Video #454: Roadtrip #2-03 (WA): Karonkay finally gets to share her amazing “Presidential” story.
It’s the 4th Thursday of November 2013… which means that it is Thanksgiving Day in the United States. So first off, I’d like to wish everyone who celebrates this holiday, a very happy and thankful day.
Our Thanksgiving Day here in Canada, happens in October… so that is when we had our big Turkey dinner. With that said… now let’s get on with today’s show…
Topics Covered In This Video:
- For those of you who have been following this Polymer Clay Tutor Blog for a while, you will know that we have been taking our business out on the road in a 31 foot travel trailer to start visiting with members of the PcT Community, and with potential sponsors. Here is a link to the post announcing our very first PcT Roadtrip back in 2012.
- On the first (2012) PcT Roadtrip we had visited Karon Cowger (Karonkay) and her husband Dave, out in Spokane Washington. When we visited them then, Karon showed us a room full of polymer clay flowers that she was making for a very special (and secret) project. Well… now that the project (event) has come and gone, she doesn’t have to keep quiet about it anymore. So, on our PcT Roadtrip #2 which took place at the end of August 2013, we went to see Karonkay again. This time she was able to reveal all, about her amazing polymer clay flower adventure!
- Here are Karon’s words about her incredible project… “The reason it was a secret was because it [her polymer clay flower bouquets] was for one of the Inaugural Balls in Washington D.C. The American Indian Society, asked me to do two bouquets for their main sponsors of the ball. So we got to do two of them… I actually did four. One for me, one for my sister who lives in Washington D.C. and the two for the ball. In the United States here, we have of course, a State Flower for every State. And we thought that was very appropriate for the Inaugural Ball, after the big fighting of the Election (2012) and everyone being mean… we thought we’d bring all back together, with every State in the Union in the bouquet. And so we decided to do the official State Flower for every State. So, I really got to stretch my wings.”
- Please Note: This 15 minute video is a bit longer than our usual weekly clips, because Doug couldn’t bear to cut any of the footage of the beautiful flowers in the bouquet. Fifty different state flowers takes a while to shoot… and even at that, we did not even get to them all. However, 15 minutes is nothing compared to the full year it took Karonkay to complete her polymer clay flower bouquets. Do watch to the end. It will be well worth the time for all the inspiration you will gain.
Question of the Day:
What do you think of Karon’s stunning flowers? I’d love to hear your comments and support for her on this great project. It was a BIG deal for her to pull off, as I’m sure you can imagine. Please do leave your responses in the comment section below.
By the way, if you have a polymer clay question or challenge you’d like me to address in an upcoming video vlog, do post it in the comments below. I’d love to help you find quicker and easier ways to bring up the professionalism in your polymer clay art.
Oh and don’t forget to give these videos a Thumbs Up click at YouTube if you are enjoying them. The more Likes a video gets, the higher it rises in the searches. And that means even more people will be able to join in on this polymer clay journey of a lifetime.
Also, by subscribing to our YouTube Channel directly, you will receive notifications as soon as new videos are uploaded. To subscribe, click here…Polymer Clay Flower Bouquet – Presidential Inaugural Ball. The Subscribe Button is right near the top of that YouTube page.
Looking forward to hearing from you!
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I am so in awe of the techniques and skills that went into these realistic looking flowers.
These are all so beautiful! Congratulations on the astonishing work!
Amazing!
It is so inspirational that this all started with the Dogwood flower tutorial. The bouquet is just beautiful. What an honor and experience. Thanks for sharing.
What an amazing job you did Karonkay – your kids will cherish them forever
Beautiful work. You should be very proud.
Beautiful work, Karon! I had read a bit about your project on Marlene’s blog, but it was great to see all your “babies” up close and personal. A true labor of love :)
What an awesome project. The flowers are gorgeous and so life-like. Such an honor for you to make a bouquet for the inaugural ball. Congratulations on a job well done.
Karen you did an amazing job on your bouquet. They are all so beautiful and what an honor to place them in Washington DC! I can see now why it has been such a process informing us all of this fantastic endeavor. I am so glad Cindy and Doug made such a great video showing all of your hard work. You are such an inspiration to the rest of us and I am so thankful you are such a huge part of our clay family.
AMAZING!!!! As a Texan, I so loved the Bluebonnets they looked awesome. I’ve always wanted to try to make them in polyclay but it scared me. But you, Karon, are a genius and infinitely patient.
The flowers are amazingly realistic! Could one of the bouquets be placed in the permanent collection at the Racine Art Museum. It seems very appropriate.
I would love that. For that I would make myself another,LOL.
Karon, Beautiful flowers!! You should now write a book teaching others how to make each of the 50 flowers. I know I would buy it! RBenik
Dear Karonkay – what an honor to be chosen for this project. How thrilling and daunting! Your flowers are just beautiful. I can only imagine you staying up late at night figuring out how to make a particular flower.
Cindy’s tutes are so thorough. It helps to think in certain way. All this from a single flower -it is amazing. You must be very proud!!!! We are all proud of you…………..
A BIG CONGRATS for all your hard work………………..
Karon
Awesome…well done!
Beautiful bouquet!
The peony is the state flower of Indiana.
Absolute beautiful flowers Karon. You did a wonderful job.
BRAVA!!!!!! I second the idea of publishing a book on making the state flowers, I too would purchase it. Congrats!!!
Wow. Absolutely stunning. Flowers are my favorite tutorial videos and I can never have enough. I’d love to learn more about creating any of the gorgeous flowers…whether they are for jewelry, bouquets, buttons, or whatever, I vote to learn more!
