Polymer Clay Daily

Artists

Clarke’s Polka Dots

Perhaps the best view of the Synergy conference is from the newer polymer clay artists who were there. Cynthia Blanton continues to post pictures and her impressions. Ponsawan dropped her jaw repeatedly. “I am happy to be here among all other fine artists. The first time in 26 years living in this country, I felt I belong,” she says.

Lisa Clarke (aka Polka Dot Creations) gives a great glimpse of what she experienced.

Lisa’s a self-described “wife, mother and geek” who sells various products, publications and her own artwork on an assortment of sites. She has an impeccable color sense and creates buttons to embellish trendy fabrics and handmade items. Lisa seemed astonished when I told her that I’d been following her charming blog closely.

Be sure to see Lisa’s photo of the international attendees at the Synergy conference. We’ll soon put names to all those faces for you. I’m worn out from the long drive home and still riding high on the positive response that my keynote address received at the banquet. And I can’t miss the Oscars!

Silas and the unseen artists

At the Synergy conference I’m catching up with those polymer clay folks who fly under our internet radar and are hard to track – like Virginia’s Cindy Silas. She doesn’t have much of an online presence for her dynamite polymer clay/PMC work. It’s an impressive marriage of the two materials.

Clay pushed through open-work metal must be an idea whose time has come. The concept popped up on Susan Lomuto’s site and she’s experimented with it impressively as well.

My nagging about creating an online presence is paying off. Dan Cormier swears that the Cormier/Holmes site is nearly ready for prime time.

The set-up day was exhausting. Classes start early tomorrow. Need my beauty sleep.

Celebrating the European Guild’s Birthday

The European Guild for Polymer Clay People is one year old. Their membership roster lists artists from all over the world with links to charming web sites from villages in wonderfully remote locations.

These newcomers to the polymer clay community bring an enthusiasm and fearlessness as well as a fresh perspective. I loved the look of Slovenia’s RobertaM’s extrusion-covered bead. Even though her clay was dry and not quite conditioned, the resulting patterns make it look like stitching or fabric.

Happy birthday to the guild and thanks for your continuing contributions to the craft!

Synergy Icebreakers: Where else in the world can you stare at a woman’s chest, walk right up to her and ask, “Is that yours?”

We’re at the Baltimore conference early for general grunt work and set-up. Meeting old friends and making new is lovely, no matter how jet-lagged and road weary we are. (Left to right: Dorothy Greynolds, Meisha Barbee, Hollie Mion wearing Ann Monheit’s work)

Simmons Synergy Donation

One more yummy item in the Synergy silent auction. Carol Simmons has refined her kaleidscope polymer clay pendants to perfection. Take a look at the front and back of this piece. Her stringing method allows the wearer to comfortably adjust the length and the mechanism blends unobtrusively with the bead.

Thanks to Carol and all those contributors who donated their works to the guild even though they won’t be attending. We’ll try to keep you all posted. Hollie Mion and I are on the road!

NICHE WINNERS: Kudos to the polymer clay Niche Award winners announced last week at the Buyers Market of American Craft. California’s Meisha Barbee won with her mica pendant in the professional polymer clay category. New York’s Loretta Lam won in the professional bead category for her Kalamata necklace.

About entering competitions, Loretta Lam says, “It’s more about doing your best – often better than you thought you could. It’s creative problem solving and pushing out of your comfort zone.” Read more about the winners and their reasons for entering the competition.

Polymer Ouija Board Needed

I could use one of these little polymer clay oiuja boards by Wickedgems as I look at the past and predict the future of our craft at next week’s conference. There are a number of interesting pieces throughout the Wickedgems site.

Thanks to Kim Cavender, Bettina Welker, Ronna Weltman, and Janice Abarbanel for letting you peek at their contributions to the Synergy silent auction.

Fellow Ohioan Debbie Jackson has spruced up her web site with new work in a new format. After a year in the studio, she’s restarted her classes for those in the Columbus area. The schedule is on her site.

Mika’s Mixed Media Valentine

Laurie Mika’s polymer clay/mixed media “Sacred Heart” looks like a perfect Valentine for you.

Her workshops at April’s Artfest in Washington are full but that won’t keep you from enjoying a tasty treat of her work here and here. Mika says she has “a passion for combining and overlapping a variety of mediums creating an original style of mixed-media mosaics and assemblage using handmade tile.”

Follow-up: Ronna Weltman wants you to see a better example of the work we showed yesterday (photo by Doug Yaple). She’s donating it to the Synergy auction next week. If you’re donating something to the auction, I’d be pleased to show it off here (and you’ll be helping me expedite my posts as I pack for Baltimore). Email me.

Weltman’s Extruded Marbles

Ronna Weltman has been playing with her polymer clay extruder in a much more freestyle way. “I put in little blobs of this and that color (not randomly picked, but for harmony) and delight in the serendipity of my multi-hued bead caps,” she says.

“Yesterday I played around with randomly placing the strings on translucent and/or translucent mixed with ultra-light, running it through the pasta maker, and then covering an ultralight core with the result.” I love her looser approach. Check it out.

Follow-up note: I have not tested the PolymerClayExpress large extruder because I needed small batches. Word is that it’s quite wonderful. Oh, the perils of talking about tools! We all have our favorites.

Korringa’s Hearts

A little California Korringa for your Friday pick-me-up. Kim Korringa has been working in polymer clay for years and has a densely packed studio bursting with color. Her flat drawers contain hundreds of canes that she has made over the years. “Occasionally I will clear off the work surfaces, but I find that I am more creative when I have everything laid out like a giant palette,” says Kim.

Her “making a cane” tutorial is a perennial favorite.

Dilday’s Tropical Setting

I couldn’t stop reading about Australian Melanie Dilday who lives in New South Wales near Mullumbimby. Her polymer clay covered frame perfectly mirrors her tropical setting.

Melanie’s encounters with lizards and snakes and overactive vegetation provided a lush contrast to cold gray Ohio last weekend. I followed along as she “painted the dunny,” partied with the neighbors and hacked the encroaching vegetation. Looks like a great place for an exotic class (scroll down that page to see the setting).

Sometimes when I intently follow the latest polymer clay tidbit and hurriedly track down the best link, the fun blows right out of this blog. It’s the fascinating glimpses into lives like Melanie’s that got me started in the first place and that keep me going.