Polymer Clay Daily

Got scrap?

We all have those bits of leftover colored polymer that should be good for something, right? Rebecca Watkins has taught herself to”see” something in each ball of colorful bits and she shows you how in a few scrap to bouquet steps on her Flickr site.

When she covers the resulting carved unbaked beads with black mica they look dull and disastrous. But a light sanding of the baked bead reveals the color and brings out the pattern. She makes it look simple. Please tell me if it really is that easy. Rebecca’s recently developed a shortcut to organic stripes tutorial that you may enjoy too.

Polymer hula

The UK’s Angela Garrod has been named a 2011 polymerista on the European Voila site. Experimenting with making extruded polymer into links, chains and coils, Angela came up with a number of fascinating hollow designs like this Hula Hula necklace.

She says of her Hula Hula necklace, “It is 13″ long and flexes like a snake. Colours range from all shades of greys to violets and magenta and reds. Basically like a giant skinner blend.”

The construction of this dramatic piece is baffling. You can see more of her experiments on her Flickr site. If you ask questions in the comments, maybe Angela will tell us more.

Smooth sailing polymer

Moonlight on the Ocean is the title of this polymer bracelet from Warren and Robbin Moeller-Smith. On a cold winter’s day it’s warming to think of this duo working in polymer on their boat in the South Pacific. They integrate natural finds from their sailing adventures into their designs.

The bracelet design gives a nod to Cynthia Toops’ rolodex design with a wink at Alice Stroppel’s cane technique surrounding lovely silver accents.

The Moeller-Smiths have temporarily abandoned ship to visit the shows in California and Arizona. You can see their work here and here and read about their travels here.

Polymer joy

France’s Dorothy Vantorre photographed her step-by-step work on this polymer bearded collie sculpture making the story both funny and educational.

The piece was commissioned by her best friend as a gift for another person. The dog’s thick coat meshes perfectly with Dorothy’s preferred way of working in layers. You can understand Dorothy’s frustration when you look at her big pile of extruded dog hair pieces.

She captures both the look and the spirit of Joy, the dog. She even made a special show box for the gift. Dorothy has sworn off all future dog commissions saying, “I’ve been very pleased to learn that the person who received this gift was very moved! But I want to clarify that the next person who asks me to make a miniature dog will be immediately banned from my contacts.”

Check out Dorothy’s illustrations, cake toppers and sculptures. Her in-progress shots reveal a distinctive style that gravitates to friendly monsters, pink rabbits and hangman earrings. Her biggest trick may be making it all look so easy! Have an easy weekend.

Hot polymer, cool mom

How cool a mom is Jill Palumbo? Her sons each got electronic tablets for Christmas for which she had made polymer-embellished protective covers. (More pix here.)

The themed cases sported logos and icons from the boys’ favorite musical group and online game. (I had to look up Minecraft and Hot Water Music.)

Her design includes game pieces that turn the case into a stand for reading books or watching movies more comfortably.

Jill’s polymer ingenuity and thoughtful giftgiving need to be celebrated. Kudos!

Polymer Poupettes

Portland’s Sofie Skein describes her Poupettes as, “…spirited renditions of animals and mythical creatures in pure polymer.” She’s also a painter and grew up involved in the family vet clinic.

Her animals have realistic heads perched on simply stylized bodies that will make you laugh. See them all on Flickr including this picture that shows how she works from detailed sketches.

She sells her animal portraits (like this custom Egyptian Mau cat) on Etsy in her Menagerie of Inscrutable Magic.

Sofie is a new artist on PCDaily thanks to a link sent by Eva Menager.

Hollow faux glass

Katrin Neumaier is hooked on Pardo translucent clay and she’s becoming expert at showing off its glowing properties with these brand new beads and watery earrings. Here’s her polymer beach glass from October.

The recent hollow forms make the clay even more delicate and ethereal looking as she pushes Pardo in new directions. We can look forward to seeing more of this faux glass trend in 2012.

Polymer paciorky

“Paciorky means necklace or beads in Ukrainian,” says Christine Bondar (dzjunka online). Christine’s extruded and carved Amazon River polymer beads offer variations on techniques spread by Vera Kleist and Margit Böhmer.

You’ll see developments in that part of the world on Maria Petkova’s Bulgarian blog that features artists mostly from Eastern Europe as polymer continues to gain popularity.

I’ll be writing a book on global polymer this year and I’m interested in hearing your ideas on what the story should be about. And I’d love to learn about new artists you’ve run into. We’re off and running into 2012!

Polymer that emerges with hope

“I’m loving this new project,” Heather Campbell said in October, “It’s so physical and messy. I guess a darker side of me needs to erupt and show itself before I can move on.”

The December result is Holding It Together, a large polymer and mixed media sculpture with a hopeful, healthy message for the end of our year.

Heather explains that, “Our strength is our ability to sew and hammer and bind, to glue and nail each piece of ourselves together, until the strength of our parts makes us whole again. Holding it together is our challenge, emerging with hope is our goal. We are survivors.”

The scale and power of this piece is remarkable. Watch Heather rip into a mannequin form that serves as the base. Scroll down to watch this big girl take shape.

Heather will teach others how to make a powerful personal portrait of their own at Maureen Carlson’s Center in May.

As a fitting start for the new year, she received word that her rustic, layered polymer necklace has been chosen as a finalist for a Niche Award! Visit the Niche site to see more finalists. Happy 2012 to all of you!

Is polymer your prozac?

Don’t you love to watch other people working when you’re not? I’m basking in the southern sun this week and have enjoyed seeing people like Berlin’s Conni Filip get a head start on the next holiday.

Some of her futuristic heart designs are magnets and some are money pockets with secret slots for gift giving. Below are the baked bases (I’m guessing Ultralight) that she then carves and paints.

Since I’m sucking up wifi at fast food joints this week, I’ve had to scurry through links and sites. Folks have been stuffing Pinterest.com full of their fabulous polymer finds.

If polymer is your prozac, spend a little holiday mental health time with Kathy Weaver or me or Anke Humpert or a number of other polymer enthusiasts on Pinterest.