Polymer Clay Daily

Artists

Mokume Gane light fixtures

You’ve probably figured out that I’m scrounging around the house for polymer clay fixtures to show you. The weather’s too nice to spend the evening web surfing.

Here are the lights from my copper bathroom. We made the tub surround from sheets of roofing copper…here’s the sink.

The little pendant fixtures from the lighting stores seemed overpriced so I made my own from translucent clay and copper leaf using Lindly’s “Haunani Gane” method. I first formed a thin cone of translucent, baked that as a base, added thin slices and baked again.

You have to be careful of the bulb wattage but with modern cool bulbs, heat isn’t a problem. These have been up for three years.

Hyde’s covered branches

Susan Hyde suspended several large polymer clay covered branches from the ceiling of her sweet little cottage in Seattle a few years back. She had strands of lights woven around the suspended twigs. The effect was colorful and charming.

I bought some from her and put them in a display above the piano (shown here). I’ve also covered sticks myself and put them in a vase which always causes people to take a second look. You can tidy your yard and gather art supplies at the same time!

Pennywise Project

Once upon a time there was a heating duct cut into this hardwood floor. I hated how the repaired wood looked in our otherwise lovely room. I’m a firm believer that most of life’s problems can be solved (or at least covered) with imagination and good adhesive.

Here’s my pennywise solution. I put a layer of self-adhesive cork on the floor first. My husband calculated that it would cost a mere $17.00 from his stash of pennies to stop my nagging about the ugly floor patch. Voila.

You’ll note that there’s not a speck of polymer clay in this project. I have something to show you but you’ll have to wait until I have enough light to take a picture later in the morning.

Rings & Things Winners

Lynne Ann Schwarzenberg swept the table at the Rings & Things contest with her polymer clay “Three Tiger Lilies” necklace winning first place in the polymer clay category as well as the $1000 grand prize. Congrats to Lynne Ann!

It was heartening to see so many good entrants in this year’s contest including (some, I see now, are from prior years…thanks Kim):

Ann Inman’s Cedric and Bubba, Lynne Ann Schwarzenberg’s Good Things Come In Threes, Eugena Topina’s Wild Fire, Deborah Anderson’s Reversible Tile Bracelet, Sandra Cowan and Lori Bouchard’s Roses of One Garden, Ginnie Parrish’s Happy New Year Vessel, Judy Dunn’s Fall Floral Splash, Cheryl Moore’s Nile River Goddess, Christina Cassidy’s Trot On (pictured here), Judy Dunn’s Underwater Starfish Box. Thanks to Tommie Howell for the link.

Hughes takes a new direction

Leave it to Victoria Hughes to take the whole magic bead/mokume/texture trend that we’ve been examining in a new direction. Her colors! Her shapes! This is not your grandmother’s brooch yet this one hints at something ancient.

Victoria has a page of new brooches on her web site. She’s also included her roster of east coast classes this spring including a debut of a promising new pietra dura (stone mosaics) technique.

The weekend simply got away from me! How can it possibly be Monday already?

Picarello’s magic

There’s something alluring about the graduated color of the side beads which are interspersed with silver discs on this polymer clay necklace from California’s Julie Picarello. It’s part of her winged design series that gives a sense of movement and motion.

Julie has also posted pictures of her Bead Dreams entry (a winner in my book) and some new primitive, asymmetrical designs.

Julie’s technique is another lovely variation on the magic/mokume bead that’s been gaining popularity (see yesterday’s post). Have a magic weekend.

Appealing spring choices

Some days everything appeals to me. I couldn’t decide which of these polymer clay finds to feature today so I’m showing you all of them.

Barcelona’s Tatiana Franchi’s little figure has such a casual lifelike stance that I was totally charmed by it. Check out the Crocs on her tiny feet.

Perhaps it’s because I never learned to crochet that Portugal’s Sandra Rodrigues’ bright beads with crocheted covers draw me in.

And then there’s Scott Mizevitz’ magic bead (refer to basic how-to’s here and here). The colors glow and I wonder if you can make that magic happen consistently or if it’s just, well, magic.

It’s a spacey, spring Thursday. Everything looks lovely. Enjoy. (Comments may not be working right until this weekend. Send yours to cynthia@tinapple.com.)

Benzon shifts to surfaces

Spring blooms have prompted a change in Jana Roberts Benzon’s polymer clay work.

She’s shifted her focus from canes to surfaces. Her crumpled brooch series has a luxurious fabric look and her new beads shaped from flat sheets have gone all organic.

I like to think she was working on a crane for Judy Dunn’s project and gave up in frustration only to discover a great new look. Perhaps she’ll let us in on how and why she was able to work in this new loose style. Thanks to Ronna Weltman for the link.

Polymer clay and Earth Day

As I considered which polymer clay artist best captured the spirit of Earth Day, Cynthia Toops‘ work came to mind….because she uses so little clay in her fine micromosaics (pictured here). I was thinking small and I laughed at my knee-jerk reaction to our environmentally incorrect medium. Many art supplies fall into the same shunned petroleum-based category.

Using less clay shouldn’t be the sole criteria for being sensitive to the environment. Using the clay carefully and wisely is important. Kathleen Dustin has posted an article about thinking big that is more to the point both for Earth Day and for our own artistic growth.

I’m also reading more and more articles about the development of biopolymers and I look forward to the day when we no longer have to make apologies on Earth Day.

Xana and Te’s inro

After a hectic spring weekend, a splash of Portugese color in this inro from Xana and Te (Alexandra and Teresa) is just what I need to start my week. What sets this work apart is the attention to detail and the way the onlay pieces are carefully positioned and applied. I particularly like the subtle Skinner blend in the background. Have a happy, colorful Monday.