Wreath Project San Diego Polymer Clay Guild Bug Wreath Irish Red
Welcome to the first of our Wreath Projects. We began with my own guild here in San Diego. Since it was a new idea, it took awhile to work out who was going to do what and so forth. At the December meeting, I proposed the idea to the SDPCG and we agreed we'd like to do a wreath. We had two choices and we picked bugs. That may have to do with the fact that we have some biologists in the group or it may be due to the recent popularity of scarabs. In any case, bugs it was. Varda volunteered to be bug collector and she provided a beautiful wreath covered with mosses and lichen that she had purchased at Tall Mouse. It was almost a shame to cover it! It was an excellent choice as you would expect to find crawlie things among tree trunks or on forest floors covered with these materials. What we leaned was that it's a good idea to keep a list with you so that you record everyone's names as you collect the materials. It's much easier than trying to find out later, which is what I ended up doing. I covered the wreath with the critters, using a small hot glue gun and LOTS of glue. Some of the bugs are small and intricate, some are large and anatomically correct and some are just a whole lotta fun. Lucia Hall, the "Dragon Lady" made a larger-than-life grasshopper. Drew, a brand new member at the Clay Day at which the wreath was assembled, made a VW bug! Melanie created "Lola" the show bug who performs at the Copacabana and Patti McElhiney made a lady bug with a real lady's face!  We have decided to enter the wreath as a group in the San Diego County Fair at Del Mar this coming summer. Even if we don't win anything, we hope we inspire people to try something like this unusual wreath. If you participated and are not listed, please email IR so we can give you the credit you deserve.
Photography courtesy of Norm Hall. Thank you! Click on thumbnails to see full size images. Participants:  Rob Chansky Julie Cresswell Lucia Hall Christina Hauser Ellie Hitchcock Irish Red Varda Levram-Ellisman Patti McElhiney Polly Mitchell Irene Niehorster Thomas Ojeda Janet Pitcher and Megan Pat Points Elissa Powell Melanie Schweitzer Drew Simpson Patty Smith Kathy Spignese Kelly Steindorf Lee Ann Stone

If you have a group that would be interested in particpating, email IR.