Sunday, January 13, 2008

More Pods, Concentrated Color, & 30,000 Years of Art

OK, in order....
I'm clearly not done with cephalopods:

These babies were a blatant attempt to make beads that look like squid, except squid don't have red dots that big, and usually aren't shiny turquoise, and, well... they aren't beads. So... um... yeah.

Then I took a side exploration into what I'm calling my Eye-Pods. Get it? Eye-Pods? *groaning heard around the world* In the photo below are some of my Eye-Pods strung with my "Mystery Ingredients Beads". If you can figure out what's inside these little chartreuse beads, I'll send you some (of a different color, of course... the ones below have been permanently wedded to my Eye-Pod beads).

And here are some of the first Eye-Pod beads I made. Wonky, funky, and other -ky words. I'll probably be making them into wonky, funky, and other -ky type bracelets.

OK, so I'm sure you're all asking "How did she get such saturated colors and still maintain that great mica shift?" I'm glad you asked.

Yup. I may have trouble with the chlorine scent of Kato Clay, but the Kato Polyclay Color Concentrates don't have much smell and pack a color-wallop in mica based Premo clays without diluting the mica sift. So, there's my tip for the day.

And what, you might ask, do I mean by 30,000 years of Art? (Or perhaps you were hoping I had forgotten?) I heard a piece on National Public Radio yesterday about a coffee table book on (no, not coffee tables) the entire history of art, starting 30,000 years ago (rock art being my personal favorite, btw). The title of this book is (surprisingly) 30,000 Years of Art, and is 13 pounds full of images and info. Wow! I'm thinking I'm gonna take up a collection, and maybe in the next... oh, say... 30,000 years I might have collected enough money to buy it.

So, there you go, an nice, long, juicy post. Hey, what I lack in timeliness I make up for with content - right?

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yummi! Those are gorgeous! I love your squid-beads! And thanks for the color-hint.
Hugs,
Nadja

Raven's Clay said...

Nadja! Er... I mean... Chocolategirl!! Thanks for stopping by, my dear friend. :) I loved the photos you sent me... Did you get my email reply?

Sending you light, fluffy, many-many-centimeter-deep, snowy Maine hugs to you!

Susan Turney said...

Hi Melanie!
Finally a post!! :) I love the colors and your new beads are gorgeous! I can tell you're having lots of fun!!!

Raven's Clay said...

"Finally a post!!" - Susan

LOL! Yeah, guilty as charged. Well, at least I had a lot of content in this one... right? ;)

Thanks for comin' back, Susan, and for the sweet words. Yeah, if I'm not having fun it isn't worth it! (wicked grin)

Lisa Clarke said...

Ooh, I love the green & blue pods! And the mystery ingredient in those beads? I'm going to guess either crayons or spinach ;-)

artandtea said...

I love the scrumptious colors of your beads. They're fabulous.
Your comments about your squid beads made me laugh out loud. Thanks for the humor!
-Karen

Raven's Clay said...

Doh! Lisa, you were soooo close! Lol I guess you'll just have to wait until my next post to find the answer. Bwaaahaaahaaa!

And a big hello to Karen! Thank you so much for the sweet words, and I'm so glad I could make you laugh. Despite the hokey-ness, I really do believe the Reader's Digest phrase, "Laughter is the Best Medicine"! ;)

Lisa Clarke said...

Oh, poop. Candle shavings? Beeswax? Don't leave me hanging! I can't handle suspense!

;-)

Kim Cavender said...

First of all, before I make my guess, your new beads are amazingly beautiful and bizarre! I love them and I hope you'll have some at Synergy. My very first thought when I looked at the green ones was dried broccoli, since I can see tiny specks of a darker green. Like the part that gets caught in your teeth when you eat it. Then I read Lisa's guess of spinich and now I feel like I'm copying her. My other guesses would be chives or parsley. Whatever you used is wonderful! I'm going to blog you when I get home from Florida. See you soon!

Anonymous said...

oh my god these pods are to die for - sooo cute - like the blue ones and the little ones the most. Make sure you bring some in Feb to see in person :)

Kathi said...

I love your take on Eye pods Melanie. My take was in a totally different direction! Your colors rock. I so love my kato concentrates too.

Anonymous said...

Haha at last I have found your blog - thanks to Polka Dot Creations.

Anonymous said...

it's such a pleasure to read your blog. The way you are playing with words and idioms - just the way I love to do - is great fun. Even though I'm a German, and it is sometimes a little harder for me to understand.

3circlestudio said...

Your bioangle bracelets are wonderful! Your new Tree fungus biobangle are also very cool. I hope you had fun at Synergy. I hope to go next year!
Laura-3circlestudio