Lindly Haunani has hit the color sweet spot with her latest series of brooches which she produces in a range of color blends. Mud, gold Premo and a Rolls Royce of a pasta machine have helped her along the way.
Of course a degree in printmaking, years of creating art and teaching polymer and a supreme color sense also contribute to her masterful combinations.
But back to the mud. A dollop of gray/brown clay is mixed into some colors to mute them ever so slightly. Gold added to others brings out a lovely luminosity. She mixes a 9″ x 12″ sheet of rainbow colors, tweaking it until the colors sing.
“The rest,” she says, “is a meditative process of making thin veneers, cutting them, combining them, flipping them so that dark-to-light butts against light-to-dark.” Once the patterns are assembled, she impresses them with 120-grit sandpaper to give them a soft, textile-like surface.
Lindly sold these brooches when she was teaching in Europe recently to help finance her new electric dough roller (like this one). “It’s like driving a Rolls Royce,” she admits.
You can learn some of Lindly’s color secrets in the book she and Maggie Maggio wrote. See where she’s teaching and see more of her color magic on her site and on Facebook where these brooches have started a buzz.
Mary Anne Loveless ,
Wow, wow, wow! I knew she was the queen of color, but oh, my goodness. These are delicious.
Liz Hall ,
I was looking at these yesterday on face book and just love her sense of color (yum!) and design, they are lovely
Ron Lehocky ,
Another “WOW-aunani” display of artistry, creativity, color and design.
Sylvia Valentine ,
I’m one of those EXTREMELY HAPPY European buyers – I wear my brooch all the time because, oddly, it goes with absolutely everything in my wardrobe!
Julie Picarello ,
Eye-catchingly delicious…Lindly never disappoints with her color combos. If I weren’t already a big fan of “mud” colors I’d definitely be one now!
Beth Wegener ,
Am SO excited that Lindly will be teaching at Clay Carnival Las Vegas this summer! She is a delight and a true color expert.
And who knew that there was an alternative high end roller pasta machine to the D.R.E.A.M. machine that’s been on backorder for quite awhile now?! Thanks Cynthia.
christelle ,
Lindly your sense of Color is amazing. Love the new spring colours….they all have mud in them. Was mixing colours yesterday and could not keep my hands of the clay……soooooo beautiful!!!!!!
Lorrene ,
Wow…. her work always inspires me.
Wow. wow….. and I thought my order of the Dream Machine was pricey.
Sherry Bailey ,
NEEEEED one! ;^)
Beth Wheeling ,
I was so happy to see your mention that technology in polymer clay conditioning can make a huge difference in one’s ability to work! It is great to see that someone as respected as Lindly Huanani is taking the physical stress off her joints and using a state of the art conditioning machine. In my first class with her she was reminding us to stand while cranking in order to lessen stress on our shoulders.
I think that we will all eventually end up using a pasta machine motor if we don’t have one already. There is no way that I could go back to cranking a pasta machine for hours and expect my body to function more than a day in a clay class. A life changing accident has made it essential to use a motor. I wish I had a choice. I have explained to plenty of TSA agents that my machine and motor are not components of a weapon…to the point that I just pack them in the boxes they came in.
I can only hope that the polymer clay world (both teachers and students) will become more accepting of motors. Conditioning clay before class but that is not always an option. Sometimes the actual conditioning affects the outcome so having someone do it for you changes the actual learning experience. I have spoken to some teachers who feel that they can teach more techniques in a class where people have motors because they save so much time. Classroom management which includes limiting motor, talk and other tool time to limited periods is the answer to the issue of motors. That fact was pointed out to me by a teacher I have tremendous respect for and I have seen it in action and found it to be true.
Thanks, Cynthia, for this very enlightening post and for pointing out how technology can enrich the creative experience.
Barb Alexander ,
Mud Magic! These are beyond beautiful Lindly. Looooove them.
Lupe Meter ,
Love it! Cool way to incorporate the mud!
Sarah ,
Dig ’em!