At this time of year, I very much admire gardeners who can weed and prune their gardens to highlight spectacular specimens. They run to their studios to replicate them in polymer.
See how Ukraine’s Iryna Chajka suspends pansies from metal hoops.
She specializes in succulents but her pansies are outstanding.
This simple “Commits” necklace from UK’s Caroline Casswell exudes summer fun and playfulness.
Caroline admits that her inspiration comes from the famous Kapitza Studio. Their sharp geometrics influence modern design and give us wake-up colors for a Monday.
No clasps, just bright beads spaced out on a buna cord. Simple becomes sophisticated.
I meant to bring these wonderful cityscapes from Singapore’s Brenda Billy Tan (Wherabilly} to you earlier in the week.
Now they’re all sold out.
Don’t you love how the rooftop angles are boiled down to their essence? Whole cities are captured with cuts in the clay.
We missed how she turned them into earrings.
It’s hard to keep up with the progress of our artform! See all the goodies that I couldn’t stuff into PCD in the weekend’s StudioMojo.
You probably have some questions about how France’s Cécile Bos (11prunes) creates these delicate canes.
How big are the original canes (these seem impossibly small), what’s her inspiration?
Cecile intends to mix up these canes. The white background surrounding each of them ensures that she can combine the elements into a larger botanical image.
Here’s a previous similar cane to give you an idea where she’s headed. Cecile brings a fabric designer’s sensibility to polymer. We are used to kaleidoscoping and repeating designs. These are complex canes from a different perspective.
This is the final 8″x8″ wood panel in a series of four from Italy’s Alessia Bodini.
The mixed-media grouping is called “The Genesis of Euphoria and Discouragement: Circular Work in Four Squares “.
In the final square, the extruded strips come undone, unraveled…but in a joyous, freed way. The surfaces of the extruded strips are shaved to reveal more depth of color.
It’s kinda like our lives right now….coming unraveled in what we hope are interesting ways. If you search Alessia on PCD you can track some of the unusual, quirky ways she plays with clay. Here she is on Instagram.
Marni Southam from Australia’s Oleander Avenue hosted the FriClay challenge last week. The topic was Shibori and these are the canes she came up with to illustrate the concept. They’re a fresh, Aussie, updated Shibori.
My eye keeps getting snagged by canes. I tidied my laundry room/pandemic studio. I feel a tug on my sleeve from my inner little girl artist plaintively saying, “It’s only two colors. We could try this.” She really wants to play. It’s time to let her/us have some fun.
Do you have a younger-you asking for some playtime?
Let’s ease into the week with eye candy from Poland’s Anna Nel.
She makes her mokume gane slices look tempting. “How hard could it be?” we ask ourselves.
Make a thin pad of colored layers, Poke some textures, and slice off the top to reveal Monday magic.
I hope your Monday surprise is as delicious as this one.
Don’t go looking for this exquisite dragon from Jon Stuart Anderson. It’s already gone and yes, there are problems with the site but let’s focus on the bigger picture.
We’re coming up on Father’s Day and the site is being handled by Jon’s daughter. Transitions are sometimes difficult. I like the story of father and daughter getting back together, no matter how messy. Let’s just sit with that for a moment.
Jon’s pigs and bowls are available. He is a character. Brilliant but not easy. Jon has wormed his way into our hearts and he has a loyal staff in Bali who can execute the wild ideas in Jon’s head when his health is challenged. You’ll find him on his site, on his daughter’s and on Facebook. Be patient. Happy Fathers Day.
Here’s my interview with Debbie Jackson from last week’s StudioMojo. We often talk about color in polymer but we rarely broach the subject of the black experience. The conversation will be on-going. We’ll settle for easier news items in StudioMojo this week. But don’t get too comfy, we’ve got work to do.
Their legs gallop as Russia’s Galka Vasina’s creatures romp across your shirt.
Nothing fancy here. Cutouts, textures, fun colors. Layers of polymer stacked up. It’s the movement that really rings our chimes.
How can something so simple be so satisfying? Why question it? It works!
Florida’s Lynn Yuhr (the FlyingSquirrelStudio) explores liquid polymers. “What if?” is her guiding principle.
In this case, Lynn dotted, painted and stamped liquid polymer over thin translucent. She wanted the metal grid behind the veneer to show through so she used a light touch and kept the patterns sparse with plenty of translucent showing.
The piece at right is the start of the veneer.
You may have seen this 2019 video before, it’s Lynn in her early liquid polymer exploration. She’s on day 63 of her 100-day 2020 excursion
