Testing polymer colors

Lindly Haunani is working on a new tropical bracelet that uses her signature juicy colors with new shapes and ingredients. The edges of the petals pop with slightly lighter shades and texture variations.

Even as I watch her work, her way of creating seamless gradations baffles me. She checks and rechecks her colors before putting them into the long multi-color canes that she needs for production (see her test strips). It’s hard to keep my eyes on my own work surface when these colors are exploding at the next table.

Damascus with a twist

Virginia’s Tina Wujick has an affinity for the Damascus cane and when she took a Skyscraper class with Iris Mishly earlier this year, she saw new possibilities. On Tina’s newest earrings black bisects the cane for added interest.

This week you’ll see snapshots of works in progress as a group of us play here in Virginia. “What if…” is our mantra as we take what we know and turn it on its head.

Tina is also making bright beads with rope edges from her bright pieces of cane as she tries to give her favorite technique her personal signature.

Trendy French polymer

Dorothee Vantorre’s day-in-the-studio pictures (on Flickr and on Facebook) show off her trendy polymer designs and let us oggle her workspace. Her funny French sensibilty veers from pleasant monsters to delicate geometrics. The designs mirror her training in illustration and architecture.

Note that there aren’t many tools or tricks on her work surfaces. Dorothee relies on color and patient manipulation to build her fresh creations. Her understated raindrop earrings end in a pop of delicious color. And there’s plenty more in her Etsy shop. A little French fun to begin your week.

Botanical polymer

Two polymer artists, Jeff Dever and Annie Pennington advance polymer’s reputation by appearing in The Nature of Jewelry:Botanical Design and Symbols exhibit at the Peninsula School of Art in Fish Creek, Wisconsin.

In the show twenty-nine notable jewelry artists from throughout the US, Ireland and Canada display a sampling of process drawings and reference materials to trace the creative process for their works.

“They thought I’d add a bit of color,” says Jeff. He sent us larger pictures (gathered here) so that you could witness the color. This exhibit was a spinoff of the RAM’s Terra Nova and it runs until July 13.

Indigo polymer

These test squares from France’s Isabelle Larose/Atelierlilaroz were the results of her playing with Pavla Cepelikova’s batik tutorial. Yummy! The indigo colors had me drooling. These are my favorites from her samples here. It won’t surprise you that Anne is also interested in watercolors.

Can I squeeze experimenting with batik into my play at the conference next week? This is where Pinterest comes in handy. By skimming through my favorite board (Be Still My Heart), I’ll remind myself of the patterns, colors and emotions that ring my chimes. That will keep me on track and help me integrate these batik finishes into the work I love. Don’t worry, you’re coming along and we’ll play together. Lots of photos and tidbits.

Spring crop of tutorials

Spring is the season for growing and there’s a promising crop of polymer tutorials popping up. Here are three that could broaden your options and save you lots of trial and error time.

Finishes are all the rage – ceramic, enamel, raku, crackle, batik. No new equipment is required, just pull out the inks, powders and tools that you probably already have on hand. These surface treatments could give your designs added oomph.

The tutorials’ authors are not the first to try these processes but each teacher has each come up with new twists and clever tricks that may make the information helpful for you. All are delivered electronically and some have videos. While they each offer projects that you can follow, applying these finishes to your own signature work is what will make the information valuable.

Hilla Bushari and Iris Mishly – Israel – Ceramic, stoneware, enamel finishes
Pavla Cepelikova – Czech Republic – Batik looks
Nikolina Otrzan – Croatia – Drawing on polymer, ceramic finishes

Test samples from one student caught my eye and have me itching to play in the studio. Come back tomorrow to see. If you’ve found other interesting tutorials, let me know. The ones that I like to feature on PCD are those that offer new and/or easier ways to work with polymer.

Yikes! spring cleaning

Maine’s Suzanne Anderson has souped up her Yikes! website to better feature her colorful polymer and multi-media jewelry. The new site offers a updated web presence that reflects her evolving work. It includes a blog where she shares peeks into her studio, her kitchen and her head.

The blog also allows her to talk about the enamel and metal clay work that she mixes with polymer.

Offering seasonal collections (like these summery starfish bangles) prevents her from getting stale or burned out and separates her lines into neat categories. Go prowl around in her site, track down her links and give the new site a test drive. Is it time for a spring cleaning on your site? We’re freshening up PCDaily behind the scenes. Look for changes soon.

Start with a tute

Will a little tutorial help jumpstart your week?

Maria Petkova has been refining what she calls her Painted with Mokume Gane technique. The painted look of this Violets on My Window Sill pendant shows the appealing backfilling technique that simulates hand drawing on polymer. She shows an entire gallery of examples on her website.

Here’s her latest free step-by-step tutorial that shows the process quite clearly. Her earlier tutorial was intruiging but harder to follow.

In these In the Jungle earrings Maria takes the technique to a higher level of refinement. She pushed herself to create them as she was completing her How To Become A Better Artist course with Christine Dumont on Voila.

Hot polymer colors

Angeliki Anar has been throwing around polymer colors with exhuberance recently. Here are just a couple of examples of what this Greek artist has been churning out.

On these earrings Angeliki slices flat pieces of color that have been dusted with rainbow flecks (how does she do that) and shapes them into shallow cones. Contrasting edges heighten the color mix further. When she adds a glaze, you’d swear they were ceramic or perhaps enamel.

On the bangles she textures center beads that are captured between black polymer spirals. Take some time to soak up the warmth radiating from her work on Flickr and on her Facebook page. Have a warm, sunny weekend.

Shabby polymer

If you’re a fan of distressed and worn pieces that look like they spent a previous life in a cottage, you’ll like Sandra DeYoung Niese’s polymer pendants and beads.

Sandra says the molded beads remind her of her grandmother.

She updates her romantic shabby look with bright contemporary colors. The highlights have been sanded off to expose dark colored polymer below. See more of her rustic line on Flickr, her Etsy site and on Facebook.

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