ZENadu Pendant at Clay Camp!

Long Zenadu Pendant 

I just wanted to let you know that if you are taking the ZENADU Pendant class from me at Clay Camp in the great NorthWest of America, put on by the NWPCG you will also learn how to make this happen there small Pendant with the same technique.
So make the Zenadu Pendant and you can do this Pendant also.
Classes are still open, come for one, come for all of them, or come for a day or two, or the whole damn time. You will not regret it.
www.NWPCG.org
Clay for my classes is being donated by me and my on line store www.clayfactory.net

Short Zenadu Pendant

The year begins anew! Welcome 2017!

Howard and Marie Segal 2016

2017 is here and I for one am ready for the changing. The Energy of the new year is floating in and it "feels" good. I feel good, if a little beat about the head from last year, but still standing and increasing my skills.
I am going overseas to Germany to teach at Galerie Freisleben in Uber sea, I am grateful for the chance to do this, thank you Ariane, this is a beautiful studio and bed and breakfast, a wonderful place to play with the creative spirit.
A dream come true actually.

Here is the link to the workshop page  https://www.galeriefreisleben.de/workshops-2017/
If you click on the Galerie Logo square at the top of the left side of the link above, it will show you the wonderful Galerie in beautiful pictures. Otherwise all the links for all the classes that Ariane is giving for 2017 are all listed in the page the link above opens.
Please have a look there are some amazing classes here every year!
Iris Mishly, Angela Garrod, Christine Dumont, and Melanie West to name this year's lineup, oh, and me!
Sign up for the newsletter also!
Come see me if you have the chance for a full weekend of playing with the creativity in the room.  LOVE that!
For the rest of you that read my blog, may the new year of 2017 be gently kind to you this year and may it be filled with health, happiness, and abundance in every way!
Be kind  you have no idea the things people are going through inside or in their lives, be the love that is missing there!
Love and hugs to all of you,
Marie and the better half in my life, Howard

Nan Roche I are teaching together in September!

Yay I am so excited. I love working with this woman.

Nan Roche is fun, smart, and I have a wonderful time playing clay with her.

So we decided it was time for another class.

We are teaching in West Virginia at the Train Station in Shepherdstown. It is a quaint little college town with boatloads of history and the Appalachian trail close by.

I love this part of the country and September should be gorgeous.

This is small and intimate class of 15

We have some spaces left.

Delving in the Translucent Deep

With Nan Roche and Marie Segal, September 2016 for the Shepherdstown Mixed Media Group.

Two days, two teachers, too much fun.

“Nan and Marie have taught a couple of classes together. They have found that they love collaborating and they bring a lot of combined knowledge to the classes they have done.

Translucent clay is very versatile and can look like Millefiori glass with many layers, if handled carefully.

Come play with us! Discover you!Discover what you can do!

In this class we will explore the many treatments of translucent clay with caning, layering, andClay “fabrics”.

The first day we will work on many caning techniques, layered canes, and cane sheet work(fabrics).

The second day we will concentrate on construction and fabrication with our canes and sheets, giving you insight to into jewelry fabrication, wall pieces, bowls, and other kinds of pieces, as well.

These are Marie’s pictures of the work she has been doing in Translucent Cernit.

The clay will be supplied by the 

Clay Factory

PO Box 460598

Escondido, CA 92046

760-741-3242

www.ClayFactory.net

Bring a basic tool kit- clean pasta machine, clean blade, wet ones or wipes, plastic deli sheets,  

Circle cutters large and small,

Teardrop cutters large and small,

Needle tool or thin double ended knitting needle

Where:  Shepherdstown Train Station

100 Audrey Engle Drive

              Shepherdstown, West Virginia

When:  Friday, September 23, 2016

​​​10 AM to 5 PM

             Saturday, September 24, 2016

​​​10 AM to 4 PM

Cost:  $225 for both days.

Registration:

Name: ____________________________________________________________________________

Address: __________________________________________________________________________

Telephone: ________________________________________________________________________

Make check payable to MFJ Designs mail to MFJ Designs, 5423Shepherdstown Pike, Shenandoah Junction, WV 25442 before August 15, 2016.  

Visa and Master Card available.  Call 304-876-1076.

Vox Sacramento and Clayville California Present The Art of Polymer... and the dog days of summer

It is hot and it is humid. Has been for weeks it seems like.
I have a lot going on right now with a three year old grand daughter.
She has neverending energy and I am zapped in this heat and humidity.

