Even though no one brought polymer clay to work on at Synergy, you could tell that participants were filling their heads with ideas.
These ping pong balls covered with polymer by Gloria Askin made me smile and shifted my brain into high gear. They’re super light.
Robert Dancik showed wire forms covered with pantyhose and made rigid with white glue. Yes, you can cover the pantyhose/wire/glue forms with polymer and bake them. His classes made your head reel with the possibilities.
The glowing neon colors and velvety texture in this necklace by California’s Cheryl Lois Walker made me reconsider using Ultralight clay as a base as she did. She packages her necklaces in a clear plastic box with a matching bead glued on the lid as a handle. Nice presentation.
The microwave clay from Eberhard Faber has me stumped and wondering. Could it be useful? Do I want to use it in my microwave?
Donna Kato has information about the reformulation of Kato Polyclay on her site plus a nice album of conference pictures.
It takes time to process ideas and figure out which ones fit with your style, your ideas, your voice.
Karen Hennessey markets her polymer clay art to the needle arts crowd. The Massachusetts artist started working with polymer in the late eighties and created her company, Zecca, which makes colorful caned items designed to meet the specific needs of knitters and needlepoint enthusiasts.
Her caned patterns embellish stitch markers, scissor protectors, buttons and other needlework necessities. The patterns have infiltrated her needlepoint patterns and it’s sometimes hard to tell if you’re looking at needlepoint or a cane slice. Hennessey created a line of blank cards that combine a cane slice on patterned paper as shown here.
If you’re thinking about moving beyond your niche, take a look at how this polymer artist has found a home among related and companion artforms. Thanks to Alaska’s Katie Way who sent the link along.
I’m totally distracted by my new Apple Itouch. Who would have thought you could post to a blog from this tiny device? My husband totally surprised me with this perfect gift and I’m not sure which I love more, him or the Itouch.
I’m downloading some of the color meditations that Lindly Haunani recommends. She’s got some great stuff tucked away on her site. Check out Colorstrology…skip the intro and get to your birthday.
Lindly’s on the mend and posting away like crazy! She’ll be out of that awful contraption by Valentine’s Day with any luck.
My mouth watered (and it’s not from the aroma of turkey in the oven) when I saw works from Marjorie Schick in the latest issue of American Craft magazine. While these pieces may not be made of polymer clay (the site loads slowly and the image link in the left column is worth the wait), we certainly share her love of colors and jewelry as sculpture.
Here’s the schedule of the traveling exhibit , the catalog and a new companion book.
The artist’s work focuses on the body’s relation to form and is simultaneously ornamental, visual and tactile. Included in the exhibition are 64 objects recounting more than 40 years of Schick’s work.
I found a great Smithsonian interview with the artist as well which is great for post holiday dinner reading (or napping).
I give thanks for you, dear readers. Happy Thanksgiving Day.
The French Yahoo group’s July polymer clay challenge was an excellent exercise and a visual treat. The instructions to "CreationFimo" were to contemplate the works of Henri Matisse and create a polymer clay work that paid homage to him.
You’ll have to scroll down their page to see the variety of artists’ responses, each a delightful and unique interpretation. Thanks to Marilyn from the Netherlands for forwarding the link along.
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A whole contingent of polymer clay artists have been experimenting with liquid polymer. Marcella Brooks has her mysterious process that we covered on Monday. Today we’ve got Carly Seibel who creates faux glass beads using the liquid stuff. Where have I been?
While I was looking at Carly’s site, I ran across this necklace that looks like a vacation on a string to me….a perfect July image. Her site shows a nice mixture of techniques and tutorials and her combinations of seed beads with polymer clay is very effective.
Christelle van Lingen, born and raised in South Africa and now living in Ohio, has named her newly developed polymer clay technique "ruffle beads" and is working to refine this popular design.
She’s added a few new examples on her site and even combined it with PMC petals and findings. 
Christelle found her inspiration in Yuka Salto’s work featured on Polymer Clay Notes. What a lucky find and a terrific adaptation.
A bit of the green for St. Patrick’s Day. Have a lucky weekend.
I wrote to Ohio artist James Lehman whose work we looked at over a year ago to see if he had some new polymer clay work. He wrote back to say that he is currently focused on laser/computer work. His laser work looks very much like his polymer and I thought you might enjoy the comparison. 
Polymer clay art attracts a fair number of computer programmers, graphic artists, medical researchers, botanists, biologists, physicians and other scientists who love to touch the colors and translate the patterns they see in the lab into three dimensional art.
Thanks to Jo-Anne Bartley who prompted the follow-up.
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