Friday thimble terrors

Brooke Duckart's thimble terrors are ready for the weekend on PolymerClayDaily.com

These characters from Oregon’s Brooke Duckart jumped right out at me. Recognize those screwy grins and bulging googly eyes?

Yep, it’s Friday and somebody’s had too much screen time. We know just how Brooke’s finger puppets are feeling.

Brooke uses thimbles as the form for her thimble terrors.

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Build-a-bug

Sometimes watching an artist’s hands is so instructive and calming.

That’s what Canada’s (BC) Wanda Shum does in this 3-minute bug-building video. She’s in control, she knows what she’s doing. Sigh! Relax and watch.

Wow, that bug’s got a lot of wings! Who knew?

Wanda uses the littlest bits of canes to build an extravagant creature. Lots of wild variations crawl around on her site.

Polymer meme

“In the end, Waldo found himself.”

Relax and breathe as we start the week. My husband spotted this polymer meme on Facebook. Blair has never sent me a link before so I’ll reward his effort with a post.

I hoped to locate the artist but memes spread like wildfire, The posting and reposting obscured the artist’s identity. The name is lost but the meme lives on. (Let me know if you have a clue.)

Polymer’s popularity has contributed to the current clay shortage. Young people are picking it up and it’s being woven into the culture. Looks like we’re finding ourselves.

Celebrating lineage in polymer

Dominique Scaife shows how Roots Run Deep on PolymerClayDaily.com

I have a story to tell of the beauty I see. Of a beautiful people that are my lineage. The intent of my art is to capture the vastness of who we are as a people, our culture, our style, our essence and share that beauty with the world,” explains Pittsburgh polymer artist Dominique Scaife

In her 2019 solo show, World Melanation: A Celebration of Hue, Dominique exhibited 20 one-of-a-kind sculptures created to celebrate the beautiful skin tones of black women.

Dominique’s newest works are part of the Roots Run Deep: A Contemporary Survey of African American Hair Culture at Brew House Association. She’s here on Instagram.

Roots Run Deep looks at the ways in which Black hairstyles are tied to tradition and examines the historic influences on modern styling. The show runs through March 6.

Art, spirit and culture in polymer

Michelle Petelinz sculpts her heritage on PolymerClayDaily.com

North Carolina’s Michelle Davis Petelinz helps us continue our observance of Black History Month with this sculpture called Munira, Ancestress of Radiance, part of her Ancestral Series

Michelle works in polymer and mixed media and has explored her African and Native American heritage in sculptures, tiles, wall art, bowls, and other mixed media pieces.

She describes her work as a fusion of art, spirit, and culture.

2021 party peeps

Lisa Renner's Party Peeps celebrate on PolymerClayDaily.com

I smile as I look at these polymer Party Peeps from Texas’ Lisa Renner. The colors, balloons, and hats scream PARTY as they smile and close their eyes. Maybe they’re making a wish.

If you’re wishing to snag some on Lisa’s Etsy site, too late. That party is over. Maybe she’s making more.

Lisa’s fanciful creatures often have a melancholy air about them. Maybe 2021 is pushing her in a new direction. Keep an eye out for Lisa’s online classes.

Meme Monday

Chris Baird and Amy Hucks bring us Monday memes on PolymerClayDaily.com

Bright new versions of hearts, the sign of February’s celebration, from Minnesota’s Chris Baird. Her brooches are small, bursting with dots and stripes in a fireworks show of color and a dazzling quilt-like application of tiny bits.

Who knew Bernie’s mittens would spread like wildfire? This cheeky, cheery polymer version from Indiana’s Amy Hucks (SuperSculptor ). “The man, the meme, the mittens,” says Amy.

Candid family portrait

Andrha Simonis takes a candid, hilarious look at family on PolymerClayDaily.com

Netherland’s Andrha Simonis (Andrhacula) has her hands full, but she squeezed the making of this family portrait into her schedule.

“Took forever with everything having to be done in between homeschooling and all that,” she says. “You see me in my characteristic pose of annoying my husband with a witch’s accessory.”

This hilarious, loving look at her family constellation a la Tim Burton charms us. Andrha’s FB page begins with this alert, “I’m not a morning person or a night person. There are a few minutes in the afternoon where I’m decent. That’s about it.” Candid polymer! Revenge polymer! What fun! We can relate.

Now what? We need to take a breath or two and get our bearings. This week StudioMojo will take a clear-eyed look at what’s happening in our community. Wow, there’s some good stuff out there! Your mojo’s been waiting for you! Join us.

Polymer intensity

Fiona Abel-Smith captures a conversation in an polymer on PolymerClayDaily.com

There are easy-breezy polymer approaches with pieces joyfully slap-dashed together. And then there are intense and enthusiastic polymer artists.

Yesterday we had intense miniature cats. Today it’s butterflies.

UK’s Fiona Abel-Smith dives deep to create When I Grow Up a 4 x 16 x 8-inch sculpture. There’s a metaphor embedded in this caned and sculpted piece.

Fiona says, “The little caterpillar doesn’t realize that she will grow into a beautiful moth and is already a stunner in her own right if only she could see herself as we do.”

Fiona documents her progress in videos and photos on Facebook and shows us the intensity required to tell her story.

Polymer cats to the rescue

Kerri Pajutee's polymer sculpted animals bring outsized pleasure on PolymerClayDaily

Bummed and stuck? I know what you guys need. Time to bring in the cats!

Just imagine the tiny purrs of these little guys from Oregon’s Kerri Pajutee. This one’s an Egyptian Mau. She sculpts miniatures in polymer in 1:12 scale and uses natural fibers to give them their coats. The entire process from inspiration to the final scissor clip is tedious, exacting, and time-consuming. Kerri is widely collected.

Her little creatures bring outsized pleasure. A scroll through her Instagram is guaranteed to lower your blood pressure. How does she do it?

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