My Hand-Made Dragon Eye Jewelry

I make dragon eyes from polymer clay, and hang them on thick antique-bronze chains to either wear as pendants, or hang as decorations.

I’ve been working with clay for about a year, so it’s a recent passion. I’ve always loved fantasy mythology, and being Welsh have a particular fondness for dragons – it seemed logical to apply those loves to my work with clay!

More info: Etsy | Facebook

Hephaestus Pre-Painting

I start with a “millefiori” clay cane slice for the iris, and set it behind a glass bead. From that, I build up shapes around the central bead to form the dragon’s eye: swirls, scales, spikes, horns – all kinds of shapes. When the basic eye is complete, I bake it to set the clay.

Hephaestus

The next part is adding the colors and decorations. I start with watery acrylics and layer on a few different colors. When that’s dry, I brush on metallic pigment powders in a few different colors around the eye, and then apply several coats of glaze on top, starting with colored opalescent, iridescent glazes and finishing with a couple of coats of plain, clear glaze. When the glaze is dry, I superglue tiny metallic beads into the indentations I’ve made in the clay, to add a finishing intricacy to the eyes.

Sirona Pre-Painting

The base clay shape of Sirona before painting.

Sirona

I attach a metal wire bail to the clay pre-baking (and then glue it in post-baking to make sure it sticks) so the dragons are ready to hang on chains when they’re finished. I give them all names, choosing from the names of deities from various pantheons.

Dellingr

Taranis

Cronus

Hyperion

Anyone can write on Bored Panda. Start writing!

Follow Bored Panda on Google News!

Follow us on Flipboard.com/@boredpanda!