Some of my pieces I create and then hunt amongst my now impressive collection of jewellery bits, and with some I can almost see the finished artwork with a certain piece of jewellery on it. Well, I’ve had this red necklace in my collection for a while just waiting…….

So, I wanted to make a larger work for an upcoming exhibition with the Otago Art Society so, putting away my toy cars and other distractions I thought about that necklace. When I first spied it in a secondhand shop, I already had a hazy idea about what I was going to do with it. Something elegant and graceful with an ornate carriage on its back. Maybe a rich chestnut kind of animal, maybe pearly white.

So, I sprang into action. The Otago Art Society has a group of members that come in on a Thursday to work together, so feeling the need for some arty company, I gathered up my wire, cutters, clay and all the associated bits and pieces (I don’t travel lightly, I just know the tool I forget is the very one I will want)

It’s a nice atmosphere, a warm spacious gallery, some good conversation and if we’re lucky someone has been in the mood for baking and brought in a cake.

Firstly, I modelled the main body part over the wire armature bulked out with foil, leaving the thinner pieces for later. It’s a good few hours modelling this, getting the shape just right, I’ve found it helps heaps to spend the time getting the foil the right shape underneath.

The Otago Art Society, nice atmosphere for a work session! Getting the main shape worked up.

Then off home, a bit more working and shaping the polymer clay before popping it into the oven. The beauty of using a pasta machine to condition the clay means I have a fairly uniform thickness so the clay cooks evenly, the wire that will form the carriage and antlers are folded down (ovens are only so big!)

The next session was spent rearranging the wire and the shaping the air-dry clay over this. I start to get impatient here and can’t wait to start the painting, although I always love the clean white look. After playing a bit with colour, I decided on a white and bronze look that should look a bit ‘Royal’. I want to paint up a flag for the back of the carriage too.

The hazy beginnings of an idea is firming up!

So, while waiting for things to dry and move on to the next stage, I discovered I was out of clay, so I thought it was about time I started another painting. Inspired by the few remaining Dianthus flowers struggling along at the end of Autumn, in particular one called Raspberry parfait (I think). It is a name that sounds as yummy as the flowers looked! Well, it ended up taking weeks and they ended up looking more like petunias so I’m thinking of calling it Raspberry Parfait instead of Dianthus. Just as well I’m not too fussed about accuracy, though I have a huge admiration for artists who can capture the delicacy and luminosity of flowers as well as the actual species.

Painting flowers is hard!

Anyway, back to the main story! Getting the jewellery and ‘extra’ characters sorted is one of the things I love most, it’s where all the bits finally come together. I decided to create a little basket for the smaller figure and a removable flag in bronze and red colours in line with the overall look.

In line with the choice of a red flower flag I’ll call this one ‘Raspberry Parfait” and the painting, given its softer pink tones “Strawberry parfait”. The main animal turned out a bit cute rather than ‘regal’ (sometimes the works take on their own character that is different from my original vision, well- I should say-almost always!)

The final look turned out a little ‘busy’ on top and maybe takes away from the elegance of the animal, but, hey, once I reach perfection, I’ll be able to stop compulsively making art!

A red necklace

The Auckland Art Show