Polymer Clay Daily

Polymer up a notch

Maggie Maggio made a conscious effort to step out of her comfort zone when she applied for the Society of North American Goldsmiths’ (SNAG) virtual exhibit, The Body Adorned.

“In the same way a landscaper trains a plant to take the desired form, this piece is designed to be shaped to the body of the wearer,” Maggie says of her exhibition pieces. Polymer tendrils sprout from the model who happens to be Maggie’s daughter Monica, herself an urban farmer.

On her updated website and blog Maggie explains how a polymer symposium at the Racine Art Museum exhibit prompted her to take her work up a notch.

Watch Maggie playing with a early version of these designs in this Studio Mojo video from last spring. Join with others who want to take their work up a notch by signing up for StudioMojo.

Ohio classes

Take a look at a special polymer “sampler” class at the MAC in Worthington, Ohio. Four of us are teaching, one each Thursday evening  from Oct 18 – Nov 29. A great facility, a smorgasbord of techniques. Join Carissa Nichols, Jeanne Dumond, Nancy Nearing and me for a terrific sampling of techniques.

Pocket totems

These polymer pocket totems (all about 1.5 inches tall) from Danielle Pedersen are imbued with spirit. “This series is for the travelers, the kids-at-heart, and everyone who wants to take an animal wherever they go. Of course, you can always keep them on your desk or any place in your home that currently needs an animal,” she says.

Picking out the ones that best fit your personality or mood can be challenging. Danielle cleverly offers sets so that you can build your own zoo. They’re all hand sculpted and meticulously painted. Read more here.

 

Raking the polymer leaves

Prague’s Pavla Cepelikova captures the feeling of autumn with these graceful multi-layered polymer leaves. She calls the method Fimo Batik and is preparing to teach a workshop about the process.

Ease yourself into a new week with a browse through Pavla’s Flickr pages. You’ll rake in some new ideas.

Cosmic cats

Colorado’s Jane Priser has a thing for cats, Cosmic Cats in polymer. Swirling colors flow and vibrate around painted glass cabochon eyes on these 12″ tall sculptures. Jane calls her works visionary and fantasy art produced by letting her imagination take her wherever it wants.

“I like to work at night when everyone and everything is sleeping and dreaming, except for the nocturnal, like me. I love creating something that can enjoyed and hopefully touch a healing spark within,” she explains. See more of Jane’s aliens and spirits on her Etsy page and on Flickr.

Strong women in polymer

These Frida Kahlo and Zora Neale Hurston polymer portrait pendants come from Massachusetts artist Laura Curran. For years we’ve only been able to feature bits of Laura’s work because she had little exposure on the web. That’s changed and here’s Laura’s new website. High fives all around!

These photo transfers of historic women to polymer send a strong message. Read about the history of portrait jewelry on Laura’s research page.

Class act!

Thanks to the participants in my Craftcast class! Send me pix of your creations. Next up, a doll head sculpting workshop with Marlaine Verheist on Sunday. Take your sculpting to a more professional level with this award-winning artist.

Puns in polymer

Minnesota’s Jody Travous Nee has an affinity for puns in polymer. Her “ducks in a row” sculpture perfectly describes this Wednesday when most of us are making our lists for the rest of the week. Look for the pun in each of Jody’s small sculptures – from turnip trucks to brainwashing.

When Jody had a hard time making her works appear in the search engines, she decided to create a Kardashian sculpture. “That ought to do it,” she theorized. There’s lots of laughter in her work.

Now let’s line up our ducks:

  • Lori Wilkes has published a new Absolute Beginners Guide. Though they’re beginner projects, Lori shows you how to get started with style as she quickly moves you to more advanced concepts.
  • For those who are beyond beginner, check out Bettina Welker’s new bracelet book. Written in both English and German, Bettina leads you through four basic bracelet designs with ten exciting variations.
  • The Polymer Clay Master Class book can be pre-ordered (it’s due in December) and while you wait authors Judy Belcher and Tammy Honoman let you in on the backstory with the book’s new web site that introduces the artists and their works.
  • Did I mention that I’m teaching online tonight at Craftcast?
  • Yes, you can still fill out the first of our Synergy3 surveys to help us paint an accurate picture of our community.
  • Here’s hoping your ducks behave as well as ours.

 

Stacked polymer shards

These faux sea glass earrings are part of my live online Wednesday night Craftcast class. The soft and colorful alure of polymer shards pair nicely with the muted tones of my faux rocks. The pebbles and glass could have been scooped up off the beach.

Claire Maunsell’s glass butterflies from yesterday veer in another direction and show us that lots of artists are experimenting in this relatively new area. Of course, Kathrin Neumaier’s and others’ excellent works are spurring us on too.

Enthusiastic answers

Wow, your Synergy3 survey response has been terrific. We are so grateful for your help and will leave the forms up for the entire week in case you missed it. There’s still time.

Polymer flutters and surveys

Do these transparent polymer butterflies from Claire Maunsell make your heart flutter? The thin colorful beads are built on a 20 ga. copper wire which can be bent into a custom attachment. The customer asked for an assortment of colors and Claire happily obliged.

If these look like glass, it’s because Claire brings 20 years of experience in hot glass to polymer and her work contains echoes of her earlier training.

Check her Etsy and Zibbet sites to see when these lovely creatures begin appearing there (not yet).

More about you

The first of the surveys for our Synergy3 presentation poses just a few short questions about how you came to work in polymer and what pleasures and frustrations the craft brings you. Your answers will help Judy Belcher and me construct a more accurate picture of our community.

The multiple choice format makes it easy and you can answer in English, French, Spanish, German or Czech thanks to our volunteer translators. Click here to start.

Putting the pieces together

Each of these 25 polymer squares was made by different artists following a pattern handed to them. Julie Eakes prepared the Picasso drawing puzzle and the Pingree group created the pieces in 2011.

The rules were to reproduce the image you were given and to use a limited palette. No one knew what the whole project would look like. Assembling the tiles into an image was a struggle and a good group project.

Synergy puzzle

Judy Belcher and I are trying to assemble a picture of the polymer world for the Synergy conference. When you fill out the first of our surveys on Monday, you’ll be adding your anonymous data to our puzzle. Be ready, pop quiz on Monday. With your help, we’ll begin to see a picture emerging.

Wednesday class

I’m also assembling the last bits for my Rolling Stones class on Wednesday which will include some faux sea glass tips. Join me online at Craftcast for a fun session.