POLYDAYS
2012
Toddington Village Hall
Stow Road Toddington Gloucestershire GL54 5DU
We are delighted to announce a fabulous long weekend of polymer clay workshops. There will be three internationally renowned tutors, and a fabulous location for the event
The tutors are:
Bettina Welker, Carol Simmons and Alison Gallant
Registration includes 3 full day workshops, one from each tutor, morning coffee and afternoon tea plus a really good buffet lunch on each day
Toddington Village Hall in Gloucestershire is in a beautiful Cotswolds village, situated between Cheltenham and Broadway
The classes are:
Bettina Welker's acclaimed hinged bracelet
Bracelets made from polymer clay have always been very popular. Everybody loves to wear bold bracelets but there's always one problem: If they‘re big enough to slip over the hand, they always
tend to dangle around too much. With these bracelets the hinge allows you to keep the diameter a lot smaller. Thus, the bracelets are not dangling so much and are way more comfortable to wear.
Bettina will be teaching the whole construction process for a bracelets where the hinge is entirely made from polymer clay and that are closed with an inlayed magnet set. This class will give my students
a hint of how to work as exact and neatly as possible to achieve a perfectly shaped and finished piece of jewelry.
Carol Simmons's classic Art Nouveau leaf brooch or pendant
Mokume Gane is a Japanese metalworking technique in which thin layers of variously colored metals are fused together, then distorted and ground down to reveal beautiful patterns within. We will mimic the metalworking technique by stacking thin layers of different colors of “metallic” Premo clay to form a block (or billet) which we will “distort” with impression stamps we will make ourselves. The block will be sliced with a special slicer to produce gorgeous, paper-thin sheets of patterned clay. The results have been compared to everything from painted silk to fossil-filled agate.
These patterned sheets can be used to cover or embellish objects such as beads, pendants, and decorative items. In class you will have the option of making a leaf brooch or a pendant. The item will be fired, then lightly sanded and hand buffed to accentuate the pattern. If time permits, you can machine-buff your creation to a glass-like shine. You will return home with additional patterned sheets to experiment with on your own.
Alison Gallant's remarkable, reversible overlapping disc bead necklace
Alison will show you a variety of surface decoration techniques and canes, the use of different clay types and how to build hollow disc beads that can be overlapped to form a fabulous reversible necklace.
The workshops are suitable for all levels of ability.
A few words about the tutors:
Bettina Welker is a graduated graphic designer and works as a jewelry designer and polymer clay artist since 2003. Bettina is a co-founder of the German polymer clay guild and a member of several
international polymer clay guilds. Since 2007, she taught private classes in her home studio, all over Europe and in the US. In 2009, Bettina self published her first book "Edle Schmuck-Unikate &
Accessoires aus Polymer Clay".
As a trained graphic designer Bettina Welker is equipped with a lot of knowledge about shape, spaces, color, and composition. In her well designed and flawlessly finished pieces she always try to
feature the unique properties of polymer clay as an art material.
Carol Simmons is an award winning polymer clay artist and instructor whose work appears in many polymer clay publications. Trained as a botanist and ecologist, she worked as a scientist for most of her life while pursuing art interests on the side. Now she focuses on her art and teaching full time. Carol's work reflects her passion for nature and color. Many of her themes are botanical, influenced by the hundreds of hours she spent examining plants in nature and under a microscope. She is well known for her intricately detailed work innovative techniques,and outstanding use of color. She has taught for 16 years and has work in the permanent collection of the Racine Art Museum. She is a resident artist/instructor in the Poudre River Arts Center in Fort Collins, CO.
Alison Gallant has been making beads from polymer clay for over 20 years and co-founded the British Polymer Clay Guild in 1997. She is Vice President - Education and Outreach of the International Polymer Clay Association and has organised many polymer clay events. As well as being a polymer clay artist with exacting standards, Alison is a patchwork and quilting fanatic and her log cabin quilts are much sort after 'heirloom' pieces. She is a regular contributor to 'Making Jewellery' magazine and has had her work featured in many books. Alison teaches classes in her studio and throughout Europe. They are always remembered by those who have attended as ' great fun' and you always come away with a fantastic piece of wearable jewellery.
This will not only be a informative weekend, but a fun, happy event
Old acquaintances renewed and new friendships to be made
The cost of the weekend is £285
(If paid before 1st March £265. Payment can also be made by instalment)
PLEASE NOTE ALL CLAY WILL BE PROVIDED
Please press here :--- FORM to go to Registration form
We will soon list hotels, B&Bs, inns, and restaurants in the locality
Any questions please email ...alisongallant@yahoo.co.uk