Portland’s Laurel Swetnam has a website that I missed and her work has surged forward. It’s a treat to see how old friends have changed. Browse and enjoy.
Here are the mountain flowers that she had coming out of the oven today. They’re meant to be sewn onto a fat fabric cord. An inspiring environment can lead you in new directions.
When I say seed beads and polymer you probably envision small beads woven around polymer cabochons. Connecticut’s Peggy Dembicer thinks differently.
Here she embeds seeds beads in polymer to create a mosaic portrait. She was inspired by a 1940s photo of her mother-in-law. It measured 8.5″ by 11. Even though the beads are pretty widely spaced, they read as a soft, moody photo. Look more closely here.
For this cover of ArtNews magazine she cut out large areas of polymer to make the background of the mosaic. Cruise through Flickr to see more.
Peggy mixes her media using her background in textiles and fiber arts to present a modern take on traditional techniques. She reinterprets her world in fiber, beads and polymer. Let’s hear it for mixing your media!
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Autumn colors are appearing on your sites this month. Orange is becoming your new black. Here are a few examples for you to enjoy.
Beads from Klio Tsaliki (love the end caps), obelisk shapes from Sonya, Mari O’Dell’s extruded blossoms, and Ceilie Fago’s signature bangle that jangles with metal rings. There’s a nifty Easy Sculpture free tutorial tucked into Sonya’s pages. Will you be mixing up some fall colors this weekend?
Western Australia’s Debbie Crothers is venturing farther and farther into the outback. Or so it seems.
These are some of her latest polymer creations using all sorts of inclusions and something familiar but unnamed. What are you guessing?
Some of the beads are carved, painted, textured. The shapes vary and the colors are pure Aussie.
Debbie says that the more grungy the beads get, the better she likes them. She’s unearthed them for upcoming Art in the Outback workshops.
Study them more closely on Facebook, Flickr and see what she’s teaching on CraftArtEdu. She’s pinned all over the place on Pinterest.
Olga Sypkova from Kemerovo, Russia plays rough with her African Ethnic beads.
What starts out as cane slices simply applied to clay bases becomes much more interesting once she draws a few lines with circles, scrapes some lines and scratches the surface with sandpaper.
A coat of light acrylic paint accentuates the marks. The rough treatmentt gives an ordinary polymer bead a tribal look with a mysterious past. The beads must have been worn and treasured.
Olga offers you a step-by-step free tutorial. See more of her work on this Russian site (use your translator).
It’s hard to keep up with Alice Stroppel! I just figured out why so many of her images, like this White Rabbit sculpture, are from Alice in Wonderland. Alice does Alice, get it?
In her own wonderland, Alice’s polymer work spreads across table tops and covers the bases for lamps. Her fish swim up the walls and wind around arms. I’m particularly fond of this haunting portrait of a woman gazing intently…much like Alice herself.
The rabbit seems right for today. People are arriving in town. I’m late! I’m late! Must get to the party.
Chasing after Alice will keep you busy. She’s all over Facebook and Etsy too. If you’ve never made a Stroppel scrap cane, you simply must watch the tutorial.
Alice shared her story on camera a couple of years ago. If you’d like to see more videos like this, join StudioMojo, the weekend newsletter.
Like a rock hunter with pick and shovel in hand, the viewer discovers the glowing opal in Liz Hall’s newest Boulder Opal Bracelet. What looks like rough stone gives off flashes of surprising color and touches of crystal druzy on a 1″ wide brass cuff.
Liz has moved from small mosaic imitative opal to this larger, more dramatic treatment captured between borders of sterling ball chain buried in polymer.
Here’s another example of her boulder opal technique and her Facebook page. What are you prospecting for this week?
Polymer slices baked right on frosted resin beads. What a great idea from California’s Karen Lewis (Klew). She embellishes glass beads using the same technique.
This layered look is Klew’s trademark. See more of her on Etsy and on Facebook.
There’s a free how-to video about her sculpted accent beads on her site for your weekend enjoyment. And here’s a self-care snippet from Klew (with Sarah Shriver) from a few years back.
The IPCA crew is flying into my home town for the retreat and Klew is among them. This is the first time Ohio has hosted such a big time event! News from the retreat coming your way next week. Have a big time this weekend.
Suddenly (or so it seems) polymer vessels and furnishings are popping up online.
Angie Wiggins has long loved mixing paper and polymer and beads into embellished delights. See the legs she adds to her little ring pots using an antique ice cream mold for her form.
Kate Tracton covers wooden boxes or creates platters from pure polymer, topping them off with cane slices and tiles.
And Jon Anderson found a metal strainer that worked well as a form to build this new lighted dome at the top of a lamp (left). You have to visit him on Facebook to see it light up.
Just yesterday, Barb Fajardo jumped on the bowl bandwagon with this blooming bowl.
Artists are seeing more possibilities for mixing polymer into their art and adding it to their home furnishings.
Ever wonder how other artists pull such long square sheets of polymer through their pasta machines? Are yours always dog-eared and mishapen like mine?
Lindly Haunani has the answers that will be revealed in a video on Saturday’s StudioMojo. You can sign up for the premium weekend newsletter here.
Kathrin Neumaier has uploaded a new batch of translucent polymer earrings to Flickr. You may find it difficult to choose a favorite from these watery colored wonders.
She uses Pardo translucent clay and performs her own brand of magic to spin and swirl inks into patterns of color. Kathrin has only revealed her ingredients, the rest of the recipe remains a secret. Enjoy the mystery.
