Polymer Clay Daily

Small Monuments

When Seattle’s Charlie Nagel and I met in class 10 years ago, he was a metal sculptor just beginning to explore polymer clay. He delights in creating pieces that feel monumental and architectural but are actually quite small in scale.

His background as a psychiatrist and a musician reveals itself in his provocative and contemplative approach. Take some time to view his new pieces and read his statements about them.

Charlie begins by explaining,"It was Emerson who said, "What lies behind us and what lies before us are of small consequence compared to what lies within us.’ The process of exploring that inner space I think of as a voyage of discovery, and the function of art can be to provide a series of sign-posts to awaken our inner vision."

All this talk of visions and voyages reminds me of my own UFO’s (UnFinished Objects). What a perfect long weekend to complete them.

Billboards

How often do you see polymer clay on a billboard? Thanks to Meredith Ditmar’s work, folks in Portland have that pleasure. Meredith’s characters also appear in books, on cell phones, in commercials and in other unusual venues.

Interest in contemporary character design has grown. It draws on pop culture, graffiti and visual art and its artists have moved beyond the boundaries of the gallery and introduced polymer clay work to a new audience of avid collectors.

Take a look at the works of Fergus Ray-Murray (Oolong) from Scotland and Bulgarian Dinko Tilov, for example.

Loose Ends

It’s Wednesday and time for some tidbit tidying. The Philadelphia polymer clay guild has pictures of new works (like these by Ellen Marshall) and a tube bead extruder tool I hadn’t seen before. You might want to pop in on the new Maine guild site too.

Maggie Maggio interviewed me and her article has been posted on the NPCG web site. I’ll be speaking at Synergy (with the ACC show in Baltimore) about the future of polymer clay. Between now and then I’ll be crystal ball gazing, mulling and conjecturing. If you have thoughts on the subject, write me.

Two more events for your calendar. The next Clay Carnival will be held from November 30 – December 2, 2007, in Las Vegas. The details are on Donna Kato’s site. Or check out the ultimate polymer clay experience, Jeff Dever’s master class in France at Gwen Gibson’s La Cascade.

I won the Debby Brams earrings in the Shrine Mont silent auction and discovered her elegant earwire trick. The earwire is made of a headpin that runs through and over the clay in one easy piece. If you click on the image, you’ll get the larger version and see what I mean. Very simple, totally cool.

Friendships

Virginia’s Susan Tilt kept a sewing machine in her room at Shrine Mont. A multi-talented artist who specializes in liturgical art, Susan spent her spare moments finishing a quilted wall hanging for an Episcopal Church Visual Arts exhibit. The stunning piece was based on a series of gesture drawings from a figure class that she had taken.

Angela Tompkins has been Susan’s Shrine Mont table mate for years. In a touching tribute to her friend’s art, Angela created a small polymer clay painting of Susan’s quilt. Spontaneous acts of kindness and friendship like these that we express in our art are often more powerful than our most studied and carefully considered efforts.

Clarification: There are many ways to transfer images to polymer clay – gin, water, special papers, special sauces. My hat is off to anyone who can spit, sip or slide their images onto the clay. Yesterday’s Laurie Prophater may have a new twist.

While you’re waiting for the details of Laurie’s system, you might take a look at Jeanne Rhea’s, Jill Erickson’s (here’s her how-to), or Donna Kato’s methods. And Donna has added a few new things to her site.

Debriefing

Ohio’s Laurie Prophater has developed a transfer technique that’s more foolproof and inexpensive than any I’ve seen. I watched as she refined it all week long at Shrine Mont.

Read more about it on her blog and be sure to catch her tutorial in the fall issue of Polymer Cafe magazine.

Laurie is thrifty and makes her own perfume from essential oils and vodka. What you learn at a conference can be amazing! It’s back to the office Monday. Come back tomorrow for more Shrine Mont debriefing.

Brams

Deborah Brams from Massachusetts creates lovely, delicate designs and she’s got a new site up! The miniscule gold balls she embeds in her pieces add an elegant touch. (She created these earrings today for the Shrine Mont silent auction.)

In a couple of years Debby will be retiring from teaching visually impaired students and will concentrate on her polymer clay art. Keep your eye on her site as she gears up for a more active art career.

In a clarification of yesterday’s post, Jan Frame’s beads are domed on both sides (see the picture at right) and have a different image on both sides.

Framed

Here’s another one you’ll have a hard time locating on the web. My table mate here at Shrinemont is Jan Frame from Denver and she produces her polymer clay works for herself and her friends. No web site, no big business…just wonderful work that gives her pleasure.

These three-inch hollow beads are light as a feather, precisely finished, with lovely patterns on both sides. Most are silkscreened using a method Jan adapted from Gwen Gibson’s class. They’re formed and baked on a lightbulb.

Jan has a keen eye and has become the "go-to" person when we have a piece that needs a reality check. We all need those trusted friends who will tell us the truth about our works and help us improve them.

Organization

Organization is sometimes a thing of beauty in itself and I just had to share these pictures of Karen Scudder’s canes neatly resting in their boxes for safekeeping. I’ll snap some pix of her finished work as the week progresses.

Karen’s colors are as crisp and clean as her canes. Lovely stuff. (You can google a few references to Karen to see her work but she doesn’t have her own site.)

Speaking of colors, Lindly Haunani said I could share her newest iteration of color studies from her classes.

Hot out of the oven. Aren’t these pins yummy?

Information Sources

If your only source of polymer clay information is the web, you’re missing great new work. Joining a guild, taking to a class or attending a conference will broaden your knowledge tremendously.

This week’s Shrine Mont conference participants will grow tired of hearing me tell them to update their web sites, especially when they change direction in their work as these artists have.

Above is Ann Dillon’s new work which plays on the same themes as the earlier pieces on her web site but with updated and expanded designs. Quite lovely.

And Sandra McCaw took off the necklace she was wearing (at right) so that I could capture it for you. It’s the product of a winter metals class and hints at new things to come.

Road Trip

Take a little trip with me to France and Madeleine Songe’s lovely photo transfers to polymer. I’ll be stopping off in Virginia but you can keep on traveling in France if you like. It’s easy to spend a great deal of time on the site.

I love the combination of the fabric neckpieces (I think Madeleine’s used those Chinese knotted ones you can buy), old photos, polymer bezels and crystal beads. Such, "Je nais se quoi!"

I’m off to Virginia where they tell me there’s wifi. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or not. Many thanks to Kimberly Hodes for finding links for today. She was googling while I was packing. Her site is a treat as well. It’s road trip Monday. I’ll be back in touch soon.