Back to bowls

Silvana Bates turns salvaged cane bits into charming soap dishes on PolymerClayDaily.com

You may have thought you’d seen enough polymer bowls. Ireland’s Silvana Bates’ soap dishes pulls us out of bowl overload.

For her jewelry designs, Silvana creates batches of canes in her favorite palettes that lean toward faded colors and homey patterns.

By joining the tail ends of canes and shaping random bits into bowls, she accentuates their charm in a way that hints of soft old quilts in cozy cottages. She made these to hold her daughter’s collection of soaps.

Browse through her photos on Facebook and don’t miss the video of her woodsy creations that will be part of November’s Into The Forest exhibit.

Can you salvage bits of your favorite pieces and create a signature bowl?

Succulent polymer

Kim Korringa creates a succulent world on PolymerClayDaily.com

This bowl of succulents from California’s Kim Korringa was a marvel to behold. Everything…the 6″ rock bowl, the succulents, the soil, even the string-of-pearls…was made of polymer.

You can tell from Kim’s attention to detail that she’s quite a gardener.

Meanwhile, Kim was also working on a line of caned Christmas jewelry for the Uno Alla Volta catalog adding minuscule ornaments on yards of caned trees.

Tabletop polymer

Bridget Derc's step-by-step tabletop on PolymerClayDaily.com

Why is it that when you can’t actually get your hands on polymer for one reason or another, watching someone else complete a project is especially engrossing?

We’re all on the sidelines shouting, “You go, girl” to the UK’s Bridget Derc and her complex mandala tabletop.

She took photos of every cane, every measurement, every step of the way and uploaded them to Flickr for you to enjoy vicariously.

Stars and stripes from abroad

Shuli Raanan's star canes turn into patriotic beads on PolymerClayDaily

Each year our red, white and blue canes are provided by another country! Aren’t you proud of that?

Thanks to Israel and Shuli Raanan for these stars and stripes canes. Her Etsy site is full of flags and tidy swirl beads topped with stars in unusual ways.

Shuli Raanan's star canes turn into patriotic beads on PolymerClayDaily.com

If you’ve ever made a bicone bead that swirls as hers do, you’ll appreciate her precision. It still looks like magic when Shuli does it so well. You can find her work on Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter.

Visiting grandchildren will be distracting me for the next few days so PCD posts will be intermittent or missing altogether this week. Have a great holiday!

Staying flexible

Tucson’s Meg Newberg (polymerclayworkshop) loves devising low tech/high results canes. Her followers find Meg’s instructions easy to follow as she builds precise patterns from simple rolls, blends and stacks. Following her steps is simple, very rewarding and great for building your skills.

The inmates in the ORW class are Meg’s biggest fans because no special tools or exotic ingredients are required to produce stunning results.

Her videos have a large and growing following on Facebook. She sells her tutorials and canes on Etsy as well as by subscription.

Here Meg shows a polymer hex-a-flex. Maybe in high school you sent secret notes to friends using a similar paper trick.

If you’re interested in more secret notes, join the StudioMojo group that looks behind the scenes on Saturday mornings.

Reminders of spring

Lynne Ann Schwarzenberg reminds us how she artfully arranges cane slices into the most interesting earrings.

With her stash of beautiful tiny canes she makes turning them into layered designs look easy. See a few more versions on Facebook and more of her signature work on Pinterest and Instagram.

Reminders of spring and Lynne. She thought we might have forgotten her. Not a chance!

Wrong side out is right

Argentina’s Flavia Miranda puts flat cane slices (Cernit) together in an unusual way. As you fly through photos on the web, sometimes a simple, carefree piece stops your eye.

It’s her playful, unselfconscious construction that intrigues. Isn’t that wrong side out? Why is the thread showing? The disks overlap and bunch.

As you can see on Flavia’s Facebook pages here and here, bunching the beads and integrating the stringing materials are all part of her vibe. How great she looks wearing a similar piece in her profile picture.

When your eye yells Whoa!, it pays to stop and investigate.

2016 favorites

Dana Phamova write 2017 in canes on PolymerClayDaily.com

Dana Phamova gives us a taste of 2017 and what’s ahead. with her charming numbers made of rolled up Skinner blends.

Meanwhile let’s look back at 2016 and see what you liked best. There were so many popular posts that I’ve whittled the number down to a dozen. Six today, six tomorrow.

You have good taste! We’ll start with last January…when you really liked everything blue! Click the images to go to the posts and come back tomorrow for the next batch. (In case you’re not seeing the photos, here are the post links: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)

[envira-gallery id=”19344″]

Festive polymer

New York’s Joan Israel celebrates Chanukah with this polymer menorah on canvas. Joan has a stash of caned, colored and textured polymer ready and waiting.

Once she finds a shapely glass bottle, she layers on slices of canes and turns them into sculptural gardens. Lately, she’s applied the same technique to canvases, painting in the background and then embellishing with polymer, inks, textures and metallics that create a rich and festive scene.

Her works are featured on her site, Instagram and Flickr.

May your holidays be filled with warmth and color.

Dashing through the snow

Jayne Dwyer and Ron Lehocky collaborated on these dashing reindeer. Jayne’s a caning whiz and Ron’s a talented scavenger who turns lowly scraps from other artists (Jayne’s cane ends in this example) into high art with a purpose.

So even if you’re dashing today, take a moment to appreciate the little things, small blessings and serendipitous collaborations.

Ron shared an animation on Facebook that says it all, “Have a heart, pass it on.” For Ron, making hearts has become meditative. Watch him do it here.

See more of Jayne’s canes here.

‹ 1 … 10 11 12 … 14 ›