Oregon’s Dede Leupold added these dramatic Gypsy earrings to her Etsy site recently. She embeds the silver wires into the polymer, fires the clay and suspends the amethyst clusters and topaz drops later.
Dede has a delicate touch in both caning and wireworking and finishes the backs with equal care.
The blues of Dede’s color palette are distinctive. Check out her Ode to Spode button photos on her Facebook page for more examples.
Hot colors help Oxana Volkova (Oksoon) warm up the winter in Moscow (check out the pictures from pancake weekend). This brooch is a mix of bright felt colors with a multicolored organic growth of polymer at its center.
A similar oval brooch (below) looks like it has a bit of Stroppel cane next to felt. But the felt is faux, a texture achieved by attacking the polymer surface with a toothbrush!
Oxana includes an intriguing hollow bead experiment in her Flickr pictures. And this star is one of my favorites too. So much to look at!
If you had any tired or timid thoughts this Monday, prepare to lose them. This shot of exhuberant, exotic polymer beads, called Same Same But Different, comes from Thailand’s Aow Dusdee.
Her beads are made into simple necklaces here. Her more elaborate works mix beads and fibers and polymer in constructions that drape the body.
Aow has added new images of “my crafty home” to her Flickr site. Crochet and polymer and color surround her in an inviting tropical home. Polymer beads hang in the doorways, pair up with tassels and embellish sculptures. Colors that might seem garish in other settings fit perfectly here.
It’s a big world out there and there are many, many ways to express yourself with polymer. A page from her sketchbook reads, “Everyone seems normal until you get to know them.” Happy Monday!
Romania’s Ana Cerniciuc has a way with polymer spring flowers that heightens our anticipation of the season.
Her snowdrop earrings are simple constructions that capture the essence of these early blooms. Her tulips are similarly simple yet we know that the curl of the petals against that tight bud is accurate.
Ana uses Facebook and Pinterest to show her characters and flowers. These two sites have become increasingly important places to find new work from around the world. Have a pinteresting weekend.
Polymer has never played quite so nicely with nature as it does in Rachel Gourley’s hands. Her new website is a delight.
This Vancouver artist takes polymer rocks back to the seashore where they look completely happy. Her clay fungi and early shoots jump out of the surrounding wintry woodland foliage.
You might think that her alien artworks are complete abstractions but if you examine her gallery of photos, you can see that her keen eye is drawn to nature’s own bright palettes and outlandish patterns as she’s traveled around the world.
PCD has featured her before (check out these polymer sand dollars and 2004 spondylosis) and it’s great that she’s made herself a home on the web where we can visit her more often. Thanks to Lindly Haunani for the link.
Some polymer artists aren’t content to just wear polymer, they have to live with it. New York’s Joan Israel and Germany’s Mareike Scharmer are two who surround themselves with color. They revel in bright patterns in quirky flavors.
Joan is partial to bottles and paintings. Give her a shapely bottle and she’ll give you back a masterpiece. This encrusted small ceramic pot is a current example.
Recently Mareike Scharmer has been adding polymer slices to vessels too. She’s added wildly colored canes to a mailbox, her toilet seat, a lampshade and a bunch of ceramic vessels. And she jumped into the granny square craze! Mareike designs interiors aimed at sparking children’s imaginations.
Hang on to your hat as you cruise through Joan and Mareika’s Flickr sites. These artists embrace color and believe that more is better.
Polymer artists keep telling me how important play is to their art. In interviews for my book and video chats for StudioMojo, the topic surfaces repeatedly. I squirm a bit because I know I don’t often play in the studio. I fixed that today. No deadlines or pressure! Just fun with clay.
The granny squares that keep popping up online (see Lisa Clarke’s post) intrigued me. I bought this sweater to try to get over my new obsession. Rather than invest in yarn and crochet lessons, I decided to try making the squares in polymer.
An inexpensive online tutorial from Meg Newberg headed me in the right direction. My handy, dandy extruder set up made the process easy.
The patterns improved with each cane as I improvised and experimented. While this afghan bead won’t keep me warm at night, it warms my heart to have played today…and to have shared it with you.
When you take a close look at this new Encrusted polymer bracelet from Jana Roberts Benzon are you as mesmerized as I am? The colorful texture is sumptuous and mystifying. How could you possibly make such a multi-dimensional pixel-like construction? It’s a Monday mystery.
Jana admits, “Honestly, when I finished it, I was just like dang, this is the coolest thing I’ve ever done.” More pix on Flickr and Facebook. Jana’s teaching in Philadelphia in April.
Can a pasta machine handle survive the heat of the oven? Lisa Pavelka tested hers and the answer was yes. The next step, of course, was to cover it with a base layer of scrap clay and start adding cane slices.
She’ll never lose her handle in a class! Lisa’s theory is that you make better art with artistic tools.
The polymer spirals in Silvia Ortiz de la Torre’s necklace caught my eye and wouldn’t let go. The colors blend beautifully.
The textures and patterns of the adjacent beads tease us to examine them too. There’s a lot happening here. Could I make a biconal that intruiging?
If you’d like to try, consult Desiree McCrorey and Laura Timmins. Let’s hope you have a lot happening in your studio this weekend!
A bit of sunshine and the UK’s Pippa Chandler is already envisioning a hamlet of beach hut beads.
Her tiny polymer cottages measure 2cm high x 1cm wide with caned doors and windows and textures accentuated with acrylic paint.
With the kids back in school and the house quiet, Pippa’s muse hid for a while. Read her blog to see how she coaxed inspiration out of hiding for this little seaside adventure.
