Maunsell’s transfers

These soft-focus egg-shaped polymer beads are signs of spring from Claire Maunsell. The effect is achieved with transfers of her artwork applied to a light pearl base. She swears that dark transfers are tricky but always work on warm soft clay.

Her latest hollow lentil transfer beads at the right were commissions that look like barely decipherable mysterious relics.

Claire’s friend, Genevieve Williamson, led me to these new works. Read Genevieve’s post about “Making the Jump” from metal to polymer. It’s the most eloquent explanation of the lure of polymer that I’ve read in a long time. Both friends switched to polymer (from glass and metal) when they found themselves without functioning studios.

Have a sunny weekend.

Orlowski’s fashion boost

Orlowski's tribal necklace in polymer clay

Ontario’s Wendy Orlowski brings us a bit of green and glamor today. She tagged along on a fashion photo shoot and the results give her new tribal design an added boost.

It’s amazing how a good photographer and a young neck can send work to a whole new level.

Wendy details the progress of these pieces and demonstrates how she uses grommets. And for those who are tutorial-hungry, there’s a neat little texture tool tip here.

Crisp and starched from France

These dots, stripes and colors from France’s MissTyc have a crisp, starched, freshness about them and we’ve never featured her before (her real name’s a mystery).

MissTyc’s newest work seems to be on her Facebook album and you can find her on Flickr too. On her website she offers a sweet little spring dotted flower cane tutorial (based on Desiree McCrorey’s Spotted Langloisi).

Crisp and starched is not my mode this week. I’m waiting for my children to meet up with us for a family spring break. Shifting into vacation mode has been a slow and pleasurable process. Stay tuned.

Glass and polymer from Harris

Cheryl Harris teamed up with glass artist Margaret Zinser to create this luscious necklace. The Sedona colors caught my fancy today.

Cheryl now creates her own dichroic pieces which she calls PolyDichroFusion pendants. She wraps the glass with polymer leaves and pairs them with companion beads. See her newest versions on her Flickr site and her Etsy gallery.

Hiking trips have cut short my computer time. The petroglyphs we saw today will surely show up in my work. We’ll be sitting down for studio time soon.

Serendipitous Monday

Tammy Durham illustration in polymer clay

You’ll need a big cup of coffee to sip while you follow today’s links. Polymer illustrator Tammy Durham emailed me her latest densely decorated, Klimt-inspired piece and a link to her updated web site.

Coincidentally Jay King sent a link to Smashing Magazine’s extensive collection of beautiful plasticine (and polymer) artworks. Tammy Durham’s work is in the collection and you’ll find several others familiar to you. Charlotte Oh (see her teen blogger here) works in sculpey and is new to our list of illustrators.

You can blame fate for the time you blow looking at animations and illustrations from around the world. These novel and often humorous ads, posters and illustrations provide great inspiration for a Monday. Enjoy!

Fantasy flowers from Korringa

If yesterday’s post put you in a flowery mood, you’ll want to follow today’s links to Kim Korringa’s garden. She posts her signature whimsical caned designs on her web site. Kim’s fish cane tutorial is a popular one.

On her Etsy site she lists one-of-a-kind designs like this multi-color fantasy flower necklace backed with stripe-edged black disks. Pure spring.

Judy Belcher sent the link along. The sun is shining and spring is on its way. Have a springy, sunny weekend.

Forcing spring flowers

Zuda Gay’s layered polymer flowers are about as close to spring as I’m able to get. Her sculpted cane slices and juicy colors are right on target.

Dahlias and sunflowers are her specialty and you can see an entire polymer garden on her Flickr pages.

Zuda shares a quick tutorial on her site if, like me, you can’t wait for spring. We seem to have brought the Ohio snow with us to Arizona.

Perfection in imperfection

The inscription inside Marlene Brady’s polymer and bead journal project pendant reads, “If malice or envy were tangible and had a shape, it would be the shape of a boomerang.” The quote is by Charley Reese.

Marlene was frustrated with the way the transfer smeared and blogged about her dissatisfaction with her art. Her readers had a different reaction. Reading their comments is a treat. They were struck, as I was, with the color and liveliness of the pieces that convey Marlene’s heartfelt sentiments so effectively.

She says, “My Bead Journal Projects are my way of giving myself permission to process negative feelings in a positive way.” Marlene’s inspiring pieces are a lesson for all the recovering perfectionists out there.

Synergy inspires Baker

After the Synergy conference Betsy Baker decided to spend more time outside her comfort zone and these great new brooches are the result.

“Brooches are new for me and I know they don’t sell well at my shows but what the heck. I now understand why so many art jewelers make them – they’re an awesome canvas,” she discovered. Take a look at the layers of lush colors and textures that Betsy created.

This roadtrip has put me a bit behind on emails and research. Thanks for your patience while I play. Arizona tomorrow.

Muir’s highland style mokume gane

Scotland’s Melanie Muir says, “I am constantly inspired by the colours and patterns that surround me in the Highland landscape and by the patterns in semi precious stones such as agate and jasper.”

Melanie’s studio overlooks the ever changing waters of the Moray Firth whose turbulence and colors are often reflected in the distinctive look of her polymer mokume gane.

An article on Melanie’s work appears in the current issue of the UK’s Craft & Design magazine. She even squeezed in a sidebar tip-of-the-hat to her fellow polymer clay and metal clay artists. I’m kicking myself for not having sat down with her at Synergy to get the full story.

Melanie has been entered for the magazine’s Selected Awards 2010 so be sure to scroll to the bottom of her page, fill out the required boxes and vote for her. The public votes until April 30.

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