BLENDED PATTERNS IN POLYMER CLAY
WINTER SESSION 2025
FEBRUARY 1 - MARCH 30, 2025
REGISTRATION IS OPEN
JANUARY 16 - 21, 2025
$425 CAN$ 🇨🇦 ≈ $295 US$ 🇺🇸
Ready to challenge the way you think about canework, complex blending, and the interaction of colour?
Blurred Lines is a mind-bending system for creating beautifully blurry and fantastically feathered veneers, inspired by the world around us…
We see the fuzzy edges of neon lights, and the world through frosted glass.
In photography, there’s shallow depth of field, soft focus, the bokeh effect, motion blur, and tilt-shift.
In computer graphics, we filter our visual messages with Gaussian blur, lens blur, radial blur, surface blur . . .
There are clearly (or not so clearly) many ways to use intentional blurring for creative effect.
Why? Because it looks so cool.
Let’s face it . . . out of focus is in
Blurred Lines is a MasterClass that features a fun and simple technique to turn crisp, precise patterns into beautiful blurs.
And that fun and simple technique is only the beginning. As you’ll learn, by gradually adding levels of complexity, a simple blur can expand to become an entire system for creating diverse yet intrinsically connected veneers.
This MasterClass begins at the crossroads of colour, Cutting Edge canework, and complex blending.
Building on the predictability and precision of peeling, the interaction of hue, value, and saturation, and the math and magic of the classic Skinner Blend, Blurred Lines takes some of our medium’s most fundamental and familiar concepts and stretches them further, layering design, tools, and techniques on top of one another to create a whole new spectrum of patterns in polymer clay.
“To be quite honest, I was a little hesitant about taking this class. I couldn’t see how an entire class could be devoted to Blurred Lines, of all things.
Well, after taking ALL of your prior classes, I should have known that any of your classes are so chock full of information, hints and tips, presented in such easy to understand, no pressure format, that they are always beneficial, and a lot of fun!”
Marina Andrei : ROMANIA
“This is the fourth class I’ve taken with you. Every one of them has been amazing. From being afraid to open the package of clay to where I am now could not have happened without all the care you put into your classes. You are amazingly talented not just in clay but in how you are able to pass on your knowledge in a virtual classroom. One wouldn’t think it could be done without you being there hands on. But you’ve proven that it most certainly can be done and done extremely well.
”
A MOMENT OF (BLURRY) CLARITY
My journey into developing the Blurred Lines system began several years ago with a single question:
“If we can combine two sheets of solid colour into a seamless blend of both, can we do the same with patterns?”
In my head, it worked. And after some focused studio time blending strips of stripes instead of sheets of solids, I discovered the answer:
“Yes.”
Putting that first question-and-answer to the test with broader patterns and more complex iterations, Blurred Lines will explore a myriad of ways to combine basic blending concepts with intentional pattern and precision canework.
Working with colour and contrast will be a big part of this. You will learn how to create carefully controlled blurring effects in striped veneers (that’s the ‘Blurred Lines’ part).
But why stop there? The course will continue moving forward by circling back, to turn Blurred Lines veneers back into canes, creating an exponential feedback loop that opens a portal to even more pattern possibilities.
Blurred Lines will take students on a journey to some really exciting places. Like our other courses, we will start with foundational lessons to make sure everyone has the knowledge and skill to move forward together, no matter where each of us are at the start.
Even if (perhaps, especially if) you are an informed and skilled Skinner Blender, and you already know how magical our medium can be when colours overlap with other colours, well, hang on to your handle, because with each pass through the pasta machine, complexity will build, layers will be added, and new patterns will be revealed. I promise, there will be surprises at many points along the way…
A FOCUSED SKILLSET
From foundational studio skills to secret tips and tricks that are part of what makes this system unique, here are some of the touchstone lessons we’ve built into the Blurred Lines curriculum…
Pasta Machine Basics
My first pasta machine focused workshop, Blurred Lines will do a deep dive into best practices with this fundamental tool. Understand ‘the Wedge’ and the impact it has on your results. Learn how to avoid the dreaded ‘Tongue’ shape we sometimes get in our clay sheets.
Blurred Lines Cane Design
What makes a pattern ‘blur-able’? There are certain considerations when building a cane for blurring. Design strategies and construction techniques will be explored in full.
