These slinky earrings from Rome’s Michela Mokele may have a snake-like shape but they’re more sleek than slithery. The stripes end in a flat cut that reveals the solid center. The top of the cane curls seductively around the ear wire loop.
It’s a simple and effective earring design and you can see more cleverly coiled and twisted canes on her Flickr page and on Facebook.
A little birdie reminded me that tonight is I Love Tools night (8:00 EST) and if you sign up we’ll save you a virtual seat. I’m on the road and will have to join you from my hotel!
If you’re a lucky bird, you could win one of the many prizes!
This bird is from Bulgaria’s Mariia Kamenska and the combination of its caned feathers and Madonna face are intriguing. See more on Flickr.
C. Rohal brings you a tiny bit of Halloween in polymer. Yes, that’s a dime next to the flying witch and there are many more small delights on the ArtisticSpirit Etsy site.
But there’s little information about C. Rohal. Anyone know more about this miniaturist?
There’s big enjoyment to be found in his/her gallery and be sure to check out the sold items because the Halloween items have moved quickly.
You won’t find any polymer on Karen Totten’s Etsy gallery…yet. This artist usually works in ceramics and metals but she recently took an ArtBliss class with Christine Damm and polymer is creeping into her sketches.
On the ArtJewelryElements blog she explains, “I have long wanted to blend my painting skills with my newer dimensional work in ceramics and metal. I have been toying with layering and blending of glazes, underglazes, and wax patinas, but have never been fully satisfied with this. At ArtBliss I was introduced to the world of polymer. But what really got me jazzed was how well it took paint media.”
These are Karen’s samples from Christine’s class in Virginia. Here she is on Facebook and here’s her Etsy shop (stay tuned for polymer).
As more artists add polymer to their media mixes, it makes my job harder as I squint to figure out what material they’re using.
You’ll find yourself chuckling at these miniature gravestones from Nicholas and Sofie (Bewilder & Pine). These 4-inch tall stones are engraved with clever names and aged with cracks and moss. Dearly Departed decorations are perfect for Halloween tables. The couple create enchanting polymer HO-scale views of the world. Here they are on Flickr.
Free online party
Alison Lee from Craftcast throws great online parties and her free I Love Tools webinar is always a hit with prizes and giveaways galore. Come party with us on Wednesday, October 16 at 8:00 EST
Proceeds this time go to the Nepali Samunnat project whose ladies have donated some of their art to the event. Read all about the festivities on Craftcast and see who will be there. Sign up to see the latest gadgets and maybe even win some.
Slovenia’s Klavdija Kurent limits her polymer color palette and concentrates on textures, twists and surface treatments that tease the eye and beg to be examined by hand.
Klavdija will reveal her secrets at EuroSynergy in her Let’s Twist Again workshop. See what she’s talking about on her Flickr pages, her blog and on Facebook.
EuroSynergy represents a new direction in polymer art and I’ll be explaining which direction we’re headed with the opening speech entitled Those who tell the stories rule the world. The promo photos show someone who looks like she knows her stuff. The secret is that I rely on you, dear readers.
Isn’t it time you took a chance too? If I go out on a limb with my predictions, you can surely join me on that limb by showing your art. You can enter your artwork in the IPCA Awards competition from now until mid-January. Here’s the how-to-apply information.
This pile of fall leaves from Meg Newberg is her latest cane discovery. (They’re all from one cane.) She loves to experiment with canes and find new patterning methods. She stumbled on a way to make soft-edged designs that are great for glowing pumpkins, spooky spiders and organic shapes. She calls them her Painterly Canes.
Maybe you can figure it out. If not, she sells her tutorial for a very reasonable price on Etsy. See more examples on her blog.
Layl McDill’s complex cockapoo cane starts out looking like a fantastic jumble of paw prints and hairy swirls. This Minnesota artist’s millefiori canes are fearlessly big and full of patterns that reduce down to marvelously rich images full of color and meaning.
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Her designs are made with 8 to 15 pounds of polymer that reduce down to 10 feet of canes that she sells or makes into sculptures. “Sometimes it seems that these women and creatures just climb out of my piles of polymer clay,” she says.
Layl doesn’t back away from size or complexity and teaches classes where students revel in producing plate-sized flowers. See more of Layl’s on Facebook, her site, Pinterest, and her Etsy gallery.
What would happen if you went bigger and more complex with your work?
Kathrin Neumaier tantalizes us one more time with her translucent polymer tricks. In this experiment her faux amber Honigtropfen (Honey Drops) beads are made from uncolored Pardo clay.
Kathrin pushes the boundaries as she takes the material beyond it’s recommended baking temperature. In the comments she hints that she baked the colorless clay, “…too long and too hot” to achieve the golden color. The black dots indicate that she nearly went too far.
What would happen if you pushed your work too far this week?
We end the week with pumpkin-colored pendant that comes with a Friday freebie tutorial.
Galina Grebennikova shows how she achieved this neatly textured pendant with no molds, no stamps. The tool she uses looks like something you’d find in a manicure set or a toolbox.
The trick is repeat, repeat, repeat and then highlight with dark colors. Here’s the photo tutorial.
Galina’s from Moscow and lives in Irvine, California. Small world! She offers some texture variations on her blog here. PCD has picked up some of her other tricks in these past posts.
