Polymer mashups

The mashups that occur when artists meet are fascinating. Can you guess who came up with this collaborative polymer piece?

A sinuous, sexy frame surrounds a bumpy colorful geometric center that invites inspection. The result is a very natural, organic and flower-like pendant.

In this case, Jana Roberts Benzon flipped one of Helen Breil’s Big Twist shapes to accommodate a pod covered in Jana’s Fakir dimensional bits.

More mashups as the week continues. Check Judy Belcher’s recent book for more meetings of art minds. Got a pal who might collaborate with you? It expands your vision.

This mountain network is quite slow so delivery may be quirky. The good news is that there will be lots to share with you when I get home.

Revealing color

Jenna Wright’s Tarot necklace combines neatly carved polymer beads interspersed with companion disks and dotted barrels.Her Flickr site reveals how she has perfected her style using Celie Fago’s carving tools, preferring to carve the beads after baking.

On this Flickr picture she explains the tools she uses for each effect. Controlled nicks in the bead surfaces reveal surprising colors that delight the eye. Jenna is from Nova Scotia and sells on Etsy as Boxes for Groxes.

Oops, PCD is a little late today. I set the clock to the wrong time zone. The mountain air has this flatlander light-headed.

Martha meets polymer

Gourd season is just around the corner. It’s rare to see a decorated gourd that incorporates polymer. Laurie Prophater featured gorgeous painted ones last week. Then this lovely polymer example from Oklahoma’s Penni Jo Couch popped up, part of her display at the Michigan Festival of Gourds where she’ll be teaching classes.

Penni Jo started making polymer miniatures in 1981 and after years in the giftware industry, started her own Best Flexible Molds business as she continues to travel and play with clay.

Voting Day

Voting begins today in Martha Stewart’s American Made competition. Let’s stuff the ballot box for polymer’s own Steven Ford and David Forlano who have entered in the craft category.

You have to jump through a few hoops (give your email) to participate but think of the fun of watching them win and take our craft to new places. Their entry page is a treat, complete with a video look into their studio. Go vote!

ALERT Two more nominees!

Thanks to Lynda Moseley who slogged through all the nominees to find two more polymer artists for your consideration in the Martha Stewart competition. Please check out contestants Loretta Lam and Corliss and John Rose too!

Refined polymer

Betsy Baker knows how to deliver sophistication and elegance with her polymer. Her designs are refined, consistent and understated with a hint of rebellion in her textures and surprise in her shapes.

Betsy sells at shows around Boston almost every weekend. Her refined delivery extends to other areas of her business as well.

She moves her booth and her inventory by taxi since she doesn’t drive. And because the meter is running, she packs and loads her display and wares with efficiency and speed. Flip through her Facebook photos to catch of glimpse her setup and her system.

How I envy Betsy’s skills as I pack and sort for a trip out west. Enjoy your weekend!

Polymer salad

About this time of year, we’re wishing the courgettes/zucchini piling up in our kitchens were the size of Vicky Guile’s polymer miniature versions. This UK artist’s veggies are only an inch long.

Vicky’s bowl of artichoke, aubergines, cauliflower and red onions looks fresh from the garden.

Those of us who started out making miniatures with our kids have a special fondness and admiration for those who can fool our eyes at 1:12 scale. See more on Facebook (NJD Miniatures).

Listening to polymer

On Facebook Ronna Sarvas Weltman recently let us look over her shoulder as she shaped, sorted and tweaked this polymer bead soup into gloriously funky wearable art. Finding all the steps on Facebook is challenging so here’s my compiled page of the basic pictures.

Ronna added washes of color on beads to highlight some colors and mute others. She gave the necklace a good shake at the end to make sure the focal beads would settle where she predicted they would.

All along she changed the arrangement until she felt the love. She made sure the piece spoke to her. It’s a good lesson in listening and in playing around.

French snapshots

If you’re in the mood for more snapshots, take a look at Dawn-Marie DeLara’s reporting on our summer trip to France. Dawn-Marie is a muralist (she says decorative artist), mixed media and polymer artist from Minnesota.

She posts about Blair and Cynthia, Judy Belcher and Julie Eakes, Ruth Krug and Nona Flores, Anne Beach and Beverlee Stafford and our fearless leader Dayle Doroshow.

Trying new ways of working is easier when you’re in a beautiful setting among friends who cheer your successes and laugh off your missteps. Dawn-Marie chronicled our time together with a light-hearted approach. She brings the same great style to her publication, 365 Being. There’s a free sample online full of great craft, food and project tips.

Angling for effect

After months of complex zentangle on polymer projects, Margit Bohmer was looking for something simple to make with her rainbow palette. She shows us how holding your blade at a different angle can make a big difference.

She flattened the beads slightly after rolling. Cutting each bead at the same angle allows them to fit together in a snake-like formation.

Margit has been using chalks or pastels for coloring her polymer lately so I’m guessing that’s how she gave this polymer it’s color. If you look closely you’ll note an interesting bit of variegation in each bead.

Polymer pods connect

John and Corliss Rose have been experimenting with shooting less exhibition style photos and aiming for a looser, weirder vibe. You’ll have to click on their Absolum Pod Necklace photo to see this spunky shot.

PCD crops right into what we know you’ll want to scrutinize – the upturned shapes of the pods and the way the lively beads are connected to the tubing.

This California mixed media duo are driven by experimentation and exploration. Absolum Pods are part of their Alice in Wonderland series that started as an exercise in simplicity. You can sample the results on their Flickr site and their Etsy gallery.

Corliss is heading up the IPCA Awards this year – that’s the competition you’re planning to enter October 1, right?

Tuesday’s quiz!

Tune in online tomorrow (August 20) at 1PM EST as CraftyLink’s Wendy Strain quizzes me about my new book. Got a comment? You can ask questions and enter their drawing for a free copy of the book.

The interview will be also be recorded. You must be a member of the free Tuesday Shmoozeday group to watch and chat live. Here’s the sign-up info.

Pattern swapping polymer

Exhale, take a break and let Francoise Haon’s (Arliane) colors wash over you. On this Onéida cuff, her mokume gane is interrupted by stamped panels. Color and textures shift and change.

Francoise has developed her own way of handling mokume gane and in this necklace she crackles some of the surface and swaps circles of pattern while gracefully curving each bead. There’s lots going on! I hope there’s lots going on in your weekend.

Miracle polymer

Cynthia Wolff’s Waiting for My Miracle earrings look as if they’ve been dredged up from the wreckage of an undersea ballroom. Then she adds this tantalizing verse to her Etsy offering:

My efforts sometimes are futile…I am clumsy, I am inefficient…I fail more often than I succeed. But everyday I show up…and hope for a miracle.

These earrings are a cumulation of all my skills thus far. The making of my own beads, certainly a chapter in itself, has changed me once again.

I am not the same…I am moving and evolving….and sometimes I want to quit…because it doesn’t come easy to me…but sometimes.

These earrings sum it all up…two years of work…showing up…they are filled with me.

Though this California artist has been collecting bits and making jewelry for years, Cynthia just picked up polymer in July. Friends around the globe gave her tips and showed her the ropes. See how she’s moved and evolved on her Pinterest board, her blog, and her Etsy shop.

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