Sumptuous Color

As you contemplate turning the page into 2017 let’s look ahead to Synergy4 next August. The theme is appropriately, A New Leaf.

I’m helping Lindly Haunani spruce up her website for the new year with exciting concepts that she’ll be teaching at Synergy4.

Lindly’s Sumptuous Sagacious Color class will teach you five useful strategies that you can use to enhance harmony. You’ll learn how to create blends and patterns scaled for smaller pieces with dramatic effect.

These sophisticated blends relate gently with each other. See more on her site and sign up early to learn the newest twists and turns of color in polymer. Keep up with Lindly on Facebook.

Raise a glass to turning over a new leaf this weekend! Happy New Year!

Memories in polymer

A sad sweet moment from Seattle’s Leah Lazy (LittleLazies) after the death of Carrie Fisher and then her mother.

Polymer artist Leah was all prepared with her 2″ polymer princess. After the news, Leah said, “My heart is broken…but I am happy that for some reason my heart told me to make a Little Lazies Leia this year – I’m keeping this one. Rest In Peace, Princess.”

See more of the Little Lazies on Leah’s Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Etsy. She reminds us that polymer can be good for capturing memories of all sorts.

Polymer under glass

France’s Celine Roumagnac (untempsspourever) captures quaint polymer scenes under glass – terrariums, domes, bell jars, lidded containers. Under glass she creates a world of her own. Here she preserves the snowy chill of the holiday.

Be sure to see her delicate polymer terrariums on Flickr, Facebook and Instagram.

How do you preserve memory in your work?

One more polymer present

This sweet little free tutorial is a last minute Christmas gift from Czech Republic’s Dana Phamova (Fruitensse).

She shows you how to make puffy polymer animal brooches using white polymer, some simple textures, and pan pastels (or chalks). Dana pops up on Instagram, Flickr, Facebook and Pinterest too. What a lovely gift for holiday playtime!

Festive polymer

New York’s Joan Israel celebrates Chanukah with this polymer menorah on canvas. Joan has a stash of caned, colored and textured polymer ready and waiting.

Once she finds a shapely glass bottle, she layers on slices of canes and turns them into sculptural gardens. Lately, she’s applied the same technique to canvases, painting in the background and then embellishing with polymer, inks, textures and metallics that create a rich and festive scene.

Her works are featured on her site, Instagram and Flickr.

May your holidays be filled with warmth and color.

Hanging polymer

“I must have been an elf,” says Canada’s Ken Fedoruk, “It’s the only thing that explains my affinity and passion for developing Kenfolks, an assortment of handcrafted figures that I’ve been crafting since 1989.”

But not all Ken’s figures are your typical elves and Santas – as in this sparkly ornament called Christmas Elf – Sweetie Ice Cream Swirl.

Oh, you’re going to have a good time browsing through Ken’s huge collection of polymer Christmas characters on Instagram, Facebook and the Kenfolks site.

Makes you think about the family members you might want to hang on the tree.

This elf needs to get back to her studio.

Harmonious polymer

You might not have noticed the polymer bracelet that Jane Pauley wore for this segment of CBS Sunday Morning. But the bracelet, which was made by the women in the Kindway polymer class at the Ohio Reformatory for Women, is our community’s link to a heartwarming story.

What a healing dose of holiday spirit is hidden in this short segment.

Notice that the warden, Roni Burkes, is also a member of the Harmony choir. Under her guidance the polymer, quilting, writing, dog-training and many other programs at ORW are thriving. The classes awaken creativity and allow inmates to heal and give back.

See more on the ORW Facebook page. Here’s a video that explains the programs more thoroughly. Polymer class is explained at the 3:35 mark.

Thanks to all of you who have contributed stashes of clay, unused equipment, books and tutorials and made generous donations to help the women tap into the creative spirit that we share. Happy holidays!

Staying warm with polymer

The UK’s Karen Walker (clayground) pays close attention to to textures and patterns in her fashionably dressed winter characters.

The faces may not reveal much but the plaid scarf, thermal weave, pleated pants and polka dots speak volumes.

Karen markets Cernit clay and these small figures are her specialty. Look at all the lovelies on her Facebook and Instagram.

Her free Snowman tutorial on YouTube is fun for a last-minute gift.

POLYmerHEDRA

London’s Carol Blackburn just had a birthday and it must have set her creative juices in motion! Remember her wall art from November?

Her new POLYmerHEDRA are made of colorful Skinner-blended strips baked over a form (cotton or styrofoam balls perhaps). Carol had an earlier career in knitting so she’s very at home with woven, geometric shapes.

She doesn’t include the size. Are you seeing sleek contemporary ornaments? Earrings? Beads? Let the lovely possibilities shift your brain into gear and propel you into the studio.

Whimsy for the weekend

BoingBoing featured Dayna Corbitt’s (WhimsyCalling) impossibly cute polymer clay figurines of whimsical and mythical animals.

This Olympia, WA artist quit her day job a month ago. “I found my happy place and it’s made of clay,” she says in a feature on BoredPanda. You’ll find her menagerie of real and fantasy creatures on Instagram, Facebook and Etsy.

Dayna’s Black Bear Cubs, 1 1/2″ high in their winter sweaters look ready for a chilly weekend. Enjoy it!

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