Polymer Clay Daily

Artists

Cormier/Holmes

Found these pictures from the workshops of Dan Cormier and Tracy Holmes on the Northwest Polymer Clay Guild site. The guild reports that, "Dan debuted a new system for creating patterns in polymer clay. After four years of experimenting, Dan shared his latest breakthroughs in surface and veneer design. Simple two-toned canes became the source for an endless collection of intricate patterns, all without any cane reduction. We also explored "Mokume Dan-eh."

The Canadian site, Shades of Clay, is promoting three workshops (two in Canada, one in France) with Dan and Tracy in 2006. Here’s the info in .pdf format or you can contact them at hoco@island.net.

I found pictures from their 2005 workshop in Gloucester online as well. Dan and Tracy are some of those folks that I have to work hard to find on the web.

More colors…more energy

I thought that I’d soon mine the depths of polymer clay artists online. But I keep finding new exciting discoveries. How did I miss Gloria Askin of Baltimore, Maryland?

Gloria says, "These bright floral forms were inspired by the work of the master glass artist Dale Chihuly and are among my foundational works. I was also inspired by the Yoruba Peoples who believe that the more bright colors you wear the more positive energy you put into the universe."

We stand corrected…

My dear daughter filled in for me a couple of weeks back. My clever girl googled polymer+clay+halloween and came up with the P’orn site showing Desiree McCrory’s pin-on horns. What my daughter wouldn’t have known (nor would I) is that these cuties were the brain child of Linda Geer who has sold and traded them for years.

I love the page Linda sent showing various wearers. Thanks for the heads-up, Linda. Our apologies.

Hombre with Ombre

Judy Kuskin sent me this link to Jeffrey Dever. I wasn’t familiar with his work and was bowled over. Talk about ombre!

Jeffrey is featured in November in the Function+Art Gallery in Chicago. The gallery newsletter says, "His highly organic approach and bright polychrome palette combine for animated yet elegant brooches, pins and necklaces." They showed his work at October’s SOFA.

Thanks so much for the tip, Judy. If you find an exciting link, please send it along!

More than one way to Skinner…

What is a "Skinny Skinner" you ask? Lots of polymer artists attribute this variation on the Skinner blend to Dorothy Greynolds (shown here at a 2004 Columbus, Ohio workshop). Instead of the typical triangle blends, narrow rectangular bands of color totalling the width of the pasta rollers are laid side-by-side (look on the table in the picture).

Folding and rolling them through the pasta machine gives you a marvelous blend. In Santa Fe, Lindly and Maggie showed us how to refine and control this blend further. One trick is to keep the very light and very dark bands quite narrow, allowing stronger colors to prevail.

Back from Santa Fe
Light, dark and middle tone Skinny Skinners from Lindly’s palette.

A few polymer friends spent a week in Santa Fe being guinea pigs for color theorists Lindly Haunani and Maggie Maggio. Be prepared to learn heaps in their upcoming workshops.

We began with collages of our favorite colors and vaulted into color mixing, limiting ourselves to just three colors plus black and white. We then careened through value and contrast and hue and composition. We "skinny skinnered", created color relationships and considered simultaneity. All of this we did in a lovely Santa Fe setting.

It may take me a while to process and pass it on to you in bits and pieces. Check back tomorrow.

Inspiring Artist: Sean Samoheyl

Sean’s medium is quite literally, anything he can get his hands on — soap, straw, old bicycle parts — and his subject matter is equally eclectic. A true self-taught/outsider/visionary artist, art is his way of life. This featured piece is made of carved wood, house paint, dipped in rubber.

Although Sean lives a rural lifestyle on a commune in Virginia, his work is now sold at the museum shop of Baltimore’s American Visionary Museum, as well as websites and other venues.

To view his ever-expanding body of work, now propelled into the digital age, (*ahem* at the nudging of his friends) visit seansamoheyl.com

It’s that time of year

The trees have hardly lost their leaves here in Ohio and we’re already gearing up for Christmas. Polymer artists like Sharon Sahl hold their annual sales this time of year. Sharon, like so many other fine artists, has no website and rarely enters juried shows. Instead she holds one open house and exhibits at three Ohio shows in October and November. Her works are collected and sought after. I’ll feature more of her works in the coming months. Her craftsmanship and attention to detail are remarkable.

If you know of other artists who, like Sharon, prefer to work out of the mainstream and the glare of the internet, let me know. They deserve some recognition and I’d like to give it to them.