CAROLYN ELAND ART

After raising three children, Carolyn entered the professional world and became an artist working with fabrics and wood.

In 1996 Carolyn, started her present career working with polymer clay. In a few short years, she has developed over 2 dozen separate commercial lines of woman's accessories and fun jewelry.

Carolyn's organization, called Carolyn Eland Art, is a cottage industry. She attends national wholesale shows, regional craft shows, is presented in a number of electronic catalogs, and is online under her website.

The Jewelry is made with a polymer clay using a process called 'MILLEFIORI'. This technique can be traced back to ancient Egypt and Roman Empires.

It starts with a coil, the simplest of designs. One layer of clay over another, like a jelly roll. The clay is rolled into a coil is called a CANE. After it is rolled to the desired size, it is cut, and baked. The individual pieces are called BEADS. The next design is a checkerboard. One square of colored clay over another of a different color and formed into a block or check pattern. A flower is formed by making a petal and duplicating it a number of times for the other petals. The designs get more complex until the face, probably the most difficult of all designs. The face can take up to 8 hours to make and use up to 10 lbs of clay.

After the air has been squeezed out of the cane and is cut into a workable length, rolled to a desired size, the beads are cut and baked.

The beads are used in bracelets, necklaces, earrings, and other accessories.

"Mokume Gane" is a Japanese technique which uses 10 sheets of different shades of clay and gold or silver leaf layered between each sheet of clay to reveal a variety of amazing patterns.

All hand made. There is no painting or machine work involved.

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