Polymer Clay Daily

Artists

Who else is shouting “TADA”?

I’d forgotten what a relief it is to bring an idea to life.Tada! See my “in progress” shots here.

Joining the TADA365 project has kept me in the studio and off the computer. I’m getting ahead but falling behind!

I’m happy to show you the results of my first efforts, a heart bangle covered with extruded triangle slices. It’s a design that’s been rolling around in my head ever since I saw Melanie West demonstrate the method she developed for her bio-bangles.

The twinkle of the glitter in the “special effects” Premo that’s mixed in some of the colors doesn’t show in the photographs. It gives the piece subtle glitz. I was introduced to glitter clay by a five-year-old friend and love how Dayle Doroshow mixes it sparingly in her work.

How to beachcomb

Holland’s north coast has inspired Linda Ezerman to translate her beachcombing with polymer and felt. Smooth links, faceted chunks and flat pebbles are joined with felted wool into a wild wearable beach.

The carving and felting and lost wax techniques
that Linda shows on her exciting Flickr pages promise to take us polymer rock hounds in new directions.

Polymer relics

Step back in time with a visit to Jen Parrish’s polymer relics site. This Boston artist has created historical replicas and designs for movie, television, theatre and opera productions. Her “…as seen on tv” list is impressive and her faux jewels are sold in the British Museum’s shop.

Since I last visited her site, Jen has added Etsy, Flickr, a blog and more to her thriving business. On this winter weekend from the comfort of your computer chair you can wander through her studio and shops inspired by ages past.

Upcycled polymer

In the hands of Barbara Briggs discarded guitar strings, a bit of textured polymer, some wire and a few trinkets are upcycled into a chic bangle.

Barbara talks about her first-of-the-year penchant for order in recent blog posts. She’s been beautifying her tools and straightening her mixed media studio which is home to some cool new tools. Her progress makes me believe it’s possible to get organized.

The evolution of Mary and Lou Ann

Mary Filapek and Lou Ann Townsend had fallen off my radar and their polymer and silver work continues to evolve. They explain that, “Chemistry, cellular structure, DNA, spirituality, the nature of reality and our planetary travels provide the primary inspiration for color, form and texture.”

We first featured them in 2006 and it’s time to take another look.

Lots of the featured artist links are out of date and a few accidentally dropped off the list. Thanks for helping me untangle this corner of the web. I’ll be updating the file every evening.

Catching up with Zilliacus

Catching up with Carol Zilliacus was a bonus from my clean up, catch up first weekend of 2011. As I added missing names and dusted off links on the list of artists who have been featured on PCDaily, I was reacquainted with art and artists I’d lost track of.

Carol was one of the first polymer artists to paint and weave and collage with polymer clay. This recent story about her made me feel like we are back in touch. Always optimistic, Carol improvises when obstacles appear. Her story is particularly appropriate as we start a new year.

The featured links page contains over 500 artists. If you find errors, omissions or dead links there, please let me know so that I can keep this resource current. You can add your own site to the readers page. (I have to approve each link so it may take a while for your name to appear.)

Terra Nova Polymer

We broke new ground, Terra Nova, in 2010! Thanks to the persistent effort spearheaded by Elise Winters and joined by many others, we can look forward to polymer’s first major museum show and a companion book at the Racine Art Museum October 2011 to February 2012. Look at PolymerArtArchive to learn about the history of your artform.

The Terra Nova: Polymer Art at the Crossroads exhibit promises to show how far polymer art has come in a short time by spotlighting eight Boundary Breakers. (This Blossoming Radii brooch is by Jeff Dever.)

With this PCDaily post #1413 we continue to watch polymer art grow. I look forward to another year with you. Happy new year!

Polymer goals

Ponsawan Silapiruti’s latest post describes her experience with Ring-A-Day 2010.

She says, “What did I get from the RAD project? Well, let’s see. I was asked by Lark Books for permission to publish pictures of some of my rings. Some will be exhibited alongside others made by members of the group in Seattle and sponsored by SNAG. I have never had my works exhibited before. I made a bunch of friends. I woke up every day for a year to see incredible and crazy ideas of how to make ring.” Pretty impressive results!

There are more than 16,000 ring pictures on the group’s Flickr site! Here are all the rings from polymer artists.

Ring a day has changed to ring a week (RAW) for 2011. Another project, True Addicts of Daily Art (TADA), asks members to commit to making progress on art jewelry creations every day. The goal is for each artist to have at least one show ready collection or series by the end of the year.

Trick #38 in the Creative Sparks book encourages you to impose limits on yourself as a way to push your art further. Join a group, enter a contest, set a deadline. Since I’m energized by groups and deadlines, I’ve decided to take the plunge for 2011. I joined TADA. These projects may help if you’re in a goal-setting mood and need a push.