The theme for this month’s challenge on the Art Elements blog was “petroglyphs.” I signed up to participate in the challenge even though I had no immediate ideas for how to interpret the theme. Sometimes I have a bunch of ideas right away for how to interpret one of these challenge themes, and other times …nothing. That’s part of the fun of the challenge: either narrowing down too many ideas or coming up with at least one.
If you’ve followed my blog, you probably know I often struggle with being too literal when interpreting a design challenge. It’s often only after I’ve seen where other folks let the inspiration take them that I get less literal ideas. One thing I knew with certainty for this challenge: I was absolutely not going to literally carve rocks.
In case you weren’t familiar, petroglyphs are carvings on rocks. They are sometimes classified as “rock art” along with petrographs (painting or drawing on rocks) and petroforms (shapes made with rocks). I’m not entirely certain the creators of prehistoric petroglyphs, petrographs, and petroforms always thought of or intended their works as “art.” It’s possible they meant the symbols as signs or ways to convey important information like “good hunting here” or “this way to the river.” In the case of rock symbols that pre-date written language, they also could have been a way to commemorate important events.
The symbol carved on this faux stone pendant is from the raven banner flown by various Viking chieftans. Ravens are common figures in Norse mythology, especially associated with the Norse god Odin, and with Valkyries. They are also symbols of wisdom and knowledge. The back of the pendant has a carved triple spiral symbol. The faux stone pendant is on beaded wire-wrapped chain. The beads in the neckline are ceramic turquoise blue rounds (by Diana Ptaszynski of Suburban Girl), ceramic green swirls (by Marsha Neal Studio), and faux stone rondelles. The textured rolo chain, wire, and clasp are antiqued brass finish.
I don’t know how difficult it is to carve on actual rocks. However, I do know that carving polymer clay is relatively easy. I won’t say it’s as easy to carve as butter, but maybe it is a bit like carving frozen butter? It’s about as difficult as carving rubber stamps. By that I mean, if you have a sharp carving tool and you’re already skilled at carving rubber stamps, you’d probably get equally good results from carving polymer clay. If, like me, you have a somewhat dull tool and not a lot of carving experience, your mileage may vary.
This is the back of the raven pendant. I wish I had carved the triskele slightly larger. Regardless, it makes the necklace “reversible” because there’s a design on both sides of the pendant.
Even as I tried not to be too literal, I couldn’t help wanting to make something that had the look and feel of carved rock. Which led me to mix up some polymer clay “rocks” for carving. I used Sculpey Souffle blended with Premo! Gray Granite and embossing powders. The Souffle line of polymer clay has a matte finish and what’s been described as suede-like texture when cured. The Gray Granite is a translucent blend with black and white inclusions meant to mimic rock. Adding the translucent “granite” to the Souffle colors gives them more depth. And of course, adding embossing powders gives more flecks of rock-like inclusions.
Sheep are one of my spirit animals. I am an Aries in western astrology, and a Fire Sheep in Chinese astrology. Thus I might have carved my sheep symbols into rocks at places I traveled, to symbolize “I was here.” I chose bighorn sheep in particular for these petroglyphs because they remind me growing up in the high desert of Arizona, and because of the added symbolism of the spirals in their horns and curls of their hair. The faux stone pendant is strung on imitation leather cording with a blue-green ceramic accent bead (by Gaea). I had to find a sliding knot tutorial on the internet because it’s been forever since I made an adjustable cording necklace.
I created three shades of brown and two grays from the clay blends. I marbled them together in various proportions and used the marbled veneer to cover scrap clay. Using a veneer over a base means I can get more “rocks” from my custom color blends because I only need the outside of the faux stones to look like rock. If you were to cut my faux stones open you would find they have “dirty” white centers. I keep a lump of white clay to run through my clay-conditioning machine when switching from dark to light colors. Over time it picks up bits of every color in addition to lint and the occasional cat hair. So, you could say cat hair is the secret ingredient in some of these faux stone beads.
The symbol carved on the front of this faux stone component is a primitive representation of a bighorn sheep. Bighorn sheep are known for being remarkably sure-footed. I am not terribly graceful, so if I were to wear this totem, I could hope it imparts some of the sheep’s balance and agility to me. Or I could wear it when I feel as if I need extra confidence (figurative sure-footedness) navigating life’s obstacles. This totem pendant pairs my faux stone bead with a turquoise rondelle, an etched lampwork bead (by Genea Crivello of Third Eye Gypsy), a ceramic disc (by Teri DelSignore), and a rustic ceramic leaf (by Petra Carpreau of Scorched Earth) on antiqued brass chain.
The faux stones were textured with various tools, including crumpled aluminum foil, a wire brush, a sponge, and a pumice stone. Before curing them, I transferred the designs I wanted to carve into them. I drew the designs on tracing paper with a soft lead pencil, put the design face down over the stone and burnished lightly with my finger. Graphite transfers onto raw polymer clay with little effort.
