay but I'm in love with the results. I certainly have a higher respect for sculptors and other artists who work in fine detail than I ever have before in my life! In addition to working with this new medium, I am now learning the art of Chinese knots so I can showcase my precious pendants from a pretty satin cord.

Next up, dogwood?

6 comments:

  1. Beautiful! and so unique! What a great idea

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh honey, those are gorgeous! Yes, I vote for dogwood next. :o)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Your really good at this :)
    your drawings are just perfect ! (:
    I love youu,

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks for all the compliments everyone! I'm so glad you all like them. I'll be sure to post a picture of the finished project soon!

    ReplyDelete
  5. i seriously want that cherry blossom necklace :( can i get it from ebay?

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi Shar! I'm sorry, I don't currently have an ebay store. I do have an Etsy shop: Biologie

    I accept all major credit cards via PayPal and your necklace will arrive gift-wrapped in a hand-made box with cherry blossom ribbon. :)

    There are currently only 2 necklaces left:

    Cherry Blossoms Necklace on brown satin cord.

    Cherry Blossoms Necklace on black satin.

    I love that you are interested in my necklaces and hope that you consider using Etsy for your hand-made shopping needs.

    Take Care!

    ReplyDelete