Colour & Contrast
Developing a personal palette is one of the easiest ways to give your work a signature look. But contrast between your colours in pattern making is always an important consideration. In blurring the lines, sometimes too much contrast can give us problems, unless we know the secret to keeping things under control. Wanna know the secret?
Blend Basics
Blurred Lines requires a facility with ‘blend technology.’ Using the traditional Skinner Blend as a departure point, students will master a range of blending concepts.
Peeler Basics
If you are a graduate of Matrix Canes, you know how a Cutting Edge Peeler can be the gateway to a ‘rabbit hole’ of precision canework. Despite its fuzzy look, Blurred Lines relies on the same precision, and many of the same principles. But don’t worry, we’ll cover all the basics to get you peeling with ease, turning striped canes into blurred strips, and then blurred strips back into a new type of cane where the blurring goes sideways… Ready for another rabbit hole?
Finishing Considerations
Blurred Lines veneers require a unique approach to finishing. Even though we will not be making any finished pieces during this course, basic surface preparation will be covered to keep your blended patterns looking perfect, no matter what your vision may be for incorporating these one-of-a-kind veneers into finished pieces.
CURRICULUM OVERVIEW
The overall course experience is divided into Modules, so that students can build upon their skill and knowledge along the way.
As with the other pattern systems I’ve developed, like Matrix Canes, Single Slice Mokume, and MilleKume, Blurred Lines is best explored through a set of cumulative techniques.
Here are some of the motif variations we’ll be covering as you complete your blended patterns resource library…
Blurred Lines
With intentional blurring, in a focussed way, we’ll make new patterns like Broadbands and Pinstripes, and learn about indispensable tips and techniques like ‘Blend Ends’ and ‘The Notch.’
Hybrid Techniques
Once the simplest ‘stripes on stripes’ sampler is mastered, we’ll layer on that with ‘fusion’ techniques for crossing canes with blends: Fading Lines, Cross-Fading Lines, and Shifting Lines.
Colour-Washed Lines
In a fusion of stripes and solids, Colour Washed Lines is a motif that actually layers two different patterns into one. Instead of a sheet containing one set of pigment particles, we get two… in one. Say what? Like a double rainbow, you may be asking, “What does that even mean, maaaan !” Blurred Lines holds the answer.
Feathered Edges
Blurred Lines patterns begin as canes. And for a long time, that’s where my own experiments ended. But once I had explored this technique and found an answer to blending and blurring lateral cane slices into veneers, I knew I wanted to take the story further with another question…
“What happens when we turn our Blurred Lines back into canes?”
Just as Segment Canes take Matrix Canes to another dimension, so too will a Segment Cane mindset turn single Lines into staggered Feathered Edge patterns, complex but related descendant veneers that will give your work a whole new ruffle.
TRADITIONAL TECHNIQUES, A NEW VISION
It’s been more than 25 years since Judith Skinner introduced an innovative yet foolproof way to blend two distinct colours into one seamless gradient sheet. And artists had already adapted traditional millefiori canework from glass to polymer to create intricate cross-sectional patterns.
Blurred Lines is all about what happens when blending and canework blend together.
This is a MasterClass that pushes polymer’s pattern possibilities with clarity, commitment, and intent, guaranteed to broaden your vision as an artist by honing in on the knowledge and skillset you need to push your work further.
More than 1200 students have already come through our online academy since we opened the doors in January 2018. Together we have turned information into transformation, and Blurred Lines continues that trend.
As a complement to our other courses, or as a first step toward personal growth and professional development, this MasterClass will make intentionally blurry blending perfectly clear…
CUTTING EDGE PEELER REQUIRED
Your tuition for this MasterClass includes a collection of downloadable templates specially designed for this course.
But even more important is our Cutting Edge Peeler Kit…
Because this tool is such an integral part of the Blurred Lines system, all students will be required to have a Cutting Edge Peeler.
We’ve been selling this classic slicer since 2005, in Cutting Edge workshops, at retreats and conferences, and in our online Cutting Edge Store… so you might already own a Cutting Edge Peeler.
If not, this MasterClass will be the perfect time to get one, an immersion into its use and versatility as a fundamental blade for your polymer clay studio.
If you do not have a Cutting Edge Peeler (exactly like the one you see here) and you want to join us for this MasterClass, please make sure you choose the TUITION + PEELER option when you register for this course.
