Sometimes mokume gane in the right colors can just turn out perfectly. (Odile simply sands the baked clay to reveal patterns.)
Enjoy the sunny results from L’atelier de Dilcrea (Odile Marchais) to perk up the start to your week. Short and sweet.
Tamara Shea’s (BlockPartyPress) beautiful moth pendant was created with a hand carved stamp from her original drawing. In her signature style, Tamara stamped the 2 7/8″ x 2 1/2″ moth onto brown polymer clay, hand painted it with metallic gold, green and silver acrylic paint, then distressed and sealed it.
Simple stamping techniques combined with dynamite drawing skills can make for some stunning effects. Her Etsy shop’s having a back-to-school sale!
Have a great weekend.
Cortney Rector and Kirsten Arundt are twin sisters who have always enjoyed creating art together. Their folk art polymer cake toppers, sculptures and ornaments are sold through their IndigoTwin Etsy shop and their trendy work has appeared in magazines like Prims, Parenting and Brides. The twins have always enjoyed creating art together and continue to give each other inspiration.
This mermaid, Ondine, appeared in the summer issue of Prims. The sisters love the ocean and as children daydreamed about being mermaids. Read their stories and check out their Facebook page. It’ll make you wish you had a twin.
Danielle Pedersen makes itty-bitty hand-painted animal jewelry and decor out of polymer clay in a little studio in San Diego, California. Her pocket totem creatures are sold through her HandyMaiden Etsy shop.
“My process generally begins by looking at a lot of photographs of the animal I wish to make. I ponder the expression of a smug seal or the daily schedule of a lemur; I learn their general structure, their coloring, and maybe guess at a few of their hobbies,” Danielle says in a recent feature on Etsy blog.
“I think my style is what sets me apart; my pieces are recognizable. Most successful Etsy sellers can say the same thing,” she added, “I like the notion that my work is being picked up, worn, and examined closely.” Danielle’s medals like the Badger of Honor shown here are particularly quirky and fun. Thanks to Genevieve Williamson for the link.
Genevieve Williamson’s latest blog posts read like a charming and fun-filled “What I did with my summer” report for the start of school. She includes sea glass, shells and rock souvenirs from the beach. Check out her Buoy Necklace inspired by a family vacation.
Genevieve’s muse is calling for more carving, more distressing and she’s itching to get back into the studio. The surfaces on these Fragment Drop earrings on Etsy have gotten smaller and more interesting. It’ll be a busy fall for JibbyandJuna that you can follow here.
Denise Graham’s polymer painting put a smile on my face and seemed appropriate as we approach fall and head back to school. Her fish swim onto the canvas and layer themselves over the polymer water.
In her recent Pittsburgh-based paintings she stacks bridges and buildings around the rivers that flow through the city. It’s no surprise that she started out as a watercolorist.
Denise is an expert on water and waves in polymer and you can catch some of her tricks from her CraftArtEdu classes.
Mixed media artist Angie Wiggins is almost panicked about her inventory for the September 15, 43rd St. Festival of the Arts in Richmond, Virginia.
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The in-progress shot of her desk (above) has me checking the map to see how long a drive it would be. Wait ’til you see the mouthwatering photos on her Facebook page of her huge Skinner blends, her layered silkscreens on polymer, her handmade paper bowls.
Her eggshell mosaics fit right in with polymer and her felted bowls stand on polymer bases. In her hands the media mix like old friends.
Wouldn’t you love to stroll through her booth on a crisp fall day?
The Austrian coils or the Swiss circles? I couldn’t decide which ones to feature so you can choose for yourself. The designs are each made from extruded polymer but with entirely different approaches.
The coils are from Austria’s Eva Ehmeier (she’s the model). Graduated colors are extruded (or rolled) into thin strands which are curled and built right on the earwires. Choose your favorite among the neon colors here. Eva developed this design when she allowed herself some playtime in the studio.
E. Mischler from Switzerland gives a monochromatic twist to Bettina Welker’s retro cane that creates a snakeskin or mosaic look. Smooth lentil beads are suspended below coordinated solid color beads. This artist/pharmacist admits that clay has been her addiction since 2007 when she discovered that polymer brought balance to her life.
“Remember Jerry Seinfeld and his black and white cookie? That episode popped into my mind when saving this image,” says Albuquerque’s Barb Fajardo. Named Can’t We All Just Get Along? or One Big Happy Family (take your pick) this new design is part of Barb’s push to develop techniques and class materials for next year.
Check out the color versions here. Barb has perfected her cut and replace technique, adding new twists that guarantee good workshops. Here’s her Facebook link, her blog and her CraftArtEdu page.
Look at Libby Mills’ latest work and you’d swear she had a retro soul. She handles a ripple blade like she was born to it. This extruded cane slice could have been swiped from a Mad Men set.
The Skinner blends she starts with are thoroughly modern, however. Browse through her Flickr pages to see how she’s been building subtle, soothing blends into patterns that delight the eye and take you back to the 1960s. Here’s her post about her process.
