Handy polymer and a global exhibit

Kathryn Corbin solves a problem and sets up an exhibit on PolymerClayDaily

This quirky, abstract pendant from Massachusetts’ Kathryn Corbin is both decorative and efficient when you have no pockets and a house littered with reading glasses always out of reach.

Kathryn solved her problem in an arty way. Bits of pattern, some rough texture, and colors that go with everything ending in a loop for hanging readers. Why be boring? We’re artists!

Kathryn loves to experiment in the studio and she sent this and pix of other juicy projects along to prove it.

We were chatting about the IPCA global interactive exhibit in February. The deadline for submission is January 15 which gives you plenty of time. Lots of categories and awards! Not an IPCA member? Join here.

Scraps of Autumn

Liga Valge combines autumn colors on PolymerClayDaily.com

Before the leaves fall and the lawn turns white with frost, let’s breathe in some autumn colors from Ireland’s Liga Valge. Sometimes scraps tell a story of their own.

Halloween will collide with voting this week. A real mishmash. It’s hard to focus. Let me know if you create something inspired.

Scrap zeitgeist

Ron Lehocky uses Laurie Prophater's scrap to make sense of our world on PolymerClayDaily.com

What is it about these scrap collaborations that seem so au courant? Ron Lehocky uses Laurie Prophater’s scrap veneers to make controlled, comprehensible patterns. Ron makes order out of what looks like colorful chaos.

That’s what we’re hungry for. Wouldn’t we all like to know how to make beauty and sense of what swirls around us?

Enough with the philosophy. How does Ron tap into fashion and zeitgeist at the same time? It has to do with his special brand of Ronnie Gane and the long threaded rod you see in this photo.

I’m hoping that he’ll jump in here to explain the mystery. Here’s the back story.

Ron is mighty close to reaching his goal of 50,000 hearts sold to benefit the Kids’ Project in Kentucky.

Layered leaves

Sabine Speisser's scrap brings her history to this leaf brooch on PolymerClayDaily.com

Australia’s Sabine Spiesser mixes hot color combinations that make visual vibrations on this 3-layer leaf brooch.

Posting in response to one of those 10-day challenges on Facebook, Sabine didn’t add any explanation. The requirement is only that the art is somehow significant to the artist. Viewers can draw their own conclusions.

The mosaic appearance comes from layered scrap. When you use scrap, you bring to a project the color selections and design decisions from your past. Your way of working, your history is embedded and gives the new piece an extra richness.

The three offset layers ripple pleasantly against each other.

Manly polymer

There’s time this weekend to whip up a manly soap dish for Father’s Day or just for fun. These are from Moscow’s Juliya Laukhina and are intended for her brother.

The men will be impressed that the patterns are composed of scrap. Use a Stroppel cane or Kim Korringa’s mosaic trick or some other variation of a scrap veneer.

Useful, not too fussy, and made with love – what more could your men want?

If you need more fresh-squeezed creative juices, head on over to StudioMojo to see what goodies we pulled out of our stash of new ideas and products that wouldn’t fit into PCD.There’s so much going on! Our juices are flowing.

Mindful remaking

Doreen Willey rearranges lost scraps into dazzling tiles on PolymerClayDaily

These tiles from California’s Doreen Willey are a dazzling blast from her past. Encouraged by Christi Friesen’s Play Days and driven by bags of scraps that Doreen was anxious to reduce, reuse, and recycle, she jumped into this project with stunning results.

Years of design decisions added up to works with wild variety yet a cohesive, exuberant look and feel. “If you are like me, you probably have a huge stash of stuff you’ve made that’s gone into boxes never to be seen again,” says Doreen.

“I pulled out my boxes, started cutting my stuff up and put it back together in a new way,” she explains. And we’re lucky she did! What an inspiration! Here on Facebook.

Sand-filled scrap polymer

Sand provides structure for Claire Wallis-Dovey's pinch pot on PolymerClayDaily.com

UK’s Claire Wallis-Dovey joined the pinch pot challenge over at the Facebook Polymer Clay Success group with this marbled entry. She used scrap Kato clay to create her bowl shape.

She gently folded the bowl’s excess clay over to form the top surface and left the pot opening raw to add to its rugged look.

Then Claire poured sand into the hole and added a trickle of water to firm the sand. The wet sand allowed Claire to roll the top flat. The sand also kept the flat area from collapsing during curing. She just poured the sand out after it cooled.

Tuck Claire’s idea away for your next bowl.

A scrap treat from the StudioMojo archives

Carissa Nichols' tiny tutorial on spiral scrap beads on PolymerClayDaily.com

Today’s end-of-the-year video treat comes from Ohio’s Carissa Nichols.

There’s nothing quite so soothing as her way of taking bits of scrap and creating a swirled lentil or bicone bead.

In this tiny tutorial from StudioMojo, Carissa helps you get the hang of the body movements required for a creative and meditative trick.

Polymer schnitzels

Kim Arden cooks up some polymer schnitzel on PolymerClayDaily.com

“I love making these veneer sheets out of the tiny schnitzels that I get after cutting out pendants and earrings,” says Ohio’s Kim Arden.

“I gather up all the bits and piece them together like a puzzle. Once assembled, I’ll put a backing behind it for strength. It’s painstaking but an enjoyable task that I came up with just by fooling around with scraps.” she says. This petal necklace is one of the results.

Since I’m working to finish a new book on scraps this felt like a big gift dropped into my lap.

Kim proves my theory that all the bits of design decisions in “schnitzel” can add up to something richer, bigger, bolder than we ever expected.

Read more and see Kim’s in-process shots here on Facebook. Thanks to Kim (and to Sue Screws for pointing it out).

Scrap necklace

Janet Bouey strings many design decisions into a visually rich necklace on PolymerClayDaily.com

Vancouver Island’s Janet Bouey shows us how great a collection of scraps can look when gathered into a necklace. She’s in a show on Vancouver Island this weekend.

This photo came as my mountain of scrap from vacation working/playing confronts me. Thanks to Janet, I’ll be covering some extruded tubes for future use. Bake, slice, assemble and somehow those many design decisions, mistakes and all, add up to a visually rich necklace.

I’m checking to see if I remember how to post after a month off. Whew, it all comes back. See you soon.

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