LaurelSwetnam-fuchsia-flower-box

Little Boxes

Boxes invite treasures and the appreciation of small things. Using polymer clay canes, we will make small lidded boxes decorated with fancy knobs.  The class will include learning at least two cane patterns, constructing and finishing the box.  Intermediate. 6 hours.

Zanzibar necklace

Take a trip to Zanzibar! Inspiration for this disk necklace comes from African motifs and the rich colors of cinnamon, turmeric and red ochre. You can almost smell them!  Intermediate. 6 hours.

Fleurs

The riotous colors and exquisite forms of the garden provide delight and inspiration.  This class will teach three flower petal canes and strategies for combining them and turning them into lovely pendants and earrings.  Students need to have some experience with making polymer clay canes. Intermediate. 6 hours

Treasure bowls

Polymer clay is an excellent medium for making beautiful small bowls to hold small treasures or just to admire. They are charming with feet and lids, too! In this class we will build canes to create patterned sheets of clay which will be formed into bowls about 3.5 inches in diameter with contrasting insides and bottoms. Level: intermediate. 6 hours

Mandala

There is calming magic in the symmetry of mandalas.  The mandala, which means circle in Hindi,  represents wholeness and reminds us of our connections to nature and community.   Creating a polymer clay mandala pendant to wear combines  the joy of creation, the delights of exploring color and the tranquility of the form. This all day class will begin with making simple millefiori canes, then combining them to design a pleasing pattern to create  a symmetrical mandala.  Each pendant is a unique piece and stunning, and the process is simple enough  for beginners.  6 hours.

Big, bold triple dot hollow beads

Channel your inner fashionista by wearing REALLY big beads or a pendant.  These huge  pieces are eye catching, but they are also wearable because they’re super light. The focus of this class is two-fold – we’ll construct and use a couple of very easy canes to create multiple designs and we will learn how to make a reversible pendant or a small bowl. And of course it’s all about those dots which are used as part of a cane and as applied surface decoration. This class is appropriate for confident beginners and above, and the techniques are useful for many projects. 

Dots and Dashes

This is a class that will focus on using variations of colored blends to create stunning simple designs with polymer clay.  The class will focus on building a palette, then creating canes with dashes, bands of stripes and circles. In class, we’ll make a pair of earrings and a small bowl, but the canes are great building blocks for brooches, bracelets, pendants and necklaces as well.  The class is suitable for advanced beginners and great for anyone wanting to expand skills with Skinner blends.

Triple dot bowls and pendant

I’m teaching at Clay Out West in Albuquerque September 13-17, 2020. Come and join me. There’s a great group of instructors and it’s going to be fun!

Private studio polymer clay experience

Celebrate a special day by arranging a private studio polymer clay experience for a small group of up 2 to 4 people in Laurel’s home studio. The day includes a delicious home-made lunch and lots of hands-on-help. Please contact Laurel for details.


Contact Laurel with any questions about her classes.