The use of colored liquid polymer clay is growing in popularity. North Carolina’s Sharon Solly’s faux lampwork beads shown here and yesterday’s multi-layered pendants by Lesya Binkin are tempting me to give it a try.
Sharon’s been perfecting her liquid clay techniques and shares some of her secrets (fantasy cabochons) in the June issue of Polymer Cafe magazine. Her faux lampwork is a promising new twist.
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When we looked at Israel’s Lesya Binkin a while back (here), she was creating pendants made of multilayers of liquid polymer, metal leaf and embedded items.
In her most recent work, she transfers laser prints of her densely patterned illustrations (she started out as a fashion designer) to polymer, embellishing them with layers of sparkle and a glossy coat. This wise use of her illustrations gives her a new line for the season.
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I resurrected this video shot last year to remind myself to take better care of my best polymer clay tools – my hands. We’re lucky to have many talented masseuses like Klew in our ranks to keep us healthier.
For the life of me, I can’t make my thumb joint pop like Klew does on Sarah Shriver. The instruction is good anyway and I’m paying better attention. (Grasshoppers were making that annoying background noise.) Here’s the full-size version.
On a sillier note, I made myself a very attractive (and much younger) avatar/manga at this Italian site. Perhaps I should make a cane of it. The site’s in Italian but with a little clicking around, it’s easy to get the hang of it and email the results to yourself. I found it on Samyii’s Flickr site.
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I need a little good fortune today and a little time off for my wrist which brings me to Angela Mabray, CraftyGoat, and her polymer clay fortune cookie.
Angela’s site has pages and pages of tips and tricks to keep you entertained and educated. (She used a pumice stone for the realistic texture on this cookie.) She’s especially good at repurposing kitchen tools and at organizational tricks. If you’re breezing through, go to her Flickr stream you’ll get the gist from her great pictures.
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No better way to start the week than with snappy, crisp, snazzy polymer clay designs from Angie Wiggins. Angie ventures into metal, fiber, glass and found objects but she can’t resist the lure of polymer. Polymer clay "solves my intense color needs," she admits.
"I was taught to embroider at the age of five. I have been a detail freak ever since," Angie reveals. Her jewelry, platters, and containers sing with color and will get your week humming.
The link is from Ronna Weltman. Many thanks.
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Discovered that one of my statistics-gathering widgets was bogging down the page load time. Things should be smoother now and I’m doing a little code-monkey dance.
Make your own shrinky dinks by recycling #6 plastics. I love these recycling tutorials.
“Endlessly inventive” is what some call Arkansas’ Jay King who makes polymer clay heads that are remixes of other faces and molds of found objects. The hybrid personalities and the accompanying descriptions act like a fun house mirror. You may find yourself peering intently, trying to figure out the strange reflections.
I was particularly tickled by this one, called “Multitasker”.
But Jay doesn’t stop at visual jokes and stories, he also has a rollicking audio podcast. For the full treatment, visit his Flickr page and his blog. I lost myself in his artwork and I’ve completely forgotten how I got here. If you sent me the link, remind me so that I can credit you.
Have a rollicking weekend.
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Ana Reimundo is a Portugese artist who has recently begun turning her portrait sketches into a series of polymer clay brooches called Deditos.
She combines basic shapes and bright colors into engaging portraits that convey an innocence and openness.
Enjoy her work on her site, fric_de_mentol, on Etsy and on Flickr. Thanks to Philadelphia guild president Sue Springer who brought the link to us.
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Ellen June prefers her polymer clay critters in the shapes of griffins, serpents, dragons and such. From Hamilton, Ontario, Ellen (or Creaturesfromel) shapes ferocious things in elaborate detail and with regal finishes.
The pictures on her sites are small and it’s only when you see her work close up that you can appreciate its complexity and detail. Look here and here. She incorporates "…an understanding of animal physiology with a love of the fantastic, grotesque and absurd."
I admire artists who can conjure up the wild creatures within them, transform them into clay and share them with us.
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