Making a Large Polymer Clay Face Cane

Generally I approach polymer clay from a sculpting perspective.  A lot of what I make is three dimensional.  But another long tradition in polymer clay is making millefiore canes.  This technique is drawn from Italian glassblowing, where rods of glass are fused together so that cutting across the tube reveals a two dimensional picture.  The same can be done with clay.  I’d made simple canes in the past like spirals, bullseyes, and stripes.  Even though I’d admired complicated canes in magazines, I had shied away from more complex cane-making for way too long for fear that it would be too difficult.  Last night I changed all that by tackling my first real cane.

Before you start, make sure you have:

• A large clean work area

• All your tools laid out

• A reference photo to work from and refer back to

• Plenty of clay.  If you run out of a color in the middle of the night when the stores and closed and it’s too late to buy more, you’re gonna be screaming at yourself!  (I found this out the hard way)

•  About two days, and patience 🙂

My subject?  Boston Terrier, of course!  I started with the eyes.

Then I got a bit carried away and forgot to take photos of several steps.  Here’s the face fleshed out.

The tongue.  I wish I had done some shading on it, or something to make it look a little more realistic.  It kind of looks like puppy’s holding a pink tennis ball in her mouth!

Ah, those perky Boston ears.  This is where I closely avoided running out of clay.

Adding the blue background.  It’s important to pack in any areas of negative space (like between the ears) so the design doesn’t get distorted when you reduce it.

The whole cane is filled in and complete.

This next step was the hardest for me – waiting!  The clay must rest before you begin reducing it, or the outer layers which are softest from being worked most recently will distort, while the cooler clay inside doesn’t move as quickly.  I’ve ruined canes by reducing too quickly before, so I was determined to be patient this time.  I let puppy sit about ten hours.

I’m back!  Reducing is done by gripping the middle of the cane, squeezing it to the desired size, and slowly working outwards in an even manner.  I tried to watch the ends very closely so they wouldn’t bulge out, which creates a lot of waste.

The first cut is so exciting!  What will we get?

Before and after:

I’m really pleased with how this cane turned out.  The tongue got a little better after reducing, and basically I’m just happy it’s recognizable as a Boston!  Patience is the key here – a note to all my fellow Aries 😉

Here’s a sneak peak at a project I’m working on using my new Boston Terrier cane.

Hope you enjoyed my process!

 

~ Allison ~

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