Polymer Clay Daily

Earth Day

Earth Day is this Sunday. It’s a good time to look at young sculptor, Jessica Swanson, who uses polymer clay with sytrofoam and flocking to create her "Goats on the Summit of Mt. Debris" piece in zero degrees art online gallery based in Los Angeles, CA.

Jessica says of her work, "In the name of convenience, our culture often avoids considering that our own survival as human animals depends on the survival of the entire network of our earth and its life forms."

"Our habits suggest our reluctance to change. I believe our values and actions will shift through a deeper look at our views of the wild."

Thanks to Susan Rose for unearthing this thought-provoking link.

Traveling Companion

Enjoy a bit of Hawaii and Japan today by traveling with Donna Kato. She’s back from her teaching stint (two weeks in Japan and ten days in Hawaii) with some lovely pictures.

The polymer clay creations of Hawaiian artist Lani Chun, one of Donna’s hosts, perfectly mirror the vibrant colors and lush vegetation of Hawaii. Her one-of-a-kind leis and miniature bouquets show terrific attention to detail as well as great color and craftsmanship.

Pick Me

We start the week with illustrator Linda Olliver from Baltimore, MD. While Olliver illustrates mostly in traditional media, her personal work in polymer clay communicates strong messages with wry, ironic imagery and tone.

Thanks to Susan Rose for starting out our week with a link to make us think.

Frippery

A bit of fun and frivolity for Friday! This is NYC’s Amber Dawn who put together a "charm swap" with her polymer clay pals as well as some beaders and collagers.

The results are fabulous frippery. It almost makes me want to be in a swap (until I remember how my stomach feels the night before the work is due).

Have a frivolous weekend. I’m off to my son’s final graduate art show. Life is good.

Spanish Harlem

Olga Ayala grew up in New York’s Spanish Harlem. With its pulsating rhythms, spicy aromas, and the diverse make-up of its inhabitants, Spanish Harlem inspired Olga and her best works reflect the culture around her. Her dancers and drummers are filled with a remarkable sense of movement.

Olga’s been working in polymer clay since 1997, teaching herself techniques gleaned from books.

The best place to see Olga’s work is on her MySpace page which is as noisy and energetic as her work. It’s fun to look at some of her sculptures in progress.

Anything Goes Monday


"Anything or everything goes," says Connecticut’s Peggy Dembicer of her girl in the white dress, "polymer clay, stones, metal, plastics, fibers, sequins, beads, wood, buttons, paper, bark, fabrics, push pins, hat pins, yogurt caps." There’s an attitude to start the week.

It looks like this piece is loosely based on a William Merritt Chase painting (or is it a John Singer Sergeant)? Peggy particularly admires the work of the Huichol Indians of Mexico who set bead designs in beeswax.

You can read more about Peggy and her fiber arts background here and here.

Control to Chaos

Former NPCG president,

Carol Simmons has figured out how to bring control to the chaos of polymer clay kaleidoscope canes. These samples were all generated from one base cane.

Just as Judith Skinner saw polymer clay color gradations as a math problem to be solved, Carol has seen kaleidoscope canes as a system to be reassembled and explained. A scientist and researcher, Carol took a methodical approach to the problem and came up with an elegant solution.

Obviously this is more than science, however. It takes artistry and a fine sense of color to come up with these powerful combinations.

Thanks to her for sharing her new discovery. We’ll have to wait to hear how Carol decides to publish or teach her new technique.

And this seasonal polymer clay treat is from Illinois’ Scott Mizevitz, a multiple winner and now a judge in the "Bottles of Hope Challenge." Enjoy his photos and have a lovely Easter weekend.

Chaos and Control

Colorado’s Shane Smith creates and combines kaleodoscopic in a slightly different way shown here. You can see some additional samples.

I think of Sarah Shriver as the mother of this technique (not so sure she’d like that designation) and she has a DVD on the technique that’s not to be missed.

Then there’s Jana Roberts Benzon who wraps and bends the slices into 3-D constructions. And Karen Lewis (Klew) and many more. Each of these artists works in a slightly different way with distinctive results.

At one gathering there were so many artists who build these intricate canes that constructing objects with the cane slices became a team sport resulting in fantasy creatures like the ones shown here.