Polymer Clay Daily

A flowering career

An afternoon of pulling weeds among the forget-me-nots and lilacs made my eyes drift to these earrings by Zuleykha McMillan on Etsy. Bountiful and bright cane slices are formed into bell shapes.

Zu talked about working with a new baby on her lap and I was drawn into her tale. Her mother came for a visit and showed Zu how to keep her polymer art going with a baby in the house.

Since the birth of her first child, she’s gravitated away from polymer jewelry to polymer faces. The story continues…in both Russian and English. (On Flickr if you just want pictures.)

Angry birds

wennberg pissed off chicks

Sweden’s Lena Wennberg adds a few angry polymer birds in with her Easter eggs this year.

“My hens are in menopause, probably got PMS as well,” she says, “And they are sick of giving and giving. They are keeping their eggs this easter. They won´t be beautiful, they won´t be nice.”

If you can appreciate an alternate view of the holiday from a few outspoken chicks visit Lena’s Etsy site.

Easter polymer

Tsaliki eggs

You’d better get crackin’ if you’ve got an Easter basket to fill this weekend.

Need inspiration? Greece’s Klio Tsaliki shows bowls and baskets full of polymer covered eggs in spring colors plus decorated candles.

For some of the eggs she winds a brightly extruded string of polymer round and round for a great effect. Much less messy than dyes! Here’s her Flickr collection.

Other egg-amples should turn up in the boxes below this post.

Beads with blooms

Colorado’s Jainnie Jenkins gives her polymer beads a spring twist. She coats the solid colored clay with mica powders which are scrubbed off after baking to give the quirky shapes more depth and dimension.

Jainnie usually appliques and textures small pieces onto polymer. This shape represents new growth! Spring blooms in unexpected places this week.

Polymer as canvas

Florida’s Christina Cassidy (Chevre Feuille) gazes out her window and draws what she sees on polymer (fired first, I assume) with India ink.

This Fleabit Grey Horse Pendant is drawn with India ink on glitter-speckled clay. The background was ink-washed.

Christina explains that, “Working with India and many colored inks, colored pencil, watercolors or different colored clays, I sculpt, draw, or etch my ideas on the surface of each piece.” She adds a sealing finish as the last layer.

Christina worked with horses for many years and they remain her muses. Have an inspired weekend.

Maori polymer

New Zealand’s Marisa McLuckie sent in the link to her Piko Art Aotearoa. Polymer’s a perfect medium for recreating the koru, one of her country’s national icons and an integral symbol in Maori carving and tattoos.

Marisa’s strong unfurling frond designs are turned into unusual pendants, dreadlock beads, and hairpins that symbolize life, growth and strength. Enjoy this new work on her site.

Pasta machines worldwide

You can help standardize measurements across borders and brands of pasta machines by measuring how thick or thin your clay comes out and then filling out a quick survey. Adding your answers can help set a standard that works worldwide. The numbers will be tallied next week. It’s easy! Add your results. Thanks!

Round five

Dayle Doroshow’s Rounds are playful accumulations of layers and cane slices and they remind me of the playtimes that Dayle and I have had together. These pieces began as companion pins for her fabric collages.

She added center pieces but abandoned that idea when someone said they resembled breasts. She set the work aside.

Over time the designs were revived with more slices and fiddling. They seemed to play nicely with each other. Notice the stamped scrap beads she uses as spacers in the resulting necklace.

Dayle practices what she preaches in our Creative Sparks book (now available as a download). She shares many tricks for stalking your muse and for teasing each project to a happy conclusion.

Remover of obstacles

Doreen Gay Kassel’s polymer triptych shows Lord Ganesh, one of the major Hindu deities. Doreen creates her “Remover of Obstacles” with bright colors and with all his mythological trappings. Maybe you have a few obstacles that need removing today.

Most of Doreen’s characters (here from dogs to dinosaurs) are built over round forms and sold as ornaments.

See her complete cast of characters on her Etsy shop , Facebook and on Flickr.

She says, “My creatures & stories have grown out of my many years of children’s book illustration and have taken off, almost on their own!”

Ugly molds for beautiful pendants

Pennsylvania outdoor girl Lynn Lunger (UnaOdd) offers the processes she’s developed for making the deep molds that form her signature Rustic Nature Polymer Pendants.

Her free tutorial shows you the tools you’ll need to make what she calls her ugly molds. It details every step with photographs.

Spring blossoms and budding plants take on new life. See where she finds inspiration and examine more of her finished work on her Flickr page.

You may prefer to bypass mold-making and shop for one of the pendants on her Etsy site. Either way we owe Lynn a big thank you for her generosity in sharing her tips and tricks with us. Nice to start the week with a cool freebie.

Polymer bowls and tiles

It’s been a while since we’ve visited polymer bowl (and tile) maker Emily Squires Levine from Philadelphia.

Emily’s bowls usually include a thread of solid color among the cane slices to lead your eye along and to give the pieces a touch of whimsy. This 11″ tall pot includes a shock of grass along its rim.

Emily has also developed a way of arranging cane slices on a flat square and then coating the assemblage with resin to create accent tiles that can be used in kitchens.

These 3D accents with their smooth rounded edges beg to be examined closely. Oh, and don’t miss her egg collection.

Jeannie Havel (pcPolyzine) decided she needed to toot Emily’s horn and sent in the link. Thanks! Remember to find a deck of cards and measure some clay this weekend.