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While doing a project for my new book “Polymer Clay Bracelets” I was doing an extruded veneer for a bracelet. I had some leftovers with which I just played around a little bit – I stacked it, compressed it etc. Then, when I cut it open I suddenly had this beautiful blended rainbow cane in front of me. The original veneer was a spiral and so the cane I had now was not a rectangle – it was more shaped like a piece of cake. I definitely had to try and figure out what had happened inside this extrusion and translate the whole process into a rectangular shaped cane. I called the cane “Pixelated Retro Blend Cane” – maybe you guys come up with a better name for it:)
So, here is how it’s done:
Mix at least 5 different shades of a color.
I used light green and blue with 3 mixes of both in between.
Roll the sheets out on the thickest setting (#1) of your PM and
punch out 4 circles of each color with a cookie cutter that matches
the diameter of the extruder barrel.
Roll out black and white (#1) clay and punch out
6 circles of white and 5 circles of black
Arrange the circles like shown, compress it a little and
feed it (dark side first) into the barrel of your extruder.
Insert the small circle die (2.5mm) and extrude a long snake.
Then lay out the snake like shown in the picture, starting with the light color
Using this amount of clay my snake was around 5 meters long.
With the diameter of the snake being 2.5 mm I now can calculate
the number and the length of the lines I need to build a sheet for the cane.
I needed a cane height of 60 mm for my bracelet tiles.
Again, with the snake being 2.5 mm thick my calculation is:
60mm : 2.5 = 24 lines. ….. Well I made 25 ;)
To determine the required length of the lines I divided the
5 meters (5000mm) by 25 lines which gave me a length of 20 cm (200mm) for each line.
Makes sense? Are you still with me?
When the clay sheet is done, roll over it with a brayer or
an acrylic roller to adhere the lines to each other.
Then use the blade to lift the sheet up, cut the sheet in half and stack.
Do that at least 2 more times – the resulting cane should be at least 6 sheets high.
I needed to repeat the whole process (cutting out circles, extruding,
laying out, cut, stack) to have a cane big enough to cover my bracelet tiles.
Now reduce the cane a bit, cut it in slices and arrange them on a thin sheet of clay
(I rolled mine out on a #4 stetting on my atlas).
Lay the decorated sheet between two sheets of deli or baking paper
and rub over it with your acrylic roller to close all the seams.
DON’T ROLL but RUB, in order to not stretch out the clay.
Your veneer is done. Now you can decorate whatever piece you like with it.
Have fun and happy claying!
© Bettina Welker, 2012
I have already posted a comment on you flicker page but I did want to say that I think your name should be attached to this I perpetuity, just like the stroppel cane so I will call it bettinas pixelated cane or welkers retro blend cane haven’t decided which yet. Anyone else on board with this?
c’est magnifique ! j’ai essayé et le résultat est bluffant. Merci bien de ce tutos en images très pédagogique.
merci beaucoup pour ce tutoriel. Je me suis régalée à faire ce tuto!
When you say put the dark side in first, do you mean the dark end will be nearest the circle die? or close to the plunger?
Hi dear Jael,
well, when I say first, then I mean first normally:) I pushed in the dark side of my cane FIRST – which means it passed the opening of the barrel first, which means it’s the side closer to the crank. The lighter side is close to the die.
But in the end it doesnt mater which side goes in first – I just wanted to let you know how I did to get what you see in the pictures;)
Looking frward to what you make with the cane!
happy clayin;)
B
I like “Bettina’s Pixelated Cane”! You must claim this as yours! It’s beautiful and I can’t wait to try it! How generous of you to share this awesome technique!
Thank you Bettina for your generous spirit in sharing this technique with all of us! Your work is truly spectacular!
gorgeous! I am going to make it in orange tones, my prefered colour! Thank you a lot for sharing your espectacular cane with us!
I cannot say better than Patty, it’s very generous to share this simple but efficient idea ! I’ll try asap !
Cette canne est magnifique! Merci :)
Gorgeous and thank very much!…
What a nice idea ! Thanks Bettina !!!
awesome !!!! You are so generous and kind to share this with all of us. Thank you so much for a wonderful tute.
Beautiful! I kinda like Welkers Retro Blend Extruded Cane. I’m really looking forward to your book. Thanks so much for sharing! Thanks for the math also, very helpful for those of us that are math challenged.
Oh this is beautiful Bettina! Definately claim this as yours. I will be trying this very soon. Thank you for showing.