KaronKay, what an honor to have your work chosen for display in the White House. I am so impressed by all the fine detail work and volume of this project!
I will spend many days in the future slowly scrolling through the video so I can see all of the lovely State flowers you created.
Kudos for such a wonderful job!
Thank you Cindy and Doug for bringing this amazing artist to our attention.
The flowers were not on display at the white house, don’t want any misconceptions there. They went to one of the inaugural balls held in the city. A bit of a history lesson here: The balls are sponsored by people who pay to go. The tax dollars are not used to put on the different balls held for the celebrations. As you know there were eleven this last year. The bouquets graced the tables of the largest donors and were a gift to them after the ball. There was also some smaller ones for different sponsors. I have pictures on my facebook page of one of them. It was indeed an honor.
Wow!!! If ever I think that a project is overwhelming, then I will remember this one! It makes you realize how versatile polymer is. This is so inspiring, I’m sure Cindy, it must make you feel great too!
Hi Joy, you are very right! I do feel a lot of joy at seeing Karon’s work come into fruition. I am very proud of her!
STUNNING GORGEOUS AMAZING – Karon you are an amazing artist.
Oh my gosh but they are wonderful and it was a total pleasure to watch this all the way through. What beautiful work you have done on each one….Any idea of where the bouquets are at this time?
Hi, as I stated above the bouquets were gifts at the end of the celebration. The only one that I am sure of went to The Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, I am an enrolled member. I did a separate smaller bouquet for them to honor our tribal members who attended the ball.
Truly amazing, Karon. What a beautiful bouquet you have grown. Just the knowledge you have acquired to accomplish this project and to have it displayed in Washington, DC. Congratulations! Great feats are usually not accomplished overnight so your patience and dedication to get the job done is remarkable. Truly you must feel so much satisfaction. Needless to say you deserve all the accolades
that have come and continue to come your way. You are an inspiration. I think your
inner beauty has come forth in your bouquets as well as in the interview with Cindy.
The best to you as you continue life’s journey.
Doug and Cindy,
Thank you for a beautiful presentation of Karon’s success. What kind of flower(s) would have represented the two of you? They would have to be beautiful as well as hardy and colorful, yes?
Hi Joyce, I am not totally sure what you mean, but if you mean, which of my tutorials helped Karon to make her flowers, there was the Dogwood Flower, Clover Flower, and Parrot Tulip, directly and several other flowers more indirectly in the sense that Karon used some of the concepts learned in other flower tutorials like the Roses, Iris, Daisy, Sweet Pea, etc as well as some of the color recipes. Karon came up with most of the ideas on her own though and used me mostly as a source of knowledge, inspiration and encouragement. Karon did a beautiful job on this very impressive project!
Amazing!!!! You did an absolutely phenomenal job Karonkay. I’m so impressed at your ability to see this massive project through to the end. You’ve inspired me to come up higher and see my projects through to the end. Way to go!!!
All I can say is WOW. The flowers are amazing … So life like.. So thin and gentle looking.. I to would purchase videos( which I prefer to books) if you did them in conjunction with Cindy or on your own.. I just purchased the floweracademy tutorials from Iris Mishly from PolyPediaOnline … She does flowers thAt Cindy has not done.. I was impatient… Could have waited for Cindy but the deal was too good to miss… There price was going up the next day…once I try them I will let the pc family kneo how it goes..
Again I love your work Karon … You represent the PC family with pride.. Lad to you you part of our great and expanding group
And Cindy &Doug —- don’t know what we would do without you wonderful tuts with great pictures and videos
Natalie. Aka safti
Oh, my Goodness, Karonkay! What stunning work! I am always inspired by what I see other artists accomplish. But this one is…over the top…lol! Congratulations! And I am so glad you did one for yourself, too, for it is always good to look back and see how far we have come!
Wow absolutely stunning Karonkay! What a privilege to see this wonderful bouquet, thanks so much for sharing it has brightened my wintery day.
As with everyone else, I was so in awe of your talent with flowers. And as Robin Benik said – think you should definitely write a book on all the flowers you have mastered.
Thank you all for so many sweet and encouraging comments. To be sure it was a project of such immensity that I would ,even today after completion, wonder at my sanity in undertaking it. But looking back it was a year of wonder and great accomplishment. Thank you all for watching the video.
We do indeed have plans of sharing the how to’s with everyone in the future. So happy to hear you all would like to learn from all my errors. But the outcome was well worth the time and effort. Of course I owe alot to Cindy for her inspiration and the first flower I ever did. She will remain my teacher and friend through all my future plans and accomplishments.
Hugs to you Cindy.
What an honor. The flower are amazing. Is Cindy going to make some tutorials on some of these flowers? I love your work. I am working on making my flowers to look like yours and /Cindy L. Thank you for the lovely video and sharing. I also like the Jool Tool Video and now I want one too,
The other Cindy P
Hi CIndy P, I do plan to do many more flower tutorials in the future. I was thinking of possibly doing all of the Provincial and State Flowers but since there are so many of them, it would either take years to do them all or I would have to do them in a separate project from the membership. Maybe Karon will do some of her own tutorials as well, though I am not sure if she would be doing them in video or not? We’ll have to see what happens.
Really great job karonkay! They look real. How inspirational.
Hi…I am wondering how Karon Cowger is doing. I haven’t seen hide nor hair of her for awhile so thought I would write and see if she is still around. Karon…if you are still close by, let a fellow Spokanite know. Thanks.