Experience more summer bounty from the Romanian couple, Gabriela and Tiberiu. This wide brass cuff is covered with polymer florals. Here are more views of the bracelet.
The couple must be gardeners. Only eyes trained by working with flowers could capture every detail of every plant in these abundant polymer pieces so well. The link comes from Israel’s Tania Podoleanu.
This Mini Clay Quilt class with Laurie Mika already happened during the April Artfest. Even so, it’s inspiring and worth a Monday look.
Seems Laurie has taken her remarkable array of surface techniques and added a new emphasis on layering. You’ll remember Laurie’s earlier mosaics and her collaborative quilt entry in last year’s Synergy II Exhibit. Her polymer mosaic book is a “must have” and now there’s a Kindle edition.
Laurie’s off for the summer (in Egypt and Jordan) and will be gearing up for fall teaching in September.
I ran into the link on Julie Fei-Fan’s Pinterest board.
This polymer pendant from Canada’s NoneOfTheAbove speaks of summer and sunflowers and, who are we kidding, tweezers. Do you suppose she plans her geometry or does it evolve as in nature?
Notice that the small dots of color are graduated in color and size. Each dot is textured. Her Etsy shop is full of examples in a range of colors and patterns. The almost mandala-like patterns have a meditative and soothing effect. Have a soothing weekend.
When Betsy Baker, Melanie West and Melanie Muir had a confab recently, they rubbed off on each other. Though the three artists take a similar organic approach to polymer, each has a distinct signature style and their works would never be confused with each other.
This bright fuchsia mokume gane bracelet by Melanie Muir reflects her environs in Scotland while Melanie West chooses the Maine coast for her inspiration. When Betsy takes a stab at the same technique, it has a refined, urbane Bostonian air about it.
One thing the three polymer artists share is a high standard of finishing and a laser focus on detail. Enjoy browsing their sites.
“Turquoise and green are simply my favourite colors, working with them is easy and big pleasure,” says the Czech Republic’s Eva Haskova.
In this new batch of work she combines her colors so closely that the patterns vibrate in tight stripes and blends. Each bar is layered with a thick layer of turquoise running through the middle, underneath the patterned surface for added interest.
Some of the new work appears on her Flickr site and Lindly Haunani sent in the link to her Voila page which contains even more examples.
Eva credits her guild participation and event attendance for giving her the confidence to sell her wares to make her living from polymer. She also teaches and continues working in graphic design.
In mid-July, this polymer red pepper necklace from Delphine Roche de Montgrand looks totally believable. The markets are full of beautiful long peppers and other vegetables. Why not wear their beauty?
See Delphine’s other seasonal designs here. She’s also on Facebook and Flickr.
A spiffy revamped site with new work from Ford and Forlano is just the ticket to start the week. These button earrings mesmerize us with their complex colors and switch our brains into gear. “Exactly how do they do that,” you might ask.
You’ll see lots of continuing design experiments with their polymer tubes that twist to reveal unexpected colors and shapes. Steve and Dave are masters at reinventing their designs and revisiting their methods.
Could you commit to a cane as big as this Guinea Fowl? Switzerland’s Teia Fetescu and Mario Hubak give us a step-by-step glimpse at their work which includes yards of black and white dot canes.
An ambitious undertaking like this creates a flock that may hang around the studio for a long time!
Since Teia and Mario don’t show their cane reduction process, here’s a 15-pound face cane that Bob Paris and Nancy Bundy reduced in 2003. It’s still fun to watch.
If you look closely, you’ll see how Nancy dressed up the faces by adding a variety of hat, fabric and flower canes. You have to admire what it takes to think big! Have a big beautiful weekend.
A Modern Media Comes of Age says Jill DeDominicis in her article about polymer clay in the current issue of Ornament Magazine. The article, which is available online, gives you a comprehensive look at where we’ve come since the first FIMOIK kit hit the shelves in Germany back in 1954. Fimo made its way to the U.S. in 1966.
Few will recognize Sophie Rehbinder-Kruse, the inventor of Fimo, pictured here with her two children. The article’s timeline is particularly interesting and contains lovely examples.
Knowing your ancestry is important because here at PCD you and I are in the business of stretching the timeline forward and adding new names.
The Ornament article is prelude to the Racine Art Museum’s upcoming Terra Nova: Polymer Art at the Crossroads exhibit which promises to be another groundbreaking event.
If you made paper beads as a kid, you may appreciate Greti Botka’s latest tweak on the technique in polymer. Beneath the summertime cool Skinner blends on their cracked outside surfaces, the beads offer just a peek at a layer of thin black and white stripes underneath.
Greti shows a number of her experiments on her Flickr site, including this weird and wonderful Snails Parade of polymer creatures, all born in Austria. Be careful if you’re a fiber freak, Greti has some great wool projects that will snag you.