The guy at the gym said his electric bill here in San Diego is about 17000$ in August and September, crazy yeah???
I am just too tired to blog at the end of the day.
Well anyway, enough whining.
But I do have something tell you besides "I am hot!!"
I am going to be in a show that Lala Ortiz put together at Vox in Sacramento.
Lala will also be teaching some classes there. She is a wonderful person and make art with the best of them.
https://www.facebook.com/lala.ortiz
http://redwoodcoastcreativearts.typepad.com/redwood_coast_creative_ar/
Stay cool and go see this show and Lala, I bet they have air conditioning!

Vox Sacramento will be hosting a Polymer Art Exhibit

For the month of August, Vox Sacramento will be hosting a Polymer Art Exhibit
Where: Vox Sacramento, 1818 11th Street, Sacramento CA
When: Saturday, August 11th, 4-9 p.m.
 
Leaves with Citrus Necklace by Jacqueline Dodd
Clayville California and other polymer artists will be showcasing the diversity of one of the art world's newest mediums. Featuring sculpture, jewelry, vessels, masks, and functional art objects. Artists include: Adriana Ayala, LaLa Ortiz, Mary Fassler, Jacqueline Dodd, Michael J. Marx, Amy Fort, Marie Segal, Jennifer Young, Mary Lu Ellliott, Rachel Young, Yoli Rodriguez Manzo, Anita Sterling Winthrop
Vox Sacramento is also proud to present a solo photography exhibit "Memories of Betrayal" by local photographer Andy Brooks. All the images in this exhibit were shot in April 2012.
These exhibits will be up from August 11th through September 3rd.

These exhibits will be up from August 11th through September 3rd."

Check it out!!
Congrats Lala, great job!

Hello to you all

I am fine and I am well. I hope this post finds you all the same.
Life has been full for me
I find that my life is moving so very fast, this year is half over now and it  has seemed to have flown by.
Do you feel the same?
Thank you to the few of you that were concerned and wrote to ask if I was OK.
You made my days. I missed you all. I am OK.
If ever you want to see what is up with me and if I am still alive, you can check my face book pages.
The link is on the right hand side, just scroll down a little or this is it https://www.facebook.com/mariesegal1
I have a ton of pictures over at facebook on my class and the museum show pieces.

When I got back from my parents in Florida, I had things to do to catch up after Cabin Fever (more about that later) and I got ready for a class at the Mingei Museum in Balboa Park, San Diego, California.
It was wonderful. The women that helped me bring this all together took very good care of me.
They mixed all of the clay, they printed all of the handouts,the set up a power point presentation, so I could have a larger over view for the students, they coordinated all of the students and took the registrations,set up all of the tables and seats in a beautiful room at the museum.

I was so grateful for their competent and never-ending work and sweetness. Thank you Johanna and Jackie!
I wondered the whole time how I got so lucky to be able to do this. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!

This class was part of a Gallery exhibition on polymer clay at the museum that will be ending on the 17th of this month June 2012, you really should go if you are in the area here. It is Polymer Clay History in the making. It is the brain child and pure love of a woman named Elise Winters. Thank you Elise, it was so wonderful to see your vision come to reality in such a brilliant way!
Elise's web site is the Polymer Clay Archive and you can see it here. http://polymerartarchive.com/
Both the Mingei International Museum in San Diego's Balboa park and the Racine Art Museum in Racine, WI now have permanent collections of polymer clay. That is one big step for polymer clay, yay Elise, ya did good.
I have been keeping up with both of my stores(links on the right, scroll down), writing, playing with the greatest Granddaughter in the world (Madi and I are trying to make a garden too) and living the good life.
I have some traveling scheduled this year too.How did I get so lucky??

I will be playing in here when ever I can again, I miss you all. Thank you for being here and still visiting and reading this humble blog while I took some time.
Tell me what you have been doing, I would love to know!!

May light and love shine in and radiate out from your beautiful hearts.
TTFN

My classes at Cabin Fever and a update

I am in Florida visiting my parents. Sorry I haven't been around lately. I have been having so much fun and I left almost immediately after Cabin Fever Clay Festival, so it was very hard to get a blog in.
Here is what I started before I left.
I miss you all.
Love and huge hugs,
Marie


I must say that I am thrilled with my classes at Cabin Fever. I am tired, but thrilled.
Judging by what my students did, the classes went very well.
These are creative vibrant women and they learned so fast.

