Well, as promised last time, here is my review of The Polymer Clay Techniques Book by Sue Heaser. I LOVE,love love the way this book is laid out. When you get to the 'meat of the book' the technique or project title is toward the upper left hand side of the page making it each to flip through and see the project and the name of it. Scattered all throughout the book are many helpful hints, some of which, I had never seen before.
The book starts out with an inspiration section with all different kinds of projects from different artists to stimulate your polymer juices. Next comes the basics-She explains the different equipment and tools that are available and which tools you can make yourself from objects you most likely have around the house. Then she goes on to show the basic techniques in working with clay- color mixing, blends, ways to use tools and different baking, gluing, and sanding tips. The pictures are excellent and nothing is left to doubt when she explains a technique.
Next we have 'the meat of the book'. She begins with beads of all sorts (over 8 varieties) and then moves on to the canes-millefiori, face, landscape and different ways to use them. In the mosaics section I found different methods which I did not find in other books I have. She shows many different types of vessels-basket weaved, covered objects,boxes, and frames. In her sculpting chapter, she first teaches how to use simple shapes to put together an easy sculpt and then progresses to more elaborate and challenging projects. The decoration and embellishment chapter shows different applications you can use on your clay and also has a project that has peaked my interest again. *Note to self*-make that pendant! Moving on to the simulations and inclusions chapter, which was for me, my favorite part of the book because there are all types of faux techniques-wood, semi-precious stones, mokume gane, miniatures and another of my favs-making a flute!
The books ends up with a review of the clays and a supplies list of companies along with further reading recommendations. I give this book a 5 out of 5 stars and I know I would NEVER be selling it on eBay. I paid full price for it and it has been worth every penny. Stay tuned to this blog-next time I will review 4-that's right 4 books by Susanna Oroyan-Anatomy of the Doll, Designing the Doll, Finishing the Figure, and Fantastic Figures As always, if you have a book review preference, leave a comment and I will put your choice on the top of the list.
Have Creative Day!
Cindi
ClayItAgain
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