Polymer Clay Daily

Polymer shisha

Pieces of the PCDaily blog started moving themselves around unpredictably yesterday. And I started chasing them in the code (not my strong suit).

I threw up my hands in dismay and decided to focus on something positive like the brand new Etsy shop put up by the ladies in Birtamod, Nepal (with a big expert assist from Genevieve Williamson).

Look at those colors! Read Wendy Moore’s warm, wild commentary! I am so proud. Please go buy! Click a like or a favorite. It’s all good. The money goes directly to the project that you can read about here.

Miracle of miracles, the blog reshuffled itself back into place. “No, you did-dent,” I yelled at the computer and it smiled back. We seem to be on the mend! Thanks for your patience.

Polymer pansies

Eri pansies

Eri, an artist on Etsy, brings an architectural sense to her simply sculptured polymer necklaces. In the Pansies Between Pink Corals necklace she places groups of rounded polymer disks off center between small pink beads.

Her work is filled with references to flower petals (lillies, pansies, tulips, water lilies) as in this Meadow Around Your Neck. Her other inspiration comes from sea creatures (limpets, sea anemones).

What we know about Eri is that she’s a full-time architect in Athens, Greece and that she has a way with clay.

Going clayzy

Inoue butterflies

Montreal-based artist and illustrator Raku Inoue feared he had that dreaded viral clay disease. He’d gone clayzy! Nope, it was just his art manifesting itself in polymer. Read his biography to get the full scoop.

Raku was born in suburban Tokyo in 1983. He spent his early childhood watching anime, reading manga and discovering living creatures, especially insects. He immigrated to Canada when he was nine. He bounces between illustration, sculpture, photography and never strays far from polymer.

Look at these closeups of some of his lush polymer sculptures.

Summery flowers

Doesn’t this necklace from Cecilia Botton look charmingly simple? A no-brainer!

Extruded square black tubes of polymer are interspersed with shorter sections of tube that have been embellished with simple flower cane slices. The colorful slices pop out against the black background.

Cecilia is French and works in Hong Kong. As a fabric buyer she has lots of experience with what does and doesn’t work in patterns. Her web sites are a riot of experiments and playing with patterns in ways that catch the eye. See what she’s done with the Stroppel cane. When she’s not traveling, Cecilia gets up early to fit in some polymer work before she begins her job and it’s easiest to track her work on Flickr.

Giving myself a long weekend! See you here on Monday.

Moscow summer

Lauhina bangles
Lauhina cushions

Need a taste of summer? This is Moscow summer from Juliya Lauhina. Not only are the colors like sorbet and salads, her techniques contain twists and turns that will leave you scratching your head. How did she do that?

Plus you get to see Juliya at her booth in the market.

Polymer paydirt

Tucked in among the oxidized silver, bronze and copper chains, pendants and earrings in Greg and BJ Jordan’s booth at the local art fair, a blast of color jumped out at me. Paydirt! New polymer!

BJ and Greg are from Fort Wayne, Indiana and have been metalworkers for 30 years. BJ creates the polymer sheets and inlays the fired patterns into the bezels.

Jordan mosaic pendant

Her bold colors and graphic patterns compliment their strong primitive metal designs.

I had to have a pair for my collection (business expense, right?) and you can find them online at Etsy here. For their most current activity, check their Facebook page.

In one ear

little ear

Sure, Percy Lau’s extra ear earrings are a little creepy. But they’re funny too and her contemporary jewelry includes twists on glasses and chocolate and other body parts, mostly in polymer. The ears are a hit on Etsy.

Chocolate Feast

This Chocolate Feast tickled me too! In one ear, out the other. Don’t miss the headband. Have a fanciful weekend.

Faux soutache

Soutache is a skinny flat decorative braid that is usually used as drapery trim or on military uniforms but lately it’s been showing up in jewelry. Polymer faux soutache turns up on the FaceBook page of Italy’s Olimpia Corvino in some interesting shapes.

Fans of polymer extruding will love trying this new twist. The link was sent in by Ronna Weltman.

Summertime studio time

My studio time has dwindled and my head is full of ideas. My fingers are itching to do something other than type. I’ll be cutting out a couple of days of PCDaily posts each week to get reacquainted with polymer.

There’s plenty here to explore. Just enter your desire into the search box in the right column and you’ll be surprised at what you find. Of course there are delightful videos and inside tips on StudioMojo every weekend for those who want to take our relationship to the next level.