Beyond the brooch

At 14″ x 14″ x 3.5″, this multi-media piece from Santa Fe’s Tory Hughes is no brooch.

Skipping Over Winter Except the Solstice is a new work for the wall and it’s a small scale sample of a new and even larger series.

Tory’s works are always filled with echoes of travel and sprinkled with shimmer and hints of the East.

Her summer teaching schedule is filling up and she’ll take off for Australia to teach in September and October. You can travel along with her on Instagram, Facebook and her site.

Musical polymer

Leonini makes music on PolymerClayDaily.com

Look closely at the flipped up edges of the circles in Cecelia Leonini’s necklace. The curls tease and taunt us like the flip of a woman’s hem in an old movie. They offer a peek at something more.

Cecilia’s hot, bright colors come from growing up in Tuscany and living in Sienna, Italy. She taught piano for many years until she ran into a Skinner blend on the internet.

“I found in polymers the same vibrations, sounds and colors of the earth and music. For me the clay is the synthesis of all the arts that I love,” she says.

Cecelia offers an array of energetic, asymmetric jewelry on Flickr, Facebook and Instagram which she sells on FoltBolt and Etsy.

If your art made music, what would it sound like?

Spring finery in polymer

New polymer purses for spring from Kathleen Dustin appeared just in time for the Smithsonian Craft Show April 26-30. See the other new additions on her Instagram and Facebook. (David Forlano and Steven Ford will also be at the Smithsonian show.)

These designs continue a couple of Kathleen’s series. At the left is her Tribal Circus Purse that continues a combination of carved areas with bands of textile-like patterns.

Below is her Scratch Purse that has a more painterly feel with areas of sgrafitto and panels of patterns.

If you want a closer look at how Kathleen explores and experiments, sign up for her class at Metalwerx (Boston) in May or CreativeArtsFest (Laurel, MD) in June.

Still spinning

Yesterday we spiraled extrusions around an egg. Today we watch Germany’s Jana Lehmann (Feeliz) as she winds around the centers of her series of Spiral brooches.

The colors blend into each other as the layers build. White dots and black and white accents provide a diversion from the strong colors.

Jana’s debuted a series of graphic dolls that are also decorated with spirals made of subtly blended colors.

You can catch Jana on Facebook and Flickr. Don’t miss the pen/pendants before you go spinning off to your weekend.

And if you’d like an even closer look at what happened in polymer clay art this week, join us over at StudioMojo for the inside scoop in the weekend newsletter.

Good eggs

Parshikova's easter egg on PolymerClayDaily.com

If you’ve been resisting the whole Easter egg thing, the eggs from Russia’s Tatiana Parshikova (SeventhHeaven) may change your mind.

Mix your palette and load up the extruder. Spiral the the strings of extruded clay and let yourself snake around and doodle in the in-between spaces.

Tatiana Parshikova doodles with extruded polymer on an egg on PolymerClayDaily.com

Tatiana knows how to create drama with her striking colors. PCD has featured her before here and here.

Take a closer look at the accents and inclusions on Tatiana’s Instagram. It’ll be fun and a lot less calories than a chocolate rabbit.

Fantasy shopping at ACC

What would you pick if money were no object and you found yourself transported to a Ford/Forlano booth? What would you choose?

Here’s my pick, a Stacked Pin made of polymer and sterling. It measures 2 3/4 x 4 3/4 x 1?.

The brooch’s graphic elements are filled with echoes of the old CityZenCane work from the 90’s. So it’s a combination of sentimental and trendy.

What would you choose and why? It’s an interesting fantasy/exercise. Their site plus Facebook and Pinterest are well stocked. Go shopping!

And if you really do want to shop, they’re set up at the ACC St. Paul craft show April 6-9. You’ll find Lindsay Locatelli and Betsy Baker there as well.

Blooming bowls

Nancy Nearing has played with polymer for 25 years. Two years ago she gave up her stressful day job, bought a tent and decided to go full bore into her art.

Nancy Nearing's blossom bowls on PolymerClayDaily.com

We’re neighbors and I can testify about how diligently Nancy services her seven galleries, produces for fairs, teaches and searches for new opportunities.

Still she makes time for coffees and guild meetings. Nancy is not a shy artist who works quietly alone. Her energy comes from groups so she rents space at the downtown Columbus Idea Foundry where she rubs shoulders with all kinds of artists who have kept her moving forward.

Her dramatic blossom bowls are one of her signature pieces. She’s found a way to securely adhere the layers of cane slices that form her bowls and she often tops each one with an air plant.

Look at Nancy’s new website, Instagram, Etsy and Facebook to see how much energy and talent she brings to her new job.

Mika’s geometry

Laurie Mika is all about triangles and diamond shapes in Inner Woven, her latest polymer mosaic which will appear in the 2017 Mosaic Arts International exhibition in Detroit from May 4 to June 15.

The piece’s geometric, almost quilted look makes it stand out from Laurie’s usual round and exotic patterns and shapes. Some of geometric shapes are set in windowed openings that reveal deeper layers. The rich colors are unmistakably Laurie’s palette.

She’s teaching this week in Santa Rosa, CA and it’s fun to check out more of her most recent cubes, crowns and mandalas class samples.

Thanks to Laurie for starting our week with opulence! See more on Instagram and Facebook.

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