I carved a triskele on the back of this bighorn sheep bead, similar to the one on the back of the raven pendant. Just in case the pendant flips around, there’s something of interest on either side.
After the stones were cured, I used the carving tools I bought for making rubber stamps to make shallow cuts following the lines of my transfer images. I had to be very careful not to carve too deeply and remove too much of the veneer because I didn’t want the white base layer to show. After carving the first symbol, it occurred to me that if I had made the base layer a “rock” color lighter or darker than the veneer, I wouldn’t have had to worry about that, and in fact, it could have been a purposeful part of the design. And then, after painstakingly carving the third rock, I realized it didn’t matter if the white layer got exposed because I could just color it in with some paint or pastels. Which is what I ended up doing anyway because I wanted the designs to stand out more.
These are the “leftover” faux stone beads I made for this challenge. I’d like to say I didn’t use them because I ran out of time. The truth is, I ran out of ideas. In addition to carving symbols on some faux stones, I used rubber stamps to make animal tracks on some beads. I’d like to make a bracelet with the triskele bead. That bead has a spiral sun symbol on the other side, similar to the one on the bead above it..
The faux stones for jewelry components weren’t my first idea for this challenge. They were my practice pieces for a larger project: a faux stone photo frame with petroglyph designs. For this larger piece, I covered an unfinished wood frame with the rock veneer. Initially I planned for the frame to have irregular edges, as if it were a piece of broken rock. That is a project for another day, when I haven’t used up so much of my rock veneer on practice beads that I barely had enough to cover the frame but not enough to extend past the edges.
My faux stone photo frame is decorated with cats. There’s a cat stalking a toy mouse, a cat looking aloof, a cat leaping to catch a butterfly, and, of course, a cat napping. There are also cat paw prints, to symbolize how my cats walk all over me. I need to cut a piece of glass or clear acrylic before using this frame because it didn’t come with glass or anything to protect the photo. As soon as I do that, I think I will hang it by my desk.
If petroglyphs were a way to convey information about something of great importance to the people who made them, then I couldn’t help thinking I needed to make cat petroglyphs. I am a cat lady, as anyone who’s peeked in my front door could instantly ascertain. No, it’s not because my home smells like a litter box. (It does not!) It’s because there are no fewer than three cat trees and five cat beds immediately visible from the doorway. Also, I never leave home without cat hair on my clothes.
That’s it for my petroglyph-inspired creations this month. I didn’t literally carve any rocks, but I still managed to be fairly literal. And I had fun doing it! This is also a blog hop, so please visit the other artists to see how they interpreted this theme.
Art Elements Team:
Lesley Watt
Jenny Davies-Reazor
Cathy Spivey Mendola
Sue Kennedy
Caroline Dewison
Laney Mead
Marsha Neal Minutella
Claire Fabian
Guest Artists:
Jill Egan
Tammy Adams <–You are here!
Alison Herrington
Alysen
Sarajo Wentling
Jenny Kyrlach
CraftyHope
Kathy Lindemer
I am in love with your carved “rocks”. They look so real 🙂 The necklaces you created with them are pure perfection, the colors, the textures, everything is just right.
Thanks for stopping by, Marica. Kind words from a BALC alum are much appreciated. 🙂
I love that cat hair is integral to your designs, it is in most of my work too! Your jewellery rocks are fabulous but my heart was stolen with that frame… not to mention I am slightly jealous of your 3 cat trees as we only have 2! Fabulous work cat lady 😉
Thanks so much, Laney. We actually have 8 cat trees: the three visible from the door are each 7-feet tall and the others are window-height. But my cats are not not spoiled or anything.
Lol 8 cat trees!!! We have one cat castle that is ENORMOUS and about 7ft tall and 4ft wide and one smaller one that is just above window height, my cats would love your house!!
I love your faux rocks, they look so real, they work so well with your choice of beads, the goat petroglyph is my favourite
Thanks so much, Jill. Choosing from my stash of art beads was the hardest part of making the necklaces. So much shiny!
Your faux rocks are freaking AWESOME!!! By the look I would never think they were not carved rock. I completely enjoy seeing your finished work – as you always make fantastic items 🙂
Thanks so much, Marsha. You’re making me blush. 😀
Tammy I always love reading your posts and today is no exception! Love the polymer mix you used, it’s perfect. I love the photos and explanations and your frame is wonderful! Your necklaces are so awesome, I thought that as soon as I saw your first photo!
Thank you so much, Susan. It’s so wonderful to get compliments like this from artists I admire. 🙂
Oh my goodness, I just adore your Surprise Project! Its a perfect project for youramazing polymer skills! Sooo cute!