A Peeler will be shipped to you after you register. Shipping is included in this Registration option.
CUTTING EDGE PRECISION
Blurred Lines is a system that combines sound cane construction with ‘cutting edge’ tools. It’s not just how you build it, but how you slice it, and a Cutting Edge Peeler is the gateway tool that will allow you to slice your canes with ease and precision every time.
The stainless steel blade slices sharply and cleanly through polymer clay, and because it never cuts against a hard surface (like a tissue blade hitting a glass or tile work surface), it stays sharp. The blade cutting guide defines a specific thickness that, with practice, stays even and consistent with every peel, instead of leaving thickness and consistency in the hands of… your hands. And when your slices are always the same thickness, not only can you use them economically on their own in a variety of veneer applications, you can also easily combine them with other slices into seamless composite canework veneers.
Best of all, this consistency in slicing allows for one of the coolest ‘next generation’ things about Blurred Lines: you can take those perfect peels and reconstruct them back into more complex canes. Using repeated slices from a single cane, contrasting those slices with complementary layers of plain clay, or combining slices from more than one cane, and so on, and so on, and so on… as a tool for slicing canes, it really is a portal into infinite pattern possibilities.
An accessible process with an intentional approach, this online MasterClass course is designed with enough time for you not just to learn the techniques, but to fully explore a complete range of variations, from basic and bold, to advanced and intricate. And you'll make a lot of beautifully precise patterned veneers along the way…
IS THE CUTTING EDGE PEELER JUST FOR BLURRED LINES?
Not at all. As a precision blade for polymer clay, it’s a hold-in-your-hand tool that comes in handy for all sorts of slicing.
Blurred Lines is just one small part of a bigger set of Peeler techniques I’ve developed. Our Peeler is an indispensable part of our Matrix Canes MasterClass course, and is also the portal to ‘texture without texture’ illusions of Holes, Lines, and other mica-shifting patterns. It’s a perfect way to access and reveal the strata patterns in mokume, and it can also be used to slice traditional canes in consistent thicknesses, one cane at a time, or a repeated stack of many, without drag or distortion. I’ve also used a Peeler in cane construction, cane de-construction, and as a tool to make other tools…
Even if Blurred Lines is your gateway to peeling polymer clay for the first time (and this 8-week immersion will be a great way to get to know how to use it), this Peeler will be your gateway to so much more. With proper use and care as a fundamental blade in your studio tool box, it will last and last, way past this MasterClass...
I HAVE THE CUTTING EDGE WIDE PEELER... WILL THAT WORK?
Nope. There are lots of things you can do with either Peeler. But this Blurred Lines MasterClass is not one of them.
If you were with us for our very first online MasterClass, Single Slice Mokume, then you have our WIDE Peeler. It’s a very similar tool, with a stainless steel blade, cutting guide, and Y-shaped housing handle. The big difference is, it’s bigger. As its name suggests, the blade window is wider, almost double the width of the original Peeler blade.
Blurred Lines techniques were designed with the regular Peeler in mind. To be able to follow along with the demos, lessons, and exercises, make use of the templates and other materials you’ll be getting in your course Materials Kits, and to achieve the best results with the Blurred Lines and veneers you’ll be making in this MasterClass, a regular Cutting Edge Peeler is required.
Cutting Edge Peelers are not currently available to the general public, and will not be available after Registration has closed.
REGISTER HERE
FOR THE WINTER 2025 SESSION
BLURRED LINES
“I ALREADY HAVE THE CUTTING EDGE PEELER”
TUITION ONLY
$425 CAN$ 🇨🇦 ≈ $295 US$ 🇺🇸
“I DO NOT HAVE THE CUTTING EDGE PEELER”
TUITION + WIDE PEELER
$465 🇨🇦$ :: APROX $325 🇺🇸$
Please note, we are based in Canada, and our tuition prices are listed in Canadian dollars. If you are outside Canada, you will be charged an equivalent amount in your currency.
The US$ price is included as an estimate based on current exchange rates.
The BLURRED LINES CLASSROOM OPENS FEBRUARY 1, 2025
ALL WINTER 2025 MASTERCLASSES END MARCH 30, 2025
REGISTRATION CLOSES
TUESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2025
The Skinner Blend was just the beginning… Blurred Lines is blending like you’ve never blended before!