These are from the AM class.
The top row second from left is a heart that is antiqued but not finished with Lumiere.
The two hearts in the bottom row on the right side that are neutral are what the hearts look like not having the antiquing or the Lumiere.
The others have been painted and finished all the way.
They did well didn't they?

 

Come play with us

Cabin Fever  Clay Fest in Laurel, MD is just 2 months away - Feb. 17-22, 2012...have you registered yet?  27 Workshops - 15 Instructors - 1, 2, 3 or 6 days of non-stop creative fun!  AND -You could win a $200 scholarship just for attending!  Register for the pre-conference only, the conference only, or both...pick your choice of instructors!  Still time to ask for that holiday gift you've wanted!  Visit the website here at: www.polymerclayfests.wordpress.com It's not too late...there is still time for you to attend and win! It’s easy … all you do is register for the regular 3-day conference!  Winners will be selected and awards given during the conference. To register, download registration form here. We have another year with a full schedule (workshops descriptions here) of incredibly talented instructors in polymer clay, metal clay, mixed media, and metalworks including Blair Anderson, Jana Roberts Benzon, Jeffrey Lloyd Dever, Lindly Haunani, Liz Potter Hall, Linda Hess, Doreen Kassel, Barbara Lewis, Shannon Nelson, Kathryn Jo Ottman, Nan Roche, Lynne Anne Schwarzenberg, Marie Segal (the 2012 Creative Pioneer and Innovator Award Recipient), Sarah Shriver and Laura Tabakman.   If you haven’t attended CFCF yet, it’s an action packed one to six days of non-stop creative learning and fun and we want you to be part of it!  We will also be honoring Marie Segal with the Creative Pioneer and Innovator Award at the Tuesday evening celebration and there will be an opportunity for you to bid on some incredible items at the silent auction!  Want to donate an item?...donation form is attached! Review the workshops descriptions here and fill out your registration form and send it in.  It’s that easy!  Then, two (2) lucky attendees will be selected at the Tuesday night celebration. For additional information, please email cabinfeverclayfestivals@yahoo.com.   To register, download registration form here. Kathryn Ottman Central MD PC Guild, PCCAF and Cabin Fever Clay Fests www.polymerclayfests.wordpress.com cabinfeverclayfestival@yahoo.com

Monday Updates on Tuesday!

I have been missing in action pretty much for the last week. I tried to post things that I thought interesting, but there was no person behind the post most of the time. Love that scheduling the posts thing.
I had two classes over the weekend.

Last week it was down to the wire and I forget how much time it takes to raise a child, I forget that I am older and do not have quite the unlimited fountain of youth at my back to stay up all hours of the night and keep going for days on end, while taking care of my grand-daughter, cooking food, doing dishes and laundry, I did skip the cleaning though ;-D, feeding the animals, meetings, emails, writing, editing, and planning, and all of the other things that is takes to make sure every one is happy in my classes and happy at home!
Well, I did do most everything I needed to do while going to bed at a decent hour, taking care of family, the blog, taking care of Madi, and everything else my life has become.
All of them are important to me so there was no ignoring them.
Being self-employed is wonderful and I only have to work half day, any twelve hours will do!
A couple of things were not completed or forgotten, but all in all I had a wonderful time at my classes with wonderful people.
The pictures that I have, show them either in deep concentration or laughing and that I figure is a pretty good sign.
I am thanking out loud Kelly and Howard for being an awesome support team and helping when I needed it most.

Thank you so much to all of the people who travelled to take my class. I really enjoyed myself and it is a pleasure to have gotten to know you all a little better.

To my Blog Buddies, Thank you for your comments while I was away and I missed you all.
I hope to get around to some of the blogs this week. Hope you all had a great Memorial day here in the U.S.
Have a great week this week. Blessings all over you all.

I am listing  the Rodrigo Borgia Switch plate now.

I am also putting up a new listing of some vintage chain in the Hoarders Closet, this is a small delicate chain that comes in gold and silver and is in 25 meter spools. I have never had this one up there before. This chain will work well with 24 gauge non-tarnish silver and non-tarnish gold artistic wire, the wire will fit in to the little loops too!

http://www.etsy.com/listing/75112146/1-25-meter-spool-of-tiny-gold-plated

http://www.etsy.com/listing/75112734/1-25-meter-spool-of-tiny-silver-plated

Lots of info- saturday catch up!

