PCD will be on travel schedule this week since I’m catching up on the latest twists in polymer at the Virginia conference. I can’t sit still long enough to write so posts will appear from time to time.
Surface decoration is still all the rage and just when you thought you’d seen it all, Karen Woods demos some alcohol tricks (click at left) on unbaked clay or Anita Kennerly and Joey Barnes show off new pigment powders they found.
PCD usually avoids talking about products since new polymer tools have been known to raise heart rates and lead to marital discord. I’m breaking my own rule to suggest you look at the PRO Slicer that has just gone into production.
Ontario’s Gail Garbe and her engineer husband Manfred travel the country in their RV for a good portion of the year. Gail sells her Nifty Stuff at art fairs and other stops along the way. Size is always an issue when you’re working on the road so Gail was looking for something smaller than the coveted and now scarce Simmons slicer.
The new PRO slicer that her husband designed has a 4″x4″x4″ work area and weighs 5.6lbs. See it in action on YouTube. This instrument will cut polymer paper-thin. The $650 price tag reflects the cost of its precision parts. The first small run sold out quickly and a second batch is due in July. Here are the specifications.
Gail says that the downside of the project is that filling orders may keep the couple at home.
If the PRO slicer whets your appetite but doesn’t suit your needs, there’s a free I LOVE TOOLS online party coming up on Craftcast on May 23. Alison Lee loves tools…and parties. See what she’s dug up for her 13th tools show.
An interesting sculpture? A grouping of succulents? Nope! This is a Mother’s Day bonanza of wooden utensils with polymer-covered handles. You know how moms love it when you gift something that’s both handmade and utilitarian.
Venezuela’s NinaStudioCaracas specializes in wooden cooking utensils and tableware embellished with polymer. Here they are on Instagram.
We’ve stirred up a delicious bunch of tips, tools, and trends for Saturday’s StudioMojo. And this week you’ll consider what your art has done for you lately. Fun stuff! Join us.
This grouping of Village Women from Virginia’s Elissa Farrow Savos was destined for Gallery C in Raleigh, N.C. Elissa captured them on her new Instagram page before they left for the art gallery.
Their pensive expressions pull us in for a deeper look as we approach Mothers Day in the midst of #metoo. She hints at their stories here.
Ellisa says, “As I sculpt, I push the polymer clay past its intended size and boundaries, then incorporate found objects, and finally paint the baked clay with layers of oils.”
The overview of her women and all their stories on Artsy.com is fascinating. Learn more from this PolymerArtArchive post and see her in the Polymer Art: Recent Acquisitions show at the Racine Art Museum until June 24.
Texas’ Deb Hart is cooking up a tutorial for her rainbow pixelated cane. Here she’s turned the cane into bangles of extruded tube beads curved to ride comfortably on the wrist.
The edges of the squares in the cane glow and accentuate each color. Look on Facebook and Etsy to see where Deb goes next with her cane tricks.
A few more circles and Croatia’s Nikolina Otrzan (Orson’s world) could be building her own polymer Olympic logo with her Texture Play series of circle pins!
Let’s hope she’s building a tutorial to show us how she achieves the painterly textures and loose patterns.
Nik is certainly in the Polymer Olympics when it comes to pushing the boundaries. She’s created 26 rich, dense tutorials, each with an AHA moment that comes from ceaseless playing around. Keep a close eye on her on Facebook.
A quick wave from Spain’s Miryam Garcia Mardones (dinkyartesania) and her friends. Note that Miryam’s finger puppets are built on thimbles.
I wasn’t quite ready for Monday so you’ll have to figure out the construction details. Clever!
She also carries some great looking tiny clay cutters in her Etsy shop. She shows her work on Flickr.
Ontario’s Lyn Tremblay completed these small tiles at the recent Morrisburg Polymer Clay Retreat. The colors on the wonderfully textured beach-like triptych are enhanced with pan pastels. See more on Facebook.
Deep conversation with house guests (and maybe that glass of wine) made me forget all about writing a post for Friday! PCD is a wee bit slow today.
Luckily my meandering assortment of discoveries, links, and ideas for Saturday’s StudioMojo is already composed. Join us for some lovely weekend morsels to savor and explore.
Today we examine close shades of extruded ribbons of green polymer wrapped around ultralight core beads.
Again easy and effective techniques that rely on color and repetition. No overworking or overthinking. Leaching or cooling the clay accentuates the ragged edges of the flattened extruded strings.
These spring beads are from Moscow’s Juliya Laukhina and you’ll find more of her delicate, natural way with color on her Instagram and Etsy sites. (The beads are already on their way to a customer in Connecticut.)
Sometimes we make our creations more complex than they need to be when simple can be so effective.
I know, I know, this necklace of concave beads from Italy’s Graziella Spina and Laura Pagani (TacchiDadieDatteri) is super simple.
So why do I return to it again and again? I like how the colors are so slightly different and the shapes are wonky and fingerprinted.
These two women are both healthcare workers who met years ago and started a business recycling their stash of fabrics scraps and jewelry parts which are often given new life by combining them with polymer,
The story is a happy one and their pieces somehow communicate fun and friendship. It’s their confidence that captivates. Wouldn’t you like to sprinkle more confidence around in your studio? Follow TacchiDadieDatteri on Instagram and Flickr.
