A bit too much celebratory wine with dinner last night. Perhaps that’s why I gravitated to Margaret Polcawich’s lovely wine cabinet inlaid with polymer clay panels. The polymer clay pebbles used as accents in the open spaces are a current passion of mine. I love it when I find artists using our medium in bigger, bolder ways like this.
Margaret has a whole raft of new works on her site. Take a look while I take a nap.
Melanie West ,
Sweet! What a cool cabinet. But I’m not familiar with this polymer clay pebble technique. Do you (Cynthia), or any one else, know of an online tutorial or book that might describe it? I can’t get a close enough view of the piece to try and figure out how Margaret does it.
Kathi ,
wow, that is some totally wonderful house art!
Trina Williams ,
It doesn’t look quite like my “pebble” technique (surprise, surprise, I probably wasn’t the first!) but probably involves a food processor and chunks of clay. See the Fall 2006 Polymer Cafe. Not a tutorial, more like an overview.
Melanie West ,
Thanks so much, Trina! I’ll check it out. Do you have pics of your pebble technique on line?
Janice ,
Wow – her work is fabulous! The units look great with her clay techniques. I love all the color samples her customers have to choose from. So many colors . . .such little time!
Margaret Polcawich ,
Hi. All of the polymer work on this piece (the veneer on the outer/smaller doors, the “pebbles” in the middle of the bigger doors, the door knobs, and the little circular inlays on the top) are mokume gane. In this case, the “pebbles” are basically large, irregularly shaped beads “strung” on a dowel that is inserted through the painted door panels, but the patterning on them is still mokume gane. Thanks for the interest!
Melanie Dilday ,
Oh I simply love Margarets work! I too love large expanses of beautifully created polymer like that…but I’ll be darned if I know how to cure pieces that big! I’m wondering if they are many smaller pieces of laminate pieced together or whether she uses something the size of a pizza oven to cure them?
Margaret Polcawich ,
I use a full size oven for curing, but then I am still piecing the venners together after curing. Thanks for all the encouraging comments!