Polymer Clay Daily

Curved and pinched beads with color and texture


Carol Beal adds surface texture and color for a comfy cohesive look on PolymerClayDaily.com

Look closely at this necklace from Kansas’ Carol Beal (BeadUnsupervised) to understand the multi-colored, bubbly, bumpy surface of her beads.

Her simple shapes turn out to have a mysterious tactile quality. Low fire enamels on polymer? Textured paint? Who knows? They put me in mind of a PCD post and tutorial about chunky heishi beads by Marina Rios.

The rounded beads and pinched spacers give Carol’s necklace an appealing cohesiveness.

Tomorrow’s StudioMojo will include an interview with Lindly Haunani about how she teaches and about what she learned from her day-long session with the inmates at the Ohio Reformatory for Women. Sign up at StudioMojo.org to join us. 

A bird in the hand

Anna Oriana offers quick tutorials to help your creativity take flight on PolymerClayDaily

Russia’s Anna Oriana quickly creates a bright beautiful bird on Instagram.

Anna’s videos of miniatures are wildly popular and she shows impressive skill in her tiny artworks and her YouTube tutorials. For a quick shot of inspiration and color, try her tutorials.

Pin up polymer

Bonnie Bishoff pins up potential pieces for her newest series on PolymerClayDaily.com

As one reader commented, Maine’s Bonnie Bishoff’s pinned up work-in-progress has a little voodoo edge to it.

But mostly it’s a wonderfully smart way to figure out how a neck piece hugs the body. In what direction does your eye travel? Where do your eyes stop? What’s balanced? What’s not?

See how Bonnie has solved these riddles with the finished necklaces on her Instagram and website.

Theory meets reality

Sue Wartell's student piece from a Lindly Haunani master class on PolymerClayDaily

Our master class with Lindly Haunani exhilarated us to exhaustion. She wraps color theory and head-slapping tricks and her years of experience into a two-day blitz of information and exercises.

This piece from Ohio’s Sue Wartell is a lovely one of many examples created by students in the last couple hours of class. But more importantly, we understood the how and why of what we were doing. It’s no wonder that many students in the class were back for a second time. Learning from a polymer master is a heady experience.

My poor brain needs a well-earned rest.

Mixing spring in your hands

Clare Lloyd celebrates spring with soft seasonal colors on PolymerClayDaily.com

UK’s Clare Lloyd mixes up spring colors that make us breathe in lilacs and peonies, closing our eyes to exhale.

One of the true pleasures of polymer is the ability to create spring right in your hands. Color mixing is a particularly satisfying studio chore this weekend.

Speaking of studio chores, our class will be mixing colors galore with Lindly Haunani. What a week it was for StudioMojo research. I can’t believe how many spring goodies I found. Come on over and celebrate spring with us.

Blooming spring

Tracy Feldwick's bloom opens on PolymerClayDaily.com

How do I know spring has sprung? There are delicious colors all over including this pod from Australia’s Tracy Feldwick (Mimosa Muse on IG and Twitter)

But wait, March isn’t Spring in Australia! Ah, this was posted several months ago. That explains.

She mixes patterns inside and out. Her stamen are gaining color as they grow. Spectacular.

Spring shapes and colors

Cecilia Leonini blends inks into a spring fantasy of color on PolymerClayDaily

Thinking of spring? This pendant from Italy’s Cecilia Leonini (ImpastArte) says it all – fresh colors, delicate lines, light flowery shapes. Here she is on Instagram.

Cecilia is teaching her Comic and Chopped techniques at an April 13 workshop in Turin sponsored by Staedtler.

Cecilia Leonini blends inks into a spring fantasy of color on PolymerClayDaily

Her background is in illustration so drawing smooth blends and fine lines with inks on raw polymer suits her just fine and delights the rest of us.

Monika Busch stacks punchy colors on big hole beads on PolymerClayDaily.com

Germany’s Monika Busch (Efmoni) tells us that, ” I like to be inspired by artists like Mucha, Hundertwasser, Monet, and Klimt. The luminosity of colors and strong contrasts fascinate me.”

But you already sensed that, right?

Monika Busch stacks punchy colors on big hole beads on PolymerClayDaily.com

Monika makes big hole beads and buttons, many of them a variation on the Bettina Welker cane into which Monika injects great colors that wake up your Monday.

Mardi Gras dancing polymer

Laura Tabakman wins the prize and gets the party started with her Mardi Gras on PolymerClayDaily.com

Pennsylvania’s Laura Tabakman won both Best of Show Members’ Choice and
Best of Show Jurors’ Choice prizes in this year’s IPCA Awards competition. 

Entitled Mardi Gras, Laura’s pieces are carefully balanced so that the slightest breeze brings the party swaying to life.

The 16 separate units each have delicate polymer vessels 1/2″ to 1 1/2″ tall which are suspended on steel wires drilled into islands made of flooring material.

The units take up a 20″ x 16″ x 9″ space but the grouping can be reconfigured in many different ways.

Over at StudioMojo, we take a closer look at these and other outstanding works that inspire us. Plus we’ll cover tools, trends, and classes aimed at nurturing your creative spirit and pursuing your unique and crazy ideas.