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jrb art & design |
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arabesque canes This page shows
images of my millefiori canework, much of which I've labelled with the term "Arabesque Canes". Below,
you can read about low-fire clay, millefiori caning, and my Arabesque canes inparticular. When viewing the canes, keep
in mind that the colors in the designs are from different colors of clay - no paints or pigments are used... The lowdown on my techniques and materials.....
Low Fire Polymer Clay is not an earthen clay, but a man (or woman!)-made clay, which hardens when fired. It is available in many colors, but I prefer using more basic, primary colors, then blending and mixing to achieve the desired shades. Millefiori (mill-eh-fee-or-ee) means "thousand flowers" in Italian. It originated as the use of "canes" (in the shape of a drinking straw) of colored glass being arranged in a bundle. When the bundle of glass is viewed from each end, the pattern of a flower or other decorative image is seen. After the glass is fused, slices are taken off of the cane and used as decoration. Millefiori has decorated objects from the time of ancient Mesopotamia to the present day; in the 70's, the technique of Millefiori was been adapted to polymer clay by ingenious polymer artists (whom I thank!) 'Arabesque' is described as "an ornament or surface decoration with intricate curves, interlacing and flowing lines or geometrical decoration". This term seems to aptly fit my style of millefiori canework, and thus, the label 'Arabesque Canes' is used as a label for much of my canework. Keep in mind that all of the designs are created purely from the colored clay...no paints or pigments are used. My canes start out very large, usually weighing five to seven pounds. I "build" the canes using many shapes, designs and techniques to form its finished pattern. I then reduce (make smaller) the cane by manipulating and stretching it to a diameter of approximately one inch. After reduction, slices are taken off of the cane and used, along with many other techniques, to create pieces of wearable art. Click on any image for a detail view
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Copyright 2009 Jana Roberts Benzon. All rights
reserved. Website designs and images may not be used without written permission from the artist. |
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