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Creative Palette Convention 2004
By Lauren Van Hemert |
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 For
the past two years, Old Town Crafts has hosted The Creative Palette Convention
in the historic, waterfront town of St. Mary’s, Georgia. This year’s convention
attracted more than 1500 people, nationally known artists and instructors,
and over 40 vendors. What makes The Creative Palette Convention different
from other conventions is that all of the events, classes, and vendors
are spread out through the historic buildings that line St. Mary’s main
street. |
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| The Convention started Thursday, February 12th with classes held Thursday, Friday and Sunday, and vendors exhibiting Saturday. There were over 90 classes offered over three days, nine of which specifically dealt with polymer clay. I taught two polymer clay classes on Friday, and was fortunate enough to be housed in the crown jewel of historic St. Mary’s, Orange Hall. Roberta Altshuler of ERA Graphics taught a Simulated Antique Jewelry class, in which students used polymer clay and an assortment of embellishing techniques to create faux antique pendants. I was personally impressed with Bonnie Simonet’s Floral Polymer Clay Beaded Bracelet class, in which students used basic cane making techniques to create a simply beautiful floral polymer clay and sterling silver bracelet. Kathy Martin from Postmodern Design taught students how to create a faux ivory carved clay box. Her partner, Chris Burdett, taught the Precious Metal Clay class, in which students created a relic pendant. | ||||
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The next night, there was another dinner,
“An Evening with the Artists”, featuring Susan Pickering Rothamel of US
Artquest, Sandi and Jennifer Obertin of Rubber Nature Art Stamps and Suze
Weinberg. Susan Pickering Rothamel started the evening off by introducing
herself and her “small company” US Artquest. US Artquest released eight
new colors of Pearl Ex, two new Printmakers templates (perfect for polymer
clay), and a new watercolor palette at HIA just a week before The Creative
Palette. In addition, Susan announced that she would be writing a regularly
featured column for Expressions Magazine. Sandi and Jennifer Obertin of
Rubber Nature Art Stamps talked about their Tool Stamps, as well as their
new oven bake clay, which yields results similar to Raku pottery. Suze
Weinberg inspired dinner participants by talking about how she got into
the business and how her career evolved. In addition, she introduced a
new one-pound bottle of Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel and UTEE Flex, which
make Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel more pliable. She also released her plans
to launch an upcoming series on PBS called Ultimate Crafts. Finally, Fred
Mullett capped off the evening by raffling off four pieces of original
art.
Lauren with Fred Mullett |
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| Vendors at the convention included ERA
Graphics, US Artquest, Rubber Nature Art Stamps, Bonnie’s Best Art Tools,
and Stamp Oasis. ERA Graphics unveiled several new rubber stamp images.
Susan Pickering Rothamel demonstrated various polymer clay techniques in
the US Artquest booth, using Pinata Inks, Pearl Ex Powders, and Printmakers
texture plates. Sandi and Jennifer Obertin gave participants a chance to
try out their new oven bake clay. Stamp Oasis showed off some card samples
using Lisa Pavelka’s new texture stamp designs. Bonnie’s Best Art Tools
featured Kemper Clay Cutters, the EZ Squeeze clay gun adapter, Kemper Clay
Guns and a small seven piece tool kit perfect for taking your clay projects
on the road. Be sure to visit all of these wonderful vendors online to
see their new lines (see resource guide below).
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| Resource Guide
ERA Graphics – www.eragraphics.com
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I
want to personally thank Paula Amari of Old Town Crafts for being such
a gracious hostess. Be sure to mark your calendars for February 17 – 20,
2005 for next year’s Creative Palette Convention.