Well, as promised, the next 10 canes/veneers, and....................I've finished the gecko!

I decided that if I was going to wait until I'd done all 100 canes and vaneers, the gecko would be finished in 2021, and with 20 done, I had more than enough to complete her. I'll go through the next 10 canes/vaneers first, then explain the steps to finishing the gecko. I can't keep calling her 'the gecko'. I love my gecko, I've sweated and sworn over her, so she needs a name...........
Quick aside, I've just looked on google for some ideas, and up pops 'adorable girl names ending with o'.......does that mean that there's a site for 'non-adorable, awful, or dated' girls names! Just saying.
Anyway, I liked Bobetto. So, Bobetto the gecko it is.

These are the next ten, the first four being vaneers and the rest, canes. I won't go through every one, but will just say that number 16 was inspired from the amazing building Jon Stuart Anderson recommended I look at (Carson Pirie Scott building in Chigago), and number 17 was inspired by the horsebox photo I took at the carriage driving event, shown in the last blog post. Talking about carriage driving (as I do a lot), I don't know if many people know that this has been my hobby/passion for the past 40 years. My father and I have driven a team of four ponies every Summer since about 1980. We used to share the driving, he'd drive one event and I'd be navigator, and we'd switch at the next one, but at the age of 75 he gave up and I've done the driving ever since, with dad on the back of the carriage as navigator. Anyway, this year I had the back operation, so couldn't drive. Dad, being dad, decided that he would drive, just a pair (2 ponies), but still, at the age of 85 this is quite an undertaking. The event lasts three days, with dressage on one day, a long marathon on the second, and an obstacle/cones course on the third. To say I'm impressed with him is an understatement, he drove brilliantly, and my sister, nephew and friend did all the hard work while I swanned around giving orders. Here are s few photos, then I'll get back to clay, honest!

I love the photo of Zebedee, being attended to by three humans after he'd finished the marathon....... our ponies are well looked after!

This is the vaneer I'm most pleased with. I started with four colours, made into Skinner blends, with the light in the middle, and very narrow. i then cut pieces off each of the blends and assembled them as shown, making sure the light part of each piece matched up with the next piece.

I then cut the sides into a wavy pattern with varying widths, and finally edged it with a very thin strip of white then black. Here is it on Bobetto. You can't see much of it, it's at the front under the black and white spots, but when I make something else, I think I'll make it the centre part as I wish I'd used it in a more prominent place - but I'd covered it in foil and forgotten about it - oops.

Number 12 was a bit of an experiment, and could be improved upon I feel. I basically cut circles of two different colours, cut them into quarters, and assembled as shown in the photo on the left below.

Finally I'm going to show you a few photos of the sun and moon circle I made. I've seen other people make incredible canes of these, but I only wanted one slice, so thought I could do a better job making just the one vaneer rather than a cane. I started by making the design, and not worrying too much about the detail, which I was going to add in later. At first it didn't look much.

As you can see, I have the basic design, the shape of the moon, but there's no definition. I outlined the moon, and then outside, with black and white clay, which in hindsight was not a good idea as it broke, become messy, and I'd have been better back filling later. 
Backfilling means making lines and indentations in the clay when it's raw, curing it (cooking it) and then filling the lines in with clay and curing again. So, we have a sun and moon design which I'm fairly pleased with, but can see a lot of room for improvement. 

So, I put it on the gecko, then made the marks round the moon, a few dots, and also put in the moon's face. Once cured I backfilled with black and the whole thing became alive. However, I really didn't like the outside edge, so made a blend of yellow, orange and red, rolled it very thin and cut out circles of clay which I put round the edge - hiding the horrible bits! I'm actually very happy with it, and as all things, it's a learning curve, I'll know how to improve it next time.

I'm going to end with a few photos of Bobetta in progress, and some final photos of her finished. I've already started another project, which I'm thoroughly enjoying, and will share with you in the next blog. I'll also do the next 10 canes/vaneers for that, so, hope you enjoy looking at the birth of Bobetta.

It's going slowly, but it's going. I've seen on facebook several people doing '100 day challenges' relating to clay. One person made a clay bowl every day for 100 days, another did little squares of various surface techniques. So, not to be outdone, I'm also going to do one, but slightly differently. Instead of putting myself under the pressure of doing something every day for 100 days, (slightly unrealistic given that I'm still recovering from surgery, and once I've recovered I work full time), I'm going to do 100 canes and vaneers, mostly canes. This feels far more achievable, and still a challenge. I've done the first 10, and will aim to write a blog every time I've done another ten. 
So, here goes the first 10.
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​Cane three is a flower cane incorporating both the leaf cane and the petal cane. I've decided to make 1" squares of all the canes, so when I've finished I'll have a nice record of the canes made in the challenge.

This one I got from a quilt design. I have had a lot of time to nose around Pinterest, and find inspiration for canes, and quilter boards are a brilliant source for cane ideas. I love the way this simple square cane can make a 3D effect. These canes are very roughly put together, when I use them to cover the gecko I shall take more care! But at the moment I'm just creating them.

Cane number 5 was designed to make a sort of feather effect once several slices were put together. I've overlapped them in the 1" square, but on the gecko I shall cut them to shape to make them lie flat. However, this is one I think I'll be making again for a chicken!

This one is designed to make a longer strip, perhaps to separate larger blocks of canes. I'm annoyed that the edges of the straight parts seem to bend at each end, but will probably be able to cut those parts off!
Six canes down, four to go.

I found this diagram somewhere on the Internet and thought it would make a great cane. 
I'm sure if I spent more time on it, it would, but I rushed it, and although I can use the cane, it didn't exactly work out as planned. 
The trouble for me at the moment is that I have a limited time I can sit at the clay table, and I'm sooooo wanting to make the canes, that I'm rushing them, hence the complicated ones not working out.
I'll have another go at this one before the next blog and see if I can get it right. I think if I can do it, it will be a great border cane. Below is attempt number one. Please ignore the incredibly grubby look of the cane!

This one was just a bit of fun. After the complicated one not working out as planned, I thought I'd just make a pretty right-angled triangle with blends I had left over, and double it up to make a square (the cane in the middle). The two squares either side of the small cane is how it turns out when several slices are put together. I was really happy with this one, which took about a tenth of the time of the previous one!

Cane number 9 is a little fish.
Once again, it's looking very grubby, but you can see the effect.
Doesn't help that I have three cats who think the clay table is where they come for fuss!
This again will be a border cane, but I was quite happy with how it came out.

...This last cane I have mixed feelings about. It's another one that is rather complicated, and has huge potential, but I just didn't take enough time over it. However, I quite often make canes quickly, and then decide whether I'm going to do them again and spend more time on them, and I'm definitely going to re-do this one, keeping the same colours. So, next blog this one will be returning, hopefully better. 

I saw a horsebox today, and thought "that bottom swirl would make a nice cane".................
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.On a final note, the gecko body has been make, awaiting it's cane and vaneer covering. I think I'll cover it with clay and cure it before adding the cane slices onto the cured clay. Here is Gertie the gecko, waiting for her coloured coat. I've just noticed that one of the cats was about to get in on the photo! See you soon for the next stage of operation gecko.