Polymer Clay Daily

No angry birds

Leslie Blackford’s polymer woodland birds perch just the way they should but there’s something definitely wacky and endearing about them. Pictures of the flock she created at a Philadelphia Guild workshop demonstrate the point.

One wears a crown, another a cowboy hat. One smokes a cigar, several have outlandish plummage and cheeky grins. It’s easy to identify the birds but hard to put your finger on why they’re so appealing. While Leslie’s style can appear deceptively simple and childlike, students soon realize how difficult it is to accurately capture an essence and then veer into fantasy with polymer.

Leslie grew up in the woods of Tennessee and Kentucky with a botanist father helping her identify, study and appreciate the wildlife. The shapes and characteristics of each species were clearly imprinted in Leslie’s head. Maybe it’s her understanding and kinship with animals that startles us and makes us stop in our tracks.

Love beads in polymer

Wendy Malinow’s Etsy site is already stocked with hearts for the coming season. Romantic, gruesome, wooden, beating, funny, anatomical…her polymer valentines run the gamut.

These entwined faux birch branches form a lovely pendant perfect for anyone with an outdoorsy, Portland sensibility. (Are you watching Portlandia?) Her bleeding thorn heart might appeal to more prickly sweethearts.

Wendy grew up in a household knee-deep in art projects. You won’t be surprised that one of her earliest art encounters was with “love beads” and she continues to share her fascination.

Enlivened lockets

While the idea of covering lockets with polymer has been around for a while, Sydney, Australia’s Rocky Antonio turns the idea on its head!

The necks on Rocky’s charming Matryoshka dolls are made from lockets turned sideways. Jumprings baked into their heads allow them to be suspended from chains as pendants or charms. Study more pictures here and start your engines this week with a updated, upcycled twist on an old idea.

Pantone polymer

Unaodd’s Lynn Lunger was inspired by Pantone and spring seed catalogs. She mixed her own Tangerine Tango, Pantone’s color of the year, and started developing her 2012 palette.

Lynn confesses to a crisper drawer full of extra flower seeds from years past. That doesn’t stop her from considering if she should buy some of the new ones offered in this year’s crop of February garden catalogs.

In an effort to resist giving in to seed acquisition, she started filling custom-made silicone molds with her new polymer colors. Imprints of last years’ blooms had been pressed to make the forms. The resulting polymer beads give us visual taste of spring.

What’s happening in Lynn’s studio usually reflects what’s growing outside and her blog is a good garden and studio read. Think spring this weekend.

Guilt-free polymer

When the very disciplined Dayle Doroshow admits that she’s veered off her creative course to dabble in a few new polymer ideas that weren’t on her list, I sigh with relief.

These Les Fleurs brooches aren’t the earrings she was supposed to be working on and they don’t directly relate to her project but aren’t they lovely? Dayle allowed herself some guilt-free time to play with glowing colors and sift through her stash of vintage buttons from French flea markets. The petals are polymer with a few fabrics tossed in. The center of each flower is highlighted with a button.

Seeing how fruitful and fun Dayle’s play time has been might take some pressure off your to-do list and give you a nudge back into the studio. Need more creative nudges? Check out our Creative Sparks book.

A certain mentalitea

PCDaily hasn’t visited Nova Scotia’s Kate Church for two years and when she appeared on the DailyArtMuse, it was time to look again. Kate’s mixed media jewelry, like this polymer-faced Red Queen, resides in theatre boxes when they’re not being worn.

Her droll dolls and puppets may frown but they dance joyously. They have, as one show was entitled, A Certain Mentalitea that you can experience here.

If your art could use better online exposure, check out DailyArtMuse’s Artist Online classes.

Polymer mood rings

France’s Florence Minne-Khou wanted a ring to suit her every mood (and outfit). Cutting geometric shapes out of varying thicknesses, colors and patterns of polymer rolled flat gave her what she needed.

Try Florence’s idea when you’re in the mood for simple and elegant.

Polymer wallflowers

If you thought polymer-covered switchplates were passe, look again at the work of the Anchorage artist at Bull’s Eye Studio.

She canes and carves and layers home decor items as if they were small canvases. We touch light switches every day so why not make them eye-catching?

Her sculptural wallflowers are captivating and she adds utensils and card cases to her line of functional pieces. Bull’s Eye came to Flickr in late December and you’ll want to keep watching her there and on Facebook.

Deadline polymer earrings

Germany’s Anke Humpert brightens a gray winter Friday with these cheery red polymer umbrellas. With a second week deadline looming, she whipped up these earrings for her 52-week challenge. The pressure of a deadline can force out surprising creativity.

Determined to start the new year right, Anke’s been tackling the organization of her studio and you can vicariously enjoy her progress here. Have a cheery weekend.

Low profile polymer

Florida’s Karen Woods doesn’t hang out in the usual online haunts like Flickr and Etsy.

It was delightful to spot her on the list of teachers at Creative Journey Studios (formerly Women Creative) in Georgia where she’ll be teaching silk screening on polymer in February. Her graphic shapes fit next to each other like old friends with colorful stories to share.

Karen also teaches her own approach to weaving polymer into baskets and I bumped into one student’s class pix here. You have to work a bit and follow a few links to keep up with Karen but it’s worth the effort.