by Cynthia Tinapple on January 27, 2012 · 8 comments
Staci Smith is a Pennsylvania mixed media artist who sometimes throws polymer into the mix. Her tray of hearts ready for the oven looked so full of possibility that it pulled me right into the studio to make a few valentines of my own. Her rough and random wires add playful touches.
Staci’s new to PCDaily and you’ll enjoy her metal clay and sea glass work as you search for her polymer pieces. Look here and here.
Identifying birds
Seems that the birds I attributed to Leslie Blackford on Wednesday were made by her students. All the more reason to take a class with Leslie! The bird featured in the post was made by Barb Kunkle.
by Cynthia Tinapple on January 24, 2012 · 6 comments
Wendy Malinow’s Etsy site is already stocked with hearts for the coming season. Romantic, gruesome, wooden, beating, funny, anatomical…her polymer valentines run the gamut.
These entwined faux birch branches form a lovely pendant perfect for anyone with an outdoorsy, Portland sensibility. (Are you watching Portlandia?) Her bleeding thorn heart might appeal to more prickly sweethearts.
Wendy grew up in a household knee-deep in art projects. You won’t be surprised that one of her earliest art encounters was with “love beads” and she continues to share her fascination.
by Cynthia Tinapple on December 29, 2011 · 4 comments
Don’t you love to watch other people working when you’re not? I’m basking in the southern sun this week and have enjoyed seeing people like Berlin’s Conni Filip get a head start on the next holiday.
Some of her futuristic heart designs are magnets and some are money pockets with secret slots for gift giving. Below are the baked bases (I’m guessing Ultralight) that she then carves and paints.
Since I’m sucking up wifi at fast food joints this week, I’ve had to scurry through links and sites. Folks have been stuffing Pinterest.com full of their fabulous polymer finds.
If polymer is your prozac, spend a little holiday mental health time with Kathy Weaver or me or Anke Humpert or a number of other polymer enthusiasts on Pinterest.
Kentucky’s Ron Lehocky happily received a bin full of other artists’ scrap clay recently. He’s begun turning those discarded canes, experiments and leftovers – our “lemons” into “lemonade” for the KIDS project.
Take a look at what Ron can do with failures and leftovers! In some of the photographs he’s inserted the original cane to illustrate the transformation.
Ron first separated the donated clay into two piles -definitely scrap and scrap with potential for reworking. All will end up as part of the project, either on the surface or inside the heart pins. Transforming canes is an enjoyable challenge for Ron as he cranks out heart number 15,945!
At $10 each, it’s easy to calculate how much he’s raised for the childrens’ center. Ron wants to pass along a big thank you. Read previous posts about the project here and contact Ron here. He would love feedback from anyone who recognizes their scrap.
