Polymer Clay Daily

Alberta Einstein

Anita Benhan interprets Alberta Einstein in clay on PolymerClayDaily.com

Was Ohio’s Anita Behnen thinking of me when she designed her new line of mixed-media sculptures? White hair, dots?

Turns out she calls her new imp Alberta Einstein and the story is that learning new math has turned her hair white. (Anita’s creatures all have stories.) It’s not about me at all.

PCD shows you the latest…you won’t find this on Anita’s FB because I’m at my first in-person event since, well you know when. I forgot how energizing and exciting and exhausting these events are. That hasn’t changed.

And hats off to the new people who jumped into this group (organized by Ron Lehocky and his group). It’s brave to jump into a group of buddies who have known each other for years. Hats off to Carla Bull, Priscilla Andrews, Paula Kennedy, and Lynn Abernathy who took the first-time plunge into the Kentucky event. Being creative takes courage, jump into a group in your area.

StudioMojo will be chock full of pictures of cool, crazy, new polymer ideas from Texas to Nebraska from brave artists who ventured vaccinated into the heart of Kentucky to get their groove back. Sign up now to get tomorrow’s edition.

Masks as spirit homes

Bali’s Jon Stuart Anderson takes masks to a whole new level with this 15.8 x 9.4 x 2.8-inch beauty.

In Bali, the gods are considered to be present in all things and art-making is revered. Masks are created as beautiful ‘homes’ for the spirits and energies to dwell in when they visit the physical world.

Look at all the eyes and imagery in Jon’s mask. There are multiple colors in every cane. Even solid colors are actually made of several shades.

Look deeply at this spirit home.

Halloween hearts

Bones on Ron Lehocky's hearts? Sure! on PolymerClayDaily.com

What? We haven’t crowed about Kentucky’s Ron Lehocky for ages! This Halloween Heart feature will fix that!

Here are some of Ron’s latest with two of my favorite ingredients…dots (of course) and canes from Nebraska’s Ivy Niles (ikandyclay).

Every bone is incredibly detailed. To achieve such precision Ivy probably reduced the parts in sections. Can’t you imagine her humming,”…the hip bone’s connected to the thigh bone.. ” as she reduced and assembled these tiny, tiny guys?  (She still has a few on her Etsy site!)

Ron has recently collaborated with super-caners Jon Anderson and Jayne Dwyer for some other knock-your-socks-off hearts too. And they’re all for the Kids.

We’ll start the party this Saturday with more goblins and ghoulies and candy in Saturday’s StudioMojo. No costumes required. Sign up here.

Race: through clay and conversation

Kathleen Dustin and Donna Greenberg install New Hampshire polymer exhibit

Artists Kathleen Dustin and Donna Greenberg relax after installing an exhibit of seven black and seven white women who used artistic expression to confront the issue of race. The exhibit at the 2 Villages Art Society in Contoocook, NH opens this Saturday. Read the story and see the art here in the Concord Monitor.

Using polymer to reckon with race through art on PolymerClayDaily.com

The women have met online every other week since early 2020. Repair, despair, awaken, rise – these are some of the words that came up as we grappled with the thorny issues of racial justice in the United States. We each chose one word to illustrate in polymer.

My word was feeling and I show our members working through strong emotions. Each square is a silk photo transfer on polymer.

The exhibit begins on Saturday, runs through November 13, and will travel to other venues in 2022. More about the group on Instagram

FOLLOWFRIDAY: Kristin Vaughn

Kristin Vaughn assembles her fabric canes for her huge audience on PolymerClayDaily.com

Iowa’s Kristin Vaughn (ShopHillsideStudio) boasts about her booming polymer business. If you’ve been tracking canes that repeat in a fabric-like method you’ve probably ended up at Kristin’s site. You’ve got to have a vision, an eye-pleasing palette, and scads of small graphic canes to make this work. Kristin has all of that.

She’s been working with polymer for 6 years and has a whopping 141,000 followers. I can’t fathom that. Kristin welcomes your mucking about in her site where you can watch her assemble these babies.

It’s Friday! Consider this post an invite to join us for our StudioMojo Happy Hour on Saturday. I’d love to pop my flashy, chatty roundup of the best in polymer in your inbox. Come dish with us.

Switch blades

Nadege Honey swaps blades for a change on PolymerClayDaily.com

Is your wavy blade feeling neglected? Is it calling to you from the back of a crowded drawer?

UK’s Nadege Honey gives ho-hum stripes some zig-zag pizazz by setting the straight blade aside and using a wavy one instead as she creates a slab of pattern.

Not rocket science but a welcome change.

FOLLOWFRIDAY: Byunamofficial

ByUnaMOfficial creates designs with an eye to her future on PolymerClayDaily.com

Your artist’s eye is probably drawn to leaves at this time of year. If so, you’ll want to spend some time on our pick for FOLLOWFRIDAY: Byunamofficial

At the end of a wild google goose chase, it turns out that these sophisticated luminous earrings are created by Una. She’s a 15-year old who creates in Sweden. She started with origami in 2015 and gravitated to polymer. Una wants to be the next Chanel.

The juxtaposition of the irregular shapes cleverly mimics leaves falling. The striated patterns add to the leafy effect and she envisions them in a range of metallic sheens and colors. You’ll want to follow this young designer.

In this week’s StudioMojo, we’ll discuss an intriguing theft, a no-fail glue, a must-try class. I keep my ear to the ground and my nose to the grindstone for your Saturday morning enjoyment. Join the party.