We all have those bits of leftover colored polymer that should be good for something, right? Rebecca Watkins has taught herself to”see” something in each ball of colorful bits and she shows you how in a few scrap to bouquet steps on her Flickr site.
When she covers the resulting carved unbaked beads with black mica they look dull and disastrous. But a light sanding of the baked bead reveals the color and brings out the pattern. She makes it look simple. Please tell me if it really is that easy. Rebecca’s recently developed a shortcut to organic stripes tutorial that you may enjoy too.
Lynda Moseley ,
How beautiful, Rebecca!
I don’t think it’s easy, though. I doubt many of us could see into the clay the way that Rebecca does, and I don’t even want to try. I’d rather sit back and be enchanted by her vision. Congratulations on the PCD feature, my friend!
ronna ,
Rebecca is one of my favorite artists. For every successful piece of her art made from scrap, I bet there are hours and hours of trial (and error) behind it. And notice that the scraps are colors that play together beautifully. She’s using scrap, but her work is very intentional and informed. So I agree with Lynda. Not everyone will see the clay the way Rebecca does. But she is a generous soul who shares her vision.
jan Montarsi ,
“I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.”
Michelangelo quote
That is what Rebecca does with clay !!!!
Susan O'Neill ,
Beautiful! (And, it’s not really “scrap”…it’s just a finished piece that took a creative detour 🙂
Kit Lockwood ,
Wow. Can I just say, it struck me this morning as I found this cool PCD posting how grateful I am for what you do (grateful yet again). I LOVE discovering techniques. LOVE it. Even if I don’t use them as they are taught, they fire up all kinds of what-ifs for me. It makes me so happy. I look for the PCD post like coffee every day. You’re the best!
Barb Fajardo ,
Fantastic! That Rebecca is a clever one…
Nena ,
Amazing! Thanks for sharing 🙂
artybecca ,
Well, what a pleasant way to start my birthday — finding myself on PCD! (That explained the handful of new contact requests on flickr!) I have another little tutorial up my sleeve…a variation on the organic stripes.
And Jan Montarsi…yup, me and Michelangelo…you know, I have always thought he and I were quite alike. Ha ha! But seriously, I know that quote and have always found it inspiring and amazing to think about what he did with marble.
Bernini is my very favorite marble sculptor though. Look at this gloriousness from different angles:
http://repainterdiaries.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/bernini-apollo-daphne1.jpghttp://www.goldaraphael.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/bernini_apollo2.jpg
jan Montarsi ,
Try these separatly
http://repainterdiaries.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/bernini-apollo-daphne1.jpg
http://www.goldaraphael.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/bernini_apollo2.jpg
Trina Williams ,
Hmmm. The journalist in me sees a series of articles on ways to use your scraps. Between Rebecca, Alice’s Stroppel cane, my polymer pebbles, the Mitchell sisters pasta machine scrapings………………(add yours here) More hmmmm.
Sherry Bailey ,
Brilliant! I always said, “there IS no such thing as scrap polymer clay”. Trina is right, it would make a great series! I have a few contributions…
suzanne ,
super, as always. thanks for this tutorial.
you have a super eye for detail!!!
Alice Stroppel ,
Just saw your new wonderful tutorial too. You’ve been busy and having a birthday as well. Thanks fot sharing Rebecca. Trina, Scrap is beautful! Or can be….we’re just trying to make everyone believe it.
Cynthia Tinapple ,
Rebecca shows the tools that she uses to draw in the unbaked clay here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/34443858@N07/4936115789/in/set-72157624802328426
Happy birthday to Rebecca!
ct
meisha ,
Happy Birthday Rebecca! You have a unique sensibility, that I really appreciate. As Ronna said, your scrap colors play very well together…and that’s no accident. Some of your other bead series with more deliberate colors are very sophisticated. I enjoyed perusing your Flickr site.