by Cynthia Tinapple on February 16, 2011 · 8 comments
The last time we spotted Hélène at Les Ethiopiques she was fooling us with polymer leather. Now she’s stumped us with wood lookalikes. Her polymer burls twist themselves into curved necklaces and bracelets embellished with copper wire.
Wood burls, deformed, worn and weathered tree growths, are prized by woodworkers and my cabinetmaker husband wasn’t convinced that this was polymer. But it is. Hélène will have woodturners scratching their heads wondering where she found such fine wood specimens.
Emilie at Lily’s Treasures brought the link to our attention.
Spring is online
Donna Kato is offering a terrific deal on her springtime hearts class at CraftEdu.com until noon today. If you’ve not seen Donna at work, now is the time for a cheap thrill. And speaking of thrills, I’d be thrilled if you’d join me for the extrusions chat on Craftcast.com tonight!
by Cynthia Tinapple on February 15, 2011 · 1 comment
There’s something endlessly fascinating about triangles and the way they fit together in so many ways. The triangle-obsessed artwork from Greece’s Eva (NoMilkToday) explores the shape’s variations in polymer. There are more on her Flickr pages and her blog.
As a child Eva remembers shopping for beads in the Athens markets with her mother and collecting shells and trinkets with her best friend to sell in their own kids shop. She tells us that, “Polymer is my favourite material to work with even now because it reminds me of my childhood and gives me new ways to express my ideas in the most playful way!”
Genevieve Williamson sent in the link saying that Eva, “…is quite hip and it’s interesting to go back to her first sales and trace how her style is emerging. I like the lined textured on some of the newest pieces.”
You’ll see echoes of origami and quilts in Eva’s artwork. Of course I see extrusion ideas as I countdown to my Wednesday night Craftcast class. Join us!
by Cynthia Tinapple on February 14, 2011 · 3 comments
Berlin’s Conni Filip tucked gift Euros into thin slots in polymer hearts designed especially for a friend’s wedding. She suggests that the hearts could later be filled with the couple’s personal love notes.
Conni’s site is full of sculpted, painted, wild ideas from an unleashed creative spirit. It’s a perfect place to start your week.
With this year’s bumper crop of polymer hearts, I couldn’t possibly bring you all the great ones you created. Here’s one last look at just a few more.
Your recent emails about why you work with polymer have been touching and heartwarming. Please keep tucking your stories in the PCD comments.
Vancouver’s Joan Tayler likes to make polymer art that is both decorative and useful. It’s not surprising that she’s recently turned to inro covered with cane slices. This refreshing blue and white series shows how much interest and variety can come from a repertoire of patterns in a simple color palette. “My favorite patterns are greatly influenced by the eight years I spent in Japan,” she explains.
She shares a poignant moment when as a child she proudly sculpted a perfect horse sculpture. Joan’s elation was immediately followed by disappointment when she realized that the soft play clay wouldn’t survive.
You can imagine her pleasure when, years later, she discovered polymer clay. She says, “Polymer clay, like most visual art mediums, attempts to freeze a moment. For my purposes it does it very well; it makes me happy.” Joan still makes horse sculptures.
Can you relate? Why do you work in polymer?
The last time we spotted Hélène at Les Ethiopiques she was fooling us with polymer leather. Now she’s stumped us with wood lookalikes. Her polymer burls twist themselves into curved necklaces and bracelets embellished with copper wire.
