Bat'leth Display Rack: a study in texture

You know the saying, "the shoemaker's children have no shoes," well in my home, that translated into the polymer artist's husband had no rack for his Bat'leth. Confused? Let me back up in this story.

bat'leth rack in use

My husband, Rob,  is a big Star Trek fan. He has a replica of a Klingon weapon known as a bat'leth that needed a proper display rack. He found a metal holder with sailboats on it that was the right size, but sailboats aren't very "Klingon" so he "commissioned" me to find polymer solution.

He gave me a print out of a symbol that he wanted me to include. That symbol, and the location of the screw holes, were the only real perimeters that I had to stay within.

I liked the antique gold feel of the metal so I used a blend of antique gold Premo to match it for the base. Once covered, the spaces between the three sailboats left a weird indentation that I could have leveled off with more gold clay, but I kind of liked the pattern. I decided to work it into the design by filling it in with chopped pieces of translucent clay that I later tinted with alcohol inks. It reminded me of a lava flow. Hot, Angry, and Klingon.

In my original plan, I wanted to have the Klingon symbol in the center, but I quickly realized the screw holes were in my way. I had no interest redrilling holes in metal so I opted to create two symbols, one at each end of the piece.

Rob is really happy with how it turned out and so am I. In fact, I've entered into this month's Polymer Clay Artists Guild of Etsy's Challenge: Texture.

Voting is open until Jan. 7. Pick your three favorites and you will be entered to win a prize of your choice. Vote here: http://polymerclayartists.blogspot.com/2012/12/january-challenge-texture.html