Angels with Kari McKnight Holbrook

Anytime I can take a class with Kari McKnight Holbrook, I jump at the chance. Last week she was visiting SmittenDust, our local art haven, teaching several classes. I was able to sign up for two. The first involved making a polymer angel canvas. These are Kari's.

Kari is an excellent teacher -- first of all, she explains well.

She brings lots of supplies to share.

And she shows us how to use them. And makes sure we know how!

All of this she does with great good humor, which always makes a workshop more fun. And she is ready, willing and able to give assistance when needed.

We all started with a basic shape template of an angel to fit in a 5x7 canvas. We learned about conditioning the polymer clay and spent a good deal of time at the pasta machine mixing colors till they were "just right." Basically, she turned us loose and let us fly.

These are several stages of my angel. First, just the clay on a worksheet.

Then with more details.

Then baked and wiped with a sepia glaze that brings out the texture.

Finally, the finished piece with its creator. You can't tell from this but after the photo above, I added coppery gold to her wings.

What was fun was that even though we all chose the same basic template for our angels, they all were very different. This is Dusty's. (Dusty is also Ms. SmittenDust!)

Here, Linda is adding touches to her angel's dress.

 

And this is Amy's as it went into the oven -- we loved her dreadlock pony tail!

 

I'm not terribly familiar with polymer. I've made a few things before -- mostly beads or covering boxes (that was in another Kari class!). This was a terrific experience and I ended up with a project that I like. (And will like a little more when I perk up the mouth and eyes!)

All in all, I'd say if you have a yen to try something new and creative and Kari comes to your town (she also does a number of the national events, including Art and Soul and Create), 

sign up!

Next time I'll show you the fun of gelli printing!