Thousands of Ethiopian Jews gather in Jerusalem for the annual Sigd holiday prayer.

The topic for the March show at the Artist's Cooperative of Westerly (RI) is "Black (and white) Magic: The Art of Contrast. I'm one of the featured artists, and I've been working on pieces for the show. I've been trying some techniques that are new for me, so I thought I'd share some of the pieces here. I think that polymer is a perfect medium for this theme. Not only do we have contrast with black and white, we can easily contrast other colors as well as textures, shapes and sizes. Love my polymer! The first couple of items were inspired by tutorials I saw on the CraftEdu site. This first set is made from a sheet I constructed based on a traditional Japanese pattern I saw in a tutorial from Nikolina Otrzan. I used textured clay to construct the pattern, and I think it really fits the show theme. This next pendant is based on directions from one of Donna Kato's tutorials. I liked the way Donna constructed the basic black and white base, but found my clay was too soft to use her technique for adding bands of color. So, I used my own cutting ideas to add the lines of red. The idea of inserting lines appeals to me, so I decided to try some straight lines rather than curves and waves. The next set is an example of this type of insertion. I also experimented with inserting lines and circles. I particularly like this new shape that comes from a template produced by Melanie Muir. The last photo shows a larger pendant made using a mokume gane technique. This piece has a high polish and I like the way the beads look flanking each side. I'll be back soon to show you some black and white earrings and bracelets in the next post. Then on to some color!

Claude Rawson on the fertile mind of Lionel Trilling

Polymer clay and silver wire