Polymer Clay Daily

Briggs’ vehicle of choice

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Every day presents new ideas. Shall I work with metals, polymer clay, resin or felt and fiber, or do I want to stitch beads? Does my mood reflect cutting edge modern, vintage, or something in between? My creative world can change on a whim,” says jewelry artist Barbara Briggs.

She reflects the sentiment of a growing number of artists who move easily between other media and polymer as their vehicle of choice. This cross-pollenization is widening our circle of friends.

Barbara’s site is a treasure trove, including these polymer-handled makeup brushes and this Asian Influence pendant.

Niche Awards

The deadline for entries for the prestigious 2011 NICHE Awards competition has been extended to September 17. They’d like to encourage participation from our community.

There are new categories this year including: basketry, outdoor art, wedding jewelry, paper, and religious/inspirational art. If you meant to apply but forgot the date, jump on this second chance.

Anderson’s guitar venture

Jon Anderson lives and works in Bali. His distinctive animal sculptures, densely covered with rich polymer cane patterns, have for years been found in galleries across the US.

Now Anderson has branched out, covering custom electric guitars with polymer for Hand Guitars. Hear him talk about his 50-pound, 12-foot canes in this video (at the top of the column at right) taken at a trade show in Nashville. The guitars range from $1800 to $6000. Here are more pictures and videos of the new venture.

Home Again

I’ve returned to the midwest with a head full of ideas and a suitcase full of dirty laundry. I’ll be unpacking both this week.

Chandler’s out of this world polymer

Gera Scott Chandler has taken polymer rock making to the next level – inter-planetary. Her Martian rocks reveal colors and images from another planet. Click here to see one of her finished necklaces.

As a rock hound myself, it was gratifying when several artists attended our “Rockettes” session. They shared their secrets and compared their faux river rocks, beach stones and exotic pebbles. Gera’s were the most outlandish.

Gera was also the first one to spot a magical moose this week. Have a magical weekend.

Korringa’s workspace

One of my guilty pleasures at retreats is taking pictures of artists’ workspaces when they’ve left them for the night.

The tools and the piles of projects in process give a glimpse into how an artist works. Piles of scrap and dissarray are as intriguing as the tidiest table.

My favorite items are the personalized tools. Maybe it says something about how the artist values his or her skill, taking time to decorate a humble tool.

Kim Korringa’s work surface was littered with petal canes last night. Because she often wraps canes with Jones Tone foils, they pile up without sticking to each other.

The canes were surrounded by experiments and evidence that she was having a good time, like a littered kitchen after a particularly good party.

Carlson’s other faces

Maureen Carlson examines her more soulful side in her new collection of polymer totems. She says it’s a relief to sometimes leave her sweet fantasy characters behind and examine other ideas, emotions and cultures.

These modern tribal images are based on her face molds. Further decoration and coloring with alcohol inks and pencils give them distinct identities and stories. She makes the process look loose and fun.

Maureen will be teaching her new totem designs as part of her narrative bead class at the Florida Fandango retreat next May.

Callahan’s book cane sculptures

Jonathan Callan is a UK sculptor who mostly works with books and paper. While there’s no polymer clay here (and PCD rarely strays from polymer artists), I’m hoping that you’ll appreciate Callan’s cane brain. His “canes” are made from books and they’re simply fascinating. Could he have been influenced by polymer clay?

New ideas are flooding in from fellow artists here in Colorado. I have some lovelies to share with you tomorrow. For now, it’s back to my worktable. Today’s link came from my darling daughter.

Mosaic final touch

Before I left town I finished my porch mosaic and I think it says “welcome” in a way that suits me. Adding the mosaic frame around the window in the door gives the entry the final touch it needed. Here are a few closeups and here’s the earlier post.

I’m getting settled in Colorado and hope you’ll distract yourselves with this while I get my bearings..

Travel toys and tutorials

The Les Ethiopiques site is full of free tutorials and French polymer fun that will keep you kids busy in the back seat while I travel to Colorado for a week in the mountains. With any luck, I’ll keep posting daily about old friends, new products and moose.

Les Ethiopique’s faux leather ties in nicely with this week’s earlier Biker Chick post. Though her tutorials are in French, the photos say it all and you needn’t translate to get the gist. Just look for “tuto” and click away. Her generosity in creating all these free how-to’s is refreshing.

Thanks to Eva Ménager for the link. Have a refreshing weekend!