Polymer Clay Daily

Danym’s African interpretation

France’s Danym (Fimoti-Fimota) loves African jewelry and it shows. A polymer clay necklace that could fall flat and be seen as clunky and crude becomes powerful and earthy instead. I wish I could put my finger on what makes the difference. You figure it out.

Enjoy traveling to France rummaging through Danym’s site and Flickr page while I head to Colorado. With any luck, one of my traveling friends will have packed some bibelot she’s made and I can photograph it for tomorrow’s viewing.

I found Danym while wandering through the French group site, Parole de pate.

Lam’s recent work

Loretta Lam’s recent work was featured on the Halstead Jewelry site a few days ago. When I saw her work, I instantly breathed a deep sigh. How is it that a necklace can calm you down?

Loretta’s colors and shapes are soothing. No wild techniques or fancy footwork but colors and shapes in a combination that feels authentic and comforting.

Between repairing blog code (thanks for your suggestions) and preparing for a trip to Colorado, I needed some calming.

Skinner submissions

Sarajane Helm has a bit more explanation of the book that she and Judith Skinner are publishing and they’re looking for submissions from you. Here’s the lowdown.

Site update

We’ve rearranged the furniture on PCD and streamlined a bit. If your favorite section is missing, poke around, it’s probably still there. Let me know if something won’t work…I may have mangled a bit of code in the move. It’s a work in progress and all comments are welcome. Thanks to my dear daughter for her help.

Fixed the email and RSS feeds, tweaked lots details. Thanks for your suggestions.

Sculpting Color exhibit opens

Kathleen Dustin reports that this weekend’s opening reception for Sculpting Color: Works in Polymer Clay at the Fuller Craft Museum drew the second-largest crowd the museum has ever had. “I am thrilled at how nice the show looks, and how well it is being received. This is a large step forward for the medium of polymer clay as an expression of fine art,” she says.

Kathleen curated the show and added a few tantalizing snapshots to her Facebook page. I’m sure we’ll soon be seeing more. A few of them are posted below for those of you who haven’t taken the Facebook plunge. The teapots above are by Rebecca Zimmerman.

The opening festivities included a panel discussion with Kathleen, Bonnie Bishoff, Jeff Dever, Elise Winter, and Grant Diffendaffer. A synopsis of the discussion will be published on PolymerArtArchive.

The exhibit continues until November 22 at the Brockton, MA museum.
Kathleen Dustin and her 4’x3′ Nature Fix, Jeff Dever’s flowing forms, Grant Diffendaffer and his rayguns, Bonnie Bishoff’s Meander Credenza.

Detmers’ vintage bugs and flowers

Kim Detmers’ test tube vases and art nouveau bugs make for a colorful Friday. She is particularly adept at combining polymer clay cane slices and vintage brass findings to make bright bugs. The mixture sounds all wrong but looks very right.

Kim is the first craft artist ever officially licensed by the University of Utah. Kim created a petition that helped local artists get a crafters license in place so that artists could sell their handmade products and be in compliance with the University of Utah licensing guidelines.

You can see more of Kim’s polymer work on her website and in her Etsy gallery. Here’s an earlier post about her as well.

Back-to-school Heaser, Dyer, Skinner, Dustin

It must be the back-to-school frenzy that has prompted a slew of website updates this week.

Judith Skinner promises that she’ll update her website and she’s been thrilled with your comments on Tuesday’s video. She’s moved and is remodeling her new home in a larger town in Wyoming. You can find her at the Houston Quilt Festival in October.

Last year Sue Heaser sold the UK’s Polymer Clay Pit which she founded at her kitchen table in 1985. Now she tells us that she’s returning to her studio and bookwriting. She’s published nine books on polymer and has more up her sleeve. Here’s Sue’s new site.

I bumped into a new site for Susan Dyer (her brooch is pictured above) while I was looking at Eugena Topina’s site. Previously we caught Susan’s work only at ACC shows. Now Susan’s on Etsy and has her own site as well.

Guess I’m not the only one spending time on the computer on these late summer days. For one more reminder of this bountiful season, take a look at Kathleen Dustin’s rose purse. Just lovely.

Winters and Cormier/Holmes update

Skinner blend experts Dan Cormier and Tracy Holmes have expanded their website and added several new tools specifically designed to achieve precise blends. Among the site updates, Dan and Tracy present their Cutting Edge polymer clay tools and the new great white ShARK in a 9-minute video.

The free bonus is seeing some of Dan’s recent work and learning about a number of Skinner blend variations. I marvel at the techniques they’ve come up with and the tools they’ve perfected. You’ll want to see their Cutting Edge minute as well.

Elise Winters has an updated site complete with a luscious shopping page! Elise has pursued the maintenance of her digital presence with a laser focus that she brings to all her projects. (You can spot the Skinner effect in her pieces, can’t you?)

Don’t miss Elise’s explanation of her Polymer Collection Project, her personal quest to elevate the image of polymer in the art community and to bring polymer art into major museums. That exciting project is taking shape and may soon reach its goals! Stay tuned.

Conversation with Judith Skinner

The Skinner blend has been one of the most effective weapons in every polymer clay artist’s arsenal since 1996 when Judith Skinner developed and refined the concept.

In this interview with Judith, she tells a bit about the history of the Skinner blend and about her own history in the software industry. Did you know that in the 1970s she and a partner created the weather graphics systems that we see on TV?

There’s more…including plans for a book illustrating the many variations on her original concept. I needed a break from web surfing so I sat myself down for an afternoon of video editing. Hope you like.

Damm’s spontaneous polymer expressions

This collaborative piece with Christine Damm’s (StoriesTheyTell) polymer beads and Deryn Mentock’s wirework looks just right for Monday.

Christine has only worked in polymer for a year and she explains that, “I have been a potter, a dressmaker, a textile designer, a graphics artist. All my creative paths have led me to this one medium, which awakened my true creative style. It is the most versatile, colorful and technically flexible art material I’ve ever worked in. And it has my favorite artistic characteristic: it allows the most spontaneous expression of my vision.”

Her work shows an ease and confidence that is expressed in simple round beads and complex color. The blogs of both Christine and Deryn are inspirational reads. You’ll find them on Etsy (here and here) too.