To many of our readers, the name of Alice Stoppel is very familiar. The American artist is well known for her whimsical faces, her cane mapping technique, the Stroppel cane, her creations with pen and ink on polymer clay among other things.
Alice has created several techniques that she teaches online and around her country. Let us tell you more!
The workshop called Extrusions consists of thirteen videos that equal over an hour of instruction. This workshop shows how to make small, unique canes from extruded polymer clay. These canes can be used to make everything from buttons, beads and pendants to cane mapped pieces. The workshop is only about the technique used in making the canes, not the finished pieces. It’s all part of building a cane inventory so that when you are ready to begin a project you have many canes to choose from.
Alice also teaches the Cane Mapping technique, which can be applied on jewelry, wall pieces, furniture and even silver. Alice uses lots of extruded canes in her cane mapping pieces. “If you love mosaics, color and polymer clay, if you love the look of complex canes but simply don’t want to create a giant complex cane, if you love one of a kind pieces and if you have tons of leftover canes, this is the cane mapping workshop for you!”
She also enjoys sculpting and creating crazy characters. “Most recently I’ve been experimenting with polymer collage with my newest workshop called Paper to Polymer.”
“I started using pages from magazines to create collage postcards to send to friends,” Alice describes about her newest class.
“After I had made several, a friend suggested they would be excellent studies for larger paintings. But of course I am a polymer clay artist through and through and painting wasn’t going to work for me, but his words sparked my exploration into translating these postcards into polymer. If you don’t already have a stack of old magazines or can procure some from friends, I’ll suggest some of my favorites. But you can find pattern and color in many of the Christmas catalogs that are beginning to come in the mail so start collecting a few now. You might also already have stashes of papers you can use.”
Speaking about the materials needed for the workshop, Alice describes: “We’ll be using liquid polymer clay, markers, as well as small cutters and silk screens. I’ll even show you how to make some small stamps. I’ll be focusing on larger wall pieces but there is no reason why these techniques can’t be used for smaller projects as well.”
Alice Stroppel has been a teacher of crafts all her life and it’s something she enjoys immensely. For her the most satisfying thing about teaching is the excitement that comes from a student learning a new technique or gaining information that’s going to help them. “That AHA!” she clarifies. “It’s so gratifying to be able to share what I’ve learned over the years with people, I’m forever grateful.” Perhaps one day you might find yourself getting inspired by Alice’s during her class as well.
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