Playing in Ohio
Polymer/laser combo
Georgia’s Cynthia Gougian-Fisher can’t resist new technology. That doesn’t mean she’s leaving polymer behind.
She cut these wooden earring frames on a laser cutter and then gave them pattern, color, and shine by inlaying polymer. Lots more on Instagram.
In this week’s StudioMojo you’ll watch Texas’ Paula Kennedy hand sand her bowls to a smooth, satiny finish. And you’ll learn how shoe paste wax and face cream are part of her brilliant process.
A bouquet of sticks
I’ve been gaga for polymer-covered sticks for years. Mine are more slapdash than these carefully covered twigs from Detroit’s Linda-Velas-Helton.
Scraps, a schmear of liquid clay as glue, tiny cane bits, lots of this and that add up to a glorious trip down memory lane. The wood will tolerate the heat but you may have to use a big oven.
Before you know it, you have a bouquet of past projects to display and decorate your home. Isn’t it amazing how a theme, a palette, an aesthetic emerge from all those diverse projects?
When you’re red hot
What do you do with yourself when the news makes you red hot? You could take a cue from Illinois’ Pat Stirniman and pound your cadmium red.
Pat uses polymer like ceramic clay, building all sorts of dishes and vases and objects to brighten the house or just to let off steam. She adds balls, stripes, dots, and other bit players. Here’s Pat on Facebook.
Scratching out and idea
Australia’s Belinda Broughton (polymerbelinda) could have stopped right here. She applied pan pastels to a sheet of polymer. Then she scratched through the top layer of jagged triangles (technically sgraffito) to make an even more dynamic design.
Pop that baby in the oven and hang it on the wall!
I saw a painting but Belinda had earrings in mind. Either way, it was fun to watch and may make you reconsider pastel possibilities.
Teamwork
Not-quite-finished box elder bowl composed at a recent get-together.
It helps to sit next to color expert Lindly Haunani and have friends like Julie Eakes lend a hand in positioning the inlay. “Teamwork is dream work” as Julie says in the video.
The clay is only 1/16″ thick and I fire it with a heat gun. Details to follow.
Experimented with the new Premo teal in my palette. Me like!
There are dots and there are dots
And then there are dots by Madrid’s Silvia Ortiz De La Torre. She’s been making her blended, layered, high voltage colored, roughly textured dotted beads for years.
Silvia has stayed way ahead of the trends. We can learn a thing or two from her.
We go back and forth on StudioMojo. Every weekend we look at artists who’ve been around for years while we also keep up with the fresh faces that bumped into polymer during our forced confinement. Both vantage points teach us. Come see what we see.
Life with the kids
The glee that California’s Diane Greenseid takes in her small sculptures comes through loud and clear. I know nothing about what her small characters (the kids, she says) mean or how she constructs them.
It really doesn’t matter, does it? She’s obviously having a good time and really, isn’t that the point? You can sense some good stories here.
Game changer
The new Premo teal can take your palette up a notch. Lindly Haunani and Maggie Maggio worked quietly for months with the Sculpey team to formulate a clay as close as possible to the industry standard cyan.
Here Ron Lehocky introduces the new primary into his palette and his hearts take on new life.
It’s not often that a product has this kind of impact. Read more in the series of posts from Maggie and Lindly on the Sculpey site. The new color is available online with free shipping on orders over $30.
I try not to promote products on PCD but I couldn’t resist sharing this development. We save tool talk for StudioMojo where we get down and dirty about promising new tools and must-have supplies. There are some delicious ones (and some duds) right now. Come and see.
When dots collide
Have you got a “thing” for dots? Join the crowd. Slovenia’s Petra Volavšek (oceana_jewelry) is one of us!
She gathers her dots into many configurations, making them collide in an unending array of patterns. Monochrome or multicolored dots in a variety of sizes cluster to form jewelry with soothing patterns that look like they may have escaped from a chemistry lab. Let’s see where she takes her experiments next.