Party animal

Anna Nel’s pooch is ready to party! You can’t mix colors much hotter than his. His eyes look wildly faceted. Are they made from a cane?

Could he be a polymer relative of those wonderful Oaxacan wood carvings from Mexico? He might be scary if he weren’t so obviously ready to bark in the new year.

Enjoy Anna’s knock-out colors on Instagram and Facebook.

One more holiday weekend filled with food and football and then we can get back to business as usual. I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to get back to work.

Join StudioMojo on Saturday morning for a quieter, calmer, chattier entrance to 2018.

Ending the year with a gem

Celine Charuau ends the year with a new start on PolymerClayDaily

Celine Charuau (grisbleu) admits that her latest brooch reminds her of Totoro, a character in a popular 1988 Japanese animated fantasy film. Her micro mosaic and silver piece has already prompted lots of enthusiastic comments on Facebook.

The tactile shape and delicate petals continue earlier design directions. The mosaic is a new feature that fits nicely with Celine’s aesthetic. The big photos on her Flickr pages allow you to get in for a close look at her metal construction and the tiny patch of mosaic. What look like delicate and mysterious designs are supported by sturdy and serious construction.

Celine’s is an end of the year gem.

Polymer that grew faster than expected

How Boe Holder's succulents took off on PolymerClayDaily

The popularity of Boe Holder’s sculptures took her by surprise. “I made them for myself, but they ran away with me. I can’t make them fast enough,” says the young UK mixed media artist (thiswaytothecircus) of her popular polymer mini succulents.

They come in sets of five and each set is cleverly named after one of more than 2,000 varieties of cacti. See more on Instagram and Facebook.

Boe’s latest is a collection of slightly less mini jungle islands like the one shown here that contain the same Seussian aesthetic. Succulents are all the rage and it may help that you can’t kill these delightful polymer versions.

Body length necklaces

Bonnie Bishoff goes long on PolymerClayDaily.com

Her body length necklaces are the last of Bonnie Bishoff’s Twelve Days of Jewelry series on Facebook. Her angular tube beads are longer than what might seem reasonable but they’re appealing and eye-catching in such a long piece.

Bonnie adds a few thin heishi beads between the tubes to make them join more gracefully. Each tube is covered with random veneers in a palette of blues and greens.

The wheels in my brain kick into gear and I can’t help but ask myself, “What if?”

What’s your “what if” idea for 2018?

Repeat for effect

Victoria Mkhitarian repeats her birds for effect on PolymerClayDaily.com

Victoria Mkhitarian (vimhandmade) is smitten with birds and she finds a lovely way to capture her obsession in polymer. She gathers her small tiles into a couple of framed bird mosaics.

The birds are fancifully rendered in mokume gane polymer on textured backgrounds in various shades of yellow.

Do you have a mark or an image that you repeat again and again, sometimes without thinking? What could you make of them if you gathered them into a composition?

Victoria is from Russia and now lives in New Zealand. It’s hard to keep track of you artists! You can be sure to see the latest from Victoria on Flickr and Facebook.

Eliciting a response

Susan Crocenzi's 30" mixed media Radiate brought her client to tears on PolymerClayDaily.com

This sumptuous and resplendent mixed media mosaic piece by California’s Susan Crocenzi brought tears to her client’s eyes! “I don’t know how she created such a perfect replica of what my head dreamed up without me being able to describe it, but she sure did,” said the new owner.

The 30″ wall art entitled Radiate is made of polymer clay tiles (border and inner circle), salvaged glass, minerals, beads, crystals, druzy, geodes, crystals, and smalti. Follow Susan’s progress on the polymer components on her Instagram video and visit close up on Facebook

If you browse through Susan’s sites, you can see how polymer grabbed her and wouldn’t let go. More and more pops of polymer began showing up in her work. She currently exhibits 20 6″x6″ mixed media tiles in a show at Blue Line Arts. She will teach new methods she’s developed for mixing polymer and glass in Mexico in February.

What a thrill to have your artwork elicit that response!

Polymer ready for snow

Karen Walker's wrapped snowmen gather for the holidays on PolymerClayDaily

The UK’s Karen Walker wraps her snowmen in mufflers with fashionably oversized buttons on their coats. They gather in a group with their pets, ready for winter.

Karen deepens the textures and highlights them with a dark wash then adds a few polka dots.

The simplicity of her shapes gives the scene added charm and you can see more examples on Instagram, her site, and on Facebook.

Polymer under the bed

Feel the love and understanding in this small sculpture from Wisconsin’s Gina Griffith. Gina shows a deep understanding of children’s fears in her Dark Corners of the Nursery.

The strewn blocks, the bunny slippers, and the superhero cape capture the scene with a little girl clutching the covers as she imagines monsters under her bed.

Enjoy every step in Gina’s detailed process on Instagram and Facebook. And you’ll see the children who are her obvious inspirations.

The little kid in me wants the birthday cake Gina made recently. What lucky kids they are to have such a talented and loving mother. They’ll want to treasure this piece of her heart.

Thanks to Lindly Haunani for introducing PCD to Gina.

No-fail knitting

Leila Bidler gives imitative knitting a new twist on PolymerClayDaily.com

Even if you never learned to knit, Italy’s Leila Bidler demonstrates how you can simulate the look. She extrudes strings of polymer in shades of blue, twists them and lines them up…without dropping a stitch!

A second layer of stitching every inch or so gives the swatch the look of a fancier pattern and more complex knitting.

On Leila’s Instagram page she turns these faux knits into cozy cuffs and finishes them with a faux wood button for a wintry accessory.

A snowy day is a perfect time to check out this season’s crop of faux knit ideas. Every year there’s some new twist. PCD’s all-time favorites are still Juliya Laukhina’s from 2010.

If you’re looking for more fun behind-the-scenes tidbits, come on over to StudioMojo where we indulge in deep polymer chats every Saturday morning.

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