Interrupted polymer

Jeff Dever’s luscious leaf, bulb and petal shapes echo the bright lilies and foliage in painter Marquita Fowler’s oil on linen panels. The 2012 collaboration is called Triptych Interrupted and stretches 76″ wide.

Jeff’s website has languished for years (we all know this feeling) and he’s recently launched a beautiful site that gathers his works and gives you a wonderful overview. The site primarily represents the last ten years of Jeff’s 20+ years working with polymer.

You’ll want to set aside some special time to savor all his galleries. Jeff’s also on Facebook. (My site’s alarm clock didn’t set properly…hence the lateness.)

Finding closure

Clasps and closures are always hot topics at polymer events. A clever design integration that works is the goal and Baltimore’s Linda Loew (she only has a private presence on Facebook) seemed to be heading in a promising direction with this rough, raw necklace.

The two ends with fixed beads simply slide through the focal bead in both directions. The catch is that the cable must fit over the wearer’s head. It’s a WIP.

Time to empty the suitcase and return the art supplies to the studio.

Elevating the bowl

I’m itching to get back to work as my week at camp winds down. All week long the humble little polymer bowl has been on our minds and work surfaces. Lynda Gilcher built several prototype wire bases to elevate her little vessels.

Bowls are on the rise. I’ll leave you with that and report more when I return home next week.

Lynda’s teaching at the French Lick gathering this summer and her Ohio shop (online here) carries some tool gems. Enjoy your weekend.

Scrap habits

While we’re focused on ways of working, I noticed that Emily Squires Levine accumulates her cane slices and in a designated scrap bowl and at the end of each studio session, she makes coasters from the day’s surplus.

Clay that isn’t used in the coaster collage is blended into backing to add thickness. What a good way to get rid of scraps regularly so that they don’t nag at you from an ugly pile that clutters the studio.

See more of Emily’s studio here and on Flickr.

Silk road

Julie Eakes (yesterday’s artist) is more than a one trick pony. While she’s drawn to mosaic portraits, she’s also a cane magician who’s been collaging her canes and patterns into a new Silk Road series of brooches and bangles.

Julie was intrigued by Meisha Barbee’s process of spreading out a big selection of component canes and colors on her work surface and then happily composing works from the array of choices in front of her.

Julie built up her own stash of stripes, colors and textile canes from which she’s building her new collection.

Verklempt polymer

The heart guy, Ron Lehocky, admitted that he was shocked and verklempt at the gift Julie Eakes presented him as we celebrated his having made 30,000 polymer heart pins to support the Kentucky Kids Center. Julie mounted heart cane slices on a 24″ x 28″ canvas to form a mosaic portrait.

Julie ran the photo of Ron through her mosaic software program to determine the basic design. She then made 9 heart canes in varying shades of pink, surrounding them with either black or white backgrounds. She baked the canes and sliced them while they were warm so as not to distort the squares. The mosaic required about 2,400 slices and Julie has the blisters to prove it.

What a fitting tribute to the guy who warms the hearts of so many. Here’s a recent video of Ron on local tv. See more of Julie’s work on her site and on Facebook.

Modern quilt polymer

My tablemate, Libby Mills put on her prototype necklace so that I’d have a Monday post. The design is inspired by the Modern Quilt movement and is part of Libby’s larger collection.

A lack of internet at last night’s hotel has slowed me down but we’ve got strong signal in Virginia so we’re back!

See more Libby on Flickr, Facebook and her site.

Butterfly class

Quebec’s Claire Maunsell will construct these butterfly beads, hollow joining elements and clasp this Saturday (May 9) live online in her Elusory Leaves class on Craftcast. (Her first international class at Galerie Friesleben was a big hit.)

A hot glass artist for decades, Claire embraced polymer because it offered color, malleability and portability. She happily left the heat and heavy equipment behind. Because of her experience with glass Claire approaches polymer with a fresh perspective, stretching, moving and coloring the medium very differently.

She has several ways of making hollow beads (one in my book) and her most simple stacked hollow bead photo tutorial is still my favorite.

If you look at Claire’s ideas on Pinterest, on Flickr and on her blog, you’ll begin to grasp her aesthetic – organic, ethereal, dark – and begin to appreciate her skill and creativity. Craftcast classes are recorded so that you can revisit the instructions whenever you need to.

Polymer flutters

There’s something appealing about a design that’s been boiled down to its essence.

Arden Bardol’s Flutter brooches rely on bold repeating triangle shapes and subtle shades. No fancy techniques or tricky tools required.

Companion cane slices peeking out of the middles and circles strew on the petals move our eyes around the form.

Can you tell that Arden was trained as an architect? Her work is very much about geometry and structures, how they work together, how they delight.

These new designs and other never before seen pieces will be unveiled at her trunk show on May 9. See more new work on her Facebook page and on Artful Home.

Baking bees

Melissa Terlizzi also interprets nature in polymer with her bee colony. She was inspired by the Victor Hugo quote, “Life is a flower for which love is the honey…” and says the piece is almost like sunshine in a box for her.

On her Facebook page and on Flickr she shares photos of her work in progress and tells how she created her swarm.

Is Mother Nature speaking to you in the language of polymer this spring?

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