On September 30th I had the pleasure of demonstrating my version of the polymer clay peacock cane to the members of the London Polymer Clay Group in central London.
I had prepared some handouts as I know this cane is quite complicated and with several different stages and I wanted the members to be able to repeat the process if they needed to in the future.
I look forward to seeing if any peacock cane pieces turn up on the Show and Tell table at the next meeting.
My tutorial breaks the cane down into its component parts the Eye cane and the Fronds cane. I realised that the proportions of different colours used was important to getting a successful outcome.
You can access the cane tutorial here
Enjoy
Hello again, I have been working on a collection of jewellery featuring the peacxock feather cane. Here is a picture of the signature piece which is almost finished. I just need to tighten the links and decide if I will keep the double chain and custom made fastening. This necklace is reversible so needs to have a fastening which is easy to do up from both sides. I might change the one shown for an S fastener and change the double chain to a larger linked single one.
How was it made? I used silver tube cut into thin slices. There are 3 different widths of tube used here and you can see my cutting list and diagram in the picture below
This drawing also shows how the tube slices are connected together. I needed to have at least one wire passing through each of the tubes so that the polymer clay 'bead' had something to hang on. If I hadnt done this the polymer clay would have fallen out eventually.
The ends of the wires pass through the walls of the tubes and form the anchor point for the chain links between the tubes. I added the extra links because I wanted the necklace to adjust its position slightly as the wearer moves
This picture shows the reverse of the necklace which is filled with pearly turquoise discs with the occasional splash of purple. Looking at these pictures I will definitely change the chain and fastener.
I recently attended the Jewellery Design one day course at the London Jewellery School. It was a really useful course and the teacher (Zoe) has helped me think more clearly about the design process and how to develop an idea. Zoe also has a soft spot for peacock feathers as you will see from the beautiful bracelet on her page and encouraged me to take up this design direction again. I first started making peacock tube necklaces about 15 months ago and the designs have been rattling around in my head and in my dreams since then.
I will be demonstrating my version of the Peacock feather cane a the London Polymer Clay group September meeting. I am working on my presentation and my knees are knocking already. (Only joking, they are all very kind).
PS. Loving my new phone. Siri is helping me get organised. I asked him to marry me but he said it wasnt in the license agreement.
PPS. Since Margaret and I did the stall at Wonder Hill Market they have decided not to run it anymore at London Bridge. Hope it wasnt something we said. :)
On September 30th I had the pleasure of demonstrating my version of the polymer clay peacock cane to the members of the London Polymer Clay Group in central London.
