LA’s Laurel Steven calls herself a mixed media creatrix and she’s teaching her hinged polymer Heritage Locket at next month’s Portland Art and Soul retreat.
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Laurel has also formulated her own twist on faux enamel and assembled a tutorial. You can see some of her samples in her Flickr pages, very faux.
Sue Corrie works with polymer on the Ghost Shift, when her family is settled and it’s dark outside. “Of course, Dr. Who fans know that the Ghost Shift was also the period when mysterious forces were able to seep into this world across the void,” she admits.
Sue has a mysterious force with color, putting together calming combinations and soothing palettes that invite further exploration. She shifts gears from fall’s rich dark colors in this leaf pendant to a brighter palette in this Natalia bead bracelet. Take a look.
Jenn McGlon’s sculpted polymer clay Luettes have bits of vintage text added for extra charm. Her sweetly haunted houses are featured in Somerset’s Holidays & Celebrations current issue.
The little village is also part of this month’s SpookyTime Jingles offering. In keeping with spooky, new works are added on the 13th of each month.
SpookyTime is a sales site for like-minded holiday artists gearing up for the season. They say it’s “…where sweet and spooky comingle” and the site could keep you clicking through Halloween and Christmas sculptures for the rest of the day. I like getting an overview of what’s new on their Flickr pool.
Helen Breil’s recent polymer works (and some new stamps) show off more of her expertise with textures. A sneak peek at her radiating lines tutorial has convinced me to try textures this week.
I was also encouraged at a recent retreat by a chance to inspect Laura Tabakman’s stash of homemade texture plates made from Super Elasticlay.
She creates and collects graphic elements that transfer in a deceptively simple process. Of course arranging the elements is the trick and learning to use the plates is another art.
Look at the works of these two artists to get an idea of the possibilities.
Colorist Lindly Haunani has refreshed her site and refined her class offerings. (I’ll happily add the disclaimer that I assembled the site.) After writing a bestseller and overcoming other challenges, Lindly’s back up to speed.
She’s the queen of pinched beads. Her subtly blended polymer squares pinched together at two corners instantly become convincing flower petals.
Read about how her necklace of pinched rounds attracted the interest of Nepali polymer artists.
If, like Lindly, your work often takes its cue from nature, you’ll love this BBCearth online show. This month’s theme is “Life is Colourful” and it’s stunning. (via Coolhunting) Have a colorful weekend!
Polymer beads that could be dismissed as hippie beads become ethnic treasures when they’re masterfully strung by Thailand’s Aow Dusdee.
Aow’s world travels have given her a keen eye for ethnic traditions. She combines fiber and polymer with metal and stone beads to create modern tribal pieces.
Photos of her living spaces show how she incorporates polymer in her distinctive decor. It’s all so Eat, Pray, Love, isn’t it?
Each polymer dot, loop and swirl on Jennifer Morris’ jewelry is added one at a time. She calls it her “embroidery” style. It’s not hard to believe her when she says she goes into a meditative state when she works. You can learn more from her interview with ArtBeadScene here.
Jennifer’s ornate baroque/victorian style is often rendered in the sunny colors of Mexico. Add to that her romantic product shots and her poetic descriptions and you’ll understand why she’s a big seller on Etsy.
Rebecca Watkins of West Virginia likes texture and she shares her personal process for etching unbaked polymer on her Flickr site. No smelly solvents, just a stylus and some patience.
This process looks like it was made for the Zentangle/polymer crowd.
Rebecca’s turtleneck-wearing fishes are dressed for fall. They’re shaped and marked in delightful ways. Thanks to Christine Damm for leading us to this new link.
Need a Kathleen Dustin polymer piece to complete your smashing ensemble? Now that she’s added a shop to her site, you don’t have to wait for the next ACC show!
And speaking of shows, Seattle-based artist Stephanie Tomczak uses polymer clay, copper, and enamel to create jewelry inspired by the nature of the life cycle. Tomczak’s work is now on view through September 9th at the Heidi Lowe Gallery in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.
This faux coral necklace is from her Oceanic Gems Collection. (via Wearable Art Blog) She gives a great overview of her studio, her process and her display on her blog.
When Maggie Maggio quietly fiddles and fusses at a retreat, you know that she’s brewing a new scheme. She generously agreed to share with you her latest development, polymer clay split ring chains. Making this design was a relaxing way to look busy, get rid of scrap and have great looking new jewelry. By the end of the week we had heaps of links. I got out my camera and you can see the resulting video in the right column.
Students of Maggie and Lindly’s color book will probably pounce on the concept and come up with great variations. We only scratched the surface. Many thanks to Maggie for showing us her new method which she’s calling Maggie’s Missing Link.
Download the split ring template sheet and read Maggie’s latest blog post here.
