Mathews’ polymer clay audacity

Georgia’s Lisa Mathews called it with her polymer clay image of Barack Obama. Her African-American characters exhibit lots of hands-on-hips attitude and style.

“My work is generational, past and present,” she says, “It reflects the tremendous love I have for this culture and the pride I have for the strength and perseverance of its people. I endeavor to use my artistic gift to create sculpted images that capture the spirit and essence of a people who through great trials and tribulation have birthed traditions of family, faith, social contributions and human conscientiousness that are the foundation of our existence.”

Polymer clay flash drives

This polymer clay covered flash drive speaks to my inner geek. Manila’s Aileen of ClayCreations and her two sisters have carved out a nice niche making custom designed drives as well as whimsical charms, figures, cake toppers and more.

The flash drives created for one couple’s wedding (Karl and Mimi) figure prominently in their wedding video. Watching it was a fun way to kick off the week.

The link came to us from Ruth Ann Husted via gadgenista.com.

Friesen’s polymer and steampunk

Following up on yesterday’s trend report here’s Christi Friesen newest line based on the steampunk aesthetic. (I had to look it up on wikipedia.) I see a promising new polymer clay trend here.

Christi explains steampunk as, “viewing the future from the vantage point of the turn-of-the-century — all gears and hydraulics and brassy screws – very rich and slightly gothic, and quite in keeping with the whole altered art/assemblage movement!”

As science fiction author Bruce Sterling explains, “Steampunk’s key lessons are not about the past. They are about the instability and obsolescence of our own times. A host of objects and services that we see each day all around us are not sustainable. They will surely vanish, just as Gone With the Wind like Scarlett O’Hara’s evil slave-based economy. Once they’re gone, they’ll seem every bit as weird and archaic as top hats, crinolines, magic lanterns, clockwork automatons, absinthe, walking-sticks and paper-scrolled player pianos. We are secretly preparing ourselves for the death of our own tech.” Fascinating concept.

Christi’s book showing all her new work will be out in November and she’ll soon have a steampunk project tutorial on her site. Have a fascinating weekend.

Benzon’s gourds, Polymer Cafe article

Jana Roberts Benzon has transformed her polymer clay sea sculptures into fall harvest creations. Her organic shapes flow from one environment to the other nicely.

Here are the links that accompany my extrusions article in the December issue of Polymer Cafe. The magazine is full of tips and tricks and things you won’t want to miss.

I waded into a swamp of alligators when I posted about monkeys yesterday. I was unaware that in these heated political times an innocent monkey icon has been appropriated for mean political use. Absolutely no political comment was insinuated. Lighten up…and vote.

I’m still coding furiously behind the scenes and looking for a WordPress expert if anyone has one they can recommend.

Clay monkey, code monkey

I thought my code monkey days were behind me! It seems not. Thank you all for your email condolences and your patience with that big ugly “Server Error” message yesterday. It’s fixed for now.

These polymer clay sock monkey ornaments by Texan Waxela Sananda caught my eye and seemed right for today. She carries an eclectic mix of artwork on her Etsy site and her blog .

Do me a favor

My sweet nomadic daughter has launched a new website. Please go visit and click around on her This Tiny House blog. She’s fascinated with small spaces and, as a web consultant, can take her office on the road and work from anywhere.

She’s lived in a small room on a commune in Virginia, a miniscule NYC apartment, a houseboat in Sausalito, and more. It’s quite the life and I’d like to help her get her latest venture started with a burst of traffic. She’s got an eye, a way with words and a fascinating view of the world. Thanks for your help.

Lehman’s polymer party decorations

Wouldn’t you love to be invited to Lorell Lehman’s Halloween party? Australia’s a bit far for me so I’ll have to enjoy her polymer clay party decorations online. (See the pix from last year’s party. I’m particularly fond of the salvaged and repainted dolls.)

She explains that, “Halloween (and Christmas) seem to bring out the manic in my personality and I can do the work of three ordinary mortals.” On her blog she shows the process for this polymer clay spell book and other spooky party props.

“I used an old, ratty looking book and sculpted directly onto the cover with polymer clay. I embedded a glass eye and some metal findings and the baked the whole thing (watching VERY carefully) for around 20 minutes. I then painted the entire surface with acrylic paints and added spider web and a lovely glass bead tassel. Voila!….creepy spellbook!”

Lorell’s art dolls are even more fantastic and rich with folklore. See some of the newest ones on her Flickr site. Thanks to Barbara Forbes-Lyons for the link!

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