Unsupervised polymer

Doesn’t the name, BeadUnsupervised, intrigue you? The thing is, Carol Beal’s work looks unsupervised in the most delightful way. She mixes her media (fiber, felt, glass, wire and more) with abandon and she isn’t shy about color. She uses whatever materials and colors strike her fancy.

Carol’s background is in illustration and design and she is able to make lots of unlikely colors and textures play together nicely even though you wouldn’t think they’d get along. She gathers her samples on her Flickr page and sells on Etsy.

Supervised shopping

Need some suggestions for your last-minute shopping? May I recommend some of the excellent polymer books that have come out this year? Like Polymer Clay Global Perspectives by Cynthia Tinapple – you knew I’d say that, right?

Some other newcomers that offer good work plus valuable tips and tricks include:

Polymer Clay Artists Guide by Marie Segal
Polymer Clay Art Jewelry by Ilysa Ginsburg and Kira Slye
Polymer Clay Gemstones by Kim Schlinke and Randee Ketzel
Creating Lifelike Figures in Polymer Clay by Katherine Dewey
Clay Characters for Kids by Maureen Carlson
Polymer Clay Master Class by Judy Belcher and Tammy Honaman

And they can be under your tree by Christmas!

Inspired polymer

Inspired by a fabric bracelet she saw on Pinterest, Sylvie Peraud sketched out a similar design using polymer with a buna cord hinge and closure. She refined her design, trying varying color palettes and textures.

On this one Sylvie used extruded strings and roughly textured trims. She backs the piece with black polymer.

Sylvie generously documents her process on her blog. It’s reassuring to see how time spent on Pinterest can be the source of new ideas and works.

See more of Sylvie on Flickr and CraftArtEdu…and of course, on Pinterest.

Polymer pocket cat

To create this tiny Pocket Cat, Oregon miniature animal artist Kerri Pajutee blends polymer clay and wraps it over an armature of aluminum foil wrapped in masking tape and wire. Using tweezers and glue, she then methodically applies a permanent fiber coat layer by layer.

You can follow her step-by-step on her site where she even offers tutorials for her incredibly detailed work. Kerri limits her production of these 1:12 miniature sculptures to keep her life balanced.

Her Flickr site contains an unbelievable herd of tiny animals. Susan Lomuto featured them yesterday on DailyArtMuse (have you checked out her MAM newsletter) and I couldn’t resist the link.

Polymer thief

Jewel Thief challenged Claire Wallis to work with a large cane. She’d wanted to create a magpie for some time and this one ended up as a tree ornament. The cane is subtly shaded and the diamond was made using these instructions from Tranchedecane.

See more of Claire’s work on her Deviant site, on Flickr, and on Facebook. Thanks to Sonya Girodon for catching this link. Here’s hoping you catch some fun this weekend.

Rustic polymer

This rustic feather pendant from BungalowMoon shows how polymer can be used effectively as a canvas for painting with inks.

Shop owner Trina drew and painted the colorful stylized freeform feather directly onto the off-white cured 2″ long clay oval. She then distressed the rough cut sides and applied a clear sealer.

We don’t know much more about Trina. She lets her style tell her story and we’re sure to be seeing more. Thanks to Dede Leupold for sending the link.

Polymer fight cloud

France’s Tracey Stevens (Polyflavour) launched an Indegogo campaign to help finance her booth at the Grand Marché de Noel de Créateurs show.

Her polymer canes are inspired by cartoons from the 1920s, 30s and 40s. “I want people to know the source of my inspiration and to watch the cartoons, look at the comics and learn more about them and hopefully share my fascination when they wear and display my work,” she explains.

Tracey’s exciting and complex Fight Cloud bowl is one of the perks from her campaign. Cartoon characters tangle inside the bowl while on the outside, large versions of their features become abstract art.

I don’t know how PCD overlooked Polyflavour and thanks to a hint from reader Jody Newman, she’s now on board. Tracey’s videos show her making canes, she’s got an Etsy shop and a Facebook page to acquaint you with her comical art.

Modern mosaics

Prague’s Pavla Cepelikova gathered samples of her polymer mosaic lentil beads into one long strand of color and pattern. She sells a tutorial that shows simple step-by-step instructions.

This technique was first taught by Amelia Helm in the 90’s. I took Amelia’s class back then and am happy to have updated lessons based on today’s polymer formulations, inks and materials. Pavla’s been refining her methods for quite some time (PCD featured her early mosaics a year ago). Follow along with her work on Facebook and on Flickr as well.

Cranky Monday

Karina Formanova from Russia made this polymer Crank character for her friend based on the friend’s avatar. (This may be a cultural icon. If so, please educate me.)

The hair is in charming dissaray, the eyes are bugged, and the look is so totally cold winter Monday that I couldn’t resist. And wow, Karina has some gems buried in Flickr and on her shop page – something new to shake up your Monday.

Immaterial polymer

Jeff Dever’s mixed media Violet Midnight necklace made of silk flower petals, wire, polymer and a ping pong ball will be part of the 19th annual Craft Forms show at the Wayne Art Center in Wayne, Pennsylvania for the coming month.

Jeff’s necklace was part of a series of jewelry he made from found materials as he developed his Immaterial lecture series. Flip through the Craft Forms catalog online to find the polymer and silver work of Carolyn Tillie in the show as well.

Last month Jeff’s works were on view at the SOFA Chicago show at the Hedone Gallery where he is represented. Here’s Jeff on the first night of the show surrounded by his graceful sculptures that look like they’ve just landed at the event. More pix on Jeff’s Facebook page. Note how well Jeff wears his own work at shows!

Open hearts!

We are closing in fast on the Raise the Roof goal, hoping that our weekend readers will take us over the top. With funds coming from supporters around the globe, tabulating the amounts gets complicated and we’ll have a firm number soon.

Our hearts are bursting with gratitude. This heart’s from Ron Lehocky who will add cow-shopping his list of holiday activities!

Thanks to all who clicked on links until you found ones that worked. We appreciate your persistence and encourage you to keep on clicking to send the tally through the roof!

Polymer rolex

Spain’s Sona Grigoryan created her own Rolex, or as she has named it, a Sonex, out of watch parts and polymer. Her drawings and paper prototypes show us how she worked out the design. In her words it’s an organic/mechanic combination.

Sona’s influences are wide-ranging – from Gaudi to Leonardo. Her designs are fearless and always tinged with the flavor of her Armenian home.

Tired of designs in the safe zone? Sonia’s one of the artists to check to find out what’s happening on the edge. Here she is on Facebook.

‹ 1 … 186 187 188 … 391 ›

Artists

Supervised shopping

Open hearts!