It’s been said many times that artist see things differently than most people. Although I never really thought of myself as an artist, I recognized that special insight my father had that allowed him to look at a picture once, and reproduce the scene in detail two days later. I admired that in him, and I guess that’s why it was cultivated in me as I grew up around his work. To put it another way, some people look at a flower and see a pretty bloom on a stem. Other people look at a flower and see delicate petals with lacey wrinkled edges and deep red centers, graduating into lighter and lighter shades towards the outward edges of the pedals. Some people see a banyan tree and only see a huge tree with trunks coming down everywhere. Others see this huge tree with contrastingly delicate leaves that drape downward almost romantically, with each leaf offering its own little twist to the entire scene. Whether this ability is God given or cultivated over time (I think both) it’s a gift that fills my life with wonder and excitement.

This very excitement inspires me in sculpting my work. I want those viewing my work to see the very fine details which I feel are the true essence of the subject I’ve sculpted. For an orchid it’s the frilly, almost whimsical edges of the petals and the “attitude” of the way the center petal plays against the other petals. It’s the “personality” I see in these flowers that’s exhibited in the way they grow and thrive. I’m still learning and cultivating my skills for seeing as an artist. Maybe someday I’ll feel more comfortable with that title.

I’ve found that working in wax allows me to model the fine details that I see in nature into my work. I can use an assortment of waxes and different tools to get the look and feel I want to show. And because wax is so “workable” I’m able to incorporate some very fine detail that I’ve not been able to achieve in any other medium.

But being able to achieve great detail is only as good as my ability to transfer it to the finished piece, without losing the look I’ve worked so hard to capture. This is done through the Lost Wax Casting process. In this process, I basically suspend my wax model in a container from a “sprue”, which is just a section of wax used to extend the model down into the container. I then fill the container with a special plaster. Once cured, this plaster will be a solid block with my wax model held in it’s center, only exposed to the outside of the block by the sprue. I then place the block into an oven, which will heat the wax enough to melt and burn the wax out of the plaster block. This leaves a plaster block with a cavity in its center that’s a perfect reversed replica of my wax model. From there I place my plaster mold into a special machine that will inject silver into my plaster mold while spinning the entire apparatus so that the silver is pushed into every nook and cranny of the mold by centrifugal force. Once the silver has cooled enough, I run cold water over the outside surface of my plaster mold. This causes the mold to crack and allows me to remove the plaster from my finished casting. If all goes well, it’s a wonderful thing to see!

Once my casting is extracted from the plaster mold, I clean it up with a high-speed grinder to remove any flashing that is left from the mold. Then I polish and detail the piece and assemble it with other cast parts to make a pendant or ring, etc. I love to see my pieces come together. I hope you will too!

Dawn Vertrees Jewelry Designer
dawnvertrees.com

Duration : 0:11:43

Technorati Tags: Art, Carolina, coral, Dawn, Designer, fine, flowers, Ghost, gold, Hamptons, jewelry, lost, method, North, ocean, orchid, sea, silver, Vertrees, VVH-TV, wax

This video will show you various tools I use when working with polymer clay.

I also show ways to store and organize charms, and jewelry findings.

My Favorite Tools

Tile – Tiles are a great surface to work on because you can put them in the oven without having to transfer surfaces.

Razor Blade A sharp razor blade is essential for creating clean lines

Needle Tool – A needle tool is perfect for creating a fluffy cake like texture

Sandpaper Sandpaper is great for creating a dough, bread or cookie like texture

Chalk & Paintbrush Chalks can me mixed with TLS to make frosting, or dusting on breads to achieve a baked appearance.

Cookie Cutters Cookie cutters make cutting complicated shaped simpler, and save time

Frosting Containers These small containers are perfect for storing extra frosting, but you must use it fast because it will eventually dry out.

Canes Storage- I store canes in plastic bags. This prevents them from drying out.

