The Clay Art Process

Designing clay beads is both tedious and fun.  The process begins by choosing a few colors and softening the clay with with my pasta machine.

With the softened pieces, I begin the creative part of the process.  I use different colors to form a design which begins around the size of a small cookie. Below is a snapshot that shows a butterfly piece "in the works".

Once the design is complete, the clay is reduced in size by rolling or extruding.  The pieces that you see below are commonly referred to as clay canes.

From here, the canes are sliced using a sharp blade and laminated onto clay balls.  These soft clay beads are then pieced with a skewer, placed onto my trusty baking rack (shown below) and cooked at 275 deg F for 15 min.  Yes - that is the only recipe I know by heart.

That's it!  Once the clay is hardened it can be fashioned into jewelry just like any other bead.  I find the entire process to be relaxing and creatively stimulating.  I like to call it my "clay therapy"!