Polymer Clay Daily

Jelly roll mokume gane

Geoffrey mokume gane

Polymer mokume gane has been around for so long that it can become, well, boring. But I couldn’t take my eyes off Rebecca Geoffrey’s latest take on the technique. Her polymer billet is made from layers of Skinner blend jelly rolls laid side by side and flattened.

Look at this picture to get the idea. These pictures may have you heading to your studio to figure out how it’s done. More pix here.

Geoffrey pendants

What looks like a cookie cutter in the second picture is actually Rebecca’s handmade silver bezel (and the round tube is the bail). It adds up to a stunning mix of media.

Polymer swallows

Wallis swallows

This beautiful swallow cane from the UK’s Claire Wallis illustrates a problem she’s working to solve.

“I really struggle with translucent clays,” Claire explains adding that, “I find it very hard to slice the cane thin enough so that the translucent is clear not opaque. Plus I find layering the cane slice distorts it somewhat.”

These pendants represent one solution. She trimmed and baked thin slices of the large swallow cane. Then she pushed the baked slices into unbaked backgrounds. Voila! No distortion….but more sanding. Claire brings her painterly approach to caning with impressive results.

Fall faux soutache

Magdalene soutache

Fall colors are popping up. The faux soutache earrings created by Magdalena on this Polish site bring Halloween to mind….but a very sophisticated Halloween. What a perfect use for extruded clay.

I’m on the road this weekend with no time for research. Any Polish speakers out there who can tell us more about Magdalena?

Polymer plein air

Kate van Aphen submitted this polymer painting for a recent virtual paintout (VPO). “What’s that,” you ask?

It’s a virtual painting trip. The theme and location are chosen and the artists travel via Google Street View to find a scene they like and screencapture it. Kentucky’s Bill Guffey started the clever exercise when he wanted to paint outdoors but could only paint at home at night.

Kate is from South Africa and now lives in England. She has a background in computer arts and was drawn to polymer by its tactile nature and vivid colors. Her Sisters Beach, Tasmania polymer painting is 10cm x 10cm and is drawn from a Google view.

Pittsburgh’s Rebecca Watkins participates in VPOs when she can and she sent Kate’s link along.

Polymer whistles

Vancouver’s Joan Tayler has made polymer whistles for years. This leaf shape is a new design. Look at all the others on her Etsy shop.

Don’t you think it’s time for Joan to write a whistle tutorial? I sure would like a lesson…and I’d pay good money to avoid the problems that she’s already worked through. If you feel the same, leave a comment and maybe Joan will take the hint.

Artfair polymer finds

Lori Wilkes’ was one of six polymer booths at the local show and I spotted this new necklace. The beads looked African to me but she swears that she was following an Italian influence. Either way, kewl. She revealed that tool used to distress these beads is a fine wire dog brush.

Lori has a book coming out in October that may satisfy readers who complain about how artists getting started in polymer can be deluged with confusing and conflicting information. Lori’s book, The Absolute Beginners Guide: Working With Polymer Clay, is from Kalmbach Books and it’s available for pre-order on Amazon. Sample a few pages here.

Spotting polymer at artfairs is one of my favorite games. The others I found yesterday were Kim Arden, Valerie Wright, Annabelle Fisher, Greg and BJ Jordan, and River Wolfe. Hope I didn’t miss any.

Urban urchins

Montreal’s Vickie Turner makes Urban Urchins that are hollow and graffiti-covered whereas Lynda Moseley’s from last week were the green sea variety. What is it with urchins?

Vickie’s polymer sea creatures have migrated to the city. Her blog tracks her plans and sketches and you can follow her journey from the beach to the city. She’s still playing with the shape.

It’s instructive to look over her shoulder as an artist mulls over work in progress. Watch as she labors on Labor Day.

I’m off to an art fair.

Polymer faux wire

Helen Breil’s free String Bead tutorial may keep you busy this weekend. This necklace is dusted with mica powders, sealed with spray and filled with pearls.

Helen extrudes the strings and forms them into faux wire that can be shaped (and reshaped) into slinky cages into which you can tuck other beads.

In most places it’s still warm enough to extrude with ease over the end-of-summer holiday. On her website she offers a slideshow that guides you through the process that you can tailor to create your own designs.

Thanks to Helen for providing our entertainment. And check out her texture stamps too.