Polymer Clay Daily

A fresh approach

Katie Way keeps her 2022 valentines young at heart on PolymerClayDaily.com Gael Keyes' angel bud vase from mixed media scraps #polymerclaydaily https://wp.me/pegT3-7h4 https://rolls.bublup.com/view/a46eeeef-4f90-448a-8b27-4747eddb89a6 cynthiat9.sg-host.com https://polymerclayart.org/events/#page-content https://rolls.bublup.com/view/2b33d0b0-d4a7-4103-9e8c-40d3ecaaa06d Joe Barbaccia Afrodita Sideris warms us up to Valentines Day 2022 #polymerclaydaily https://wp.me/pegT3-7gS Arieta Stavridou's folk earrings want to dance #polymerclaydaily https://wp.me/pegT3-7gQ https://www.instagram.com/reel/CYmlAtBjv0P/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link Joan Tayler's butterflies make noise #polymerclaydaily https://wp.me/pegT3-7gt Arlene.s.harrison325@gmail.com change her email for mojo Enaids World sculpts fantasy creatures #polymerclaydaily https://wp.me/pegT3-7gd

When Katie Way (BullsEyeStudioArt) moved from Alaska to Oklahoma to Texas she had to rethink lots of things. Downsizing, city life, climate change.

It was a natural time to shift her artwork too. This year’s valentines have a distinctly fresh look. Some city vibes, updated shapes, grunge, new colors, links.

These big changes are coming from her tiny home studio. She shares photos that will appeal to the gypsy artist that lives in a little corner of our hearts.

Hey, wanna see how other polymer artists live and work? We’ll poke our noses into messy back rooms and sleek studios in Saturday’s StudioMojo. Wanna peek?

Having, using enough

Gael Keyes' angel bud vase from mixed media scraps on PolymerClayDaily.com

New Mexico’s Gael Keyes finds wood scraps, adds polymer sculpted hands and faces, and dresses the emerging angels with bits of Southwest patterns that turn salvaged elements into art.

She tucks a test tube into each construction and gives it new life as a wall bud vase.

Gael has encountered fantastical bugs, birds, mushrooms, angels, and more along her polymer path. Each uses scrap in increasingly inventive ways. This one, ” Suficiente”, reminds us that we have enough.

Heartwarming blends

Lindsey of VividClay wraps blends in heartwarming ways on PolymerClayDaily

Make three small curvy blends (white to orangy pink, orangy pink to darker pink, pink to nearly purple) then wrap them in thin black and pinch them so they bend around each other. There’s something special about these conjoined hearts from Lindsey of VividClay.

If you’ve seen Lindsey’s paradox cane tutorial on YouTube you know that she has a knack for manipulating blends in eye-catching ways. These hearts entwine in similar mesmerizing ways.

Folk earrings

Arieta Stavridou's folk earrings want to dance on PolymerClayDaily.com

The latest batch of earrings from Cyprus’ Arieta Stavridou have a distinct folk look. These earrings will match the long embroidered skirts and fancy headgear of the village dance troupe.

Maybe these are for the trendy tourists. They have a strong ethnic vibe.

Arieta says making these earrings is play for her. She’s ventured into polymer painting and vessels. She carefully lays small pieces of color on black surfaces to build up patterns. Similar color palettes and designs run through all her works. Here she is on Facebook.

Noisy butterflies

Joan Tayler's butterflies make noise on PolymerClayDaily.com

Vancouver’s Joan Tayler makes butterflies that will bring help when you need it. Her slim black polymer whistles are given wings and used as pendants or zipper pulls.

Blow on the bottom and help will arrive, predators will run away or people will just wonder why you’re making such a fuss.

In any event, they’re fun and great to hang on book bags.

Joan teaches you how to make your own in this tutorial or you can buy a plain whistle and decorate it yourself.

Winter baby

Enaids World sculpts fantasy creatures on PolymerClayDaily.com

One good thing about this new year is that it will soon be time for a sprinkling of good luck from fairy art and fantasy sculptures like this Winter Baby from Belgium’s Enaidsworld.

No molds, all hand-sculpted, infused with charm and luck.

She’s had a hard time keeping up with demand and plans to have more on her blog and shop this year. Her fantasy folks are pure magic!

2021 punctuated with dots

Kathleen Dustin adds dots (big ones) to her purses on PolymerClayDaily.com

Kathleen Dustin ends the year with some playful dots on upcoming purses in her New Hampshire studio. What fun!

Dots were sprinkled throughout 2021! From Sun_sprinkles to Lindly Haunani getting her dot groove back to PacPens that keep your hand from cramping. Dot’s have punctuated 2021.

Is the trend meditative, silly, happy…oh who cares? We did lots of stuff just to get by. We’re all getting our groove back. Happy 2022!

Drop on over to StudioMojo for the weekend wrap-up. Lots of sculptures and young artists floated to the top of our list. See who’s hot and what’s on the horizon. It’s just an educated guess of course, but take a look and consider where you’re headed. 

Cosmic polymer

Lauren of maedbymini envisions new galaxies with her latest slab on polymerclaydaily.com

This polymer look into the future is more positive and inspiring. New York’s Lauren (Maedbymini) has deployed all the colorful liquids and powders in her studio for this slab – inks, paints, sparkles and glows.

She’s anxious to whip up an other-worldly collection of earrings for the new year.

Lauren’s first baby is due any day so it’s no wonder that her current perspective is cosmic!

End of the year polymer

Casey Omar Cross' warlord chick helps us usher out 2021 on PolymerClayDaily

Tired of treacly sweet holiday movies, I flipped on that new dystopian, end-of-the-world comedy (not a comedy) and this is what my eye gravitated to today. Holidays can wreak havoc on our psyches!

Florida’s Casey Omar Cross (DarkHeartKreations) captures one end-of-the-year viewpoint powerfully with his warlord chick in polymer.

Parts of 2021 were scary.  Let’s leave them behind, turn the page, clean the slate, change the channel.

Casey makes us take a good hard look.

Polymer Christmas reveal

Fiona Abel Smith sees holly in polymer on PolymerClayDaily.com

Who better than the UK’s Fiona Abel Smith to wrap up our Christmas? Click the link to see her big reveal.

When you look at a flower, a dog, a landscape does your fire up an algorithm that instantly boils the information down to colors and shapes and blends? That’s what we call a “cane brain.”

You say Christmas and this is what comes off Fiona’s fingertips. How exciting and wonderful.

This is the magic of polymer clay. Of course, there are many other ways of thinking and making but this one shouts “Merry Christmas” loud and clear.

StudioMojo drops a few more goodies under your tree. We sorted through our library and put a bow on the “best of” collection from our video library. Shopping late? No worries. This is a perfect time to gift yourself a month’s look at polymer’s finest and funkiest.