by Cynthia Tinapple on January 2, 2012 · 7 comments
“Paciorky means necklace or beads in Ukrainian,” says Christine Bondar (dzjunka online). Christine’s extruded and carved Amazon River polymer beads offer variations on techniques spread by Vera Kleist and Margit Böhmer.
You’ll see developments in that part of the world on Maria Petkova’s Bulgarian blog that features artists mostly from Eastern Europe as polymer continues to gain popularity.
I’ll be writing a book on global polymer this year and I’m interested in hearing your ideas on what the story should be about. And I’d love to learn about new artists you’ve run into. We’re off and running into 2012!
by Cynthia Tinapple on March 11, 2011 · 9 comments
Who couldn’t use a little “before” and “after” on a Friday? The thought of salvaging polymer beads gone blah sounds appealing at the end of the week, doesn’t it?
Take a look at how Anna Anpilogova solved her problem. There’s no wasting polymer in Belarus (or Boston or Bellingham). With some judicious carving (before on the left), Anna has turned ho-hum into hot (after on the right)!
Tidbits for the weekend
This link to Alison Torres’ video of Sarajane Helm creating an impromptu face from a lump of polymer is mesmerizing. I missed this tutorial of Geninne Zlatkis’ bird mobile during the holidays but it’s never out of season. Here’s the finished version. Have a dazzling weekend.
by Cynthia Tinapple on November 23, 2010 · 2 comments
Pennsylvania’s Genevieve Williamson starts this week of giving thanks with a sweet little fiber-y bead tutorial.
As Genevieve says, “I’ve had some polymer artists extend themselves and share their knowledge and present me with great opportunities. Kindness should overflow, shouldn’t it? So it seems appropriate that I make my first small attempt to give back with a tutorial at the beginning of America’s week of Thanksgiving.”
The kindness flowed back from Germany in the watery colors of Kathrin Neumaier’s fish bead necklace. Kathrin acknowledges that her idea for carving the fish beads came after seeing the rough hewn look of Genevieve’s carved beads and rings. The link was sent in by Margit Böhmer.
There is much caring and sharing in this community and yesterday was an example of your goodness. See Monday’s post if you missed all the ruckus and the happy ending. As Angela Mabray said, “Now that that’s settled, let’s all get back to work.”
by Cynthia Tinapple on November 8, 2010 · 5 comments
A link from Kathy Weaver pushed me to look at Russian sites which give us an idea of how polymer art is progressing in that country. This requires clicking through annoying ads and garbled translations but it’s worth the effort.
The trendy colors and hip clothes in the photos on Julia Laukhina’s site could have been from a craft fair in any urban center. Julli-Ya is from Moscow and this batch of soothing colors launches us calmly into a new week.
Then I ran into Elkozzzavra also from Moscow who loves her Dremel. She enthusiastically drills and carves polymer. It works and she’s developed techniques that look like a good outlet for aggression and result in gem-like sculptured art.
Check out her swiss cheese trees and positive/negative butterfly. Luckily she adds a photo tutorial with her carved pumpkin pin.
