Polymer Clay Daily

Tumbling polymer blocks

There’s a buzz around the neat colorful tumbling blocks canes by Germany’s ST-Art-Clay. This updated interpretation of the historic quilt pattern uses shades of the colors to give the design dimension created by extruded triangles and edging strips.

ST’s colors are vivid and fun and she shows lots of variations on her Flickr page. You can see that she’s taken great master classes and that caning is her forte. She is able to control her canes in ways that many of us envy. Did you see her wildlife canes? ST is about to go wild!

The link first came to PCD via Cate van Alphen. Thanks!

Home sweet polymer home

Usually houses don’t sell so well at this time of year but Nevada’s Marjorie Dalgarn is doing a brisk business in home sales.

She uses polymer to sketch custom house ornaments and she’s booked through the season. She stamps the name and date on the back and they’ve made such popular gifts that she’s already stopped taking orders for the holidays. Should you add “Build a polymer house” to your holiday to-do list?

Marjorie also makes family ornaments, cake toppers and other themed polymer works and beaded items. She offers a free pumpkin pie tutorial just in time for Thanksgiving.

Finding good luck

What look like pieces of broken Delft pottery in this Scherven Brengen Geluk are modern polymer good luck charms from the Netherland’s Linda Ezerman.

On the beaches and in the rubble of cities Linda finds her mixed media version of centuries-old remnants from a life that still shapes people today. Here’s an earlier PCD feature.

This month Linda’s earthy, edgy beach mixes look right at home in the middle of Amsterdam’s Sierrad International Jewelry Art Fair. Enjoy the photos and her impressive show portfolio. The link came to PCD from Annie Pennington.

Data divas

Our community is changing and we need your input to track that growth. The latest survey will reveal how you learn and how you share. Easy peezy right here.

Cutouts redux

If Tuesday’s post prompted you to pull out your Kemper cutters, let me share two more cutter technique favorites from the PCD archives.

Rebecca Geoffrey created this cutout layer stacked over a contrasting color years ago (oh my, it was 2005). Even though she’s moved on to much more sophisticated work, the simplicity and beauty of these cutout rounds keeps them among my favorites.

Camille Young’s snowflake ornaments show circles of clay with cutter bits removed. Stacked on another layer of texture and topped off with some metallic and seed bead bling, these pieces are the grownup polymer version of cutting snowflakes out of paper. Easy holiday magic. Here’s Camille’s current site.

Polymer squiggles

This colorful polymer squiggle ring is from Serbia’s Milena Babic and Miloš Samardžic’s new Bold Geometry series. Generally the pair, known as Tramps and Glams, feature film stars, artists and lost souls in cubist constructions that become polymer brooches and pendants. Their geometric pieces pile polymer twists and curls into constructions that look like confetti gathered up for a party.

We need your squiggles!

…on our “Habits” survey. Ten easy questions ask where you learn about polymer and how you share your work. Your answers are important, anonymous and much appreciated! A few quick checkmarks will help Judy Belcher and me gather data for our presentation at Synergy.

If you missed the first survey, you can still fill it out here.

Cane brain

Arizona’s Meg Newberg thinks canes. She posted this free video tutorial on YouTube featuring a clever 4-in-1 cane that intrigued me. Using a small amount of polymer and some simple cutters, she makes four designs in a hurry. Her video made the cane look so simple that I had to prove it to myself before sharing it with you. Ta-Da! Even my first hurried scrap cane worked.

Meg worked with children for a few years. She explains her return to polymer saying, “One day my mom brought out all the clay creations she had saved from when I was a child. All the joy and delight flooded back to me. Now I teach art to people of all ages, and I can’t imagine anything I’d rather do!” Read more about Meg’s story in this interview on Kater’s Acres.

Making complex cane design look simple is an art in itself. Meg sells her tutorials (she has several good ones) on Etsy.

Polymer fins and feathers

South Florida’s Pamela Carman upcycles ceramic sculptures and vases, covering them with complex polymer cane slices mixed with metal leaf. The result is busy, beautiful fish (this one is 14-inches long) and bright finely-feathered birds (this Chickeechirp is 6-inches long). Pamela says that she has a blast making these sculptures and it shows.

France’s Sonya Girodon sent in the link. Having a link to a Florida artist come from a French reader reminds us just how global PCD fans have become.

The power of black

Small dots of color pop against the black spirals on this hollow bead from Janine Muller. We forget about the power of black until we see an eye-catching treatment like Janine’s

There’s no indication as to how she made it hollow. Wouldn’t you like to know? Maybe she’ll tell us. Or wander through her site and watch her experiment.

Have a splendid weekend.

All-American polymer

Don’t you love these cheery polymer rag rug spirals that Utah’s Mary Ann Loveless uses to decorate her tin box? They look very all-American on a very all-American day.

It was a late night in Ohio and PCD may have missed sharing early coffee with you. My husband and I laughed as we enjoyed a car commercial this morning! Look, a pretty car! It was a relief not to have to hit the mute button to avoid a political ad.

Mary Ann’s Art Makes Me Happy blog may make you happy today.