I thought making something awesome for this month’s Art Element’s theme challenge was going to be super easy because the theme was “swirls.” Swirls. I love swirls. Make something artsy with swirls? Piece of cake. Until I went and looked up the definition of swirl. Because, you know, what is a swirl, really? And then I was down the rabbit hole of too many ideas and the artist’s block that comes with it.
You see, “to swirl (v)” means to move in a twisting circular or spiraling pattern. Which seems obvious. But then you glance down at the list of synonyms: whirl, eddy, billow, spiral, circulate, revolve, spin, twist. And your brain regresses to lessons from physics and physical oceanography classes where you studied non-laminar flow in streams and eddy formation in ocean currents. Suddenly, you’re envisioning whirlpools and maelstroms and wondering how you can translate them into art with the media available in your studio. (Which is polymer clay with all the toppings you can imagine.)
Speaking of swirled toppings – part of my time this month was spent making cupcakes for my co-workers at the office where I spend my weekdays. I love baking. It’s like organic chemistry lab, but the results smell better and the ingredients won’t melt your clothes when you splatter. Plus, you can make edible swirls with white chocolate ganache frosting.
But before you get anywhere with that, your brain free-associates from swirling water currents to swirling storm clouds (hurricanes, whirlwinds, and tornadoes) and swirling smoke (because of all the forest fires in the news) and then leaps to swirling galaxies (perhaps because you recently watched Avengers: Infinity War). And now you’re scheming ways to depict storms and the Milky Way with polymer clay. (While also wondering if you should run to the art store and invest in all the supplies necessary to try an acrylic pour because …hey look, a squirrel!)
When I have too many ideas swirling around in my brain (see what I did there?) I find it challenging to get started on any one of them. Looking for a place to start, I turned to my not-small collection of techniques books and tutorials. I found plenty of swirls in the form of assorted wire spirals and polymer clay canes. I’ve made swirled canes before and I like to try new things for these challenges, so I grabbed some wire and pliers.
I can see how, with practice, I could get the hang of the “Cumulus Clouds” and “Spiral Swirl” connectors. They would be fun accents for necklaces or earrings. I would also need to buy gauges of wire I don’t normally use. I didn’t have some of the sizes called for in the book and improvised with what I had. I also used my “Coiling Gizmo” for the first time since I bought it about 10 years ago. Although it produced a coil, I can report that it is NOT my new favorite tool.
If I had stayed focused on the wire, I probably could have turned out something respectable by the end of the month. Alas, I have a tendency to abandon something when my initial results do not live up to expectations. Which is exactly what happened when I attempted two different techniques from Cindy Wimmer’s Missing Link book. Getting wire, especially smaller gauge (thicker) wire, to do what you want takes practice. I have occasionally had beginner’s luck with a weaving or wrapping technique, but it never lasted long enough to make, say, a matching pair for earrings.
I used slices from a cane I made a couple years ago to cover some bead cores. The cane already has a swirled pattern that, when combined with the swirled lentil technique, resulted in something approximating an eddy or whirlpool effect. If I had used darker, moodier colors in place of the brighter blues, I probably could have achieved a maelstrom. These beads have a very shiny glass-like finish that caused reflections in the photo.
After mangling dozens of feet of wire I abandoned my wire ambitions and decided to soothe my dispirited muse with some polymer clay swirled lentil beads. The technique for making these beads involves exactly what the definition of swirl states: you move a ball of clay in a twisting circular motion. It’s almost meditative because it takes hundreds of circles to make the swirl pattern appear.
For the galaxy beads, I placed strips of marbled blue-purple-fuchsia clay on a glittery black background. The first swirl didn’t go as planned, but when I balled up the bead to toss into the scrap clay pile, it made such a pretty marble that I kept it. The second swirl also did not go as planned, so I “fixed” it with flat back crystals and dots of gold and silver leaf. I eventually got an approximation of a “Milky Way” spiral and called it quits on the lentil beads for this challenge.
It’s difficult to think “swirl” without seeing “spiral” and all the spiral-shapes in nature like the logarithmic spirals in seashells. Which made shells the natural next step in this swirling stream-of-consciousness thing happening in my studio. I first gave some old beads a make-over and then moved on to new beads in the same shape but different finishes.
I used Swellegant brass and bronze metal coatings, Tiffany green rust patina, and *all* the dye oxide colors to give some ammonite beads a makeover. They were in my “fuglies” box because I didn’t like the colors I initially used to paint them. I like them much better now.
I don’t love how the orange-green ammonite beads turned out. But maybe they just need the proper accent beads to look their best. I was trying to get some Fall colors into the mix but I’m not feeling “Fall” with it being so hot and humid here. The blue-green bead is my favorite in this batch.
These watercolor swirl charm pairs were intended to look like seashells. The shapes didn’t turn out as intended but they are fun nevertheless. The pink-purple-blue set has a matte finish with a bit of subtle sparkle that doesn’t show up in photos. The blue-green set have a gloss faux ceramic finish.
I spent much of the month over-thinking this theme and hanging out in my safe-space of polymer clay techniques I already know. On the final weekend before the reveal I was determined to complete something using a new technique.
One of the many untried polymer clay tutorials in my collection was perfect for this challenge because the final pieces are swirls of textured shapes. I bought it because a few of the textures on the finished pieces intrigued me and I wanted to know how they were made. I may have been able to puzzle them out from the photos, but that seems cheating when I got the original idea from someone who went to the effort of preparing a tutorial.