Clay Palette- The clay palette was originally a mistake. I like it now because it allows me to mix colors easily, like a painter☺

If you have a question, please ask:)

Duration : 0:6:38

Technorati Tags: Art, arts, bake, blade, bracelet, cernit, chalk, clay, craft, crafting, deco, desserts, ecru, ellison, Etsy, exacto, fimo, headpin, How, ilyatoni, jewelry, jump, jumprings, kato, katoclay, kawaii, knife, lesson, lll, Making, Necklace, needle, pliers, polymer, premo, razor, rings, sandpaper, sculpey, sweet, sweets, tan, techniques, texture, to, toni, tools, tutorial

“…but it gives me a great start and if you have the right image, you could have your finished piece right now.”

What you will need:
Protective surface such as newspaper
Substrate i.e. canvas of masonite
image from magazine or toner based print
Soft Gel Gloss
Brayer
Scraper
Sandpaper
Water or water in spray bottle
Paint Brush

Workshops
Check my website for current workshops. If you want a workshop given in your area, please contact me.
http://darleneoliviamcelroy.com/workshops.shtml

Santa Fe Workshops
I offer small (5-6 people) workshops in my Santa Fe studio six or more times a year upon request. I also will work one-on-one if that works better for you.

Classes
My ten week mixed media class at Valdes Art Supplies in Santa Fe, NM starts in the beginning of October. I teach fall, winter and spring classes there. We cover surfaces, image transfers, demented gold leaf, aging, finishes and ephemera resources. The class is a great deal of fun and there is a great deal of sharing.

Demos
Several times a year, I give demos on both image transfers and surfaces at Artisan’s in Santa Fe and Taos, New Mexico. Check Artisan’s web site for demos and classes by many artists.

Duration : 0:4:35

Technorati Tags: Art, arts, collage, crafts, creative, diy, gel, How, journaling, media, mixed, scrapbook, to, transfers, tutorial

Note: I said in the video that the metal was copper clay but it was actually brass, sorry about that!

For more jewelry tutorials and information, please visit:

http://www.nancylthamilton.com

If you have any questions, let me know in the comments below.

Thanks for watching!

Duration : 0:4:23

Technorati Tags: Art, bi-cone bead, bronze clay, compass, cone, creativity, design, diy, formula, how to, jewelry, metal, metal clay, Nancy LT Hamilton, patterns, pi, stone setting, tip of the day, tips, tutorial

Expert: Robin Westover
Contact: www.Trees-mom.com
Bio: Robin Westover has been creating jewelry and crafts for almost 30 years. She sells Gothic jewelry and Gothic wedding ideas as well as traditional styles of crocheted wire jewelry and gifts.
Filmmaker: joseph wilkins

Duration : 0:1:1

Technorati Tags: Art, crafts, etch, etching, glass, projects

Expert: Robin Westover
Contact: www.Trees-mom.com
Bio: Robin Westover has been creating jewelry and crafts for almost 30 years. She sells Gothic jewelry and Gothic wedding ideas as well as traditional styles of crocheted wire jewelry and gifts.
Filmmaker: joseph wilkins

Duration : 0:1:7

Technorati Tags: Art, crafts, etch, etching, glass, projects

Expert: Robin Westover
Contact: www.Trees-mom.com
Bio: Robin Westover has been creating jewelry and crafts for almost 30 years. She sells Gothic jewelry and Gothic wedding ideas as well as traditional styles of crocheted wire jewelry and gifts.
Filmmaker: joseph wilkins

Duration : 0:1:4

Technorati Tags: Art, crafts, etch, etching, glass, projects

Expert: Robin Westover
Contact: www.Trees-mom.com
Bio: Robin Westover has been creating jewelry and crafts for almost 30 years. She sells Gothic jewelry and Gothic wedding ideas as well as traditional styles of crocheted wire jewelry and gifts.
Filmmaker: joseph wilkins

Duration : 0:1:5

Technorati Tags: Art, crafts, etch, etching, glass, projects

Expert: Robin Westover
Contact: www.Trees-mom.com
Bio: Robin Westover has been creating jewelry and crafts for almost 30 years. She sells Gothic jewelry and Gothic wedding ideas as well as traditional styles of crocheted wire jewelry and gifts.
Filmmaker: joseph wilkins

Duration : 0:1:59

Technorati Tags: Art, crafts, etch, etching, glass, projects

Duration : 0:2:52

Technorati Tags: Altered, Art, Barbara, clay, jewelry, McGuire, polymer, Stamping, transfers