Polymer Clay Daily

Polymer at CraftBoston

If you can’t travel to the east coast this weekend, allow your fingers to virtually roam through the CraftBoston show to see some very cool polymer like these Karen Noyes cane slice bowls and this birch and polymer chest from J.M. Syron & Bonnie Bishoff.

Artists in these prestigious shows are often too busy to update their own websites with new pictures and you have to visit their shows to discover their most current works. (Click the images to see more.)

Be sure to drop by the booths of Louise Fischer Cozzi, Ford and Forlano, Mary Filapek & Lou Ann Townsend.Let me know if you bump into anyone else. Note that Kathleen Dustin was last spring’s best in show winner!

LOL cat polymer

Sometimes cats are the best answer. LOL polymer cat bookmarks from Pati Bannister in this case. Pati says that she started making these for fun when her time to play was limited.

That’s often when you hit on success…not from the technique you learned or the trick you discovered…but from an open, playful mindset. It’s a big world out there and you may chose from many paths. I’m on my way home from vacation and feeling silly.

Polymer craze

 
Ariane Freisleben Rebecca Geoffrey Page McNall

This month polymer pieces from Italy’s Ariane Freisleben (Magic Toscana), Canada’s Rebecca Geoffrey, and Virginia’s Page McNall show some new variations on crackling and crazing over polymer patterns. Previously crazing came from a layer of heavy paint that cracked to show the underneath color in the crevices. The results looked good but had limited application.

Newer methods allow artists to show dark cracks while revealing the caned, inked, printed or blended designs underneath. Ariane and Rebecca both mention Tina Holden’s tutorial as their starting point and Page is probably using something similar. Some clever new twists are taking hold and I see a craze craze starting.

Polymer sculpture in bloom

The newest polymer sculpture from Germany’s Angelika Arendt reminds me of the colorful hillsides here in southern California where I’m visiting. Angelika’s steep landscape draws you in and doesn’t disappoint.

On the sunny slopes the orderly rows of cane slices have budded. Other patches are awaiting their turn to bloom into bigger color and texture. I’m tempted to run my finger down the side of this dazzling polymer mountain.

Look closely here. Have a colorful, blooming weekend.

Dynamic polymer

Making dynamic art for the body is what Donna Greenberg says she’s all about. The dynamics of her new curving Saber Tooth necklace shows what she means.

The swirled beads refuse to lie flat, pointing their gold-tipped ends at each other in a colorful dance of shape and color. The piece combines menacing and playful impulses.

Donna’s one busy artist! See her spring display at Sample NYC.

Birthday presence

Birthdays have a way of reminding you to get busy and for Scotland’s Melanie Muir and West Virginia’s Judy Belcher, recent big days pushed them into action.

This hollow-bead Skye-line necklace was inspired by Melanie Muir’s birthday trip to the Isle of Skye and the dramatic mountainous landscapes there. Invited to submit work to several prestigious US shows this year, Melanie says she’s been “squeezing my brains” to develop new work. You can see the results on her Facebook page.

Judy Belcher’s birthday prompted her to launch her new and improved website today! (It was polished by my dear daughter.) Judy’s energy and savvy shine through on every page.

She’s also developed a new MicroKnitting class for CraftEdu that debuts on Wednesday. Be sure to get in on her clever twist on the polymer knitting craze.

While both Melanie and Judy welcome your birthday wishes, sometimes it’s the gifts we give ourselves that are truly important.

Western themes

We’re off to California and Arizona which gives me an excuse to feature this cactus ring from Camille Young and to browse her assortment of polymer art that includes everything from barbed wire to video game themes.

The breadth of her interests is evident in the works that appeared in this 30-day art challenge. She moves from artichokes to stones to pixilated fantasy with enviable ease. What’s on her mind flows directly to her fingers.

Serendipitous polymer

The polymer scrap from a guild challenge provided San Antonio’s Deb Tuchsen with a rainbow of leftovers. She stacked and spiraled them into a Kato-style cane. The end bits were layered into a Stroppel-inspired log.

The synergy of the techniques and colors added up to a Van Gogh-meets-Hundertwasser cuff! This art history lesson comes to you courtesy of equal parts serendipity, sharing and skill. Congrats to Deb for bringing it all together.

I don’t know if her entry was successful in the guild challenge but this is certainly a winner. Watch the whole process on her Flickr site.

Polymer curves

The lovely curves of Jana Lehmann’s newest polymer pens are offset by crisp, quirky designs layered over sensuous Skinner blends.

Those shapely pen bases must only be available in Germany. They would certainly have been snapped up by polymer enthusiasts if they were available in the U.S. Does anyone have a source? 

Even Jana’s Easter eggs show off her graphic sensibility. She has a whole gallery just for pens and polymer objects on Flickr. Jana sets a high bar for design.