Play Doh

I’m doing laundry, mixing clay, packing my techno-gear and filling my I-pod for vacation so it’ll be total silliness for Friday. I’ll report from the road next week.

Thinking Big?

This Play-Doh bunny in NYC is rumored to be part of a new Sony Bravia ad. View the "Balls" and "Paint" ads if you haven’t seen them. The new campaign is all very hush-hush.

Freebies

Send a 2" square polymer clay tile to The Satin Cord folks in Florida and you’ll get a free satin cord necklace or a length of cord. They’ve moved and want to embellish a 30" round table in their store. There are other prizes too. Here are the details.

Have a big fun weekend.

It’s Only Plastic

Donna Kato credits the Peter Chang book, It’s Only Plastic, that she was given by her hosts Natalia and Dani in Spain as the impetus for lifting her out of a creative slump. When you look through this Scottish artist’s work here and here, you’ll understand why. Chang’s acrylic, resin and PVC creations are surreal, graceful and bright.

I was also reminded of a polymer clay bead made by my first teacher, Carol Shelton, some years back and now in Hollie Mion’s collection. We knew that Carol’s design held possibilities. It’s fun to see an idea bounce around the world, change and blossom again.

Lost and Found

Donna Kato thought she lost her groove and I thought I lost Cathy Johnston. Not to worry, both have been found.

After a creative slump and lots of frequent flyer miles, Donna’s got her groove back with some stunning polymer clay pop art beads.

And Cathy Johnson lost her domain but her little polymer books and puppets live on at a new address. Cathy’s organizing registrations for both Clay Carnival and her Eastern Washington guild’s clay escape. I love finding things I was sure were lost, don’t you?

Thanks for all your lovely comments on yesterday’s video.

First Effort

Even though this is a first effort and not my finest work, I had to show you my first YouTube video. My children have been bugging me to get moving on YouTube and I’ve spent hours teaching myself how to edit and record. Whew!

This jigsaw puzzle face cane is a simple and fun technique I learned in a class with Australia’s Michele Fanner. I used the Picasso black and white image for simplicity sake. It works on more colorful and complex designs as well. (I wish I’d spent as much time on the cane as I did on the editing.)

The looped blade tool was an idea from a Mike Buesseler class. I have several that my husband created for me. I’m off to a conference next week and plan to use my newfound skills to capture more snippets for your viewing pleasure.

New Meets Old

Contemporary handcut designs plus old, distressed finishes equal chic in the polymer clay jewelry of Maryland’s Tamara on her Etsy Block Party Press site.

Using stamps handcarved with her own distinctive designs, she impresses the clay and then brings out the texture with acrylic paints. Tamara’s been featured recently on trendy sites like cuteable.

My order arrived with a bounty of additional cards, coupons and goodies. A nice way to start the week.

Living to Create

Read the profile of Missouri’s Scott and Victoria Garrette if you want to know how one young artist couple struggles make a living these days. They paint and those colors and patterns spill over into their polymer clay work

They tried New York. They tried "real" jobs. They have children. They do Etsy and shows. In the midst of their moves they left a totally cool straw bale studio behind. They’re back in Missouri and they sound quite happy.

Here are the Garrette’s Etsy sites (his and hers), the Kansas City Etsy street team they’re active in, the blog, the Flickr photos. "I live to create," says Scott.

Have a creative weekend.

Summer Horses

"When I start to spin, I try to remember who I am and I go out to the horses or down to my studio and everything falls back into place," says Utah’s Judy Summer.

A full-time artist for 35 years, Judy can’t solder or do detailed jewelry work anymore. A car accident and an infection reduced her vision but frustration is something she shoves aside.

Decades ago she dreamed of horses. After a car accident in 2000 and therapeutic riding lessons, she decided it was time to get a horse of her own. The animals have taught her patience and inspired the nuances in her polymer clay sculptures. Her site loads slowly…perhaps to teach us patience too.

Matisse

The French Yahoo group’s July polymer clay challenge was an excellent exercise and a visual treat. The instructions to "CreationFimo" were to contemplate the works of Henri Matisse and create a polymer clay work that paid homage to him.

You’ll have to scroll down their page to see the variety of artists’ responses, each a delightful and unique interpretation. Thanks to Marilyn from the Netherlands for forwarding the link along.

Spontaneous

After the wonderful intensity of yesterday’s polymer clay pieces I felt drawn in the opposite direction. I headed to my French links for a dose of spontaneity and colorful exuberance.

I couldn’t find the artist’s name on this site. She’s elusive, my French is terrible and I’m hoping someone will reveal her to us. (She’s Dominique Franceschi. Thanks to Marilyn V. for identifying her.) Scroll all the way down to see some quick and clever extrusions turned into mokume gane. This work shows what playful confidence can produce.

Thanks for the link goes to Singapore’s Rita Sim.

Voluptuous Veggies

No better way to start your week than with a look at these new polymer clay purses from Kathleen Dustin. (Click on each one.) Her "voluptuous vegetables" signal a move on from Dustin’s layered transluscent women and more recent boar bristle series. These new species made me gasp with awe and admiration.

Thanks for the pictures go to super friend Hollie Mion who tracked down Kathleen at the Ann Arbor, MI arts festival. I’ve included a few larger images of her works and her display.

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