“Thank you for another great class. As always when one of your classes is over I get a little bit sad, but thanks to Tracys BTC class my mind will be occupied with colors the next few weeks :) I am so grateful that you are letting us in to your magical world of clay creations and techniques. This was my fourth class with you, your attention to details and the way you teach has changed my way of working with polymer clay, I feel I have improved beyond my expectations thanks to your way of teaching and it has been a “lifesaver” to work with all the modules, not thinking all the time about all the frightening things that has happened in the world these last months. ”
QUESTIONS & COMMENTS
Here are some of the most common questions we’ve been asked about Blurred Lines, together with some alumni excerpts from our online classroom GuestBook…
WILL I NEED ANY OTHER SPECIAL TOOLS, EQUIPMENT, OR MATERIALS?
Other than the basic tools and materials found in a typical polymer clay studio, and the special little extras you will be getting as part of your tuition in your Blurred Lines Materials Kit, you won’t need anything special.
A complete Materials List will be sent to all registered students after Registration has closed. This list will also include recommended amounts of clay.
“Another BRILLIANT course. Thank you. As with all of your courses, you get what you come for, and a whole lot more.”
“This class has been so very rich, both with learning, and with your humour and joy shining through. I am quite astonished to look back and see what I’ve learned this time around. You are both so generous with feedback, and so willing to share knowledge. In a lifetime, I think it rare to find a person, or in your case, two people who really seem to be doing exactly what they are born for. That is something I I too have taken all of your classes. I have grown immeasurably in my craft, and yet see so much more I want to learn. I have lots of experimentation in front of me with blurred lines and all the other courses I’ve taken. You’ve imparted some great construction and finishing techniques, set a bar to reach in how to finish projects and allowed me to do this online, all at my own pace, within the comfort of my home. I can’t wait to see what you come up with next! ”
“Thank you, Dan and Tracy, for sharing Dan’s techniques in yet another inspiring and educational journey! This is my third online workshop with you. Each course has transformed my technical skills, improved my studio work habits and expanded my artistic horizons.
Your humor and conversational writing styles provide an online experience more like an in-person classroom with new friends from around the world. You have already set the bar for the new wave of post-pandemic virtual and online classroom models!
I especially enjoy the pacing and structure of your classes, along with the clarity of your written explanation of every detail in the real-time video clips. Your teaching style makes a complex process available to anyone at any stage of experience. I can’t imagine learning all this information in a single live workshop! The ability to revisit each lesson during the entire course is another wonderful opportunity to absorb so much new information (and enjoy the music).
Also, a big thanks to my fellow students who shared their work in the Discussion section. Everyone’s photos and your personal feedback has been tremendously helpful. I only regret that I didn’t have the time to contribute more often.
Most of all, I admire and appreciate that you share your personal explorations and achievements with us and encourage us all to be individually creative with these new techniques. Teaching is an artform in itself, and a precious gift to your students. I feel privileged to have been part of your classroom. ”
Kris Van Dyck : BELGIUM
“A wonderful ‘jam-packed to the gills’ course! You have broadened my polymer clay experience greatly again. Thoroughly enjoy how both you and Tracy approach learning. I will be delighted to join the Bioforming course and the Building Better Beads course when you offer them this fall.”
WILL THE COURSE INCLUDE INSTRUCTION ON HOW TO BUILD AND FINISH BEADS, LIKE THE ONES FEATURED HERE ON THIS WEB PAGE?
No. But you will learn how to make all the blended patterns that are featured in this work.
Blurred Lines is not a ‘project-based’ course. The goal will not be to design, make, or finish anything specific. It’s more of an exploration, learning new ways to make blended patterned veneers. Those veneers can be used in a lot of different ways, and how you choose to use them is up to you. We will talk about options and best practices for bringing these blended patterns into your finished work, and I will have samples of my own finished work to share with you, but making a finished project is not a part of this MasterClass course curriculum.
“The circumstances of the pandemic and everything else happening around this time have created an uneasy environment. However, this workshop has brought so many new experiences and possibilities, that it has helped me to forget sometimes the uncertain reality. Thank you, Dan + Tracy, for all your work and excellence. ”
Chris Hellström : SWEDEN
REAL TIME, REAL LEARNING
My vision for teaching has always been to provide not just information, but transformation. I have been working with polymer clay for 30 years, and as much as I have to share as a teacher, your participation as a student in this workshop will directly impact the outcome of your experience.
