Do you have a thing for opals? Me too. The flash of color, the mystery. In college, as I gestured enthusiastically my hand brushed against a stucco wall and my opal Christmas ring shattered. That got me started.
Melbourne’s Leanne Fergeus (leannefergeusart) has explored the alchemy of polymer opals. She’s still experimenting and she’s mighty close.
Colorado’s Lindsay Locatelli was trained in woodworking. So what does she do with polymer? She carves it! She experiments and fools around and has fun.
Here she turns her horned friends into post earrings. Picture yourself wearing these at your next party. Getting a few looks? Uh-huh.
If you’re more of a dog person, try on her Shelties.
Join other serious clay freaks over at StudioMojo every Saturday. If you’re itching to get beyond your comfort zone and bored with what’s trendy, come on over. We’ll show you some exciting, edgy stuff that will stretch your brain and make you the belle of the ball.
Ashley’s one-year-old daughter was probably interested in the yummy cake. But I did a little “awww” and admired her clever polymer cake topper made from extruded strings. (The cake looks good to me too.)
That’s Ashley (HeyLetsClay) from Oregon. She excels at colors and the softest, dreamiest blends. And she’s right, her daughter is even cuter than the cake.
This framed 4″ polymer tile from Australia’s Leah Radlett (leaha_radlett) is entitled A Mother’s Prayer. The shades of gray and intense gaze feel solemn and serious.
Leah admits she’s been troubled about mothers and their children in these tough times. Leah rolls balls of color by hand. She calls them her bubble paintings. She recently added a number of new scenes and animals in this style to her Etsy site.
It’s hard to look away from this polymer.
LA’s Nomi Isak (nomiisak) combines inclusions and translucent, layers and colors, rough edges and cutouts into a delightful bowl. Rather than carefully exploring each ingredient on its own, she gives them a whirl all at once and it works.
Nomi gets out of her own way. Sounds easy but for some of us, it isn’t.
This week’s StudioMojo is about that same concept. Now more than ever we shuffle fires, storms, wars, worries, and to-do lists into the background. How do you shove all that aside to play? Join us as we find a way.
Australia’s Bron (bombalabee) knows her birds. These are rainbow bee-eaters. Other species fly in and out of her shop – pin robins, black cockatoos, rosellas, macaws, parrots, magpies, and more.
Bron layers on polymer feathers with a birder’s eye for detail, shapes, and colors. Her website is launching this month. Welcome her.
What’s on your feeder?
A scroll through Pickled Ginger Jewellery’s Instagram will get you in the right frame of mind for a glorious weekend.
Her colors are zingy and her patterns are a happy swingy collaged jumble that yells joyfully, “Look at me!”
She’s in Australia but her vibe travels fast.
If you want even more cheery and thought-provoking delights, pop on over to StudioMojo. It brings a carefully curated selection of the finest works and brightest ideas of the week to your inbox every Saturday morning.
Minnesota’s Sherstin Schwartz (lifeofapaintbrush) turns polymer on and off.
I’ve always been fascinated by glow-in-the-dark clays and paints but have I ever tried them? No. Have you?
There she goes again, getting us all psyched with her alien flowers and otherworldly gardens. Her paints and powders are from Technoglow.
Dotted hills pull you into Minneapolis Chris Baird’s (BairdPlayWorks) latest fantasy wall piece about Miss Strange and her open bag as she journeys up through the hills.
The caption reads, “Dear Miss Strange: Will you come up here on the sixth of September and stay until the sixteenth? It would give us all the greatest pleasure.”
Chris is returning to a style she used to create in wood and trying it in polymer.
Keep an eye on Ellen Marshall whose angular, lustrous work is being featured this week on The Gathering7and7 on Instagram and here on Facebook.
Ellen is one of seven black and seven white artists who formed a group dedicated to courageous conversations about racism in the polymer clay community and beyond.
We’ve been meeting online for a year and a half to discover our commonalities and our differences. It’s been a fascinating and sometimes uncomfortable exploration.
Truth Be Told, an exhibit of the members’ works will open in October. Follow us as we work our way forward.
We’ve got a yummy, wide-ranging lineup of artists in this week’s StudioMojo. New works will dazzle you and we’ve unearthed a tutorial that will wow.
Pop on over and have a look-see.
