Several readers have recommended the polymer Jiggly Wiggly Robots by Florida’s M. Held who is an illustrator as well. I’m tickled that she converts her robots into fabric at Spoonflower and creates illustrations for stock image sites. She also offers a clever tip for reducing fingerprints on polymer. (Christie Wright and others sent the link along.)
And as long as we’re talking clever technology, take a look at Betsy Baker’s online Lookbook. It’s a catalog of her latest work that she uploaded free through Issuu.com. Read how she did it here. Nice marketing!
Bangles are everywhere! Corliss Rose (2RosesJewelry) recently stitched up a fabulous polymer patchwork bracelet. She took the quiltmaking that she learned from her grandmother and brought it to polymer. The Roses experiment with all kinds of materials and it’s great when polymer pops up in their work.
The Roses studio led me to Lauren Abrams brass-based bangle covered with polymer that’s been deliciously striped with alcohol inks.
Lauren led me to the source of this bangle craze, Melanie West. I watched Melanie make one of her lovely biobangles this year and it’s been on my mind ever since.
She’s developed great new techniques and I had no idea that I could refresh my memory with an inexpensive online tutorial. (The brass bangle tutorial is not currently listed but I’m guessing Melanie will put it back up.) Off to the studio!
Veruschka Stevens was moved to created this wearable polymer garden after watching Michele Obama on tv gardening and surrounded by children.
“This necklace is very much inspired by the gorgeous garden in the White House and the wonderful health and joy that a garden – no matter how small or large – can bring into everyone’s heart, mind and body,” she explained. Here’s a collage of her inspiration and her results.
Next Thursday marks the opening of Rachel Gourley’s Core Sample show at the Craft Council of BC in Vancouver. Her colorful collection of self-supporting hollow polymer tubes stand 30″ tall looking like modern totems.
Rachel’s first explorations for this exhibit began when she developed back problems. Awaiting treatment, she would intently study the diagrams of the human spine in the offices of doctors and physiotherapists. Since then Rachel says, “I have thought a lot about the spinal column and how the body supports itself.”
Initially she titled the exhibition Vertical Vertebrae but she realized that the scope of her work had expanded beyond the human spinal column. She found herself investigating the structural core of organic forms and began to see parallels between spines, trees and columns in their ability to support a larger mass.
You can see more of Rachel’s exploration with natural forms in earlier PCDaily posts here and here. The show runs through September 5.
Giveaway winner and your suggestions
Jan Montarsi was the winner of the Friday book giveaway. Thanks to Jan and the more than 500 of you who took time to fill out the survey I can more accurately read the pulse of the PCD community. The number of responses bowled me over and your enthusiasm was a hoot. Thanks for all the suggestions and the compliments. You’ve helped greatly.
Céline Charuau’s new polymer “Beetles” cabochons with oxidized silver settings have a cross-century Mad Max look inspired by the work of jeweler Joanna Gollberg.
It’s refreshing when artists name their sources and even better when one medium affects another and moves it in a new direction.
Celine combines organic forms with metal in unusual ways. This year she seems to have moved from wire wrapping and stitching to prongs and bezels. Her polymer gems look like objects from another galaxy. Have a stellar weekend!
Survey/Book Giveaway
It’s your last chance to fill out the PCD survey. I’ve been overwhelmed by the response and your feedback is terrific. Thanks so much. The giveaway drawing winner (of Sherri Haab’s new metal clay book/DVD) will be announced on Monday.
SandrART’s Croatian summertime polymer playthings remind us what fun in the studio is all about. Forget serious and studied. Let your fingers do the walking and play.
Her bright colored fish on strings are simple and childlike. Her graduated band of layered polymer winds around to create an aerodynamic sealife pendant.
SandrART’s site is full of experiments that show a joyful approach to clay that we sometimes forget. Go fish!
Ford and Forlano (Dave and Steve) slipped off my radar and when I went back to check their site, I felt like I’d taken a quick dip in the pool on a hot day. Their work instantly refreshes.
In recent work they’ve created an homage to Georgia O’Keeffe, toyed with Alexander Calder ideas, and been surprised by the popularity and wearability of their big pieces that they thought were only for museum display cases.
Even Ford/Forlano get rejected (gasp). You may be surprised at how they responded when a show they’d been in for years passed them over. Good summer reading here.
Austria’s Carina Feichtinger knows her way around a Skinner blend. With a few beautiful gradations in polymer and a some clay cutters, she layers simple shapes onto brooches and pendants. The subtle shadings and a few metal clay embellishments give the pieces extra dimension.
As a bonus, you’ll see a photo of the Austrian and German guild gang on Carina’s Flickr site. They gathered for a Christine Dumont workshop recently.
Survey Results
Your answers to the PCD survey have been very helpful in figuring out how to keep the site lively and on target. We’ll gather your answers Friday night and pick another giveaway winner. Keep ’em coming!
To mark the end of her fifth decade and the beginning of her sixth, Washington’s Sue Ellen Katz resolved to create a polymer head each day for a year. She’s completed 197 and ends her year in October.
Explaining the exercise she says that, “Each new head will help my own to sit more squarely on top of my shoulders.”
On her 365TalkingHeads blog Sue Ellen adds pensive quotes and captions to each head and she gangs them for a “say cheese” group photo at the end of each month. Repeating an exercise 365 times is bound to bring changes. Don’t you wonder what she’s learned? (Thanks to Ronna Sarvas Weltman for the link.)
Second Haab book giveaway
You readers are anxious to help me lighten the load on my bookshelves. Our randomly picked winner is Connie Nall from Omaha, Nebraska. Congratulations!
Incidentally, I have a second copy of the same book with DVD. I was going to hang onto that one but decided you’d enjoy it more. Take the PCDaily reader survey and enter your email at the end. You’ll automatically be entered in next Friday’s giveaway!
Madrid’s Silvia Ortiz de la Torre is fascinated with shifting colors and patterns, from soap film to fractals. A look at her Flickr page shows you how she translates this fascination into polymer patterns. Polymer was made for artists like Silvia.
I’m mesmerized by these recent pieces. I can’t tell if they’re made from extruded blends or hand-built canes. The colors pop and the patterns play nicely with each other.
Friday Giveaway
My daughter’s visiting and she’s making me tidy my library. The brand new Art of Metal Clay, a beautiful revised and expanded book from Sherri Haab comes complete with a project DVD.
While there are several polymer and mixed media artists in it, this book deserves a good home with a metal clay artist. If metal clay rings your chimes, leave a comment and my daughter will draw a name on Monday. Have a lucky weekend.