Well, I think the shock of me putting up a new picture broke blogger ;-D
Thank you so much for your sweet comments, I really appreciate them.

I lost all of the comments on the last post, I think, and most on the one before.
All of the comments I made are gone.
I also have arrows in my tags in the last post instead of commas. Weird.
Did any of you have the same thing happen?
It was strange not to have access to blogger also.

I felt disconnected from you all.
Well, since blogger was down I had to find something else to do ;-D

I am getting ready to teach a 2 day workshop at Quilter's Paradise on Memorial weekend.
That is where our guild has its classes. A lovely space and a nice place to have our classes.
If you are interested, you can find out here http://www.sdpcg.org/ left sidebar, click on classes.
I am working on the supply list right now.
After being sick for so many weeks my brain is moving slowly.
I also get distracted, LOL!! Like now.

Madi and I also colored on friday. She has a very hard time staying on the paper.
We have Giant post it notes and she can attach them all over the house.
I have colored-on walls, drawers, and cupboards, and I am trying to prevent that in the future.

I uploaded some more things in to the Hoarders Closet.
I put up some Sacred Heart molds from original sculpts. They are a set and they are mirrors of each other, and tiny, great for earrings and embellishments. They can also be used for food, chocolate, precious metal clay and of course, polymer clay.
My friend the Woodwife has used them on some of her pieces and the links are on the listing.

Tomorrow is Fave Crafts finished on the 15th Blog hop!
I have a great tutorial for tomorrow. Those of you that are mixed media artists, shrine makers, frame embellishers, and painters are going to love it. At least I think you will. I do.

Tomorrow is also the first day of a going out of business sale by a wonderful stamp on line store, Scroll Works. They have beautiful stamps and they are going to be starting with 40% off all their inventory. They have 50% off sale going right now that is pretty amazing already!



Always remember to click on their links
so you can see the stamps without the frames too!
From the Scroll Works site and you will not believe the price on this stamp.

 Check it out http://www.scrollswork.com/
It is a progressive sale and the discount gets bigger and bigger till the 15th of July when the virtual doors close.
It saddens me to see another business bite the dust.
I did more, but I am rambling. so I shall go now.

So, until tomorrow my pretties, I am wishing a glorious weekend with all the magic life can bring you!

Orange County Classes

I had the pleasure of teaching a couple of classes for the Orange County Guild last weekend. I left on Friday night and was battered by the rain all the way to orange county, almost turned around and then I thought, it will be like this all the way home, might as well keep moving forward.
My beloved Myra Katz put all of it together and in my opinion it was a smashing success.
I have had many beautiful experiences teaching but this one I will remember for many years with a smile on my face. The food was wonderful and plenty and Erika brought me gluten free ginger snaps from Trader Joes. Everything fell beautifully in to place. The room was warm, big, and the tables were great. I had someone come from the LA guild, Thank you Susan, long drives after an all day class and long drives in the morning to get there. I stayed with a charming woman, Alva LaFevre, I know Alva and I have always loved her, but it was such a pleasure to stay with her and get to know her better, many layers, talents, and interesting stories and the fact that I was treated like a queen made it all the more pleasurable. Had to take the crown off when I got home, it doesn’t fly well in my house at all.
Well enough blathering… the class was on how to make the flowers that I do. All went very well and EVERYONE made flowers, and EVERYONE’S flowers came out so well. I was so impressed, everyone had different skill levels and they were all wonderful. The hand outs were fine but I found that they inhibited the majority and I had not edited them enough, too many mistakes. I have a lot of excuses I could give, but they are just that excuses. Jill Kollmann kaliedascoped (new word) the petals and came out with some beautiful canes, YAY!!! Trina Williams made a beautiful flower with all the right colors and a magical appearance. She also suggested using wire coiled for the centers and embroidery or cotton thread and French knots for adding the flowers to clothing and hats, just brilliant!
I cried when I got this email and the picture in it. Here is my first picture from the class and it is from Dotty Mc Millan, you can see her other beautiful pieces at http://alookingglass.homestead.com/Dottykaleidoscopes.html
Dotty is a very talented woman in her own right, she has written several brilliant books, and I was completely flattered by her attendance! Thank you Dotty, for sharing this beautiful piece with me and oh… everyone else.
The next day went very well too, hmmmmmmmm two days in a row; I could become so comfortable with this. We did the shrine class this day and fun was had by all, I truly relished in the things that came out of this class and how the group took it to a whole notha level ;-D. I am really looking forward to seeing those pictures as they come. I think I want to give Sam Katz the award for the day just because she hates hearts (Sam and my husband are lucky enough to be sweetheart babies, Happy Birthday you two) and the shrine had hearts on it and she did not want to get even close to what I did and she did different colors and a different theme, a kind of steam punk rendition with light green, oh man, did I want that shrine. I thought I was being so clever by making the shrine with a heart-y theme for the upcoming holiday. And Becky Brooks did a bang up job too and she doesn’t even like to show her stuff from classes! After all I do talk about going in your own direction with your own add ins in the handout…but someone listening is always good.
“I think that making a shrine to commemorate a moment or period in your life that is monumental in so many ways, or a quality you want to emulate, helps to cement the lessons and also to let go of the energy, positive or negative to move on to the next page in this mystical experience we call life.
These are small testaments to the process I have enjoyed my self.
This one to the left is a personal shrine of mine. I have noticed that I collect things for my shrines now and my mind looks for things and meanings to incorporate in to the shrines. I love the ceremony of them and the ritual involved with the experience of collecting, developing, and manifesting this work.
I am going to share a small part of the ever changing quality and life of this craft that morphs as you go.
Also if you do these for someone as a request or order, do yourself and them a favor of not working or pondering on them with out clear, clean, and loving intent. There is power here and it is a responsibility. If this is the road that is taken, the rewards for all involved will be many.”
And boy were the rewards many. Powerful pieces all of them.

