I've been doing a lot of work that is NOT textured lately, but this doesn't mean I'm leaving it behind. I try to start each day by making a new small texture plate to try out in my next bout of bead making. Sometimes these are 'constructed ' textures, and sometimes they are from things I've picked up through the course of the day. Needless to say, my pockets are usually full of stuff by end of the day - a laundry nightmare if I don't remember! I can't always tell if I'm going to like the result and I usually make a positive and negative to see which works best. Lately, the ones I've liked the best have been the ones I've thought a little dull before trying them. As with most things in life, it is possible to try too hard with texture and find that the result is too much - unnatural and full of unnecessary gestures.
Of course, it all depends what your're aiming for! Perhaps the next time I try one, I'll be aiming for a much more formal look... Wow, now that I see these here, I see they need a bit of a scrub to remove the excess polymer and corn starch. Yum. These are all really small, by the way - not more than 2 inches square. This gives me a lot of flexible little pieces for beads and for spot texturing.
Back next week with new work to show, or check it out on Flickr!
