Happy Accidents

Although they are not always pretty, not at first, happy accidents can lead to wonderful techniques and inspiring design. I keep bumping into pieces recently that came from just such incidents, such as this ripped mosaic technique Cindi McGee happened upon.

This feels like the beginning of a foray into this approach to mosaics for Cindi and I am hoping we’ll see more of what she does with this. I think if larger pieces or more intricate pieces were created, you could have some really amazing visual textures not to mention using up lots of scrap clay!

Have you had any happy accidents lately? I find with polymer that nearly every accident is an opportunity to not just learn about how the material and one’s approach works but to find more techniques and effects. Take a close look at the present Winter cover of The Polymer Arts and Emily Squires Levine’s vase. Do you see the “accident” it had? It got scorched in the oven but you hardly notice because it makes for a natural coloring of the organic color palette. Not that I recommend trying to burn your polymer (burning polymer gives off toxic fumes) but before you get upset that something didn’t work as you wanted it to, ask if it is just leading you down a new path with new ideas.

You can find more of Cindi’s adventurous work through her blog pages and her Instagram account.