Butterfly Cane Tutorial

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I have a love of butterflies so naturally I'd figure out how to make them. This tutorial is for a simple skinner blend butterfly. You can use any colors you want. While my cane is small you may want to create yours larger if you aren't familiar with caning.

You will need:
1 skinner blend log
Black clay
Background color clay
A sharp blade
Pasta machine (I'm all about things being easy)



Make a skinner blend log and reduce, cutting into 4 even logs



Roll one of the logs thinner than the original but not by much and repeat with another log.



Lay your logs against your work surface and press one side into the table to form a rounded triangle. These will be the wings of the butterfly.



Roll some of your black clay into a log and press slightly flat, pushing one end into the table to narrow the bottom. Trim with your blade if needed to get the shape you want. This will be the body of your butterfly.



Butt a large log of your skinner blend and a small log of your skinner blend next to each other with the narrow ends touching. Repeat this for the other 2 logs



Assemble your butterfly, placing the wings next to the body. If the body is too large, tug gently along the length of it, reducing it to the appropriate size.



Start filling in the background, starting with two triangle shaped logs to fill in the space between each set of wings.



Roll out the background color clay on a thin setting on the pasta machine, trim it into strips that will cover the inside tops of the wings



Put 2 triangles of background clay next to the bottom of the buterfly body.



Roll a part of your black clay through the pasta machine at a thin setting and cut into 2 strips. These will be the antenna of the butterfly.



Fill in the space in between the antenna with a square log of clay and round logs to fill in the cracks. Smooth so that it is level with the tops of the wings.



Fill in the sides of the cane with sheets of clay, cut into strips. Smooth with your fingers and fill in any cracks with small, thin logs of clay.



Let your cane rest and cool. Reduce your cane by squeezing from the center towards the ends. This fills in the final cracks with clay and squeezes air out that may become trapped. Continue reducing until you get the size can you desire.

 

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