Polymer envy

When you can’t get into the studio, looking at what others are producing is especially inspiring. “Yes, that’s what I’d be doing if I had my taxes done,” I tell myself.

Look at how Angie Wiggins layers silkscreens over a juicy blend of colors. But Angie can’t stop there. Her inner embroiderer has to add a few bits that look stitched on. Oh, I’d much rather look over Angie’s shoulder than add up columns of numbers.

Or maybe I’d rather follow Nadia (NadVals) lead and whip up some imitative turquoise. Those strands of tiny faux beads embedded in the middle of the pendant give the stone a more arty and authentic edge.

You go look, I’m pretending I’m a bookkeeper today (sigh). Some days are like that.

Pull this

Fan pulls! Now wouldn’t that be a smart idea on a hot day like this?

Angie Wiggins makes these in her rustic studio in the woods of Virginia – a good place to work when it’s hot. Picture her chickens clucking in the background.

Grab yourself a beverage and wander through Angie’s world on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest.

Angie’s known for her handmade paper bowls embroidered with beads and polymer do-dads though she veers into switchplates, spoons and other dashes of color that customers enjoy using around the house.

Off to the races polymer

Alaska’s Katie Way (Bull’s Eye Studio) makes clever holders on which race runners can collect their number bibs. Katie embellishes the plaques with sayings stamped in polymer and clips that hold the runner’s reminders of past marathons.

Katie has a passion for both running and polymer and she manages to bring the two together. Now she’s reaching out to biking events, incorporating bike parts into her work.

Katie’s a stamp and texture girl and she’s developed some eye-catching techniques for decorative items that she sells after the sports season. Check her on Facebook and Flickr.

Polymer marathon

It feels like we’re off to the races with polymer this summer too and the pace is fast! Here are five events coming up quickly that I haven’t been able to tuck into PCD posts. I sure don’t want you to miss out:

Fire Mountain’s Creative Clays Jewelry Making Contest deadline is coming up in July. The prizes are fab.
IPCA is holding their retreat in Columbus, Ohio this August. Of course I’ll be there! Great classes and pre-conference workshops. Here’s the info on Facebook and their website. You can check the list of who’s coming and sign up online.
Helen Breil is the visiting artist at the IPCA retreat and she’s written a new ebook here.
Carol Blackburn will be teaching her polymer bowl technique this Sunday online on Craftcast.
And if you can include Santa Fe on your travel list, consider the wonderful creative retreats and classes that Tory Hughes is hosting. Artifacts and relics in July, Light Art in August.

Polymer wallflowers

If you thought polymer-covered switchplates were passe, look again at the work of the Anchorage artist at Bull’s Eye Studio.

She canes and carves and layers home decor items as if they were small canvases. We touch light switches every day so why not make them eye-catching?

Her sculptural wallflowers are captivating and she adds utensils and card cases to her line of functional pieces. Bull’s Eye came to Flickr in late December and you’ll want to keep watching her there and on Facebook.

Polymer family history

Marie Segal’s newest polymer switchplate is humorously entitled, If the Borgias had switchplates. She was inspired by the current television series that chronicles the lavish and scandalous saga of the 15th century crime family, the Borgias.

Marie has a bit of her own family history that you should know about. She is widely credited as the person who first introduced the pasta machine as the tool of choice for polymer artists in 1983. She and husband Howard have operated the Clay Factory in California since 1980 and here’s the 1988 picture to prove it.

Marie keeps on giving, most recently with a comprehensive 12-part free tutorial on replicating traditional African beads in polymer. The tutorials are sprinkled throughout her warm, chatty blog. Here are the direct links (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12).

Many thanks from all of us, Marie.

My faux slate sleight of hand

As a way to get myself off the computer and into the studio more, I’ve decided to post about my own work every week or so (blush, blush). Hence my Friday faux slate switchplates.

A local woman’s expensive kitchen renovation with slate backsplash fell flat because first things that caught your eye were the generic switchplates. She read about my faux stone and we decided to give it a try. All six plates are different colors and configurations. You can read more about how I made them here.

Manzi’s mosaic’s, Tessa’s rainbows

Continuing yesterday’s theme, these elaborate polymer clay switchplates from Maine’s Diane Manzi have a bit of a Hundterwasser look too.

Her mosaics are bright and sparkly. I’m a sucker for small polymer clay home decor items that add surprising touches of interest and personality to a room.

Rainbows

I can’t resist when my children ask me to help them launch their projects. They know you’re a loyal and appreciative audience. It’s nice to be needed.

That said, my daughter-in-law has launched a RainbowSightings site to build a collection of photos of rainbows. If you’ve got a favorite rainbow picture, please send it along. And if you haven’t got one, enjoy the pictures she’s archived and follow her Rainbow Magic links.

This video is a particularly good explanation of rainbow color. The picture shown here we call “Eating Rainbows” and it’s one of my all-time favorites.

Second Look – Marcia Palmer, Loretta Lam

Let’s catch up with a couple of artists that we haven’t heard from in a while. Niche Award winner Loretta Lam hasn’t had time to update her site so she sent PCDaily some of her most recent work for you to enjoy. Her polymer clay jewelry is in a NYC gallery and she’s been thrilled to hear local customers say, “Didn’t I see your work on Madison Avenue?”

Marcia Palmer has refined and expanded her ethnic looking ivories, chunky bracelets and stamped switchplates since we last visited her. She has a bold, decorative style comes through no matter what technique she uses or what item she embellishes. I subscribe to her “Home is where the art is” philosophy. Thanks to Ronna Weltman for reminding us to look Marcia up.

NOTE: In an attempt to improve those slow load times and ditch the nuisance hackers, I’ve moved PCDaily to a new host where a person answers the phone and the head geek is a polymer clay artist’s husband (thanks, Barbara). Got to purge the gremlins this Halloween. Have a gremlin-free weekend.