Multi-talented

The UK’s Fiona Abel-Smith moves between painting, mosaic and caning with ease. The dancing fish necklace is a recent creation. The curves and colors splash around the wearer’s neck.

Fiona started her large Tiger cane last October and worries that the fall-to-spring hiatus may have stiffened the clay and cause problems with reduction.

One of the drawbacks of being multi-talented may be the distraction of ideas and projects but that hasn’t slowed Fiona down.

See the range of her works on her site, Facebook and Flickr.

Seeing through Cernit

Here in the US, Marie Segal is creating a buzz with her experiments with Cernit’s translucent clay. Look at how the layers from these sample canes read through each other and retain their vibrancy.

Marie has put together a 12-bar translucent starter kit of Cernit if you’re in a mood to try something new. The kit contains 8 bars of translucent plus one each of Cernit’s four translucent colors –amber, emerald, ruby red and sapphire.

Usually Marie starts by mixing 2 parts translucent to 1 part color and adjusts from there to create the desired effect. Here’s her recipe for the colors used in this piece. You can examine more of Marie’s efforts on Facebook.

You may also be interested in the Cernit color mixes that Spain’s Ana Belchi has been sampling in her studio. You’ll find them on Instagram. If you need to know more, Ginger Davis Allman (BlueBottleTree) discusses the properties of Cernit in this review.

Thimbles of color

These Thimble Beads from Florida’s Patrice Pfeiffer are her swap items for the upcoming Fandango gathering in Orlando.

But don’t they look best in a grouping like this? The deep textures, rich colors and wonky cone shapes work so well together that it’s a shame to break up the set. Isn’t that the way? We grumble about making swap items and end up loving them only to send them off to new homes. Remember to make yourself a few extras next time.

Patrice is on Flickr, Facebook and Pinterest.

Gray to great polymer

No matter how many times I watch Rebecca Watkins dust her bright unbaked polymer work with her special mix of dark PearlEx powders, it feels so wrong. There’s no way you can pull this ugly gray thing back from disaster.

But she does. With a bit of sanding she reveals a dramatic tile for the Fimo50 World Project. Read all about Rebecca’s methods in my book and catch up with her online on Facebook, Instagram, her blog, and Etsy.

Boxes of tiles have been sliding through my mail slot at a furious pace and I’m afraid to talk to the postman until next week when the package tsunami ends. You still have time!

Spring shapes emerge

London’s Olga Perova used oil paint with Cernit polymer to wind this 6″ x 7″ vessel into its elaborately layered and sculpted shape.

Olga experiments with many techniques and objects, occasionally leaving jewelry to craft small bulbous vases that express her feelings about events and places. Her series of vases leave the viewer wanting to know and see more. You can follow her on Flickr, Etsy, Instagram and Facebook.

Are there shapes that you find yourself trying again and again?

Polymer love story

France’s Stephanie Kilgast has found a way to keep the cat that she had to put down recently. She created a palm-sized polymer version of Arya that can be popped into a pocket or gazed at on a window sill.

This was a heartfelt departure from the fruits and veggies that Stephanie usually creates. She documented the sculpt with the video below. It’s a love story in polymer.

There are more videos on Stephanie’s YouTube channel and Facebook as well as her site.

Get your shine on

Seems to be a blingy week! The over-the-top color, glitz and shine of these simple lightweight earrings from North Carolina’s Pati Bannister screamed, “Pick me! Pick me!”

Pati pulled out her gold leaf and alcohol inks as she riddled the clay with Peter Max ’60s textures and colors. See more of this series on Flickr, her blog and on Etsy. Her colors and ideas shine through on her Pinterest boards too.

Go blingy, go bold

Some mid-week bling from Lindsay Locatelli (wazodesigns). Her edgy new works are appearing at trendy trunk shows, popular galleries and hip pop-up shops.

Lindsay’s mixed media jewels include wood, paint, thick rope, and in this case polymer and gold leaf. A turquoise color flashes on the back of the faceted earrings.

If you want to see what’s ahead for art jewelry scroll through her Instagram, take note and check back often.

What goes with gelli

Lots of us have gelli plates stashed away in our studios wondering how to use them with polymer. Enter Syndee Holt hobbled by an injury with time on her hands. The happy outcome of her mashup – not the ankle, but the combination of rubber stamp, polymer, paint and gelli plate – is the technique used on these darkly subtle metallic pendants shown on Facebook.

Syndee will be teaching her method at Fandango in Florida in May (not sure if there are open spots). While she’d much rather not have had the injury, it’s given her a double shot of creative juices.

And no, a gelli plate is not the serving dish for jellyfish.

Puddle of success

Cate Van Alphen shows off her Week 15 mistake on this wavy art vessel. Her glaze made of ink in liquid polymer clay slid down the sides of the bowl into a puddle. “Next time I think I will try to set it a bit using a heat gun before curing in the oven,”she says.

But Cate wasn’t altogether displeased with her mistake/discovery. Isn’t that the way? She explains more on Flickr and her blog.

I’ve slid back home into my own post-vacation puddle. Time to get busy!

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