The finished pieces illustrating the tutorial are reminiscent of tentacles or tails. The textures in this pendant make me think of creatures of the deep sea. The kind we never see because they only come to the surface to capture prey, which never live to tell about the encounter. They are the sea monsters of myths and legends.
As often happens when I read or watch a tutorial, I found myself wondering “now why didn’t I think of that?” because it’s so obvious once you see it. But I probably wouldn’t have thought of it, so I am grateful for people who share through tutorials. Having read through the tutorial, I got ideas for other textures. My results are a combination of the ones in the tutorial and my derivations inspired by the techniques.
Two of the textures in this pendant are from the tutorial and are also techniques I already knew – from other tutorials. The third is a variation on one technique, using a different shaped tool. I imagine these are tails from three different species of dragon. They only gather once a year – to discuss what to do about the human-problem.
If you’re looking for a project-oriented tutorial, this one has easy-to-follow directions and helpful step-by-step photos. It is also a good source of texture inspiration if you want to take the techniques and apply them to other projects.
The tentacles and tails swirling in this pendant are representative of mythical beasts: one from the sea, one from the sky, and one from the land.
Many thanks to Marsha Minutella of the Art Elements Team for the inspiration this month. Even though I managed to overthink my way into a corner for most of the month, I did fill about a dozen pages in my note/sketch book with swirl-based ideas for the future. This challenge is also a blog hop, so please visit the other participants to see all the ways “swirl” was interpreted in a variety of media and techniques.
Guest Artists:
Alison
Anita
Cat
Caroline
Jill
Kathy
Karin
Kimberly
Mischelle
Raven
Tammy <–You are here!
Art Elements Team:
Love love love the Galaxy beads!!! All of your inspiration pieces are great, but those really stand out for me.
Thanks so much, Alysen.
You have ben busy, those tentacle pendants are amazing. I got my dictionary out too as there was so much to choose from this month.
Yeah, looking up the definition was a big mistake for me. I already had too many ideas before that and it didn’t help narrow things down the way I hoped it would.
OMG!!! I think we may share the same swirly brain. Seriously as I was scrolling & reading I found myself putting my hand to my face in awe as my jaw opened wider and wider… I just love every aspect about this post and hope that you put up some of those beads for sale because they are freaking amazing and I need to get me some 🙂
Thanks so much, Marsha. This was a great challenge theme. And I will put some in my shop as soon as get photos processed. Making beads = fun. Writing shop listings = not fun. 😉
Those cupcakes ♥️♥️♥️ I too got lost down that rabbit hole but you had more ideas than me!! Great blog post and lovely designs.
Thanks so much, Laney. I’m not great at food photography, but I love making frosting swirls.
Wow. I don’t even know where to start because everything is so beautiful.
I love the ammonite beads, even the orange-green ones. I think the color is great and would go so well with some copper tone.
And that tentacle and tail idea almost makes me want to go back and try some more clay work. Kudos to the lady who had the idea, and kudos to you for using it in such a great way!
Thank you, Cat. I wasn’t being very fair to the orange ammonites, because I am so partial to blue-greens. But you’re right, they would go well with copper. It is a fun tutorial, and I am so happy creative people like the author are generous with their ideas in the form of tutorials and classes.
Oh my…. where do I start… first, all of your not perfect or unintended outcomes are amazing. I DO like the orange/green ammonite swirl, it has a natural look to it. But you really hit it out of the park with the tail pendants! Those pendants are so fun and funky and full of stories. Love!
Thank you, Alison. I have to look at those orange/green ammonites apart from the blue-green one to really appreciate them. I am just more drawn to blues. The tentacles and tails were super fun to make and they sort of wrote their own stories.
I loved reading about your swirly process and your different experiments, your creations are all wonderful and I understand there are many more to come
Thanks so much, Karin. I am sure I am not alone in having so many more ideas than time to create. It’s comforting to know I can still imagine.
Great makeover for the ammonite beads – I love the color combinations in them. However, those tentacle/tail pendants are my favorite; they’re just fabulous!!
Thank you, Anita. Swellegant metal coatings have saved many fugly beads for me. I think they would be fun on some tentacle pendants, but that’s a project for another day.
Thank you for taking us down your rabbit hole with you. And for sharing the marvelous results. Love them all.
I always enjoy seeing what you create from polymer clay. You did a wonderful job. Thank you for including a tutorial too.
You definitely created some awesome pieces! I especially love all the ammonite beads/pendants and the textured tentacles pendants (this is how I see them 😉 ).
I am also with you regarding wire work. I love what people are able to create but I don’t have the patience to do it over and over until I learn how to do it right. I prefer techniques where you can create cool piece on all levels, just so I keep myself motivated 😉
I just LOVE all your swirly components but my absolute favorites are the tentacle swirls. Just amazing!!
Wow, you made so many beautiful pieces. I particularly love your galaxy beads… a bit of sparkle always does it for me!
Ok, I love them all. I love your wire pieces, I love your galaxy beads, and I LOVE the ammonites, as you might be able to guess! But those tentacles necklaces, I do love them! I love the textures and colors! loved reading your post, thanks so much for participating on a regular basis!
The tentacles are my favorite – they make me think of dragons as well as under sea creatures! I like the different textures in one swirling piece! The galaxy beads are really interesting too! Glad it was such a fertile theme – and sorry I was so late. I was away at the retreat!
I love how you walk through your thought process and all the things you tried with various degrees of success. Those tentacles are freaking amazing… such fun textures! I also am really smitten with your remake of your ammonite beads. Love the colors you achieved there.