Polymer Clay Daily

Stronger together earrings

See how Miss Peppy Handmade and her Aussie colleagues are stronger together on PolymerClayDaily.com

Here’s another helping of Australian goodies from Perth’s Lisa (Miss Peppy Handmade). These birdie earrings are made from Skinner blends stacked in alternating layers of light-to-dark. Carving reveals the underlying colors.

A bunch of Aussie artists gathered together for a Stronger Together giveaway. As they explain, “We don’t have to think of each other as competitors, we can also be each others’ best advocates, cheerleading squads, sounding boards. We are stronger together because empowered women empower other women.”

And the best discovery is that we have until July 21 to sign up (add your comment) for their giveaway. Uh-oh, you have to have an Australian postal address. Bummer, but an uplifting project nonetheless.

Abstract earrings

Pickled Ginger makes wearable abstract paintings on PolymerClayDaily.com

A visit to Bonnie Gilmore’s Hatching Sparrows led me to the mother lode of Australian polymer artists. We may have to mine this all week.

But I digress. These merrily collaged earrings are from Fee’s Pickled Ginger though they’re mostly sold out.

Pickled Ginger makes wearable abstract paintings on PolymerClayDaily.com

Flat thin cutouts of leaves and feathers are bunched with brightly patterned narrow slivers that hang from a dot.

It must be like wearing a moving abstract painting.

A nudge for swap items

Lynn Yuhr's leaves for a swap raise the bar on PolymerClayDaily.com

I’m smitten with these modern collaged leaves from Florida’s Lynn Yuhr. The gradations, the canes, the painted details on her slightly cupped leaves can’t be missed.

These are some of Lynn’s swap items for an upcoming retreat and they raise the bar for the rest of the participants who are still mulling over what to make.

We try to stay away from competitiveness but it creeps in whether we like it or not. A nudge like this one from Lynn makes for an exciting swap.

Light touch polymer

Iris Mishly cuts layered and collaged veneers into pendants on PolymerClayDaily.com

These pendants-in-process from Israel’s Iris Mishly are created with cutouts made from veneers layered with stenciled designs that are chalked then inked and finally coated with resin. The resin hasn’t yet been added in this photo.

Especially when the weather is warm and the clay is sticky, these light-touch techniques give you summertime options. See Iris’ stencils on Etsy.

How do you keep yourself working in good weather and bad? In tomorrow’s StudioMojo we’ll be talking to Anita Long (Nee.Nee.Ree) about what her persistence through a 100-day challenge taught her. Join us!

Sweet bell earrings

Kate Lee Foley's see-through bell earrings on PolymerClayDaily

Australia’s Kate Lee Foley gives us sweet innocence with pastel gradations on bell earrings. Flat two-sided cutouts with curved edges wrap around and overlap to form a soft cone shape.

Circular holes cut out of the polymer let light through as the earrings dangle. Simple and sweet.

Summertime polka dots

Doing the perfect polka dot on PolymerClayDaily.com

I couldn’t help myself. I spent a perfect summer day claying with friends in the neighborhood (more on that this weekend). I indulged my love of polka dots and paired them with my Matisse obsession. Soon I’ll have some to sell.

Follow Lynda Gilcher’s instructions for precise extruded dots. It requires two passes through the extruder.

Extrude each color through a circle die to get consistently sized round logs. Wrap sections of the extruded logs with your background color (I used white). Then extrude that wrapped log through a square die. Assemble the squares into a cane.

Tomorrow it’s back to looking at your work instead of mine. Sometimes you need a playful diversion.

Klimt rubs off on polymer

Leanne Fergus updates Klimt with polymer on PolymerClayDaily.com

Australia’s Leanne Fergus brings a bit of inspiration from Gustav Klimt to polymer. She updates Klimt with a hint of circuit board imagery.

This square golden brooch sold quickly after she posted it on Instagram. She hadn’t even added the resin coat before it was snatched up.

The geometric textures are accented with dabs of jewel tone colors. Take in all the sparkle and movement captured under a glass-like layer of resin.

A bird in the hand

Edith Fischer Katz finds a crow in her clay on PolymerClayDaily.com

Israel’s Edith Fischer Katz’ crow cane started at about 6″ in diameter. On Instagram, you can follow her as she builds the crow and then surrounds it with shadow and background.

She fearlessly reduces the plate-size cane. Edith cut a thick slice at about this size and sculpted a 3D crow out of the slice.

Edith Fischer Katz finds a crow in her clay on PolymerClayDaily.com

What will she do with her murder of crows? (Yes, it’s a murder of crows.) We’ll have to follow her Instagram to see where this goes.

Edith usually sculpts in clay as you can see in her Facebook photos of small figures. This cane is an interesting departure.

Polymer mosaic entry

Bobbi Fraser Davis enters a local exhibit with her tiger lilies on PolymerClayDaily.com

Kentucky’s Bobbi Fraser Davis finished this lovely entry for the Louisville Artisan Guild Annual Exhibit. She shows a grouping of tiger lilies in pinks and rose colors mosaicked on a 5.5″ square shallow polymer dish in rusts and tans.

It’s time for guild shows and fair exhibits. Go ahead, jump in with your work.