I had so much fun with this weekend. I feel like I shouldn’t tell anyone, that I have to suffer to teach and that there has to be pain to be rewarding. But I had fun and it was joyful and I am so grateful for the experience and the talented people I had the pleasure to share with over that glorious and miraculous two days. Thank you all for gracing me with your wonderful and insightful presence. I will be forever better because of knowing you all.

Sandy Camp

Well... I am tired and exhausted, but in a very good way! My guild, the San Diego Polymer Clay Guild, just threw our annual event called Sandy Camp. We have it at Warner Springs Ranch in Warner Springs, California every year for the last 8 years, the staff is so very kind to us. It was our 10th anniversary. IT WAS AWESOME! the best ever (imho). It is one of the nicest things, to have one of the best retreats I have ever been to, be part of what and where I am. Many wonderful and dear dear people had five fabulous days of fun, clay, food, spa, neck rubs, laughing, and general chaos. Demos and private little spontaneous classes, mass sharing and big hugs. I made a cone head, Dawn Schiller's competent and guiding light led several of us through an impromptu class, and then more (after I opened my big mouth about it), we loved it Dawn. I think that was the only thing I finished, LOL!!! Say hi to snake man, look at those teeth, that is porcelain white.
My cohorts on the Sandy Camp committee did a great job, in spite of things that sometimes get thrown in the way. We had a great time planning it. What a team.
The people and companies that came through for us went above and beyond the call of duty in supplying us with Goodie Bag stuff and wonderful things for the raffle, it was unbelievable. Thank you all for coming through for us yet again, you are treasured for your generosity in oh so many hearts. You are the best!
You have heard of the perfect storm? Well this was the perfect event, the weather even cooperated with us until the family feast, and even then it wasn't much of a bother. We had homemade cherry fudge and lavender fudge (I can not begin to describe how wonderful this is, except for it is f-ing good, not regular good), cake, pie, and other assorted desserts after that and then... the raffle, or opportunity drawing as it is known by. I won two jackets from Lee Kellogg at StampaFe Art Stamps, I wanted one so badly last year and now I have TWO. Thank you Lee for bringing them again. YAY for me!!!!
And if you get a chance check out her stamps they are wonderful, sacred hearts and shrines and lots of others that are so cool. And... Un-mounted are half the price. Check out deities/religion, hearts, and skeletons for some very interesting stamps, of course, as always, in my humble opinion.
http://www.stampafe.com/
She brings the jackets every year and it is what we all pine for except of course all the other stuff and Jami Millers hand made quilt, which was a show stopper in itself.
And last but not least, the wonderful and vibrant women that came from Israel, thank you all so much for sharing your love, your talent, your country, and your joy with all of us, we are forever better because of the experience.
There is so very much more to add but my brain is on leave.