New ceramics

Pan pastels, improved crackle techniques and better glazes are making it harder and harder to tell polymer from ceramics.

This square pendant from Michigan’s Christi Uliczny proves my point. The only clue that this pendant is polymer might be its vibrant colors.

Christi credits Iris Mishly and Hilla Bushari’s imitative ceramic tutorials with teaching her the basics. See how Christi brings her own color sensibility to the pieces on her Etsy, Flickr and Facebook pages.

Love the depth and warmth of ceramic glazes? You can mimic them in polymer. No kiln required.

Seashore polymer

The Netherland’s Eveline Klootwijk-Barten (CreaLine) cracks us up with her all-too-real ladies at the beach. Look at those smooth skin tones, those relaxed poses, those ample thighs! You can tell that she’s laughing with, not at, these ladies of leisure.

Eveline has put together an impressive list of weekly classes and frequent workshops and has organized two FIMO events. She’s been working in polymer since 1994 so she comes by her impressive sculpting skills honestly.

Take a look at her site and Facebook to see all the people she’s introduced to polymer and catch her enthusiasm.

Transforming canes

Meg Newbergs’ transforming cane shifts colors like a treasured and worn carpet. What’s one cane looks like many.

It’s difficult to comprehend how the simple canes she constructs can reduce to be so complex. She’s got a great grasp of geometry and she sends out pages of pictures and explanations of a new idea each month.

If you enjoy caning, her monthly subscription is a good deal. This transforming cane is August’s lesson.

Meg allows me to teach some of her designs to inmates who are delighted each time they follow her clear instructions. Not many tools are required and even the newest caners can experience success. Here she is on her site and Etsy.

Fish and waves

Victoria’s Wanda Shum entered this dimensional Fish & Waves polymer-over-glass vase into the Sooke Fine Arts show that runs from now until August 1. The show is Vancouver Island’s longest-running juried fine art show and the island’s premier summer arts event.

Over her 18 years working with polymer Wanda has become expert at caning, often pushing canes from 2D slices to 3D sculptures and jewelry. Read about her on her website and then hop over to her Instagram page to see more of her collection.

You won’t want to miss Wanda’s signature cane and her alphabet canes. She offers unusual stainless steel and polymer chopsticks on her Etsy site. You’ll also find her on Facebook and Pinterest.

Double duty polymer bail

Syndee Holt tweaks Jan Montarsi’s easy polymer bails to get double use out of a brooch/pendant.

Syndee added a small hole at the bottom of Jan’s domed circle bail design which allows it to accommodate a pin that slides diagonally from the top hole to the new bottom hole for a brooch. Or slide a cord through the top two holes to wear the piece as a pendant.

Jan makes his bail on a domed form and uses liquid polymer to adhere it to the brooch. You’ll find more examples and clever adaptations on Flickr,

See more of Syndee’s innovations on her Pinterest site and on Facebook.

50% off sale

My extruder disk sets and Helen Breil’s stamps and screens are all deeply discounted only on the KazuriWest site starting today (while quantities last).

Scratchy polymer sea star

This use of Angela Schwer’s (DillyPad) polymer Sea Star wall tile isn’t really fair because it has great movement and texture in its monochrome simplicity.

What’s not fair is that today it feels like something similar is scratching the back of my throat. I guess international travel was more stressful than I thought.

So go look at the cool organic shapes Angela comes up with while I recuperate.

Lingering Euro vibes

This jewel-encrusted polymer bead from Monica Rotta keeps my European vibe going even after I’m back in the USA.

Rich textures are topped with metal caps and faceted red beads like a sundae with juicy cherries.

Monica’s booth setup in Italy makes me sigh at her easy euro-elegance. She uses picture frames, hangers, and even astro-turf to show off her wares.

Visit her Facebook photos and breathe in the Tuscan air. There’s more on Pinterest and Instagram for your Italian interlude.

Layers of complexity

Kathryn Corbin’s pieces in the sales gallery at EuroSynergy had usual touches – epoxy sculpted findings (for strength), tube beads with windows, heavily textured beads made of white polymer and colored only with pastels and crayons. Her pieces have a mysterious depth and complexity.

The tube beads are rolled (not extruded) to emphasize their handmade quality. The window in the larger diameter tube reveals another bead underneath (click to see the details on the blue beads below). Recently Kathryn added a gauzy nude portrait brooch (pastel again) that floats on a sharp geometric base.

It was great fun to pal around with Kathryn who’s from Massachusetts and speaks French. She’s not very flashy online. You have to prowl around in Facebook to discover her treasures.

Challenging polymer forms

The Challenge exercises tackled by participants at EuroSynergy in Bordeaux netted some of the most exciting developments at the 2016 conference.

French scientist/artist Agnes Dettai shares her exciting 3D challenge research in a post that may mystify you. Using water soluble clay (PlayDoh) as a resist and limiting herself to one bake, she creates polymer forms that look impossible to construct.

Working with hollow forms and negative spaces has long intrigued her. Examine her results on Flickr. Agnes asks only that you share your further 3D exploits and discoveries with her.

Here are some of her pod form ready for a 2-hour baking. Once cured, the water soluble parts (purple) are washed away. Read about Agnes’ successes and failures along the way and add your own ideas to the challenge.

Sporadic polymer

PCD posts will range from sporadic to non-existent this week as we delight in the riches of EuroSynergy2 in Bordeaux, France. Please check back in from time to time. We are re-energizing.

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