An invitation to an open house featuring Tory Hughes’ polymer clay work has played havoc with my vacation budget. But I’ll go home richly adorned in fine ancient faux jewels from one of polymer clay’s earliest and most innovative artists.
I leafed through her copy of an Ornament magazine from 1989 that featured Tory’s work on its cover. It was a dazzling way to finish our Santa Fe adventure.
Tory has renewed enthusiasm with new designs and ideas and is looking to ramp up her teaching schedule. While her web presence is scant, you can see her work in many books including her own Chameleon Clay book.
To celebrate the publishing of the book, Seattle’s Facere Jewelry Art Gallery will show over 250 pairs of earrings by 29 different artists, all in the book, from across the country. There’s a lecture and champagne on Monday, October 8 if you’re in Seattle. Julia Sober who’s moved to Seattle, will be among the luminaries.
I’m in New York, mecca for art blogging. Last night I connected with other bloggers at an American Craft Council salon event to hear about what happens when craft traditions and craft new wave colide as they have on the internet. About 40 bloggers from Park Slope and Brooklyn listened as the owners of Rare Device and Greenjeans talked about their blogging experience.
Not only was the topic thought-provoking but the renewed energy of the ACC was palpable. The first issue of the all-new AMERICAN CRAFT (the Oct/Nov 2007 issue) is out with a new look and a new voice that reflects the current convergence of craft, architecture, art, design, and fashion, pushing these connections to the forefront of the cultural conversation.
Here’s a sampling of links that will place your finger directly on the pulse of crafts and DIY arts…and polymer clay, of course.
Take a peek at Grant Diffendaffer’s updated site where his new polymer clay work and upcoming book are featured. His blog is called Many Parts – the definition of poly-mer, get it?
Grant’s Polymer Clay Beads book will be out from Lark Books in January and it boasts twenty different beadmaking techniques and thirteen pieces of jewelry. "Learn my latest techniques for lathe turned and textured beads, mica beads, recursive molded beads, mandrel formed beads, hollow form beads and more," he promises.
His extruded and lathe-turned bead technique is simply a wonder to behold. If you’re itching to learn something completely different and can’t wait for the book, he’s got a class coming up in San Antonio in October.
And speaking of classes, Dan Cormier still has a few seats left in his October 13 "Form and Finish" class at the ArtWay in Maryland. The rest of his east coast tour is sold out.
Polymer clay’s most famous color girls, Lindly Haunani and Maggie Maggio, have moved into writing mode as the deadlines for their new book loom. They’ve been exercising their writing skills by posting to their blogs.
Lindly’s running down her "top 100 tips" list and Maggie’s examining how the color blind experience color along with some great links to see how your web pages look. We’re in for treats as they warm up for book writing. They’re also looking for photos to illustrate their concepts. Submissions are due to them by November 1.
One more plug for our own Leslie Blackford whose polymer clay covered nightlights will be featured in the October 20-21 Maker Faire in Austin, TX. Maker Faire is a two-day event that celebrates arts, crafts, engineering, science projects and the Do-It-Yourself (DIY) mindset.
The DIY movement is helping to revitalize the polymer clay community and Leslie Jo is our canary in this coal mine. Craft and Make magazines are dense quarterly magazines full of quirky and clever ideas. Want to know where young artists are headed? Take a look. Maybe we’ll even be making our own plastic in the future!
Texan Dawn Barker’s polymer clay Escudo do Mar represents life under the sea, capturing its color, movement and vitality. The 24" by 30" mosaic of 1.5" polymer clay tiles is mounted on stretched canvas and was voted the winner in the Etsy Guild’s August challenge. The details glow in the dark, giving the piece an entirely different look at night. A lovely summer memory.
Hit the books! If you’re itching to expand your vocabulary and sharpen your design skills, you may want to consider these two books on design. Design!: A Lively Guide to Design Basics for Artists & Craftspeople by Steven Aimone and Design Language, Interpretive Edition by Tim McCreight were favorites in the conference library. The books are not specific to polymer clay but they can help you build a good design foundation.
Bruce theorizes that the very high and very low prices we see on artwork are extensions of what’s happening in our economy. "Art becomes a metaphor for what’s happening in our culture," he says. The middle is vanishing. He predicts that after this war, as after wars in the past, there will be increased appreciation for the earth and the arts.
Lindly Haunani’s purple polymer clay pods are on the cover of August’s Crafts Report magazine! Lindly talks about how she uses marketing materials to set up workshops. You can download a terrific article free from the magazine (along with great pictures). Fourteen polymer clay artists share their insights about making a living in the medium of polymer clay.
