Clay Carnival, Part 2

Donna Kato's method for making big cabochons with precision lines was very enlightening and the technique will be useful for lots of designs:

and Meisha Barbee's class on mica shift caning was fun.  Everybody made lovely pieces:

Finally, Donna and Leslie Blackford collaborated on a class involving inclusions and carving.  Again, while the instruction was excellent, carving is a technique I'm not likely to use very often.  It takes a lot of practice to do it well.  My minimalist attempt:

All in all, it was a terrific retreat.  Good classes, nice people, and an interesting environment.  Now if that darned slot machine had just paid off.....

Clay Carnival 2013

I had the good fortune to attend Clay Carnival this year.  Las Vegas was its usual bizarre scene, but we spent most of our time in the classrooms with ladies who were not dressed in "Daisy Dukes," bra tops and high platform shoes.  However, the members of the Rowdy Room did partake of Fat Tuesday's large daiquiris during a couple of classes. 

I had a great time in all of my classes and learned some good things.  We were very lucky to have an all-day class with Diane Keeler, one of the foremost sculptors working in polymer clay.  Despite her excellent instruction, I do not believe I will be taking up sculpting on a regular basis.  Making realistic faces is HARD:

Julie Eakes showed us how to "deal with the hand we're Delft."  Her method for making blue and white canes was easy and fun and produced lovely results.

Judy Belcher showed us how to do "Tatoo Caning".  Here are some sample tiles:

Leslie Blackford taught us something fishy.  We were supposed to cut the fish into thirds and put it back together with a flexible attachment, which I did with the striped fish, but I couldn't bear to cut the red fish.  Now I have to figure out how to wear it even though it is kind of big.

More tomorrow.