Polymer Clay Daily

Use jump rings to go ethnic

Svetlana Gracheva from Donetsk, Ukraine embeds what look to be jump rings into her faux ethnic polymer beads with a stunningly realistic effect. The jump rings become bezels for small imitation turquoise and coral pieces.

Other metal is sandwiched in the middle of faux amber and turquoise beads. You can see examples of the techniques in her Lhasa and Nagrang Tibetan-style necklaces pictured here.

On her Tibetan bead class description page, Svetlana offers pictures (scroll down her page) that show how she performs her sleight of hand. In that class she finishes the beads with mosaic inlays. What a treat for those of us searching for new faux fun.

Polymer garden delights

Inspired by Christine Dumont’s hollow bead online course, Kukel10 has built a big bead garden ornament that becomes even more interesting up close.

Ruffles, spikes, dots and disks, sit atop stripes and poetry. This piece will spark many conversations in her garden.

As long as we’re touring the garden, take a look at Shay Aaron’s polymer clay beets, radishes and other vegetable delights to wear.

There’s even more food jewelry on his Etsy site. If you have a hankering to grow something polymer, follow one of Shay’s tiny veggie tutorials.

Letting polymer do the heavy lifting

Celie Fago admits that the high cost of silver was inhibiting her work until she asked herself, “Why not take this as a challenge and let the other materials do the heavy lifting?”

In response she began remaking heavy clasps and other carved solid silver pieces out of polymer embellished with little bits of metal clay.

Here you see one of her signature Ouroboros toggle clasps as she used to make it and as she’s making it now. She’s one of a growing number of artists who are using the rise in prices to nourish their creativity and revisit polymer clay. Read her full explanation. See more of her polymer/metal work in her Etsy shop.

Tending your garden

How does your garden grow? Illinois’ Zuda Gay Pease creates wearable polymer dahlias, sunflowers and other garden delights that require no weeding. She’s added leaves and buds to her line of pendants and beads. Enjoy this summer weekend.

Tutorials unravel the mysteries

Rebecca Watkins unravels the mystery of her textured beads with a quick (and free) visual tutorial. Her methods and tools may surprise you. She shows more examples on her Etsy site.

You may also enjoy the step-by-step look that Tory Hughes offers on her most recent “Tahitian Flora” project. It’s educational to watch as she sketches her project before she begins.

Look closely and you’ll see that she forms the pieces into shallow cups in order to mimic the blossoms. She presses the flat pieces against her knuckle and bakes them on a paper cone to achieve a gentle shape. Tory promises another look at stringing as this project progresses.

Polymer Americana

School’s out! Jenn McGlon knows what’s coming up next! She and her friends over at SpookyTimeJingles are already gearing up for the Fourth of July with an offering of Americana art like these painted polymer Luettes.

The Spooky folks have jumped ahead to their favorite fall holiday as well.

Updates

A new, air dry polymer clay? DeCoRé is quite pricey but might be just the thing when you want to add inclusions that can’t take the heat of baking. Read more. Ronna Weltman sent us the link.

Julie Picarello’s new book, Patterns In Polymer, is a joy to read and to learn from! The copy is engaging and the techniques are dynamite.

The Green issue of the From Polymer to Art quarterly magazine has arrived. For U.S. readers, PolkaDotCreations carries this Netherlands publication.

Polymer gardens

Need a diversion from jewelry? Illustrator Paula Pindroh created an intriguing polymer cactus garden series to provide craft show customers with an option beyond her wall art.

The bottoms of each of the cactus pieces were shaped with pointy nubs that were easy to push into sand or grits or lentils. She offered a wide range of pieces that customers could mix and match.

These small gardens could provide a great way to use up bits of clay and stretch your imagination.

Mix and match harmony

Two new names for you today. The colors Angela (claynine) and Kim Peters used blend beautifully with PCD’s colors and may give your week a harmonious start.

These new works will keep you occupied while I take my grandson to the airport. Our lovely visit is over and it’s back to work/play.

The faux ceramic necklace above is from the UK’s Angela. I like the variety, dimension and color of this piece and its fanciful, “no worries” approach.

Kim Peters is a Pennsylvania mixed media kind of girl whose eye finds all kinds of baubles in colors that will perfectly accentuate her polymer pieces. She has a way of recycling vintage accents to fit right in with polymer. You can read more about Kim in an interview on ArtBeadScene. Here’s her Etsy address.

Well-balanced polymer

Pam Sanders was inspired by the Borgias for some of her latest polymer creations. (Remember, the Borgias inspired Marie Segal as well.)

This precarious balancing act sculpture makes me smile as it reminds me of the sometimes silly demands of our busy lives.

Pam’s lighted humorous characters are a departure from her moody, mysterious face art in both polymer and in other media. She describes her urban artifacts as “modern with an ancient spirit.”

Pam started out as a knitter/embroiderer and has evolved to mixed media wearable art sculptures. She calls herself an eclectic artist and her most recent mixed bag of faces shows the range of her art. Have a well-balanced weekend.

Polymer doodling system

The symmetry of Barb Fajardo’s domed and textured beads brings calm and order to the day. The fourteen bead sets shown here measure an inch in diameter and represent two days’ work.

Her texture doodling system, flora beads and textured tessellations (not to mention several national awards) qualify Barb as one of the queens of texture on polymer. Her doodled textures are inspired by her southwest surroundings as well as ancient Henna and Mendhi tattoo art. They come alive with the addition of color.

The volume of work on Barb’s Flickr, Facebook and web sites illustrates how practice makes perfect.

Welcome distractions

These polymer sprites from Italy’s Barbara Oppizzi remind me of how charmed and distracted I am this week by a visit from my own munchkin grandson.

Barbara’s sprites’ poses match Oliver’s when he’s happily at play on the floor. Her polymer flowers could have been plucked from a sumptuous garden.

My toy strewn living room looks like it was hit by a baby bomb. My studio is closed for the week while this very small muse teaches me a few things. Luckily I can sneak off to the computer while he naps.