Alaska’s Katie Way made this 12″x12″ polymer and reclaimed wood piece for the silent auction at her son’s Spanish immersion school.
Katie’s been in high gear with circles and reclaimed wood lately and if you’re a circle lover, you’ll need some time to flip through Flickr to see how she works. Katie’s messy work table looks downright tidy to most of us. That woman knows how to use cutters to full advantage as texture tools! Here she is on Facebook.
Her torn edges, judiciously placed color and big energetic doodles highlighted with a wash of dark paint speak a language all their own.
These scrap bangles from Australia’s Debbie Crothers have a party vibe! Don’t you love those gold leafed and Jones-Toned dots that she tossed on to fill in the gaps? Debbie took her not- quite-right pile and turned it into something great that suits my mood as I celebrate post 2000 today. We’ve gotten bolder and better!
I jumped in the wayback machine and looked at the September 2005 posts. The photos were much smaller. Remember, we had tiny monitors then. Most of the links work!
Can you believe this tame and subdued early mosaic from Laurie Mika? She’s surely embraced color and claimed her own style in a big way since then. We’ve come a long way, baby!
Thanks to you faithful readers for helping to turn that early not-quite-right blog into something very good and have a great weekend. Happy 2000.
A little quiet time in the studio got me thinking about how meditative working with polymer can be. These earrings from None of the Above are a perfect example.
In Daniel Torres’ class at Synergy he explained how repeating patterns like these appeal to us because they are found in nature – Fibonnaci numbers, fractals and such. Anybody have their class notes handy?
None of the Above knows nature’s math and she calculates with perfectly arranged dots of clay. Fascinating and mesmerizing work on Etsy.
Speaking of numbers, tomorrow’s post marks a special one for me. 2000! Maybe that’s why I’ve been contemplative! Whew!
Washington’s Dede Leupold hammers leftover bits of silver into soft shapes that harmonize with her canes for an elegant effect and easy assembly. Baked into the clay the silver also provides a sturdy finding.
Dede gravitates to canework and she has come up with a folding mirror to carry in your toolbox so that you can accurately predict how a pattern repeats. It’s a handy device to have when you’re building a cane that’s full of confusing color and geometry. Enjoy Dede’s spring colors on Facebook and in an Etsy shop for jewelry and one for buttons.
Fresh spring colors pull your eye to the brooches and rings from Madrid’s Fabiola Perez Ajates. These new samples from her May class hum with patterns and layers of interest.
The pièce de résistance is the companion container that hides your jewels. Fabi’s known for her clever containers. Thumb through her Flickr pictures to get a sense of what she does. And note how well her students do!
Can’t get to Madrid? I’m pleased to have a chapter and a project from the fabulous Fabi in my upcoming book that’s available for pre-order on Amazon/Barnes & Noble/Indiebound. It’ll be here by July 30!
What would happen if last week’s elephant met up with a kangaroo? In Susan Hyde’s mind we’d have a Kangarat/Eleroo like this 10″ one she’s constructed from polymer.
Susan has joined a gallery in Bremerton, Washington. For poetry month, she and her fellow artists illustrated poems by local poets. The one Susan chose, The Bainbridge Zoo, chronicles an elephant and kangaroo affair.
Another poem called Gypsy inspired this 12″ piece filled with the great polymer fabrics that Susan is known for. Here’s her old fabric tutorial that I have to drag out again because it’s my favorite.
Smile, it’s Friday! Serbia’s Milena Babic and Miloš Samardžic (Tramps and Glam) give us a Friday happy face with their wire and polymer cubist brooch, Face It, Number 1. No canes, no layers, just wire and small bits of polymer assembled into a freaky Friday face.
More of their off-beat images on Flickr and Facebook to make you smile all weekend.
Inga Rosenberg (Kni.Kni) from Latvia has a thing for elephants. She set herself a challenge to create one polymer mandala elephant each month this year. While they are lovely, what’s even more astounding is their size. They’re each 1 1/2 inch by 1 inch (3×4 cm) and here’s the picture to prove it. This was her mini-mandala for March.
Imagine the patience it takes to create at this scale. “I got my peace back,” she says of her effort, “The peace I get while making each of them is indescribable.” Last month’s Chocolate Cake with Cherries elephant is mouthwateringly lacy and beautiful. You’ll have to see the whole herd to appreciate Inga’s skill.
More Elephants
Inga’s tiny elephants transport me right back to Nepal (here’s a photo from our trip) and the latest posts from the Samunnat ladies who are busy buying cement and building supplies for their new home which is becoming a reality because of your generosity. Your contributions of cash and karma mean that they will have a safe place to call their own.
Here’s a refreshingly easy mid-week interlude from Agi Kiss in Budapest, Hungary. These gypsy-like earrings are smartly shaped, then stamped with an exotic image and darkly stained to reveal the detail. Altogether simple and sexy design.
Don’t let the simplicity of her design fool you though, Agi also takes on complex beaded projects, mixing beads and polymer in heavily encrusted pieces.
