Going too far with polymer

Kathrin Neumaier tantalizes us one more time with her translucent polymer tricks. In this experiment her faux amber Honigtropfen (Honey Drops) beads are made from uncolored Pardo clay.

Kathrin pushes the boundaries as she takes the material beyond it’s recommended baking temperature. In the comments she hints that she baked the colorless clay, “…too long and too hot” to achieve the golden color. The black dots indicate that she nearly went too far.

What would happen if you pushed your work too far this week?

Manicured pendant and free tutorial

We end the week with pumpkin-colored pendant that comes with a Friday freebie tutorial.

Galina Grebennikova shows how she achieved this neatly textured pendant with no molds, no stamps. The tool she uses looks like something you’d find in a manicure set or a toolbox.

The trick is repeat, repeat, repeat and then highlight with dark colors. Here’s the photo tutorial.

Galina’s from Moscow and lives in Irvine, California. Small world! She offers some texture variations on her blog here. PCD has picked up some of her other tricks in these past posts.

Polymer grapes

The way these polymer earrings and necklace by Rositsa Mohamed hang makes me think that she lives near vineyards in Bulgaria. They look like bunches of grapes that are full and ripe and ready to pick.

Small bits of canes appliqued on the surfaces add an ethnic flavor to simple colors and patterns. See more of Rositsa’s work on Flickr and Facebook.

Rositsa fooled us with flowers the last time she was featured on PCD.

Polymer pumpkin heads and books

Nicole Johnson’s Pumpkin Heads should put you in an October mood. She has a whole gallery of pumpkins complete with teeth and bulging eyes. Her blog is newly renovated for the season with fresh mummies, monsters and zombies. She’s even written a book on the subject.

If zombie books aren’t your thing, there are several new polymer technique books that you may find of interest:

Marie Segal’s Polymer Clay Artist’s Guide is a comprehensive directory of surface effects. (It’s hard to keep track of all the new ones, isn’t it?) She features the work of lots of up-and-coming artists who may be new to you. The pictures make the recipes easy to follow and it’s a reference book that’s handy to have.

If mixed media is more your cup of tea, look at Incite, Dreams Realized: The Best of Mixed Media. You’ll spot the work of several polymer artists in this arty, inspiring book.

If how-to projects with hip designs are what you’re hungry for, try Polymer Clay Art Jewelry by Ilysa Ginsburg & Kira Slye. It’s bright and breezy and full of fashion.

Outside-the-lines polymer

This slightly off-register look is very trendy. Switchplates from Alaska’s Katie Way are part of her inventory for the holiday show season. She applies the colors first and then stamps to her heart’s content, adding a wash of color to make the stamps stand out.

In Global Perspectives, Rebecca Watkins shows a similar method applied onto beads using dark powders to bring out lines drawn in the clay. The beads at the right were done by Zona Manualidades who got these terrific results by following Rebecca’s instructions in the book.

Then take a look at Kimberly Arden’s holly cane. She gets the same, coloring-outside-the-lines look on her canes. This seemingly spontaneous way of caning requires planning and I’m sure Kimberly has some tricks up her sleeve.

Looks like you’ll be seeing a lot of playful, off-kilter patterns in polymer. It’s a perfect time of year to give perfection a rest.

Polymer finishing touches

Ponsawan Sila and Lee Ann Armstrong collaborated to make these bold amoeba-like earrings.

Ponsawan gave the drops their blingy pop by using Speedball Caligraphy Ink. She outlined the cane designs and spattered the background with blasts of bright gold. The Facebook crowd erupted in a flurry of comments and questions and Ponsawan shared what she’d done to add the perfect finishing touch.

Here’s Ponsawan’s home site and here’s Lee Ann’s place. Lee Ann has developed her own special tools. Take a look at her Simple Slicer.

Dan Cormier and Tracy Holmes end the Back To School sale of their ebooks (and a couple of other juicy promotions) at the end of today.

Don’t you love starting the week with tricks and deals?

Looking forward, looking back

My husband and I need deadlines to motivate us to finish new work. This week we had to hustle to finish some walnut pieces for a woodworkers gallery show. Deadlines help us stop thinking and get it done!

The striped polymer inlay idea has been marinating since I took a class with Carol Blackburn in Santa Fe where she taught us to make big sheets of variegated colors.

If I seemed distracted this week, it’s because I was awash in color. Here’s my husband’s complex turning project.

Gwen Gibson

One of the first bowls I ever inlaid was in a weeklong class on Whidbey Island with Gwen Gibson who passed away this week. She was a marvelous artist and a lovely person with a huge sense of style and a generous heart.

PolymerArtArchive chronicles several periods of Gwen’s works. Read about her early work, her wall pieces and her cuff bracelets. La Cascade, her home in Durfort, France remains a jewel that draws artists from all over the globe. We will miss Gwen and were lucky to have her creative spirit among us.

Fall colors from Russia

More fall colors from Russia’s Anna Krichevskaya. The rough texture matches the rustic pallete which is highlighted by scratches in the layered surface. Zoom in to feel the intensity.

I enjoyed this hip, arty, quick video of the Moscow market where Anna sells her wares. Except for the language, this footage could have been shot at art shows around the globe. Here’s Anna on Flickr.

A break from eggs

Colorado’s Laura Schiller decided to take a break after years of focusing primarily on pairing polymer and eggs. Laura’s known for her elaborately drilled and designed shells. Here she is on Facebook.

After drawing zentangles on polymer-covered eggs, she wondered what would happen if the popular drawn zentangles were white on white. Then she wondered about zentangles that evolved to 3D in black and white. Off she went on her tangent with no thought, no color, all play.

The latest result is this 11″ square tile, a zentangle gone wild. Now that Laura’s got it out of her system, she’s happy to return to the nest. She leaves us to consider what might happen to zentangles next.

Polymer in the woods

The UK’s Pippa Chandler has been spending some time in her woods too. While she likes to try lots of techniques and images, somehow she circles back to leaves.

Nature provides the source material that Pippa enhances with color and texture. Here she’s used winged seed pods and elderberry buds as her starting point, making molds then using the molds to make pendants. She’s painted the results, sanding and buffing them for a distressed and loved look.

You’ll find lots more examples on her Flickr site and on Facebook.

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Artists

Gwen Gibson