By immersing yourself in the lessons, exploring the techniques, and completing the exercises along the way, not only will you learn how to create your own collection of Blurred Lines veneers, you will also develop ways to improve and refine your craftsmanship overall, so that first-class work habits become second nature.
BLURRING OUTSIDE THE LINES
A lot of workshops, tutorials, or 'How To' videos teach you ‘how to' do something by showing 'how to' make something. They’re project-based. Students make some specific object and learn a new technique or set of skills along the way. Everyone starts in a different place but by the end, they’ve all come together with the same completed destination piece.
This MasterClass (like most of the workshops we teach) will flip that around. In the first part of the course, everyone will be making the same foundational veneers, mastering the mechanics by focusing in on each unique step, but taking those same steps together. Once that first set of veneers is mastered, the map unfolds... As we introduce different variables, not only will there be many paths to choose, we're looking forward to seeing where each student travels… and we’re betting that no two journeys will be the same.
Rather than rush to the finish line, the goal of this course is to give everyone time to wander, to wonder, to ask “What if..?” Sound fun? Freeing? A little scary? All of the above. By the end of the journey, we’re confident that you’ll be confident. Every student will have the knowledge and skills that are unique to the Blurred Lines system, but we fully expect that every student, through making their own creative choices, will finish this MasterClass with their own unique collection of blended veneer variations.
Not sure if this next MasterClass is for you? New to the online learning experience? Here are some highlight reasons why you might want to join us for this course…
RE-DISCOVER BLENDING
It took a ‘rocket scientist’ named Judith to define an elegant and easy way to turn two triangles of colour into a seamless segue of both. Blurred Lines is built on this premise, and even though we will go deeper into both the how and why of Skinner Blending, a closer look at this colour-melding classic will be part of the Blurred Lines story. Get the skinny on Skinners, and see how this concept can be applied to create more complex and sophisticated one-of-a-kind work.
YOUR FRONT ROW SEAT IS WAITING
Inside our on-line classroom, you’ll get to see pre-recorded demos of all my Blurred Lines secrets… and with zoom shots and the option to pause, rewind, and replay as often as you want, the POV is almost better for you than it is for me! In your own space, at your own pace, your front row seat is waiting.
MORE SHOW, MORE TELL
If you are a graduate of either Single Slice Mokume or Matrix Canes, you know, these pattern-making systems can be a bit addictive. Blurred Lines is no exception. Once I started playing around with the possibilities, it was hard to stop. Now, years later, there are lot of swatches! In addition to this course curriculum covering the foundation techniques of this process, I’ll also have variations and samples from over the years to show and share… a bonus that rarely fits into the packed schedule of an in-person weekend workshop.
YOUR SWATCHES, YOUR STORY
We will begin with the simplest of blurs in a module to help you focus in and Master the Mechanics of this system. Then, progressing through a diverse series of iterations, you will make your own guided design choices to create a personal collection of swatches and samples. Save them as a library for future reference, for designing and planning future patterns, or to use in finished work.
ORIGINAL TECHNIQUE, ORIGINAL TEACHER
Blurred Lines is an original pattern-making system, and there’s no better teacher to learn from than the artist who developed it. Rather than rely on second hand info, learn these original techniques right from the source. Invest in yourself and your work by investing in this workshop to fully experience the story, the application, and the potential of this innovative process.
MATCHABLE, MIXABLE, AND MORE
There’s an almost infinite range of choices to be made with this system, but the system itself gives continuity to the resulting veneers, so it’s easy to mix and match one veneer with another. You can also pair them with sheets of solid colour, as well as other surface techniques; classic Skinner blends, mica shift, textures, Single Slice Mokume, Matrix Canes, and other kinds of decorative veneers.
NOT JUST FUN, BUT FUNDAMENTAL
Whether or not Blurred Lines becomes a part of your ‘go to’ repertoire as an artist, learning anything new is a chance to venture out of your creative comfort zone and improve your fundamental studio skills at the same time.
ANY MORE QUESTIONS?
If you have any further questions or need additional info about this upcoming MasterClass, please click here to contact us. Registration can be a busy time, but we will do our best to reply promptly via email and/or share your Q and our A right here on this webpage.
Thanks in advance for your patience… and thank you so much for your interest in us and our work!
We’d love to have you join us for Blurred Lines…
Dan + Tracy
