Katrin Neumaier is hooked on Pardo translucent clay and she’s becoming expert at showing off its glowing properties with these brand new beads and watery earrings. Here’s her polymer beach glass from October.

The recent hollow forms make the clay even more delicate and ethereal looking as she pushes Pardo in new directions. We can look forward to seeing more of this faux glass trend in 2012.

  • reply Mary Anne Loveless ,

    Oh, wow, wow, wow!

    • reply Tavostia ,

      I am shocked! It is not believed that it is polymer clay

      • reply Liz Hall ,

        Amazing and beautiful work!

        • reply Christine Dumont ,

          Just stunning!

          • reply Melinda Hayes ,

            definitely cool looking!

            • reply Randee M Ketzel ,

              These are just fabulous—I love the way she’s making use of Pardo’s translucence. Bettina Welker was demoing Pardo at the IPCA retreat and I (along with everyone else who had not yet tried it) was stunned at the looks you can achieve with it.

              • reply Susan O'Neill ,

                Those are just so light and airy-looking…

                • reply Julie Picarello ,

                  Such a delicate cascade of color…this tangle of beads would look right at home washed up on wet sand, a lucky treasure hunters bounty. Simply stunning.

                  • reply Loretta ,

                    Lovely, lovely work. Also, it’s great to look through the flickr pages and see Katrin’s artistic exploration. You can see that she is looking for something to really call her own. Bravo

                    • reply Pati Bannister ,

                      Beautiful stuff! I never would have thought …..

                      • reply Nena ,

                        Amazing beads! WOW!

                        • reply Susanne ,

                          Katrins work is sooo gorgeous!

                          • reply Pamela ,

                            Fabulous!

                            • reply Marlene Brady ,

                              Beautiful! Her work has inspired me to get back to my polymer clay.

                              • reply Sue O. ,

                                Wow – beautiful! Have never heard of Pardo. Is it available in the States?

                                • reply Trina Williams ,

                                  Pardo is available at Hobby Lobby stores and on-line at Art Clay World and PolyClayPlay

                                  • reply Jay ,

                                    Thanks for that info Trina. I only knew about Hobby Lobby. Do you also know where to get a tutorial for Pardo Trans. I’ve been playing around with it, but haven’t had much success with getting the clarity like the beach glass.

                                    • reply Cynthia Tinapple ,

                                      Jay – I’ve not seen a tutorial. In my experience, to get the translucence you have to: 1) add the slightest dab of color and 2) bake hotter than you think. (I can’t remember the temp but it was hot.)

                                      Mine looked sweaty/waxy and opaque when I pulled them out of the oven. As I was grumbling about their opacity, they began to cool and became translucent right before my eyes. So cool. I’m sure Katrin has lots more tricks.

                                      Cynthia

                                      • Jay ,

                                        Thanks for answering Cynthia. Do you happen to remember how long you baked them? Did you cover the beads with anything like baking soda to keep them from burning? I’ve heard that it would help, but haven’t tried it. I’ve baked Pardo beads at 245 as recommended and at 275 for 30 min to 45min where they start getting dark. Maybe I’m putting too much ink or not enough clay. I wish Katrin would let us know her tricks. Those beach glass beads are great. I collect real beach glass, but its hard to find really nice colors and you are limited at what you can do with it. With this, the possibilities are endless. I think Katrin just did a big promo for Pardo without even trying.
                                        Take care, Jay

                                        • Jay ,

                                          Any idea how she made them hollow?

                                  • reply jan Montarsi ,

                                    Cynthia I’msoglad youshowed these today!!!
                                    They are Amazing !!

                                    • reply suzanne ,

                                      they are so beautiful! so light and airy and and WOW!!!
                                      i am totally amazed that this is made with PC!
                                      they take my breath away!

                                      • reply sharon ,

                                        love these

                                        • reply carissa ,

                                          Holy Crow! I believe I will be making a future purchase! I had no idea Pardo had such qualities. Thank you for spending your time and effort in figuring all this out. Your work is lovely!

                                          • reply Janice Sears ,

                                            Looks just like glass! How impressive! I wonder how thin the layers have to be to get this look? Are the beads fragile? I guess I’ll have to buy some of this to try out. Striving for a glass look was my initial motivation for getting into polymer three years ago, so this is way beyond enticing!

