Polymer Clay Daily

Artists

Celebrating 70

When Karen Lorene, the owner of Facere Jewelry Art Gallery, was approaching this milestone birthday, she decided to throw a party for herself. She had “…the idea of inviting seventy artists to each pick a year during my lifetime and make a piece of jewelry based on that year. Some pieces have made us double over in laughter and a couple are so moving they make me choke up even to talk about them.”

Follow this link to Celebrating 70. You will recognize several artists from the polymer world and some others may inspire you take the what if road to a new design. I will be featuring many of the non-polymer artists on ornamentalelements.com in the future posts.

guest post by Laurie Prophater

Painting with polymer

The World Series may be over for 2011, but when you combine a love of baseball and a stellar artistic talent with polymer clay, the game never ends.

Using polymer, Marisol Ross creates three dimensional baseball paintings that will have you believing you’re in the stadium craving hot dogs and Cracker Jacks.

Each sculptural painting captures a different aspect of the game, from famous players and infamous fans to vendors and exuberant action scenes. But Marisol doesn’t limit herself to the baseball diamond, these diners captured my imagination as well.

guest post from Alice Stroppel

Bushari’s chalk and polymer

When I first met Hilla Bushari several years ago at a guild meeting, I saw a sparkle in her eyes when she talked about polymer clay. Hilla started her journey in the crafts world as an art teacher. Over the years she experimented with various materials until she was taken over by polymer clay eight years ago.

She made polymer clay her profession three years ago after studying, taking classes with local and international teachers, and experimenting with materials, colors and designs.

Hilla works most mornings while listening to the radio, surprisingly not music but chit-chats. Sometimes, when the muse strikes, she can sneak back to the table late at night to create something new or to give a final touch to a previously made project.

Still searching for her path and personal voice and developing some marketing skills, Hilla is proud of her millefiori cane work, made in a technique she developed. Her Pandora beads are very popular in Etsy and her special stamping and chalk work is a color dance for the eye.

guest post from Iris Mishly

Super size polymer

Hi all! This is Christi Friesen checking in while Cynthia is off having adventures! I’ve always appreciated that PCD showcases such a diversity of polymer creations. I’m especially delighted to see what others are doing. Like this guy, Adam Rees, whose work I came across in a gallery in Washington.

I was part of a group and we were all astounded at the size of his work! His octopus was about two feet tall and at least three feet across. It’s hard to tell from his site exactly how he creates and bakes such large pieces (the gallery owner thought he had a custom-made oven). However he does it, it’s pretty impressive.

His canework reminds me of exuberant folk art, and adds a wonderful voice to his sculptures. I especially like his massive polar bear piece. Hmmmm, that would look pretty good in my living room….

Editor’s Note: Congratulations to Carol Dotin, winner of last week’s giveaway, an autographed copy of Terra Nova – Polymer Art at the Crossroads. Thanks to all who took the survey.

Guest post by Christi Friesen

Live and learn

Taking yourself out of your usual surroundings can be an eye-opening experience. Here are three favorite places that combine beautiful surroundings with an inspirational learning experience.  Each of these places embraces and offers polymer clay workshops.

John Campbell Folk in the mountains of western NC, is “a place where folks come together to have a creative and fun learning experience.” They offer more than 800 workshops a year!

Artfest in Port Townsend WA, the original alternative arts retreat, offers a wealth of mixed media workshops. The beautiful location, evening events, as well as the finest teachers set this event apart. “People leave with a renewed sense of their artistic selves and a recharged battery.”

La Cascade, the artist retreat of Gwen Gibson in southern France, offers weeklong workshops in polymer clay and mixed media. (The photo is my polymer postcard from Provence.) The workshops take place in a beautiful medieval village with a studio open 24/7. Workshops combine field trips, food cooked by a chef and fabulous art-making.

guest post from Dayle Doroshow

Art speaks

Art Speaks is my mantra when I make a mistake in my polymer art. Here’s a secret: sometimes Art knows better than the artist!

When I damage a piece and change my design to incorporate the flaw, the Art Muse often gifts me with something much more compelling than my original design.

My Humpty-Dump-Teapot was a 3D teapot that crushed from its own weight in the oven. I couldn’t bear to toss it, so I mounted the shards as a wall piece, and voila – an award winning piece!

I say Art Speaks also when something unexpected says “Here I Am!”

I created the surface treatment for this candle holder, cut it out and applied it. Later while clearing up my workspace I saw the leftover cutout, already shaped perfectly for a necklace. All I did was ripple it into flowing lava. The Pele’s Offering necklace was born.

guest post by Ann Kruglak

All in the family

Rather that looking at classic images, this time I searched my family tree for inspiration for a polymer face cane. I never knew my maternal grandmother but I cherished a pin that captured her beauty as a young girl.  I decided to recreate that image in my latest mosaic cane.

The cane, which I built from extruded squares in six sections, measured 5″ x 7″ x  1-1/2″.  Read more about it in the post, Grand mama, what big eyes you have!, on my blog.

guest post from Julie Eakes

Survey says…

When my art teacher husband told me he had decided to add polymer clay to his high school 3D design class I was thrilled!

Naively I thought it would be pretty easy to help him write the curriculum for his 10th-12th grade students. It wasn’t until we actually got to work that I realized our biggest hurdle would be condensing the mountain of skills, techniques and information available to fit ten, 80-minute sessions. Onward!

We ordered required reading materials based on the Polymer Art Archive bibliography, poured over the internet and started sharing the pasta machine. Basic supplies were ordered and arrived within a week. So what’s next?

Well, we’d love to have your help!  Beyond conditioning, baking and basic studio safety, what four or five foundational polymer clay skills should be included in the lessons? Leave your comment here or write me directly at jibbyandjuna@comcast.net

guest post by Genevieve Williamson

An accurate polymer picture…

As a guest blogger, I would like to direct your attention to an issue that affects the polymer community and to offer you the opportunity to have your opinion heard.

The manufacturers are grappling with many issues that center around reformulating polymer and bringing the best product to market. Your response to this comprehensive survey allows you to rank which issues are most important to you. With an accurate picture of our needs manufacturers may make products that suit us better.

Grab your favorite beverage and expect to invest 10 to 15 minutes of your time to answer 40 questions. The responses will be tallied and sent as one document to all the polymer manufacturers. Here’s the survey.

As a thank you for your efforts, you will have a chance to win an autographed copy of Terra Nova – Polymer Art at the Crossroads, released in conjunction with the opening of the Racine Art Museum’s exhibition. This special book has been signed by all the boundary-breakers! To enter the drawing, fill out the survey and comment on this post “I took the survey.” Then check next Monday to see if you won.

Editor’s Note: Congratulations to Carol Dotin, winner of this giveaway. Thanks to all who participated.

guest post from Lindly Haunani

Collaborators

Every day for the next three weeks, you’ll be treated to topics chosen by guest posters who volunteered to pinch-hit on PCDaily. Their work allows me to travel worry-free. Shower them with comments!

Here are some ways you can get involved in my Nepalese adventure:

In this exotic bracelet Wisconsin’s Erin Prais-Hintz took a few beads I created for my trip and worked some magic. I asked for asymmetric and jangly and sent her to my Pinterest board to get a sense of my vision. I’ve been tossing ideas and inspirations onto Pinterest for months.

My eyes filled with tears when I saw Erin’s results on this and several other pieces which are better than what I had in mind and way better than what I could have done. Here’s Erin’s work on Flickr and she’s written about this project on her blog. Erin’s creations are carefully packed in my suitcase as I head out for a few weeks.

I can hear you all shouting, “Bon Voyage!” See you in December.