Since I was a child I have loved all sorts of arts and crafts projects. When I was in art school I was actually much more drawn to 3-dimensional arts, like weaving, pottery, jewelry, and sculpture. My big switch to painting came when I was teaching public school art in grades 7-12. I knew that, if I wanted to do a good job teaching drawing and painting, I needed to brush up on my own skills! I started painting in watercolor back in 1980 and never stopped - but my love of other creative outlets has never waned.
I had some fabric with a floral design in colors I love and decided to make a belt and a flower to wear with a favorite fushia dress. Somewhere along the way I thought it would be fun to use Claybord™ Art Tiles and make some matching jewelry pieces. These small white clay rectangles of Claybord are the same as the larger panels I use for my artwork, and they are versatile for a wide variety of media. Claybord is fabulous for use with watercolors, so I pulled out my stash of paints and found pigments to match those in the fabrics.
I picked a 2" x 2" art tile for a pendant and 1" x 1" tiles for earrings. With a sandpaper block I slightly rounded the corners and I decided to use the squares on the diagonal, to make them hang nicely as jewelry. I completed the pendant first and was delighted with the results. My first attempt on the earrings was less than successful, but no problem - watercolors can be re-wet and wiped right off the Claybord. You can see in photo #3 how I wiped one of the little squares clean and left just a hint of a flower on the other, since that part was worth saving.
A few coats of glossy UV clear spray added a finished look and protection to the painted surfaces. I cemented jewelry bails made by Aanraku in a gold finish, attaching them so the longer 'leaf' part is on the back, so my art is not covered. You can buy various sizes from Fire Mountain Gems. I added a chain and earring findings, and my outfit is complete.
The photo below shows the various sizes of Claybord Art Tiles, and they are sold in multiples in each package. In the samples of other work on art tiles, the black surface for the feather and spider web was done with a few coats of Ampersand's Claybord black ink, mimicking the surface of Scratchbord™ so I could scratch out my designs. To the right of those are several art tiles I used to glue pressed flowers. Three of the art I received in Artist Trading Card trades are shown, done with a variety of media on Claybord Art Tiles in the standard ATC size. The 3.5" squares are ideal for artwork and a perfect size to make into coasters with a piece of cork glued on the back. No end to the fun you can have with Claybord Art Tiles - try some yourself!