Thanks so much, Alison. One of the first things I made with polymer clay was a covered photo frame so I feel like I went back to my roots. 🙂
I love your rocks. I have carved polymer clay myself before, but these are so unique and rustic and wonderful!
I even love your frame more, though. How could I not …. CATS!!!! 😀
Thanks so much, Cat. I think I need to play around with carving clay a little more. So many possibilities.
I’m absolutely in love with your carved “stones”! They turned out so well–and the necklaces you made with them are awesome. Beautiful, beautiful work… and what can I say? That cat frame makes me smile! 🙂
Thanks so much, Jenny. The frame makes me smile too, even though I haven’t put my cats’ photo in it yet.
Okay…. I had to laugh out loud reading about the cat hair! This may be an essential part of every creation and for years, I think, there were some cat hairs in my creations too. 😉
I love your literal take on it: Including the images as well as the carving/scratching aspect into your design! The results speak for themselves, really great pieces! 🙂
Thanks so much, Claire. It seems fitting my cats are a part of my creations because they are such an important part of my life.
I love the necklaces that you created. I particularly liked the symbols that you choose to feature. You really showcased your polymer clay skills here. I am a cat lady too so I relate to cat hair on the clothes. Your cat frame is wonderful! It looks like it belongs in my house. Great job meeting the challenge..
Thanks so much, Kathy. Cat hairs are pretty much a part of every thing in my home/life. Luckily I am not obsessive about “clean” clothes. 😉
Tammy, I think you hit a home run with these lovely pieces!!! I took pics of petroglyphs on rocks in the southwest a few months ago in hopes of using them in some of my designs. You have inspired me to get moving on this project. Just love these necklaces!!!
Thanks so much, Barbara. I am happy to have inspired a fellow artist.
I always love seeing your polymer clay creations! You have created some really life-like rocks this time. The way you blended the clay colors and the matte finish really does looks like stone. Great job! The necklaces are absolutely gorgeous.
Thanks so much, Cathy. Except for their weight, the beads feel like rocks too. I love using polymer clay to mimic other things.
I love your literal interpretations, they turned out brilliantly! Your stone effects are really cool!
Thanks so much, Caroline. 😀
My word! Your polymer clay creations seriously look like REAL ROCKS! I would have never guessed from the pictures that they weren’t. You are so clever. And, I bet the cat hair on the inner clay really helps hold the pieces together. I’ve heard that back in the day animal hair (horse, I believe) was added to plaster to make it more sturdy for the walls of houses. So, you can claim the cat hair does the same thing. Seriously though, that made me giggle. Using scrap white clay to clean off your pasta machine is a fabulous idea. I’m sure mine desperately needed it as I haven’t touched it in YEARS! HA!
If I ever get to it again though, I know where I can turn for lots of information and tips. You’ve provided so much here!
Fabulous designs, all of them.
Thanks so much, Hope. I’ve lived in old buildings with horse hair plaster walls. Every time I drilled a hole to attach something to the wall the dust set off my allergies. The walls were definitely sturdy.
You interpreted this challenge very, very well! I love all your designs and they are so real. All my jewelry (and clothes) also contain cat hair. I really think the cat hair added even more reality to your “rocks.” Great job!
Thanks so much, Mary. Maybe some day a future archeologist will analyze my beads and imagine people used cat hair on purpose. 😀
Tammy – your rock recipe yielded lovely organic earthy results. I love the Viking raven! The frame is super – looks wonderful. But… how do you decide whose picture goes in! LOL
Thanks so much, Jenny. I have a few photos of my two cats sleeping together when they were kittens and will probably use one of those so I don’t have to pick just one cat. 😉
Oh my goodness – these are amazing. I love your interpretations and they certainly the the “ancient” feel of carved stone. Thank you for joining our challenge!
Thanks so much, Karen. And thanks for the fabulous inspiration theme.
Your PC rocks are so authentic looking Tammy – great job…and I love the modern take on the theme with the cat frame.
Thanks so much, Lesley. I thought modern petroglyphs were in order. 🙂
Cat hairs … what a reality. I think that we should consider this a fashion statement. Hey, people wear real fur (ick, never) jackets that they pay bundles for! And we can do it for just the cost of upkeep :)))
So, onto your interpretation with Sculpey Clay … what a success! I’d venture that these were real stones by the looks of them, you mixed colors and added hints of other things to perfection.
I like the raven and triskell focal and your choice of beads in the necklace. I LOVE the cat frame!
Thanks so much, Alysen. I don’t do real fur either and think fur looks best on the animals that grew it. 🙂
Sorry I’m hopping so crazy late! I love your carved “rocks”… they are so cool. And that frame is simply adorable!!
Thanks so much, Sarajo. I’ve been fashionably late to a few of these hops myself. 😉