Catch of the day

Something fishy is happening with Mary Anne Loveless. Lately this Utah artist has been drawn to making her Poissons series with beautifully patterned scales made from cane slices.

Most of her fish are hollow and measure from 10 inches to a foot long. Some of these beauties have ferocious looking teeth. Some shimmer with colorful Skinner blends, stripes and dots.

Are they wall art? Free-standing sculptures? Maybe she’ll tell us. Can’t you envision a school of these swimming across a wall? Right now you can see them best on Flickr. With any luck she’ll post them in her Squarespace shop soon.

Polymer fonts

Two lovely alphabets surfaced this week. The one at the left is an Easter font from Zim and Zou (Lucie Thomas and Thibault Zimmermann), a French duo that usually stick to paper sculpture for their very famous illustrations.

This polymer work (they say plasticine but I refuse to believe it) is overgrown, lush and inviting. Their illustrations look like they should be tried in polymer and I wonder if we’ll see more of their work in this vein.

The second alphabet is from Raku Inoue who developed a charming monster alphabet. This Canadian artist was born in Japan and he uses polymer as a way to bridge the gap between painting and photography.

You simply have to scroll down through his bio that explains how he went clazy, as he calls it. His videos give you an even more intense look at his process.

I saved these sites until Friday so that the extended browsing they require wouldn’t interfere with your work or home life. I was entranced by these masterful storytellers and you may be too. Enjoy your weekend.

Polymer selfie

There’s more than one way to create a selfie! Ireland’s Joanne Bolger formed her own 3DeePortrait in polymer. She cut those realistic lenses for her glasses out of a plastic bottle.

Joanne has developed a knack for capturing likenesses that become gifts for all occasions.

Her polymer subjects usually sit in the foreground near the edge of the frame and on top of the mat. An illustration in the mat opening sets the scene. Here she is on Facebook.

Joanne sent me her link. I would have had a hard time finding her otherwise (hint, hint). Sometimes sending a selfie can lead to good things.

Polymer warren

Silvana Bates has been mixing her patterns too. She’s using up her bits of polymer to make ornaments. One cookie cutter gives her a warren of gleeful leaping bunnies that show off their spring finery.

But that’s not all! She just uploaded a mixed bunch of spring beads made into a Flower Power necklace on her Flickr site

Mix and match polymer

Cute, cute, cute. The pattern mix-and-match on Hila Bushari’s recent beads makes me want to pull out all the small remnants of my canes and make some big round beads.

Look at the ginghams and polka dots, stripes and little flowers! She combines the patterns and colors together in a trendy, carefree way that makes it look easy.

The translation of her post indicates that Hila leaned on her Israeli cane-whiz friends Marcia Tzigelnik and Ronit Golan to supplement her supply of canes.

Great idea! Recruit friends to bring their canes and have a bead making gathering. You make beads and do a little studio spring cleaning at the same time. It’s a win-win!

Win-winning reminder

While you’re playing (and win-winning), remember to extrude a few patterns and send snapshots of your creations my way. I’m collecting entries for a Spring Push competition and prizes. Attach your photo to an email and send it in. The deadline is April 16 with winners announced April 18.

Three winners will be featured on PCDaily and pictured in our next ad in The Polymer Arts magazine. Strut your stuff! Email your entry.

Polymer mood beads

These beads from Indiana’s Beth Ann Hoover will reflect your mood. She offers a whole series of Mirage polymer beads that include heat sensitive liquid crystals that change color.

How does Beth Ann do this? Does she add ink? Film? Paint? What’s your guess? Will she divulge her secret? Looking at these beads may put you in a curious mood (that’s yellow). Here she is on Facebook and Pinterest. What mood have you chosen for this week?

Correction: Thanks to all who quickly noted that these are manufactured hollow polymer beads that Beth Ann is distributing. My bad, I misunderstood and I rarely venture to wholesale bead sites. Problem is I’m still intrigued as to how this is done. So the question remains. Color my mood “red” with embarrassment.

Polymer dots and dashes

Veronique Hoffmann’s polymer dots blink down a row of dashes of Skinner blends in spring colors.

She has experimented broadly and when she concentrates on geometry (like this one) or fabrics (one of my favorites), Veronique really shines.

She tucks lots of texture tricks and tutorials into her Flickr (and Flickrock) sites.

If you’re in the mood for simple and striking, checkout her recent work and have a lovely weekend.

Blooming stone polymer

“This polymer clay necklace called How the Stone Blooms was made for and inspired by an outfit of my friend and great fashion designer Jana Minarikova,” says Prague’s Eva Haskova.

Graduated black and white patterns and subtle designs flow around this long lariat style necklace that billows into flower shapes at its ends.

If you log into the Fler site, you can vote for Eva’s entry into their online design contest. Hers is entry #10.

Here’s Eva’s site but her most recent works show up on her Facebook page where you can follow her as she travels and teaches around Europe. You can also read about Eva in Polymer Clay Global Perspectives.

Where in the polymer world

Christi Friesen invites you to join her as she travels around the world teaching from now until December. Don’t worry about tickets or accommodations, Christi brings the flavor of her travel to your computer chair. She offers projects, prizes, free stuff, souvenirs and a glimpse of each venue.

“I looked at my teaching schedule and realized that I was pretty much going on a world tour, visiting every continent except South America. So many of you come along with me by attending classes or by following my adventures on Facebook that an official World Tour was in order!” says Christi.

You will need a passport and it’s available on the World Tour site along with all the details. This enthusiastic and energetic polymer professional will take you on a journey of discovery.

The Orca Potlach Box (pictured here) is the first project of the tour. It’s part of the San Juan Island workshop and was inspired by the First Nation peoples.

Blooming Idiots

Blooming Idiots from Kentucky’s Keven Carlton are perfect for April Fools Day.

Leslie Blackford sent the photo along and I couldn’t find a link for Keven other than Facebook. If you know where she hides online, let me know. (Here she is! Thanks Ginger Allman.)

Then I hopped over to Jody Travous Nee’s site for more polymer puns – a shotgun wedding cake topper, road kill, a can of worms. Jody hears a pun and starts sculpting.

Humor may be one of polymer’s best possibilities. Happy April 1.

‹ 1 2