Polymer Clay Daily

Benzon’s gourds, Polymer Cafe article

Jana Roberts Benzon has transformed her polymer clay sea sculptures into fall harvest creations. Her organic shapes flow from one environment to the other nicely.

Here are the links that accompany my extrusions article in the December issue of Polymer Cafe. The magazine is full of tips and tricks and things you won’t want to miss.

I waded into a swamp of alligators when I posted about monkeys yesterday. I was unaware that in these heated political times an innocent monkey icon has been appropriated for mean political use. Absolutely no political comment was insinuated. Lighten up…and vote.

I’m still coding furiously behind the scenes and looking for a WordPress expert if anyone has one they can recommend.

Clay monkey, code monkey

I thought my code monkey days were behind me! It seems not. Thank you all for your email condolences and your patience with that big ugly “Server Error” message yesterday. It’s fixed for now.

These polymer clay sock monkey ornaments by Texan Waxela Sananda caught my eye and seemed right for today. She carries an eclectic mix of artwork on her Etsy site and her blog.

Do me a favor

My sweet nomadic daughter has launched a new website. Please go visit and click around on her This Tiny House blog. She’s fascinated with small spaces and, as a web consultant, can take her office on the road and work from anywhere.

She’s lived in a small room on a commune in Virginia, a miniscule NYC apartment, a houseboat in Sausalito, and more. It’s quite the life and I’d like to help her get her latest venture started with a burst of traffic. She’s got an eye, a way with words and a fascinating view of the world. Thanks for your help.

Light earrings, new book

Look at these great organic earrings by Ellen Prophater that I saw in Kentucky last weekend. She’s still thinking about a web site which, of course, frustrates both me and you. These lightweight lovelies are formed and baked on wooden balls. Ellen dips the finished earrings into warm water combined with liver of sulfur to turn the silver wires black.

The movement toward self-published books is exciting. Here’s a wonderful offering from Cynthia Toops and her husband, glass artist Dan Adams. There’s a nice preview online though the sample pages seem to show more of Dan’s work than Cynthia’s. Thanks to Leslie Blackford for the link.

That ugly server message is finally gone and the site is back up for now. I’ve stripped out the guestbook, the Flickr pictures and loads of other little potential gremlins. Let’s hope the PCDaily site is stable. Understand that if there are problems, it’s me not you.

Detwiler’s dress patterns
Detwiler_chips

The chips for the games at polymer clay conferences have become coveted items and a good way to show off new techniques. These chips by Susan Detwiler of Shepherdsville, Kentucky are a case in point.

Susan uses translucent clay for her base and paints it with alcohol inks (center picture) followed by a layer of liquid polymer. Circles of the thin paper from old dress patterns are laid on the wet polymer and covered with another layer of wet liquid polymer and the whole concoction is baked.

Susan cautions that old patterns on thin crinkly paper with lots of printing work best. I’m sure these will be sought after treasures on game night here in Mammoth Cave, Kentucky. Susan swears that her gallery on the Deviant Arts site will soon be operational.

This is similar to the napkin transfers we ran into in Spain recently. Small world.

Mika’s polymer mosaic muse

Laurie Mika added a few new polymer clay mosaics to her Facebook page and this one “Waking the Muse” seemed appropriate since I’m leaving for the Tennessee/Kentucky retreat today to wake my muse. The little pockets on the skirt of this character are filled with pencils and brushes.

Her “Home Sweet Home” shrine is a comforting reminder of what we value in these chaotic times.

If you’re adept at navigating Facebook, be sure to check out the other pictures Laurie has uploaded. My Facebook page is ctinapple. Join me there (though I’m not terribly sure how the whole thing works).

Ehmeir’s mosaic style transfers

Austrian Eva Ehmeier (Hoedlgut) gives a little twist to her polymer clay transfers by connecting them with jump rings, mosaic-style. She’s discovered a nice way to salvage the good pieces and parts of transfers gone bad.

Eva’s giving her voice to the techniques she learned in workshops with masters like Louise Fischer Cozzi and Grant Diffendaffer.

A look at the pictures from the first Austrian clay meeting and the Wiesbaden Germany workshop reveals the fine work and growing popularity of polymer clay in that part of the world.

On this side of the pond, while I was searching for pictures from this year’s Sandy Camp (no luck yet), I came across this clever alphabet stamp tutorial on Marie Siegal’s blog.

Abrams’ colors brighten fall

Lauren Cole Abrams says the colors of this new polymer clay necklace have a tropical flavor which she used to brighten up a cold day in the mountains. It caught my tired computer eyes…I’ve been sitting here too long and realize that I’m ignoring similar colors right outside my window.

Lauren works in many media and today I stumbled on her purses and purse embellishment site (plus Flickr and Etsy).

Check her out. I need to head outside.

Lehman’s polymer party decorations

Wouldn’t you love to be invited to Lorell Lehman’s Halloween party? Australia’s a bit far for me so I’ll have to enjoy her polymer clay party decorations online. (See the pix from last year’s party. I’m particularly fond of the salvaged and repainted dolls.)

She explains that, “Halloween (and Christmas) seem to bring out the manic in my personality and I can do the work of three ordinary mortals.” On her blog she shows the process for this polymer clay spell book and other spooky party props.

“I used an old, ratty looking book and sculpted directly onto the cover with polymer clay. I embedded a glass eye and some metal findings and the baked the whole thing (watching VERY carefully) for around 20 minutes. I then painted the entire surface with acrylic paints and added spider web and a lovely glass bead tassel. Voila!….creepy spellbook!”

Lorell’s art dolls are even more fantastic and rich with folklore. See some of the newest ones on her Flickr site. Thanks to Barbara Forbes-Lyons for the link!

Global design trends
Tina Holden, Canada Galina Grbennikova, Ireland Gudrun Stolz, Austria

The first three wire-filled forms filled with polymer clay come from two very different sources. Tina Holden from Vancouver Island was thinking of Picasso when she bent her rebar wire into shapes and filled them with clay.

Galina Grbennikova (she writes in Russian and lives in Ireland) used copper wire to create sea creature shapes. Others have bent and filled wire shapes and I see the trend re-emerging. (I should also have mentioned Italy’s Marina Lombardi…see here and here.)

The rough rings and bracelets made by Austria’s Gudrun Stolz are made by wrapping thin bands of clay into rings and bangles. It brings to mind earlier works of Ford/Forlano and a recent French trend to use dry, brittle-edged clay as a design element. (Thanks to Ann Staub for the link.)

I’m intrigued by our growing global design synchronicity. Have a harmonious weekend.