Nan
xxx
I had to read it twice to understand everything, but it is logical and easy, and as we usually say in simplicity is the beauty and of course usually easy things are most difficult to discover. Thank you for this pattern, it is wonderfull and it is nice of you, that you shared it with whole polymer clay world for free. I admire your work – Halka from the Czech Republic
Thanks !!!
I’ll try your tuto as soon as possible !
Thanks to share!
Beautiful effect and idea! :)
Thank you Bettina! I am going to call it just – Bettina’s Cane ! I think it is a best name.
thanks for sharing, it is a VERY beautiful cane indeed! I am running to try it..and I’ll post the results !
Tova Reshef
Wow, It’s wonderfull. The extruder makes marvelous patterns. I love this bracelet… probably I’ll do it. Now I need choose the colours as well as you did. Thank you for your art.
Très clair ce tuto pour un résultat magnifique.
Wonderful work, thanks a lot.
This is an awesome tut, Bettina!
Oh, and I like the name:
Welkers Retro Cane.
But…….. Bettina’s Cane is nice and simple and to the point. That’s my input.
Thank you for sharing. How thoughtful and generous you are.
Yes! I agree! I like using the pixelated cane name better. I’m going to refer to it as that myself from now on. I finally tried it yesterday at my guilds clay day (several of us did), and really liked it! Hope to make a few other color ways later today :-)
Bettina’s Pixelated Cane :-)
Thanks !!!!
Thank you! this is of great help! I wish I had the time to try this technique soon… I’ll post your link on my blog so that my readers can see it as well! I look forward to reading your next book!
I think this should be named the Welker cane.
Using the last name of the artist is in tradition with other great contributions such as the Skinner blend.
And is a proper way to honour the generosity of the great artists who allowed their research to be used in order to let creativity or all of us to flow
c’est du bonheur de réaliser votre cane, merci pour ce partage
This is just amazing, Bettina! I love klimt cane, and it is in most of my pieces. This is a new way to work with this techinique. Congratulations. I loved it!
Thank you for sharing your technique so generously. I’m amazed and delighted by how simple it is, yet how incredible the finished effect is. I would love to make something as gorgeous as your bracelet but for now, my initial meanderings are posted on my blog today! :) Thanks a million!.
It is kind and generous of you to share your technique. I’m grateful; nay, close to ecstatic as it’s so beautiful. Vielen dank! Sehr vielen dank!
You are very creative and talented and have such an unusual spirit of generosity that I truly admire. :)
Es impresionante , preciosa ,gracias por compartir con todas nosotras .
Hace dias que tengo ganas de hacerla y al fin lo consegui hoy .
Me ha encantado hacerla ,no me a quedado tan bonita como a ti ,pero me doy por satisfecha .
gracias
besos
inma
Dear Bettina,
I spent the weekend working on it, it’s simply amazing!!! Thank you so much for sharing!!!!
ciao,
silvia
Thank you Bettina for sharing your wonderful tutorial with the polymer clay world :)
looking forward to tring this asap
so many great pics at your flicker page of everyones take on it
I like the name Welker’s Pixelated Cane
(name it and claim it Lady cuz it is Awesome !!!)
It’s vey kind of you to share your tutorial can’t wait to try it. I love all your work
Thanks a lot for this wonderful tutorial! I will try it this afternoon! I was 3 years in Germany and didn’t know you. Otherwise I would have visit your courses. Now, I’m too far away… Best regards and thanks once more!
Thank you for your generous sharing of this technique. I’ve seen it done by a few artists, and it always looks spectacular. I will have a lot of fun incorporating this into my work.
J’adore ! C’est fabuleux !
It’s a funky, fresh piece, Bettina! Thanks for sharing with us!
I just spent the day using your tutorial to teach 4 friends your technique. None had ever used polymer clay prior to this, and they all got beautiful results. Thank you for sharing this!
Bettina,
Please, please, let us all know what boundaries you have for this ‘retro’ cane. It seems like each artist (example Christi Freisen) has differemt boundaries (making, giving credit, gift giving. selling, teaching) and as PC lovers, we want to respect yours.
Hi Jode
well, – it’s a free tutorial – so you sure can get crazy with it – share it, show it at retreats, make stuff with it for your pleasure or for sale – that’s all fine with me as long as you don’t teach it commercially – so – if you share it – don’t take money for it. But please give credit – that’s all;)
cheers
Bettina