Not letting go (when you should)

I can be very lazy.  Especially about housework.
But when I get obsessed with solving a problem, it's amazing how many hours can disappear.
I had a problem with transfers onto my hollow beads that almost sent me to the edge.  My normal finishing techniques were causing the tranferred image to disolve and blur.  Strange to say, it worked perfectly the first time I did it and I thought I was on to something.  I was soon to discover that it was only the old phenomenon of 'beginner's luck'.  When I used to teach beginner's glass-blowing classes, I quickly learned never to say "Oh, don't even bother trying that -it'll never work!"  Because it often DOES work - for beginners only!
Of course, I was in denial, so I was persistent.  After some very frustrating time, this is what emerged:

This is the beginner's luck effortless without-even-trying version:

This is after a lot of experimenting and oaths:

The images are marginally clearer and I was going for a faded distressed kind of look...but of course, now I'm going to fully investigate transfer methods.  Hello, my new Donna Kato book (to me surely, the Queen of transfer expertise)!  To be continued..

And yes, I should have let go of this problem and tried another time.   Never think you can make something until you've made it a lot and know the pitfalls.

Narrowing the field

I have a ton of half-finished projects sitting on my work table and there is nothing new or startling about this (sadly).  When I try something new - which, in the case of polymer clay, is everything  - I usually get to a stage with the object where I must put it aside so that I can see it later with fresh eyes.  This is the stage where my emotional (gut) brain is saying 'this is great, oh I love it' or 'I can't believe this is so appalling, so awful, did I really make this?'  Both are usually inaccurate - hence the 'waiting period'.  I'm curious to know if other makers do this or if they proceed confidently and majestically to the finish!

But with all this stuff lying around I can't help but notice that paint and surface colorants figure hugely in my way of working.  MUST I put paint on everything?  (Also, must purple and green ooze their way into it all - but that's another problem set entirely).  I challenge myself to do something with just polymer and to post it on this blog to (potentially) let some other eyes critique it.  I challenge myself to acomplish this one thing....by 2 weeks from now.

I think this pendant is my starting point.

Altered images

I love the look of images transferred onto polymer clay and lord knows, there are a million of them out there in pendant world.  But yes, this is a bandwagon I cannot resist.

I somehow feel compelled to alter the image in some way once I have it on there.  This may have started in the beginning as a reaction to bad transfers, but persists now I have mastered at least one of the techniques for moving images onto polymer.  I guess it feels as though I'm putting my final mark on the image, making it mine, and somehow railing against the techno aspect of transfers. (Printers, computers, special papers etc.)  Maybe I just don't know when to leave it alone...I even do it to my own original images!  But for now it feels right.
I've been experimenting with surface sealants as I'm looking for a particular finish.  I don't like glossy finishes and I love a kind of satiny, waxy finish reminiscent of encaustic painting. ( I did a workshop on encaustic in the distant past ) I'm gradually getting there, of course, it involves more time and building up of thin layers.  And did I mention that the selection of images is tricky?  Yes, but fun.  Just what I need while I figure out problems encountered in other work I want to do.