Toy news and toymakers haven’t appeared on our radar very often but after a look at ToyCyte.com, it’s apparent that we need to fix that. Toycyte covers toy artists, including a number who work in polymer clay. They’re growing in number, in expertise and in popularity.
Meredith Dittmar may be familiar to you already. Her small polymer “my guys” regularly sell out (check out her holiday versions) and she’s got a large following for her wall art, animations, and illustrations as well.
ToyCyte’s blog post led me to Leslie Levings and her polymer clay beastlies (pictured here). She’s been making these charming characters since fourth grade and all that practice has made her very good at bringing the clay to life. Check out her videos and her Monday night show and be sure to read the site’s interview of Leslie here.
To top off my exploration, I clicked on the Mike Leavitt link. We’ve featured Mike before and his Barack Obama figure is outstanding. ToyCyte’s interview picks Mike’s brain as he makes art.
I’m sure there are more polymer clay artists on the site. I’m overwhelmed with this talent and need to catch my breath and explore further.
This comfy, couch potato polymer clay Santa by Dennis Brown could make me a believer again. It comes from the “ReasonsToBelieve” site, a treasure trove of Santas.
Brown’s work has been licensed by several reproduction companies and these are the polymer originals. He makes Santas 365 days a year. Thanks to Susan Lomuto for the tip.
Kudos to Heather Powers (HumbleBeads) for her wins in the Bead Star competition from Interweave Press. She combines and collages beads and found items into evocative pieces.
Iris Mishly has jumped on the recycled band wagon too, using throwaways from her computer job as findings for her polymer clay work. Have a useful weekend.
Indiana’s Bill Pozzo fabricates custom exhibits and in his spare time makes custom designed motorcycle tanks.
The designs have a definite Hieronymus Bosch bent and reflect both Pozzo’s years of professional experience and his love of motorcycles. He sculpts in polymer clay and then casts the piece in fiberglass.
Each elaborate tank takes 200-250 hours and costs $4,500 and up. Custom designs are twice that.
His polymer clay figures are quirky and funny as well and his site reveals an artist of immense and varied talent.
Nothing gets me more in the mood for the holidays than Sharon Sahl’s polymer clay gingerbread houses. She made only 10 for sale this year and there are just a couple left. Click on the large versions of her photos to see how detailed these beauties are.
“I buy and measure candies and cookies and gum and make them 1/4 sized with whatever clays best match their opacity. Trees are built from green star shapes, baked and then layered with white clay icing. For the cookies, I make an original with as much detail as I can fit onto a 1/2 inch disc, make a mold, and then pull every cookie from that mold. Gumdrops are coated with very fine glass beads and really look like gumdrops,” Sharon explains.
Her “Christmas Kids” ornaments are created with equal attention to detail. Sharon has moved back to Ohio and we’re happy she’s returned.
This polymer clay lariat by Adams Schoolhouse reminds us that it’s time to break out the mittens. The variegated yarns look labor-intensive, very wooly, very real.
Speaking of looking real, check out the Australian “Making Sense” art exhibit that featured the work of artists who replicate benign objects and spaces.
Polymer artist Emma White explains that, “Sometimes the joke’s on me because people can’t tell the object is handmade (like the polymer clay post-it here), so they kind of don’t even see it.” Read more about Emma here.
Thanks to Susan Lomuto for the exhibit link and for making us start the week looking very carefully.
Christi Freisen’s “Face in the Crowd” polymer clay wall sculpture is my all-time Thanksgiving favorite because it epitomizes what my house looks like on this feast day (28 for turkey dinner) and makes me smile.
It also reminds me of what I’m thankful for…the polymer clay community. We’ve collected an interesting bunch of artists from around the world in three short years.
I’m thankful for your continued participation in this site and inspired by the work that you bring to it. Thank you. And happy Thanksgiving.
Alexis Pier (of Pier and Penina) has also shifted her interest to making polymer clay “objet d’art”.
The small sculptures below and the 4″x10″ tile at the left show her first steps toward larger wall pieces and more sizeable sculptures.
Air-filled closed shapes build on a technique introduced by Pier Voulkos in 1997 with refinements and new style added more recently by Jeff Dever and others.
Note: I’ll try to pry Carol Simmons’ cane reducing secrets out of her before I leave at the end of the week.
Alexis Pier and Penina Meisels (Pier and Penina) stopped by for a visit on Friday. They’ve both moved from California to Santa Fe to continue their polymer clay collaboration. 
Their focus has moved from jewelry to sculpture. These two small sculptures are from Penina (look for Alexis’ tomorrow). The hollow form on the right is made of polymer and covered with organza which is painted with Prizmacolor markers and blender pen.
Since their web page hasn’t been updated recently, I’ll add a picture of Penina’s earrings here for your Monday inspiration.
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