Traveling polymer

Kathleen Dustin posted six new World Traveler Purses on her Pinterest board over the weekend. “Based on my travels of the world and the ethnic art I’ve seen and collected, these are my modern tribal purses and their influences,” she says. Each one in this group is named after a city in Turkey.

On this Amasya Purse, large swaths of subtly blended polymer colors are densely textured by hand. Additional dimension is added with dots and other appliques. Washes of color enhance the details.

When a violin bow maker offered Kathleen some horsehair, she gladly accepted it. The horsehair is incorporated into several of these new works.

The top half slides up on thick buna cord which allows the wearer to open the purse.

Thanks to Kathleen for igniting our week with inspiration.

Polymer growths

These organic dot earrings and brooches from Kerstin Rupprecht are intriguing. Surely they are polymer and the shine could be resin or liquid polymer.

I’ve spent too much time trying to figure out how she did this so I’ll leave it to you. What do you think? There aren’t too many clues on Flickr. Her fashionable and mysterious creations look like cells or growths. Very hip and mysterious.

Polymer cairns

Melanie Muir created three major neckpieces for a competition to choose twelve Scottish makers to exhibit in the SOFA Chicago fall show. “Even if I don’t get in,” she says, “I will have pushed my own boundaries which is a good thing.”

This entry is called her Cairn Necklace which was inspired by the stacks of stones traditionally placed on paths and hilltops by walkers. The colors reflect the ones she sees on a beautiful summer’s day on Scotland’s west coast.

The beads are all hollow which makes the necklace easy to wear despite the size and length.

You can see the other two entries, Arrowheads and Flight Waves in her Facebook photos and on her website. Be on the lookout for her new shapes and textures as well. She’s added several new designs and sells them on her Etsy site.

Melanie teaches her Rock Cuffs in a popular downloadable class at Craftcast and she’s preparing a second session on 3D Beads for a May debut.

Five Winners

Five lucky readers have won a copy of the Fire issue of From Polymer To Art magazine. Watch for it in the mail Cindy Bielefeldt, Laura Lee, Ashleen, Alene Cope and Randi Bystrom! Congratulations.

Looking forward, looking back

My husband and I need deadlines to motivate us to finish new work. This week we had to hustle to finish some walnut pieces for a woodworkers gallery show. Deadlines help us stop thinking and get it done!

The striped polymer inlay idea has been marinating since I took a class with Carol Blackburn in Santa Fe where she taught us to make big sheets of variegated colors.

If I seemed distracted this week, it’s because I was awash in color. Here’s my husband’s complex turning project.

Gwen Gibson

One of the first bowls I ever inlaid was in a weeklong class on Whidbey Island with Gwen Gibson who passed away this week. She was a marvelous artist and a lovely person with a huge sense of style and a generous heart.

PolymerArtArchive chronicles several periods of Gwen’s works. Read about her early work, her wall pieces and her cuff bracelets. La Cascade, her home in Durfort, France remains a jewel that draws artists from all over the globe. We will miss Gwen and were lucky to have her creative spirit among us.

Welcome home polymer

Genevieve Williamson and her family were dropped off on a remote island in the South Atlantic for the summer (check out Saint Helena) and she’s recently returned to her rural Pennsylvania home. Her father installed a new skylight in her attic studio while she was away that may make you jealous.

Genevieve has taken the dust covers off her work table as she dives into work for a gallery show. Already you can see that her months of a simpler life have changed her approach to clay. These simple strands of tubing in subtle shades, shifting diameters and slim palettes may hint at what’s to come.

She’s also added some variations to her earring project that was featured in Polymer Clay Global Perspectives. Has your summer changed your work?

Faux collection

Luxuriate in the colors and patterns on Lynda Moseley's newest group of faux turquoise polymer pieces. She's sampled a variety of colors and experimented with all kinds of cracks and crevices. This sampler pendant combines snippets from lots of test pieces.

"What I had originally planned as a faux turquoise tutorial has morphed into a range of faux finishes using the same technique," she reports. It looks like her Faux Master Collection will be ready for prime time at the end of the month.

Lynda has a reputation for researching and refining her techniques into deceptively simple steps that make you wonder why you didn't think of that. See more of her work on Flickr, on Facebook, and watch her Etsy site for the new info.

Reclusive polymer

Bali’s Jon Anderson has been slow to warm to the social network scene and just launched a new website and Facebook fan page. Hop right on over there to greet this prolific polymer artist and make him feel at home online.

You’ll recognize Jon’s richly cane-covered animal sculptures which are carried widely in US gallerys and have ended up in the collections of such notables as Carlos Santana, Dave Abbruzzese, and Bill Clinton.

Jon creates massive complex canes inspired by Moroccan images and limits his colors to his favorite palette.Though we’re familiar with Jon’s work, his reclusive nature has made him something of a mystery in the polymer community. (You may remember his custom guitar designs from an earlier PCD post.)

We’ve been waiting since last fall when Canadian polymer artist and textile expert Barb Alexander scheduled a tour of Jon’s studio for her group of Bali visitors. Jon and his wife, artist Skid More, were working then to prepare the site.

This copper bowl, made from scrap copper telephone wire hammered by local artisans and covered with Jon’s signature cane slices, is part of his most recent collection. Browse and enjoy.

Monday mashup in polymer

What would happen if last week’s elephant met up with a kangaroo? In Susan Hyde’s mind we’d have a Kangarat/Eleroo like this 10″ one she’s constructed from polymer.

Susan has joined a gallery in Bremerton, Washington. For poetry month, she and her fellow artists illustrated poems by local poets. The one Susan chose, The Bainbridge Zoo, chronicles an elephant and kangaroo affair.

Another poem called Gypsy inspired this 12″ piece filled with the great polymer fabrics that Susan is known for. Here’s her old fabric tutorial that I have to drag out again because it’s my favorite.

Picarello polymer

Julie Picarello sent out a spring newsletter filled with her updated palette of colors and mokume gane designs. Her book, Patterns in Polymer, is in its second printing and being translated into German. Customers swooped in to buy from her online shop so you’ll have to settle for just enjoying a look.

I found these soft soothing lovelies in her galleries here and here and a few more on Flickr here. Her tell-all video is a huge favorite.

Party tricks

Wednesday night at 8:00 stop in at another popular and free I love tools party over at Craftcast. Patrik Kusek, Robert Dancik, Barbara Becker Simon, Christi Friesen and Robert Diamante will perform tricks with their favorite tools. Did I mention the prizes and coupons? Sign up here.

Polymer goals

These six polymer pendants are part of Angela Garrod’s personal challenge to herself to make entirely hollow forms with unusual polymer bails.

She tints mica polymer with alcohol inks for the patterned pendants. On the black ones Angela uses matte and hi-gloss surfaces to provide more subtle tone-on-tone patterns. Rivets embedded in the clay add metallic accents. You can see more views of the pendants on Flickr.

Angela’s study reminds us that we don’t have to join a group or commit to a year-long experiment. We can simply set ourselves a goal and work toward it.

1 2 … 14 ›