Polymer Clay Daily

Creativity Shaman

If you’re like me, you need a bit of a boost to start your week right and Barb Kobe’s site is sure to do the trick. The doll shown here is her Creativity Shaman, she who builds links to creativity. Barb, who is based in Minneapolis, makes art dolls, therapeutic dolls and puppets that nurture personal growth and healing. She uses a variety of materials, including polymer clay, to create shape, color, textures and moods for her dolls.

Some of her inspirations come from other cultures’ spiritual and healing symbols. Other inspiration comes from words, her art journals, nature, and her healing process. She uses sticks, roots, materials from nature, clay, fibers and painted fabric.

Her site is dense with images and explanations. If your internet connection can handle it, I recommend that you download her slideshow (it’s a 5Mb .pdf file) which is a fascinating read about her process.

Thanks to Carol Simmons for the link. Happy Monday.

Ovenfried Beads

I’m not usually a fan of cute names but this one tickles me. It’s not surprising that Amy Wallace credits her babysitting jobs as the thing that led her to more serious polymer work. Teaching her young charges to make beads kept them occupied and made her realize how much she enjoyed the clay.

Amy makes what she calls a "stacker" bead and combines them in many ways. She’s a Cincinnati girl and a member of the Cincinnati Craft Mafia, according to her site. Thanks to Shirley Guenther for the tip.

Tell a story

I snagged Dolly Traicoff’s site while poring over the Detroit guild’s information. I like the layering of words and pictures and objects that she combines into her quirky pins.

I’m also drawn in by the handwriting and the stories that her pieces hint at. A little food for Thursday thought.

Cane Lesson

A bit of a lesson today from California’s Kim Korringa. Kim has a sequence of fish cane pictures on her site that may teach you a thing or two.

Kim’s web site is a pleasure to browse through and includes a studio tour, always a winner in my book. In her former life Kim was a graphic artist.

I like the quote by Robert Henri that Kim includes on her site, "The object isn’t to make art, it’s to be in that wonderful state that makes art inevitable"

Monday masks


How have I overlooked the Detroit guild’s Dorothy Greynolds’ pages? Those picture album pages are wonderful web starts for polymer artists who are otherwise leery of web sites….but it’s harder to find them.

Dorothy shapes these masks over the backs of teaspoons and she displays a wonderful series of characters with broad hints of her graphic arts background. Lots of pictures here. Lots of distractions for a Monday.

Joie de vivre

This site says fun in any language and it’s Friday, for heaven’s sake. What better day to take a look at what French artist Chris Lajoinie is doing with polymer clay?

The site navigation is working a little strangely on my computer and I’m not quite sure what I’m looking at…fibers and crystals and polymer clay. The translation software wasn’t much help.

But who cares? It’s a visual party. We should all try working with such gay abandon from time to time. Thanks, again, to Susan Rose for the tip.

Clayville

If you’re studying artists’ websites and contemplating one for yourself, take a look at how Anita Winthrop of the Clayville California guild has organized hers. In my day job I look at lots of sites and I can’t help but admire ones that are well thought out. Now let me take off my web hat and put on my polymer cap.

Her face cane demo is terrific. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen such intricate face caning. Overall her work makes me happy. Anita is a throwback to the early days of polymer when caning was king and I’m thrilled to see that this kind of work is still alive and well. Thanks to Victoria James for the link.

Exploration

Florida’s Barbara Desrosiers also explores God and nature using polymer. "My venture into mixed media began simply, with small wings formed of polymer clay. Working the clay frequently gives rise to the beginnings of an image," she says.

Barbara finds that mixed media offers a greater freedom than a single medium. She often uses polymer and adds wire, stones, gilding or bells for dimension.

Her site shows her work in other media and frequently she merges her processes.

Barbara quotes poet Robert Creeley, “…art is a gate, not a product.”

The tip comes from Susan Rose.

Icons

Nancy Preston has long been a student of belief systems. After years of reading, she abandoned her books and started building her own vocabulary of images in her artwork. The resulting collages of paper, polymer clay, beads, metal leaf and other materials show her broad interests (from Madonas to Bodhisattvas) and considerable talent.

Nancy is an art school graduate and special needs art teacher in Cortland, New York. She also teaches polymer clay classes. See the class list on her site. Another thanks to Susan Rose for the find.