Polymer Clay Daily

Multiple Palettes

This exhibit from last fall at the White Lotus Gallery in Eugene, Oregon, caught my eye. Multiple Palettes/Varied Visions: 30 Jewelers Explore Color covers a variety of media and their emphasis on color is instructive even though only a few (MaryandLouAnn and FordForlano) are polymer artists.

You’ll find lots of inspiration here. Be sure to visit the site of metalsmiths Barbara Minor and Christopher Hentz, Lulu Smith, Ellen Wieske, Deb Karash and others for the complete color experience.

Dittmar’s Guys

Portland, Oregon's Meredith Dittmar first started sculpting while trying to avoid getting her computer science degree. After graduating she worked as an interactive designer/programmer and her digital works have been shown in international film festivals, exhibits and magazines.

For the past ten years, she's put the digital realm on the backburner to pursue her three-dimensional passion. The first "guys" were made in 1994 when she discovered polymer clay.

Ever since that day, a steady flow has continued. Thousands have been created and no two were alike until the recent "clones" series. "Guys" are made out of premo and flexible sculpey.

They're quirky, colorful and fresh. And you can put them on your phone or watch a Converse Video (scroll through until you hit "Polymer Playground") of these creatures.

Pongo Olympics

I don’t know much about this artist…Howard from Como, Italy…but thought we should tip our hats toward the Olympic hosts this week. This one’s called "Pocketbook".

Pongo is apparently the Italian version of polymer clay and Howard sculpts all kinds of delightful things. You can buy his images on cups and shirts in addition to his pongo pieces.

The comments on his site are hilarious…."I can’t believe you did a pongo of my pre-operative uterus Howard. How sweet." Only the Italians could bring us this art! We should all learn to be so playful.

Two Heads Are Better

Karen Woods has some new works on her site. My favorites are her collaborative works with beadweaving artists. Some of the best in polymer team up with others to produce doubly interesting work.

If you’re looking for something to enliven your creations, consider enlisting artist friends in other media.

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Diving In

I’ve finished monkeying around. These finger puppets made from polymer were a vacation shopping find and I promptly forgot the artist’s name. She’s a Whidbey Island artist with some wonderful characters in her head. Her work is at the Bayview Art Center on Whidbey (sorry, no web links).

I pondered what to do with these pages, fretted over where I’d find new things, and considered where the art of polymer is headed. A week of pondering while looking at the water and visiting with friends is theraputic and I’m ready to dive back in.

More Clever Transfers

These reversible poetry rings from Julia Sober illustrate another interesting use of transfers on polymer. Julia also met the challenge of designing the metal parts to hold the polymer securely.

Julia has new polymer pieces on her web site that you won’t want to miss.

Updated Traditional


Still prowling the ACC site, I came across Karin Noyes. It's her thoughtful color palette and the attention to cane detail that makes these traditional bowls so stunning.

There's not much other web info on Karin…her web site's under construction. Can you viewers fill me in? Or did I not Google her properly?

Thanks to Corinne Appleton for finding Karin's site! 

Ephemera

Prowling through ACC site, I came upon this dynamite transfer work by North Carolina’s Lauren Van Hemert, her "Ephemera Collection".

Lauren’s work feels completely different from most transfers I’ve seen. Perhaps it’s her heartfelt connection to the luggage labels and stamps plus her family’s immigration story that makes the work so powerful.

ACC Marvels

I’ll be rummaging through the American Craft Council site for the next week or so. There are two reasons for this. One, it’s full of the most mouth-watering, eye-popping new work you could want. And two, I’ll be out in Seattle playing with longtime polymer friends so I’ll need to dip into my reservoir of web tips and rely on my dear daughter to do the daily post.

Only touching polymer clay via Photoshop has left me with a bit of ennui. I know I’ll feel better when I get my hands dirty and act on some of the ideas generated by all this web surfing. Enjoying morning coffees in the hot tub with good friends will help immensely as well.

The work at left is from Deborah Banyas from the ACC show. There’s some more of her recent work here but it looks like her personal site is still under construction.