The Netherlands’ Jeanine van der Linde (Argilo) makes her big dark polymer beads look warm next to the chunks of aluminum tube in her latest work.
The polymer has a rich mottled patina that contrasts with the hard aluminum spacers.
Is it the jaunty angles bumping into each other that gives the necklace its energy?
Go to Jeanine’s Flickr and Facebook pages to follow her. She likes to experiment.
With strong women so necessary these days, Debbie Jackson’s striking portrait of a Nubian woman in polymer expresses the sentiment we’re looking for. Clearly defined, unabashed woman.
The brooch is part of Debbie’s new mudcloth collection that she’ll unveil at the upcoming NOBO show in Ohio.
Women figure prominently in Debbie’s new series. You can sample it on Facebook.
A pick-me-up for Monday from Argentina’s Sandra Pulgar. Her Contradictoria Eva necklace done in polymer and silver was inspired by Eva Duarte Perón and is part of the Women show at the 1 Latin American Biennial of contemporary jewelry in Buenos Aires.
This video of the opening puts you right in the middle of a lively event.
See more on Facebook and thanks to Laura Tabakman for the link.
Due to my grandmothering schedule, PCD will not be published for a few days.
“I cross my fingers for your and my country,” Istanbul’s Alev Gozonar wrote to me this week as we all brace for change.
Alev’s response to the serious tension in Turkey has been to create art for the Contemporary Istanbul 2016 show last weekend. One hundred large pieces covered in polymer are required for a game Alev calls Q-Bo. Click on the photos for the scale of Alev’s 100 installation pieces.
The tongue-in-cheek game reduces tension and boredom. It’s perfect for the US election day. Roll the dice and hope for the best. There’s more on Facebook and Alev’s site.
Remember that there are others all over the world in turmoil. An art project is often an effective outlet for stress.
Meredith Dittmar adds art to her fence with polymer. She’s mostly creating with paper these days – wonderful, intricate sculptures.
Every so often she integrates a sculpture or uses polymer for structure on one of her airy assemblages. See if you can find them on her Instagram or her site.
On the fence? No excuses. Go vote!
Then decorate your fence.
Australia’s Sabine Speisser (papagodesign) is pleased with how her online class with Christine Dumont and Donna Greenberg propelled her polymer work forward.
This 7″x 9″ vessel, a Microcosm of Micro-organisms, was created in Voila’s Creative Design Series. Sabine’s dense patterns quiver with energy and life force.
“Guided outside influence and critique opens us up to many more possibilities beyond one’s comfort zone,” says Sabine. Read more of her comments on Facebook and follow her on Flickr.
Ready to stretch your boundaries?
This striped free-form hollow bead necklace from London’s Carol Blackburn certainly brightens our week!
Carol has an absolutely magical and ingenious way of creating these patterns. She often cuts and reassembles simple stripes into more complex geometric forms (see her Chop and Change workshop) but the stripes also look gorgeous on their own.
See examples of her stripe manipulations on Flickr and catch up with her latest on Facebook.
Italy’s Alessia Bodini used colored pencils to give these hollow polymer beads their vibrancy.
Surface treatments on polymer are becoming more plentiful (see yesterday’s pastels) and more interesting as artists take more painterly approaches to our small canvases. You can follow Alessia’s experiments on Facebook and Flickr.
Have paints and pencils showed up in your toolbox?
With pan pastels on polymer all the rage, Virginia’s Page McNall offers us a free and easy way of combining pastels and texture. Best of all, her method also uses scrap clay.
In a quick visual tutorial, she shares her way of making the rippled polymer veneers for her Sunset on the Water pendant.
