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Let's put everything together...
- Once your Leaf Cane has been reduced, plan where you will put leaves on the Rose Cane. I usually put them in the intersection of the second petal set, as shown in Fig. 21. Cut your leaf cane pieces and attach them to the rose, being careful to get out any air bubbles.
15. Now we're going to outline the Rose and leaves with a thin sheet of Black clay, usually at setting #6 or #7. Make sure to press the clay into all indentations and creases. Once the Rose is initially covered, I use a technique with the clay gun that helps to strengthen the shape of the rose and also helps to prevent distortion as the background color is added around the Rose. Squeeze out a long triangle of Black clay from the gun, and then cut off pieces that you will wedge into the indentations and creases around the leaves, and at the petal intersections. Fig. 22 shows how these wedges are placed, and you can see how the delicate leaves are fortified.
- After the clay gun wedges are placed, your cane will look as Fig.23. Now start adding black background clay around the Rose, until a nice round background is created, like Fig. 24.
- At this point, you can now reduce your Rose Cane to various sizes as needed. Here are some of the sizes I use, and also a fresh cut end piece that shows how well the leaves reduce after using the clay gun technique.
I hope you have as much fun with this cane as I have. Experiment with different colors for the rose and backgrounds, and if you make a cane I would love to swap a piece of mine for one of yours! Please feel free to email me at
about swapping cane pieces! Leigh Ross
©1999 Text and Photos
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