Thursday, July 5, 2012

Lilian Nichols, Polymer Clay Artist...Faux Jade, Antiquing and More

Between the storm and power outage on Friday and the power outage on Sunday, we had a respite. That was the day Lilian Nichols taught us a variety of polymer clay techniques and gave us lots of tips, the kind that are often overlooked in books. Those tips are the best reason I know for taking classes now and then, no matter what the subject. The details of the photos show up better if you click on the photos to enlarge them.

We began by learning more about creating colors from basic colors. I was so intrigued with the process that I forgot to take a photo of the colors she had laid out for us and  the sample mixes she had made. However, I played with the technique with clay I had on hand on Sunday morning. I mixed colors with translucent clay. The first photo shows the set up, the second shows the results of mixing a bit of color with two circles of translucent clay.
The colors Lilian set out for us were mostly blues and yellows so we could experiment with making faux jade. She also brought molds, some pliable and some stiff. The following photo shows her pieces with the molds she used and after antiquing them.
Lilian showed us her technique for antiquing using artist quality oil paints.
Here is Sally's faux jade before antiquing.
And here it is after antiquing.
These are Mary Ann's pieces. Mary Ann was intrigued with mixing colors as well as mixing faux jade. I neglected to get a photo of her green piece and her pale magenta piece after she antiqued them. I am sorry. The pale magenta piece turned a beautiful soft old rose color.
This morning I compared the piece I antiqued with a jade pendant my son and daughter-in-law bought for me in Hong Kong.

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