Layl McDill’s complex cockapoo cane starts out looking like a fantastic jumble of paw prints and hairy swirls. This Minnesota artist’s millefiori canes are fearlessly big and full of patterns that reduce down to marvelously rich images full of color and meaning.
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Her designs are made with 8 to 15 pounds of polymer that reduce down to 10 feet of canes that she sells or makes into sculptures. “Sometimes it seems that these women and creatures just climb out of my piles of polymer clay,” she says.
Layl doesn’t back away from size or complexity and teaches classes where students revel in producing plate-sized flowers. See more of Layl’s on Facebook, her site, Pinterest, and her Etsy gallery.
What would happen if you went bigger and more complex with your work?
delphine ,
Amazing !!!
Sherry Bailey ,
Fabulous canework — but what do you do with approximately a million little cockapoo slices?? ;^) (THAT is one thing I wonder about huge canes…) (Since I am terrible at making canes in the first place…)
Candice Bishop ,
Those are awe-inspiring! I, like Sherry, have often wondered what one would do with that many slices? I’m hesitant to make anything other than leaf canes because I never know what I’d do with them after I made them, unless I joined the multitude of people who sell them on Etsy for nail art or whatever. Many kudos to Layl for going big and bold!
Beth West ,
I love Layl’s canes! For everyone wondering what she does with so much cane, check out the links to her pages, she makes some fantastic sculptures with the slices.
Vanessa Lourenço ,
I’m a fan, such an amazing talent and detail!
Liz Hall ,
Having been messing with some simple canes this week (thanks to some tutorials posted on PCD) these are amazing! I also love her sense of color that she uses to off set the animals.
Sandra D. ,
Incredible work. Beautiful colors.
Marilyn Parker ,
Very impressive!