Sunday, May 13, 2012

All Buttoned Up!

What do Mayan stone carvings and red Bakelite have in common?

Not much, you would think but lately I've been perusing a book on Alexander Calder's jewelry, a fascinating look into the artistic mind of a genius whose iconic sculptures changed the artistic world of the 20th century. He made wire jewelry as gifts, each one a tiny masterpiece of form and design. So I've been steeping myself in mid-century styles and influences, mostly tribal and primitive.

I was lured away from my new avian buddies – 45 chicks which arrived peeping at my door courtesy of the USPS a few weeks ago --by the promise of new and unknown buttons chosen from a stranger's stash. And of a fun design challenge/Button Blog Hop hosted by my good friend Cindy Wimmer.

I found myself happily paired with Celeste Thurston, whom I met at ArtBliss last year. We chatted about our button collections—where we collect, what we like to collect and what are our favorites to collect--one of the best entertainments of a button swap. We both like to make molds from our buttons to use with polymer clay and neither one of us shies away from “large” so Celeste suggested she send a Bakelite belt buckle in red and amber that she had. I have a fabulous stash of red buttons of varying shapes that I scored at a flea market one summer-- one of the excellent finds of all times-- that I knew contained some red Bakelite I could combine with the buckle.

When the buckle arrived, it was magnificent – large, colorful, shiny-- and square! I'm not a 'square' person-- I don't like angles but I adore curves. How to incorporate this intriguing shape into my design sensibility? I decided to do a polymer clay background, using a technique I stumbled upon while messing around with unconditioned clay one rainy day.


Faux Bakelite Primitive





I liked the freeform way that the holes appeared when the slices were stacked so I did the same thing using ecru clay, building a flat background layer, then stamping and antiquing it. Reminded me of Mayan stonework when I was finished. So I kept the theme going and made some beads using the same technique to pull the whole thing together into the stringing. I raided my bead stash for some leopard skin jasper and found some older beads I had made with the same colorway, added some red crenellated Bakelite beads from the famous Red Button Stash, some bronze African cage rounds and rings from a Michael's chain to hook it all together.

I was planning to add some other red Bakelite shapes to the center front of the buckle and use E6000 to glue the whole thing together. I usually like to use wirework or rivets to join pieces but the smooth modern finish of the buckle seemed to need a minimal treatment. When Douglas got home from work, I proudly displayed my creation and he said “It almost looks like a face, with that center line as the nose”. A face! Perfect! Celeste had included an interesting long Bakelite bead with a gear around the center and that made the ideal nose for my 'little man'. An ochre Bakelite gear button was the base for one eye and coral rounds made up the rest. Very Picasso-like, I thought. “Pablo” was born. Thanks, Cindy for hosting such a fun challenge and thank you, Celeste, for the gift of my wonderful buckle and supporting buttons. Happy Mother's Day!


"Pablo"



Please visit all the other participants' blogs to see what they did with their buttons-- here's the link to Cindy's page (can't seem to load this list!) http://www.sweetbeadstudio.com/.

30 comments:

  1. I love the color of the faux bakelite. I thought it was the real deal at first.

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  2. these are fabulous. I love the faux Bakelite

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  3. Oh Christine, you sure know how to tell a story. I found it interesting how you linked Calder's primitive style to the Bakelite belt buckle. Although the buckle is vintage, you really created an example of Ancient meets Modern! True to your designing style, you crafted a beautiful piece of jewelry that is really wearable art! I can see that face Douglas is referring to - what an unintentional stroke of genius. Pablo may be subtle, but he sure has quite an expression! :-)

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  4. Love your background info and the necklace actually reminds me of William Joyces illustrations! Great work!

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  5. Oh my. Totally amazingly lovely work, as always!

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  6. Wow, these are amazing! I thought that first piece was real bakelite.

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  7. Love the faux bakelite. Excellent finished projects. Love this swap.

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  8. I adore Pablo! Zack gave it two thumbs up, too! Your work is always a masterpiece.

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  9. Wow, wow, wow, Christine! You do amazing things, even when you're outside of your comfort zone. I'm in awe.

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  10. My favourites are the faux bakerlite earrings - so colourful and bright!

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  11. I love the faux bakelite. A fabulous design!

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  12. Very nice pieces! Love the bight colors and abstract shapes!

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  13. What a great look, I love the red.

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  14. Really beautiful. I loved your story too!

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  15. I love different and unique! Beautiful!

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  16. I love the magic you create with polymer clay and this is a stunner. Red is one of my fav colors; and how you mixed all the elements is pure genius!
    That Calder book is one of my all time favorites ~ another genius...

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  17. Wow! I cannot believe that was once polymer clay in the background. I have never seen work like you do with clay. Thanks so much for sharing.

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  18. Love how you came to make your pieces - great colors and shapes!!

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  19. Oh wow, now *this* is truly a statement piece! It's gorgeous - so textural and it really calls the eye to move along it!

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  20. Incredible art pieces Christine. Awesome things you with the clay. "Pablo" is my fav!

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  21. I am in awe of your vison, talent and skills....oh my these are so beautifully unique. I am off to read more of your stories.

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  22. AWESOME!!!! I love those earrings! Faux bakelite? - must check that out!!!

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  23. I second your love of Bakelite, and your dislike of hard edges. Your piece has a great sense of playfulness and creativity! Pablo!
    And I look forward to meeting you at this year's ArtBliss!

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  24. What a really interesting piece. And, how cool to be paired up with someone who already knew your tastes! Great job.

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  25. All the pieces are great, but I really love that red piece. What a great necklace.

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  26. What a really interesting piece. And, how cool to be paired up with someone who already knew your tastes! Great job.i like that blog its really nice for jewellery
    Ethnic jewelry

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  27. To my mentor and friend what an amazing work. When I heard I was partnered with Christine for my first public swap my first thought was
    "Damm" I got Christine!this will be a hard act to follow, My seoond thought was "Yippee" I got Christine who I knew had an amazing stash, so I wanted to make certain I gave equally something that would spark her "woman of color" art-titude. Well per usual she created an amazing piece. Thank you Cindy for hosting!nudging into Blogland and for having ArtBliss where I could finally meet someone who has been inspiring me for many years. It's been a joy and Pablo would be proud to have this namesake!

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  28. Beautiful. So really out there! Definitely something out of my realm of thought! Makes me really think! Thanks

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  29. I absolutely love how you made these pieces "yours"! Such creative construction, and what wonderful finished products! I love the earrings for the first, but I'm partial to the "look" of the second one. Both are absolutely amazing, however :)

    I'm so glad I got to play along with you on this swap/challenge/hop <3

    *~* Julia *~* http://beautifullywhimsical.blogspot.com *~*

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  30. i am back, because i have been thinking about cubism since looking at this piece for the reveal... the face naturally has that appeal - but for me, it is in the neutral, hatched parts that i can feel the work of braque and picasso... but also of duchamp's 'nude descending a staircase'... love it!

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