Elisabeth Brustein

It wasn’t until the late 90’s that Elisabeth discovered her passion and talent for art. Her work is about the masks we wear. All of us have a variety of masks that we wear daily. These may be the identities that have been given to us, or ones we have assumed over time. In Elisabeth’s “other life”, she is a graphic designer, mother of four, and likes to dance to the beat of a different drummer. When she was a child she often dreamed it rained beads. Elisabeth’s pieces aren’t painted. Unlike earth clays, polymer clay comes in a wide variety of colors that may be mixed to create a custom color palette. All of her work is completely handmade. Each piece is an original and one of a kind. Elisabeth enjoys the process of creation as much as she values the end product: “My process begins with the creation of a ‘cane’, a technique borrowed from the Venetian art of millefiori. Unlike a candy cane, a polymer clay cane is made by pressing dozens of rods together to make a pattern. Master Chef Morimoto uses a similar technique to create sushi rolls. Complex canes may take me up to 40 hours to complete and are quite large. After creating the cane, I reduce it in size by stretching and pulling to make it longer and thinner. Then I make thin slices, revealing the intricate pictures or patterns inside, and apply them to sheets of polymer clay or various armatures. Once the piece is created, the clay is cured at a temperature ranging from 230 to 325 degrees. Finally, I sand the piece with increasingly finer grits of sandpaper, and then buff to create a glassy shine. Even after all these years, polymer clay continues to fascinate and amaze me with its versatility and endless possibilities.”