Go bucks polymer

Never in ten years has your editor whipped up earrings for a PCD post but I live in Ohio. That means that I must post something in support of OSU’s big national championship football game tonight. My apologies to Oregon polymer fans.

The Ohio State University is relentless in quashing all copyright and design violations. They can’t own stripes, can they? While these are not great art, let’s hope this scarlet and gray interpretation contains some luck. (Quick and easy gifts are one of the reasons you got started in polymer too, right?)

My lunch companions will appreciate the free game day jewelry and I have fulfilled my obligation as a citizen of Ohio. Go Bucks!

Complex geometry

Simple geometry like Bonnie Bishoff’s can quickly move off course, take a turn and end up in the woods of Kentucky with Leslie Blackford.

Leslie loves snakes and she doesn’t see this necklace of polymer links as alarming at all. Her idea of geometry and nature may differ from yours and mine. (I snapped this picture of a piece that Leslie wasn’t sure others would appreciate.) Check out her King Snake necklaces at the bottom of this page.

Snakes pile up in the winter for warmth and mating and their patterns combine in a delightfully wearable way. She sees only the beauty of nature here.

This week of simple ideas ends on a profound and intriguing story. We see life in delightfully different ways, don’t we?

Photos to polymer

Syndee Holt took a favorite family snapshot, converted it to a sketch, printed it and transferred the image to polymer. (There are lots of sketch apps that can help those who don’t draw.) She added color with oil based pencils.

Cotton balls added behind the clay under the cheeks and the palm of the hand gave her son’s portrait soft dimension. “I wish you could see it in person, you can literally pinch those cheeks,” Syndee says. The sculpted photo was then layered onto a backing of torn-edged clay and displayed on a stand.

Is your phone full holiday photos begging to be turned into fine art?

We can all thank Donna Greenberg for masterminding the Artchain that has grown like wildfire on Facebook (#PolymerArtChallenge). Each artist posts five works and nominates five others to do the same. The exercise has started our 2015 with a big bump in the number of formerly unseen polymer works from around the globe. Like this one!

See more of Syndee on the Sculpey site, her blog, and Pinterest.

Simple geometry

Bonnie Bishoff keeps expanding her polymer jewelry line (she and her husband, J.M. Syron, are also known for their furniture and functional art). Her designs have gotten both more simple and more complex.

These recent pieces are comprised of wonky polymer-covered circles that are linked and stacked. The striped patterns vary in size and change directions with dashes of color playing against the black and white. Bonnie says that these black and white designs take her back to her woodcut days.

The new designs on her gallery page were sold at holiday shows in Boston and Washington. This one with half-filled circles is my favorite but it was too complex to silhouette for PCDaily (I’m not that crazy). The gallery is full of geometry that draws you in for a closer look.

Here’s Bonnie on Facebook and her line of shawl pins.

Fashionable geometry

Sydney’s Jayne Flanagan (nellsdottir) shows us another simple approach for 2015.

Jayne combines chunky, smooth, matte-finished shapes balanced by long tube beads. She paints repeating dots, stripes and checks on some of the beads using color and texture in spare and thoughtful ways.

Her bracelet designs mix a sturdy flat bangle shape with fat beads that look meant for teething.

No fancy tools or techniques are required for this fresh and trendy blend of color and geometry. You can see the whole range of Jayne’s designs on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, Picbi and study some stunning larger pictures on her photographer’s portfolio site.

White wallflowers

Starting 2015 with a limited palette may appeal to those artists who want to approach the new year with calm and care.

California’s Angela Schwer rarely ventures beyond the white polymer she uses for her organic wall art.

Made to resemble the rare Corton Olympic dahlia, this 7″ bloom was arranged petal by petal on a base and created to hang on the wall. She also makes a 12″ version.

Angela explains her process and her choice of subject matter in this interview.

A stay-at-home mom, she sells on Etsy. In the past couple of years she’s moved into larger commissioned installations. You can see more in-process shots and new monogrammed letters on her Facebook page.

Starting small

Russia’s Ekaterina Gamayunova begins PCDaily’s 2015 with this tiny polymer couple who commissioned versions of themselves who will live inside a small glass jar diorama to remind them of a special time.

It’s fascinating to see how Ekaterina mimics details down to the wrinkles in their jeans and the texture of their sweaters using only her fingers and needle tools.

How will you start the year? Big and expansive? Small and intense? Or somewhere in between?

2014 Top Five

PCD’s 2014 annual report shows that readers were very curious about hollow polymer forms. Here are your five favorites:

The top attention-getting post for the year was Kim Arden’s lush summer design. She layered translucent circles and leaf shaped slices over a scrap clay striped base.

There is no denying that Kim is an attention-grabber in everything she does. On Facebook she chronicles one outrageous antic after another alongside eye-catching polymer designs. Look at her latest cat cane.

My thanks to every one of the million and a half visitors who stopped by for a look at the latest development in polymer this year. Please visit often in 2015. Happy New Year!

Notes for a new year

Heather Millican packs a punch with the simplest polymer designs. “I feel that my duty as an artist and mother are one in the same, to ignite the heart with love, compassion, and hope,” she explains.

Each of her beads is handstamped, textured, patinaed, sanded and buffed. The words and phrases she’s carefully chosen make you stop and think and smile.

You can shop Swoondimples on Etsy and follow her on Facebook. Heather’s beads make great tokens for you readers today. You really rock! Thanks for a great year and happy 2015.

Mixed media village

Barcelona’s Fabi Ajates has cooked up a mixed media house-building class. This style is her Arabian Nights version which is 24″ by 14″. Made in one piece, the background is painted and then trimmed with polymer, textures and trinkets.

Knobs and hooks used in the design make the wall piece double as a handy hanger for jewelry or keys.

Fabi admits that making these cottages is addicting. “I love the free form of the houses which are in various sizes and somewhat deformed. This gives a the row a cheerful grace. Constructing them becomes a relaxing exercise.” She’ll be teaching the class in Madrid in late January.

See more examples and styles on her site, on Flickr and on Facebook.

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