Katrin Neumaier is hooked on Pardo translucent clay and she’s becoming expert at showing off its glowing properties with these brand new beads and watery earrings. Here’s her polymer beach glass from October.
The recent hollow forms make the clay even more delicate and ethereal looking as she pushes Pardo in new directions. We can look forward to seeing more of this faux glass trend in 2012.
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{ 38 comments… read them below or add one }
Oh, wow, wow, wow!
I am shocked! It is not believed that it is polymer clay
Amazing and beautiful work!
Just stunning!
definitely cool looking!
These are just fabulous—I love the way she’s making use of Pardo’s translucence. Bettina Welker was demoing Pardo at the IPCA retreat and I (along with everyone else who had not yet tried it) was stunned at the looks you can achieve with it.
Those are just so light and airy-looking…
Such a delicate cascade of color…this tangle of beads would look right at home washed up on wet sand, a lucky treasure hunters bounty. Simply stunning.
Lovely, lovely work. Also, it’s great to look through the flickr pages and see Katrin’s artistic exploration. You can see that she is looking for something to really call her own. Bravo
Beautiful stuff! I never would have thought …..
Amazing beads! WOW!
Katrins work is sooo gorgeous!
Fabulous!
Beautiful! Her work has inspired me to get back to my polymer clay.
Wow – beautiful! Have never heard of Pardo. Is it available in the States?
Pardo is available at Hobby Lobby stores and on-line at Art Clay World and PolyClayPlay
Thanks for that info Trina. I only knew about Hobby Lobby. Do you also know where to get a tutorial for Pardo Trans. I’ve been playing around with it, but haven’t had much success with getting the clarity like the beach glass.
Jay – I’ve not seen a tutorial. In my experience, to get the translucence you have to: 1) add the slightest dab of color and 2) bake hotter than you think. (I can’t remember the temp but it was hot.)
Mine looked sweaty/waxy and opaque when I pulled them out of the oven. As I was grumbling about their opacity, they began to cool and became translucent right before my eyes. So cool. I’m sure Katrin has lots more tricks.
Cynthia
Thanks for answering Cynthia. Do you happen to remember how long you baked them? Did you cover the beads with anything like baking soda to keep them from burning? I’ve heard that it would help, but haven’t tried it. I’ve baked Pardo beads at 245 as recommended and at 275 for 30 min to 45min where they start getting dark. Maybe I’m putting too much ink or not enough clay. I wish Katrin would let us know her tricks. Those beach glass beads are great. I collect real beach glass, but its hard to find really nice colors and you are limited at what you can do with it. With this, the possibilities are endless. I think Katrin just did a big promo for Pardo without even trying.
Take care, Jay
Any idea how she made them hollow?
Cynthia I’msoglad youshowed these today!!!
They are Amazing !!
they are so beautiful! so light and airy and and WOW!!!
i am totally amazed that this is made with PC!
they take my breath away!
love these
Holy Crow! I believe I will be making a future purchase! I had no idea Pardo had such qualities. Thank you for spending your time and effort in figuring all this out. Your work is lovely!
Looks just like glass! How impressive! I wonder how thin the layers have to be to get this look? Are the beads fragile? I guess I’ll have to buy some of this to try out. Striving for a glass look was my initial motivation for getting into polymer three years ago, so this is way beyond enticing!
These are wonderful…makes me want to give Pardo a try!
I can almost smell the ocean while i look at these great pieces!
I’m still amazed how diverse polymer clay is!
Wow! These really do look like beach glass! I am amazed with your beautiful, quality work.
Katrin Neumaier’s body of work is so spectacular it makes my brain hurt.
Wow. Now I’m curious about Pardo. I’d sort of blown it off before. But now I’m wondering…perhaps I need to investigate.
Amazing technique, and so delicate in colors and shapes !
Thank you for your nice comments! I was very much pleased to read them.Here are some of my secrets:
The Pardo is colored with Pinata inks and decorating chalks. I form the beads, paint and then bake them. It is important to only use little color. I usually bake it at approx. 145-150° with the beads lying in a bed of starch. For making the beads, I use some kind of balls made from a filling material, I invented myself, which I form the beads on. After baking, the water-soluble filling material can be rinsed out of the bead
Although the resulting beads look quite tender (made withthe 5. degree of my Pastamaschine) , they are very solid.
Have fun experimenting,
Kathrin
145-150 Celsius is 290-300 Fahrenheit….hot! Which was my experience too.
Kathrin – I see teaching in your future.
ct
Thank you for sharing your secrets with us,Kathrin. Your work is beatiful and your process will be great to learn.
Thanks again, Jay
love these! so excited to see what’s evolving with the Pardo trans and people’s work…
kathrin,
thanks for sharing your process! curious about the water soluble filling…an online tutorial??? class???
these pieces are really beautiful and magical!
This makes me want to order some Pardo translucent immediately. Really fantastic work.
I LOVE this work. I have walked the beach since I was a child and have always collected beach glass. This work reminds me of some of my favorite glass treasures. Thanks for sharing.
love these!
so excited to see what’s being done with the Pardo trans and people’s work….
katrin: thanks for your generous sharing. curious about the water soluble filling, maybe an online tutorial? class????
definitely inspiration for the new year!