Spiral Cane Clay Pendant

Project by Donna Kato.

Materials:

Kato Polyclay: orange #12302, magenta #12304, turquoise #12307, green #12308, yellow #12301, white #12309, black #12311
Kato Nublade
pasta machine
Kato Clay Roller
ball chain

Orange and Magenta

1. Roll each color into sheets through the thickest setting of the pasta machine. Grasp a corner of one sheet and bring to the opposite corner. Repeat with other sheet.

2. Place one sheet atop the other so that the folded diagonal sides match. Using the Nublade, make two cuts which will form a right angle. Separate the sheets and press the diagonal edges together to form a square or rectangle shape (figure A).

3. Roll a medium thin sheet of white clay. Cut into strips and randomly place on the two color sheet (figure B).

4. Roll through the pasta machine through the thickest setting once (figure C).

5. From one edge, roll tightly to the other (figure D).

6. Compress this cylinder by rolling, moving hands toward the middle of the cylinder. Continue compression until the cylinder is approximately 1-1/2-inch long.

7. Flatten the cylinder sideways to a thickness of approximately 1/8 inch (figure E). Roll through the pasta machine set on the thickest setting.

8. Cut in half and place one half atop the other (two thicknesses). Cut in half again and place one half atop the other (four thicknesses).

9. Cut in half again but flip one half over; then place on the other half. Cut in half again and place one half atop the other, maintaining the alternation of stripes (figure F). Trim sides.

1. Mix one part yellow to five (or more if you want a yellower green) parts green.

2. Repeat steps 1 through 6 above.

3. Cut in half and place one half atop the other (two thicknesses). Cut in half and flip one half over; then place on the other half.

4. Cut in half again and place one half atop the other, maintaining color alternation. Repeat one last time to complete the cane (figure G). Trim sides.

1. Using magenta and turquoise, follow steps 1 through 6 at the top.

2. Cut in half and stack one half atop the other. Repeat three more times. Do not flip to make stripes. Trim edges.

3. Using fingers, taper magenta edge, then turquoise edge (figure H).

4. Roll a thin sheet of black. Cover one side of tapered end slab; trim away excess with Nublade.

5. From one end, roll tightly to the other. Roll gently to smooth (figure I). If desired, you may wish to reduce some of this cane so that you have spirals of varied diameters.

Cabochons are forms that are flat-backed with rounded tops. My cabochon is triangular in shape with three ridges, one from each corner to a center point. To make this cabochon, begin by rolling a conditioned mass of clay into a ball. Press the ball against a piece of paper. Using your fingers, press and push the clay into a triangle shape (figure J). Ridges are made by pressing clay with fingers, then rolling each side with an acrylic rod.

1. Cover one face at a time. Cut thin slices from magenta/orange cane. Place one slice on the cabochon and trim using the point at which the three ridges meet and a corner as reference points. Continue, covering one face of the cab.

2. Repeat using green/yellow green cane to cover remaining two faces of cab (figure K).

3. Cover the back with slices cut from the green/yellow green cane. Trim neatly. Roll each face and back with acrylic rod or knitting needle.

4. Cut thin slices from the spiral cane and roll each onto the cab (figure L). To maintain roundness of spiral slices, roll from the center of the spiral out toward the perimeter.

5. Pierce two pendant holes approximately 1/4-inch deep. These holes do not meet but are independent of each other.

6. Roll two small black balls; place one on each hole and drill through again (figure M).

7. Push three or four balls of ball chain into holes (figure N). Gently push surrounding clay around the balls. This clay will capture the balls and prevent them from coming out.

8. Bake at 275 F degrees for 45 minutes.