Polymer paper bead smash

It’s the last day of class with Dayle Doroshow and you know how everyone gets frantic to finish. I’m no exception so I’ll just offer you these pictures of Dayle’s signature polymer flowers while we students complete our artworks.

Dayle’s polymer “paper beads” have always been a PCD favorite (see picture right). Long thin triangles of polymer scraps are twirled onto a needle tool paper-bead style.

Dayle leaves the bead on the tool and flattens the bead by stamping it with a rubber stamp. This preserves the hole. Voila! Beautiful bead from scrap! Here she is in the archives. I’ll be back at my computer next week.

Updated ethnic

I was captivated by Svetlana’s faux ethnic beads two years ago when I posted this and her methods still excite me. Luckily her tutorial is still there for you to study.

Svetlana Gracheva from Donetsk, Ukraine embeds what look to be jump rings into her faux ethnic polymer beads with a stunningly realistic effect. The jump rings become bezels for small imitation turquoise and coral pieces.

Other metal is sandwiched in the middle of faux amber and turquoise beads. You can see examples of the techniques in her Lhasa and Nagrang Tibetan-style necklaces.

On her Tibetan bead class description page, Svetlana offers pictures (scroll down her page) that show how she performs her sleight of hand. In that class she finishes the beads with mosaic inlays. What a treat for those of us searching for new faux fun.

Vacation post from the archives

Feeling beastlie

If you were one of Leslie Leving’s polymer beastlies, which one would you be?

There are loads to keep you guessing.

Vacation posts from another part of my Internet brain

Polymer under construction

The sign on Ruth Ann and Michael Grove’s site says under construction and let’s hope the sign is right. Only Ruth Ann’s pin and necklace galleries are operational.

The California duo were a driving force in polymer in the 80s and 90s and collectors would vie for their pieces. Grove & Grove sold their inventory in 2010 and after a couple years off they’ve hinted that they’d like to try their hands again.

Polymer Art Archive tells the story well in posts about their Flora or Fauna, their big early exhibition pieces and their early, early geometrics. This spectacular necklace is from 1994. Vacation posts from the archives

Beach party polymer

How kind of you to do online research for me while I’m on vacation! Chris Kelsey sent in this link to Florida polymer painter Debortina, Deborah Groover.

Your eyes will flit around like these Beach Party birds, checking out the wealth of patterns and colors pieced together into larger images.

To give you a size idea, the work shown here is 22″ x 32″. The process comes closest to applique.

Deborah explains, “Once my clay is heat set, I cut apart sheets and reassemble them into a polymer collage. I then add color and washes, use sgrafitto to remove color then add more color, and on and on until I am satisfied. The backgrounds are not clay (except for the small ones). I use layers of ink pens and paints to create the texture.” Experience the whole shebang on Flickr.

Vacation is lovely! Class begins on Monday and maybe I’ll try polymer painting!

Polymer worlds

France’s Celine Roumagnac specializes in quirky worlds in polymer. From mushroom cottages in the forest to mountain villages captured under glass, she shares her colorful, happy worldviews.

Celine’s Au Pays des Rêves (Dreamland) provides a perfect setting for me as I leave for England and France. I feel a bit like this explorer chosing his path. The hardest part has been to narrow the tools I’m packing to just a few necessities. Sorting has been a good exercise.

I look forward to joining Dayle Doroshow’s group for a week of playing and flea marketing. The area looks luscious on her blog, doesn’t it? I’ll try to stay in touch with you. Enjoy Celine’s world travels on her Flickr site and her shop.

Vacation posts from the archives.

Polymer heartstrings

Fabienne Avranche’s (Terre d’Effa) polymer string bowl struck a chord with us back in 2008 and five years later, readers are still snatching it from the archives.

Now I can post a somewhat larger photo. The bowl’s colorful playfulness appeals to the child in all of us. Five years later we can see Fabienne’s work more easily on her Pinterest site as well as on her original website.

Vacation posts from the archives

Trading in polymer

These faux African trade beads from Utah’s Cody Craynor pop up from time to time. They’re modern-day reminders of other times and cultures.

If you’re a polymer artist drawn to caning, you can’t help but visualize what it would take to capture this pattern. Thanks to Cody’s excellent reproductions, faux trade beads have long been on my “to-do” list. Yours too?

Class tonight

Pop on over to Craftcast.com to check out Christi Friesen’s live online class this evening. Christi shows you how to combine polymer clay elements with beads, pearls, gemstones, and crystals to create your own spectacular fantasy necklace. And you’ll have a chance to win a free copy of Polymer Clay Global Perspectives!

Vacation posts from the archives. I’m in Europe and will check in whenever I can.

Wormy polymer

Judy Dunn’s clever constructions and her polymer folded cranes peace project kept catching my eye as I thumbed through the archives. Her tutorials for making cranes are still on YouTube.

Judy’s life got busy and she was pulled to other pursuits. I sent her a note saying that we miss her fine work and I hope she comes back to polymer. In the meanwhile, we can still learn from the ways she combined and recombined short wormlike shapes into interesting groups for earrings and necklaces.

Vacation posts from the archives

Polymer postcards

I’m dipping into the archives while I’m on vacation. We first talked about these polymer postcards in 2008! At workshops it was great to make polymer postcards to send home. Fun to make and they make terrific souvenirs.

The U.S. mail will accept the artwork if it’s within their guidelines. Tory Hughes may have started this mischief and she still teaches postcard creation in her classes.

I’ll be taking a class while I’m away so I’ll try to come up with some postcards from my journey. Vacation posts from the archives

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