France’s Florence Minne-Khou wanted a ring to suit her every mood (and outfit). Cutting geometric shapes out of varying thicknesses, colors and patterns of polymer rolled flat gave her what she needed.
Try Florence’s idea when you’re in the mood for simple and elegant.
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.
Germany’s Anke Humpert brightens a gray winter Friday with these cheery red polymer umbrellas. With a second week deadline looming, she whipped up these earrings for her 52-week challenge. The pressure of a deadline can force out surprising creativity.
Determined to start the new year right, Anke’s been tackling the organization of her studio and you can vicariously enjoy her progress here. Have a cheery weekend.
Florida’s Karen Woods doesn’t hang out in the usual online haunts like Flickr and Etsy.
It was delightful to spot her on the list of teachers at Creative Journey Studios (formerly Women Creative) in Georgia where she’ll be teaching silk screening on polymer in February. Her graphic shapes fit next to each other like old friends with colorful stories to share.
Karen also teaches her own approach to weaving polymer into baskets and I bumped into one student’s class pix here. You have to work a bit and follow a few links to keep up with Karen but it’s worth the effort.
We all have those bits of leftover colored polymer that should be good for something, right? Rebecca Watkins has taught herself to”see” something in each ball of colorful bits and she shows you how in a few scrap to bouquet steps on her Flickr site.
When she covers the resulting carved unbaked beads with black mica they look dull and disastrous. But a light sanding of the baked bead reveals the color and brings out the pattern. She makes it look simple. Please tell me if it really is that easy. Rebecca’s recently developed a shortcut to organic stripes tutorial that you may enjoy too.
The UK’s Angela Garrod has been named a 2011 polymerista on the European Voila site. Experimenting with making extruded polymer into links, chains and coils, Angela came up with a number of fascinating hollow designs like this Hula Hula necklace.
She says of her Hula Hula necklace, “It is 13″ long and flexes like a snake. Colours range from all shades of greys to violets and magenta and reds. Basically like a giant skinner blend.”
The construction of this dramatic piece is baffling. You can see more of her experiments on her Flickr site. If you ask questions in the comments, maybe Angela will tell us more.
Moonlight on the Ocean is the title of this polymer bracelet from Warren and Robbin Moeller-Smith. On a cold winter’s day it’s warming to think of this duo working in polymer on their boat in the South Pacific. They integrate natural finds from their sailing adventures into their designs.
The bracelet design gives a nod to Cynthia Toops’ rolodex design with a wink at Alice Stroppel’s cane technique surrounding lovely silver accents.
The Moeller-Smiths have temporarily abandoned ship to visit the shows in California and Arizona. You can see their work here and here and read about their travels here.
France’s Dorothy Vantorre photographed her step-by-step work on this polymer bearded collie sculpture making the story both funny and educational.
The piece was commissioned by her best friend as a gift for another person. The dog’s thick coat meshes perfectly with Dorothy’s preferred way of working in layers. You can understand Dorothy’s frustration when you look at her big pile of extruded dog hair pieces.
She captures both the look and the spirit of Joy, the dog. She even made a special show box for the gift. Dorothy has sworn off all future dog commissions saying, “I’ve been very pleased to learn that the person who received this gift was very moved! But I want to clarify that the next person who asks me to make a miniature dog will be immediately banned from my contacts.”
Check out Dorothy’s illustrations, cake toppers and sculptures. Her in-progress shots reveal a distinctive style that gravitates to friendly monsters, pink rabbits and hangman earrings. Her biggest trick may be making it all look so easy! Have an easy weekend.
How cool a mom is Jill Palumbo? Her sons each got electronic tablets for Christmas for which she had made polymer-embellished protective covers. (More pix here.)
The themed cases sported logos and icons from the boys’ favorite musical group and online game. (I had to look up Minecraft and Hot Water Music.)
Her design includes game pieces that turn the case into a stand for reading books or watching movies more comfortably.
Jill’s polymer ingenuity and thoughtful giftgiving need to be celebrated. Kudos!
Portland’s Sofie Skein describes her Poupettes as, “…spirited renditions of animals and mythical creatures in pure polymer.” She’s also a painter and grew up involved in the family vet clinic.
Her animals have realistic heads perched on simply stylized bodies that will make you laugh. See them all on Flickr including this picture that shows how she works from detailed sketches.
She sells her animal portraits (like this custom Egyptian Mau cat) on Etsy in her Menagerie of Inscrutable Magic.
Sofie is a new artist on PCDaily thanks to a link sent by Eva Menager.
