Ann Duncan Hlavach knows her roses. The color tricks she learned in a recent class in Chicago with Lindly Haunani took her flowers to a new level. “I think my head may have exploded,” she says.
Rainbow roses are a real phenomenon. Here’s a tutorial on how to tint a natural white rose.
But I prefer Ann’s translucent petals with their contrast tinged edges and jewel centers. You can enjoy them for a whole lot longer. You’ll find more on Etsy, Facebook and Pinterest.
Lindly Haunani has hit the color sweet spot with her latest series of brooches which she produces in a range of color blends. Mud, gold Premo and a Rolls Royce of a pasta machine have helped her along the way.
Of course a degree in printmaking, years of creating art and teaching polymer and a supreme color sense also contribute to her masterful combinations.
But back to the mud. A dollop of gray/brown clay is mixed into some colors to mute them ever so slightly. Gold added to others brings out a lovely luminosity. She mixes a 9″ x 12″ sheet of rainbow colors, tweaking it until the colors sing.
“The rest,” she says, “is a meditative process of making thin veneers, cutting them, combining them, flipping them so that dark-to-light butts against light-to-dark.” Once the patterns are assembled, she impresses them with 120-grit sandpaper to give them a soft, textile-like surface.
Lindly sold these brooches when she was teaching in Europe recently to help finance her new electric dough roller (like this one). “It’s like driving a Rolls Royce,” she admits.
You can learn some of Lindly’s color secrets in the book she and Maggie Maggio wrote. See where she’s teaching and see more of her color magic on her site and on Facebook where these brooches have started a buzz.
If there’s anyone whose polymer art captures the heat of August, it’s Greece’s Anarina Anar.
The hot colors of her decorative shapes are made more intense as they bounce off the irregular black background on this wide bangle. To unify the look, both surfaces are roughly textured and accented.
She uses the same technique on pieces for necklaces, earrings and more for an effect that’s pure drama. Her Flickr and Facebook pages are full of these striking examples.
White popped up today so let’s run with it. Barcelona’s Sona Grigoryan disregarded the color in Gaudi’s architecture and concentrated on the famous architect’s shapes that she interpreted into a polymer cuff.
Wendy Malinow took the color out of flowers and bones and applied them as a background on the platform of some summer sandals she’s working on.
Sometimes you can disregard color, focus on form instead and end up somewhere entirely new.
Maggie Maggio will be in person and online Wednesday night at Craftcast teaching her split ring technique. PCD has featured her innovative technique and you’ll find people imitating her idea all over the polymer web. Maggie has expanded on her original idea and shares lots of new tips for construction and for successful color.
Maggie’s a great teacher and if you’ve ever wanted to meet her and ask her your questions, this is your chance. No matter where you are, you can login and join the group for a 90-minute workshop (and keep a copy of the recording for future reference). Sign up here. Check the rest of the Craftcast schedule (including my class on October 10).
These big beads from Tory Hughes have an uninhibited, slap-dash look about them with a few seed beads tossed on top of random strips of color.
The allure of the colors and the composition have me wishing I could get to Santa Fe for her one day Big Colorful Bead class in July. Read all about it here.
There are no wimpy colors or shy designs in Barbara Bechtel’s bowl of beads. (It was a grab bag and it’s gone.) While she specializes in beads inspired by tribal fetishes and netsukes, Barbara gives her polymer versions strong contrast and updated colors with fashionable flourishes.
It may take you a while to make the rounds of all the web addresses this prolific artist uses on Etsy, Facebook, and for her blog.
Read the artist interview with her on ArtBeadScene where she says, “I like that my work has remained true…I think it has always been a reflection of myself….a documentary, if you will. I can look back at both the good work and the bad work, and I can see what was going on in my life at the time.”
If you had any tired or timid thoughts this Monday, prepare to lose them. This shot of exhuberant, exotic polymer beads, called Same Same But Different, comes from Thailand’s Aow Dusdee.
Her beads are made into simple necklaces here. Her more elaborate works mix beads and fibers and polymer in constructions that drape the body.
Aow has added new images of “my crafty home” to her Flickr site. Crochet and polymer and color surround her in an inviting tropical home. Polymer beads hang in the doorways, pair up with tassels and embellish sculptures. Colors that might seem garish in other settings fit perfectly here.
It’s a big world out there and there are many, many ways to express yourself with polymer. A page from her sketchbook reads, “Everyone seems normal until you get to know them.” Happy Monday!
Polymer has never played quite so nicely with nature as it does in Rachel Gourley’s hands. Her new website is a delight.
This Vancouver artist takes polymer rocks back to the seashore where they look completely happy. Her clay fungi and early shoots jump out of the surrounding wintry woodland foliage.
You might think that her alien artworks are complete abstractions but if you examine her gallery of photos, you can see that her keen eye is drawn to nature’s own bright palettes and outlandish patterns as she’s traveled around the world.
PCD has featured her before (check out these polymer sand dollars and 2004 spondylosis) and it’s great that she’s made herself a home on the web where we can visit her more often. Thanks to Lindly Haunani for the link.
The ladies of the Samunnat Nepal project graciously wrote me to ask if they could make more of what they call “Petal Mala” polymer necklaces to raise money for their studio and I happily agreed.
They were very sensitive about copying my design for profit. On one of the panel discussions at the RAM weekend, Pier Voulkos reminded us that she only taught a technique when she was finished with it, had moved on, and could let it go out into the universe without resentment.
My pinched petal lei was “released” when the step-by-step instructions were published in our Color Inspirations book. How gratifying it is to have shared this pattern and watch it travel around the globe to help others.
My Hawaiian-inspired design arrived in Nepal via Australia’s Wendy Moore. Cynthia Tinapple, PCD publisher, will continue this story about our “shrinking” polymer world when she returns in December.
guest post by Lindly Haunani
