Polymer Clay Daily

Artists

Polymer plus

My eye can usually spot polymer at 50 paces and when it can’t, I’m delighted. Which is why Claire Maunsell’s latest batch of beads thrills me. There’s a fluidity that may come from her years working with glass. This polymer looks like something more.

Claire added bits of image transfer leftovers to her hollow beads, brushed on some new metallic paints, played with translucent clay, stippled surfaces and drew with inks. It’s her layering of colors and methods and messages that fools the eye and builds up a wonderful story.

Claire also shares her process in ways that I can understand. She reveals that, “Sometime ago I bought a set of metallic paints to use with polymer, but every time I tried them the result was so disappointingly garish that I would throw all the results away and curse my inability to resist temptation in art supply stores.” Who hasn’t been there?

She thoroughly describes her thought processes, her missteps and her techniques on her blog. I like going to her Flickr pages to get an overview of her results. What an inspiration.

Speaking of fooling the eye! I just looked at Judy Belcher’s latest trompe l’oeil polymer canes. You simply must study these!

Simmons art grows

Carol Simmons has tiptoed into blogging and you can follow along as she rolls out her new polymer cane slicer. It’s a serious machine that certainly does the trick.

Carol is also unveiling new work with this Sporocarps piece. After years of looking at mosses, lichens and algae under the microscope, she reinterpreted her vision in polymer.

She’s also published a new Flickr site which gives you a quick view of how her botanically-based art has grown.

Niche toots

More Niche Award toots have been heard. This piece from San Diego’s Meisha Barbee’s Shimmer series was selected as a finalist. Meisha has started incorporating sterling silver elements into her polymer clay pieces. See previous PCD posts about Meisha here and here.

Liz Hall sent in the link to her silver and polymer Bubbles Belt Buckle that qualified as a finalist. A jellyfish swims among bubbles in this mixed media piece.

I wonder if there are more shy finalists?

Haskova’s Halloween candy

Haskova's dot beads

I lost track of Eva Haskova’s site after featuring her work last year.

Thanks to a new Flickr link from Bettina Welker, you’ll rediscover a wealth of recent work from this Prague artist. Eva’s canes are simple but sumptuous and dense with pattern. It’s probably not surprising to learn that she teaches pottery lessons for children.

Haskova Scandinavian series beads

I was afraid that Halloween eye candy wouldn’t sustain you through the weekend but Eva’s online store will surely keep you charged up. Sweet!

Feichtinger’s autumn chill

The soothing color blends in Carina Feichtinger’s rendition of autumn flowers make me forget my list of chores and head full of ideas. I look up to see the last leaves falling from the trees.

The simple design is based on one cookie cutter shape topped with slim Skinner blend petals. Take a break and chill out with a stroll through her blog and her Flickr site.

Farrow-Savos’ women

Elissa Farrow-Savos’ women sculptures in polymer and found materials resonate with me after a long weekend sharing stories with my sisters and my niece in NYC.

Elissa says of her work, “My women…show their scars and wear them proudly because after all, they make a good story, if nothing else.”

This piece is called “Chorus of Elders.” Her work will appear in this year’s Washington Craft Show (beware, the link will suck you in).

Ingrid Gans sent the tip and I later realized that Susan Lomuto also wrote a lovely post on Elissa just yesterday on DailyArtMuse.

Davis’ studio tour

Vermont’s Marie Davis takes viewers on a walk through her studio for a Friday treat. Many of her works are large wall pieces created from canes. She’s been working in polymer since 1987 and you can tell that she still delights in the medium.

I’ve taken the liberty of editing one of her studio tours to make it manageable for PCDaily. My edited version is show here at the top of the right column. Visit her YouTube site for the full treatment.