Regatta is what Julie Picarello has named this luscious piece that’s among the designs she’s working on for submission to NPCG’s Progress and Possibilities show. The colors really sing and she manages to incorporate her signature watch parts into the necklace.
She’s fleshed out her web site and added a page of works in progress. You’ll want to take a second look.
You have a couple more days to get your entry into the NPCG show. Go online for the paperwork and have another look at the new NPCG site. There’s a terrific article on Robert Dancik by Marcia Laska with an accompanying hollow bead trick.
What I’m really hungry for right now is a touch of spring and I was thrilled when Camille Campos’ name came up again (thanks to Chel Micheline).
Camille (I’ve got her listed as Camille Young) works in a bright clear palette in a most interesting, flat, graphic way in air-dry polymer clay. I’m sure some of the works on her sculpture page are new.
Don’t let the flowers fool you, she also has some dynamite masks, mythical creatures and robots in her repertoire.
You won’t want to miss the last few pictures in her photo album page which show how she assembles some of her jewelry. Think spring!
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.
See more polymer clay work on the updated site from Mary and Lou Ann who will exhibit at the ACC show in St. Paul this month.
Their new work has a more primitive and ethnic feel with carved and stamped clay and a continued reliance on strong metal work. (A sample of their earlier work is shown here at the right.)
They divulge this about their process, "We create our colors primarily through oil pigments and integrate both synthetic and organic materials, such as sugar or sand, to create texture."
Note that Celie Fago has added a blog to her site. In her blog she updates the list of classes being held in her Bethel, Vermont, studio as well as an up-to-date roster of her classes in other venues.
Laura Balombini shows some new lovelies on her site. She credits Tim Burton and Shakespeare among her influences!
Laura is one of those polymer clay artists whose works are often emulated. Donna Kato addressed the issue of unauthorized copying on her blog this weekend.
It’s considered good manners to tip your hat to your muse with a mention in print or a link online. Before you benefit financially from teaching a technique to others, be sure to get approval from its originator. Most artists only want credit for their ideas and innovations.
While there are gray areas in matters of design, it’s best to err on the side of politeness and to make apologies and corrections where necessary. I’ve suffered a red face and offered a mea culpa or two myself.
The polymer clay community has a long history of generosity and sharing. We can help sustain that spirit by minding our manners and acknowledging those who have worked hard to blaze a path ahead of us.
More Canadian teapots! These are from from Gera Scott Chandler’s updated site which sports lots of new work. I like the way that the glass base of these teapots is not completely covered with polymer clay.
Each of Gera’s creations are a celebration of the beauty, color and texture of the natural west coast environment. She’s teaching a 2-day Secretive Woman workshop in April if you’re in the Victoria area.
These recent works by Jeffrey Dever at Mano Gallery round out the week. Like yesterday’s artist, Jeffrey starts with organic shapes and translates them. Says Dever, "My quest is not to replicate God’s finest gifts of flora and fauna, but merely to enter into the dialogue."
You need to see and touch Dever’s works to appreciate his craftsmanship. The patterns and lines are not surface decoration or paint, but carved or incised details backfilled with contrasting colors of clay, cured at each stage. An individual piece can easily go through 20 to 30 fabrication/curing cycles and take weeks to complete.
I love the interplay of the gradations on this piece by Catherine Verdiere from Le Havre, France featured on her Ethno-Polymere blog. There’s a wealth of novel ideas and clever solutions on her site.
And her French/English translations are a real help. I’ll have to figure out how she does that. (Oh, she translates it herself since she’s an English teacher! Nice to be bilingual.) Nothing like a lovely new discovery from Susan Rose to shake me out of the doldrums.
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