Polymer in DC

We can all get up and do a little happy dance that polymer clay is making its appearance in the National Museum of African American History & Culture in Washington D.C. thanks to the work of Ohio’s Debbie Jackson.

She will be offering two series of designs for sale in the museum shop. Debbie’s indigo line shown here combines polymer clay, indigo fabric, African brass, metallic foils and raffia into a powerful group of shield shaped pieces.

See the rest of her designs on Facebook.

Debbie is also working with DC sculptor Woodrow Nash to produce beads and pieces that will embellish his dramatic figures.

It’s been a banner year for Debbie full of paperwork and negotiation and waiting. Debbie has long been known as a talented and persistent artist and teacher here in our home town and we’re very proud of her. She shows us all how hard work pays off.

Adopted artwork

New Zealand’s Amba Jacobs (TheLittleMew) makes small sculptures and charms based on games and comics and popular culture icons. Here the 2.5″x3″ Dusky Sky Lantern Dragon’s body and feather-like scales are rendered lovingly in pastel sunset colors. It was one of three sculptures auctioned off recently.

When she was a child, Amba liked to rescue kittens, drawn by their vulnerable mews. “My spirit charms are also small, sweet and fragile creatures who want to be adopted,” she says.

She sells her creatures in several online venues (Etsy, Facebook, Instagram, her blog). She shares her methods on her YouTube channel.

Her attention to detail is apparent not only in the carefully crafted works but also in her approach to placing them in good homes. Do you feel like your artwork is up for adoption?

A tangle of polymer

A pretty tangle of polymer flowers from Greece’s AnarinaAnar rounds out PCDaily’s week.

Her pieces have a distinctive look with ceramic-like speckled finishes and dark edges that provide contrast. These flowers bobble on thin wires.

There’s a spontaneous quality about her work that starts the weekend on the right foot. Check Flickr, Facebook and Etsy if you need to soak up more of her cheeriness.

Feathering her nest

Tamara Shea (BlockPartyPress) is thinking ahead to Easter and Mother’s Day with her personalized nest necklaces.

The colored woodblock look runs throughout her polymer collection on Etsy and she’s racked up an impressive number of sales with her signature pieces. Her fans can glimpse what’s ahead on Instagram. You’ll also find her on Facebook and Twitter.

Tamara’s consistent style, quality and online strategy are some of the secrets to her success.

Butterflies are free

Into the Forest submission on PolymerClayDaily

This butterfly bush (more pix here) is a group project from the polymer clay students at the Ohio Reformatory for Women for the Into the Forest exhibit.

The clay came from generous artists who were destashing. (The ORW students are happy to condition old polymer. Let me know if you’re cleaning out and have extra clay.)

They created 27′ of big hole beads that were slipped onto brass rods and inserted into a wooden base made by my husband. The brass rods couldn’t be taken into the facility so we had to visualize the piece and assemble it at home. I’ll take the whole shebang apart to ship it off to Pittsburgh.

Will you be part of this international exhibit? The deadline has been extended to May 1.

You have plenty of time to make your mark on the fanciful forest that Laura Tabakman, Julie Eakes, Emily Squires Levine, Libby Mills and Nancy Travers concoct from your submissions.

The event opens in Pittsburgh in November with a teaser preview on view at Synergy4 in August. Are you tempted to make some beads to cheer up your own garden?

Reminders of spring

Lynne Ann Schwarzenberg reminds us how she artfully arranges cane slices into the most interesting earrings.

With her stash of beautiful tiny canes she makes turning them into layered designs look easy. See a few more versions on Facebook and more of her signature work on Pinterest and Instagram.

Reminders of spring and Lynne. She thought we might have forgotten her. Not a chance!

Color belles

Haunani bell beads on PolymerClayDaily.com

This is version #3 of Lindly Haunani’s latest bell bead experiment. See earlier iterations of her ideas on Facebook.

Now Lindly’s working out the mechanics of assembling these beads that fit into each other as they chase the design around your neck

Those beautiful blends are explained in Lindly and Maggie’s seminal color book, Color Inspirations.

The two belles of color, Lindly Haunani and Maggie Maggio, will both teach at Synergy4. You have a rare opportunity to hear their theories and learn their latest color tricks.

Haunani's Sagagious Color bracelet on PolymerClayDaily.com

Creative Journeys Studio posted a yummy video of another color technique bracelet that Lindly has developed for upcoming classes. A hit of luscious color starts your week on the right foot.

Everyone is Irish today

Elena Sevva is from Ukraine and lives in Israel but everyone is Irish today. Her polymer necklaces have a dark, woodsy, organic look.

Many of Elena’s pieces on Flickr are loosely strung on twine. You can picture a barefoot sprite in a gauzy dress dancing in the woods wearing this.

Perfect for St. Patrick’s Day, right?

Makes you want to pull out your favorite beads and start knotting.

Join us on StudioMojo on Saturday morning for a look behind-the-scenes and a gentle nudge toward the week ahead.

Cruising creatively

We gotta have a chat with Christi Friesen and find out what’s going so right in her life. She’s been churning out new ideas, following her bliss and coloring outside the lines for months.

Take these freeform bowls, for instance. Forget symmetrical half dome bowls. Christi stretches her polymer into shallow elongated irregular ovals. She draws her images of branches, leaves, and flowers and adds color with pastels or paints or whatever strikes her fancy.

Christi’s preparing samples for her upcoming Aloha Creative Hawaiian cruise. That would definitely improve your mood, wouldn’t it? She’s planning another one in 2019 so save your pennies.

You can see more of her brainstorms and samples on Instagram and Facebook.

Polymer on a string

What may look like a modern painting with layers of wire over watercolor is Alev Gozonar’s latest exploration into using polymer extrusions.

This Istanbul artist’s long flat strings of black polymer curl across the surface, ending as faces in silhouette. On the paper Alev has drawn circles of watercolors that overlap, creating a shadowy background.

If you look back through Alev’s Instagram shots you’ll see how she played with these forms and arrived at this latest iteration which combines polymer and watercolor and takes both in a new direction.

What crazy idea is stuck in your head that need to be played with and explored?

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