                                            • reply Barbara Briggs ,

                                              These are wonderful…makes me want to give Pardo a try!

                                              • reply Carole M ,

                                                I can almost smell the ocean while i look at these great pieces!
                                                I’m still amazed how diverse polymer clay is!

                                                • reply Connie ,

                                                  Wow! These really do look like beach glass! I am amazed with your beautiful, quality work.

                                                  • reply Carol Shelton ,

                                                    Katrin Neumaier’s body of work is so spectacular it makes my brain hurt.

                                                    • reply Kit Lockwood ,

                                                      Wow. Now I’m curious about Pardo. I’d sort of blown it off before. But now I’m wondering…perhaps I need to investigate.

                                                      • reply Chifonie ,

                                                        Amazing technique, and so delicate in colors and shapes !

                                                        • reply Kathrin Neumaier ,

                                                          Thank you for your nice comments! I was very much pleased to read them.Here are some of my secrets:
                                                          The Pardo is colored with Pinata inks and decorating chalks. I form the beads, paint and then bake them. It is important to only use little color. I usually bake it at approx. 145-150° with the beads lying in a bed of starch. For making the beads, I use some kind of balls made from a filling material, I invented myself, which I form the beads on. After baking, the water-soluble filling material can be rinsed out of the bead
                                                          Although the resulting beads look quite tender (made withthe 5. degree of my Pastamaschine) , they are very solid.

                                                          Have fun experimenting,
                                                          Kathrin

                                                          • reply Cynthia Tinapple ,

                                                            145-150 Celsius is 290-300 Fahrenheit….hot! Which was my experience too.

                                                            Kathrin – I see teaching in your future.

                                                            ct

                                                            • reply Jay ,

                                                              Thank you for sharing your secrets with us,Kathrin. Your work is beatiful and your process will be great to learn.
                                                              Thanks again, Jay

                                                              • reply wendy wallin malinow ,

                                                                love these! so excited to see what’s evolving with the Pardo trans and people’s work…
                                                                kathrin,
                                                                thanks for sharing your process! curious about the water soluble filling…an online tutorial??? class???
                                                                these pieces are really beautiful and magical!

                                                              • reply Cassy Muronaka ,

                                                                This makes me want to order some Pardo translucent immediately. Really fantastic work.

                                                                • reply Nancy Gill ,

                                                                  I LOVE this work. I have walked the beach since I was a child and have always collected beach glass. This work reminds me of some of my favorite glass treasures. Thanks for sharing.

                                                                  • reply wendy wallin malinow ,

                                                                    love these!
                                                                    so excited to see what’s being done with the Pardo trans and people’s work….
                                                                    katrin: thanks for your generous sharing. curious about the water soluble filling, maybe an online tutorial? class????
                                                                    definitely inspiration for the new year!

                                                                    • reply Playing with polymer | Barbara S Fernald Jewelry ,

                                                                      […] out the recent blog of my friend Holly Kellogg, and her reference to the polymer clay work of Katrin Neumaier, I decided to get out some of my own translucent Premo clay from last fall. I also ordered some […]

                                                                      • reply Clearly a polymer mystery | Polymer Clay Daily ,

                                                                        […] may recall that we featured Katrin’s glass-like earrings on PCD back in February. The early ones were made using Pardo translucent polymer clay. Obviously, […]

                                                                        • reply Pauline ,

                                                                          I’m thinking those water soluble packing peanuts (made from cornstarch) might work–you can spray them with a little water and shape them then form clay around them, after curing, wash the filler out of the bead.

                                                                          • reply Sandra ,

                                                                            Yes I will like to get the tutorial too please make a class.

                                                                            • reply Beth ,

                                                                              Hmmm… filler… I think I know…. Orbeez? I’m off to the toy store now to get some!

                                                                              • reply Experiments With Pardo Translucent Clay | Dancing Hand Beads ,

                                                                                […] have done with the clay. People are getting some really amazing results with this clay, making objects that are quite nearly transparent. Here are my observations after working a couple of days with the […]

                                                                                • reply Jewelled Web – September 2014 – Link Love | Fashionable Clothing ,

                                                                                  […] with clay for ages but I’m very tempted by translucent clay when I see designs like this, this and […]

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