Spinning polymer

Anderson's yo-yo on PolymerClayDaily.com

Did you read Ron Lehocky’s story about Bali’s Jon Anderson in this summer edition of The Polymer Arts magazine? The two artists have developed a long-distance friendship. Jon regularly sends Ron canes to be made into hearts for the Kids Project.

Jon enjoys contributing to the project and seeing how Ron reinterprets his ideas into something very different.

The polymer yo-yo pictured here was tucked into this month’s box of goodies from Bali. Ron says it spins perfectly. Cool, eh?

Does Jon’s toy start your brain spinning? Google How to make a yo-yo and you’ll find lots of video tutorials that can be easily adapted to polymer.

Unprecedented flowers

Russia’s Anna Bragina’s brooches have an unmistakeable heft, a smoothly rounded solid feel to them. These are from her Unprecedented Flowers series of brooches shown on Flickr and Facebook.

The solid shapes are created with the cutters she sells on Etsy. She combines the shapes in unusual ways topping them with glass beads and stones.

A flawlessly smooth finish completes the feeling of solid beauty.

Join us over at StudioMojo this Saturday for a newsletter full of more tools and unusual tips for your work.

Polymer super power

Gummert extrusions on PolymerClayDaily.com

It’s true, happiness can sometimes be found in an empty Cheez Whiz jar.

Iowa’s Lynne Rutter Gummert swears that she doesn’t know exactly what she’s doing but what comes out of her extruder shows that she understands more than she admits.

Gummert's Klimt-like extrusions on PolymerClayDaily.com

Her colors are Klimty and bright. She mixes and matches a selection of extruded patterns. Slices are applied to a glass form that gets popped into the oven and emerges as a treasured desk accessory.

It’s a no-fail approach and a daily reminder of the her creative super power. Do you have a treasured piece that reminds you of your polymer superpower?

Picasso to polymer

Prais-Hintz collaged beads on PolymerClayDaily.com

A group challenge pushed Wisconsin’s Erin Prais-Hintz out of her comfort zone and into these collaged beads and surface treatments.

Picasso’s Bowl of Fruit painting was the starting point. Erin decided not to stress over not being able to see any fruit and instead focused on the colors and bits of paper and writing that resonated with her.

She took the opportunity to apply some of the Debbie Crothers surface tricks to create raw and rusty veneers. Erin did it her way and yet the resulting beads have a Picasso feel. She nailed it! Read her story on Facebook.

What a great way to stretch and try something new. Do you have a favorite painting that you’d like to try in polymer?

Polymer with love

Illinois’ Linda Webb (creeksidestudio) tells her story in mosaic code, this one a heartfelt condolence to Manchester, UK families.

Linda keeps her work surface covered with sheets of veneers that she crafts into images. This Instagram photo of her workspace explains it all.

Mosaics offer another use for the polymer, paint and ink veneers that have been growing in popularity.

A tale of tags

Loew's tag necklace on PolymerClayDaily.com

This tag necklace from Baltimore’s Linda Loew is full of surprises. The dark gold polymer links are stamped, painted and textured in a dark and rough urban grunge style accented with red.

The pieces are thinner than you’d expect and slightly curved during curing. Each is individually shaped.

Linda heads for the fishing department for her findings that make the links twirl on connectors meant for lures. Here’s a second more colorful version.

The necklaces feel like they’re filled with stories…but Linda’s story is hard to find online. You can see a few more of her works on Pinterest.

Alphabet soup

Wujick's alphabet bowl on PolymerClayDaily.com

Virginia’s Tina Wujick cuts thick letters from polymer blends and connects them over a glass form. Sometimes she strengthens the joins with some Genesis thick medium (or other polymer glue).

There’s no rhyme or reason, you can’t read any message here but it’s a great teacher’s gift or just fun to enjoy. This photo of ingredients fills in the blanks.

Tina’s project should keep you busy while I play in Virginia. Look for fun photos all week.

Taking it easy

Kassel's limp and lovely leaves on PolymerClayDaily.com

Sure, you may have been impressed by the cheeky, funny characters that Doreen Gay Kassel has been creating for her Synergy4 presentation with Donna Greenberg (Translating Your Environment into Your Inspiration). Doreen’s characters are funny and engaging and quite complex.

Then she wows us with casual, offhand leaves that look as if they floated to the ground, ready to be raked. Their torn edges and folds show off lovely layers of colors with dots hidden in the recesses.

If you’ve worked with polymer for long you know what a trick it is to make our medium look easy, unforced and really organic. How does she do that? Will she and Donna reveal all at Synergy? You may enjoy some of her inspirations on Pinterest.

Pocket art hearts

Tejae Floyde creates a heart-inside-heart on PolymerClayDaily.com

A Facebook video from Colorado’s Tejae Floyde shows you more of her Encased Hearts. Tejae loves pocket art – tokens and secrets and hidden wishes. The smaller heart fits perfectly inside the larger one and they are covered with wise words, rich textures and glints of metals.

She’s been busy creating this stamped and painted Mother’s Day version, sometimes adding childrens names on the back.

Read more about Tejae on her site, Facebook and Etsy. You’ll find Tejae’s step-by-step instructions for a basic encased heart in my book.

Jumping through hoops with polymer

Wolodkiewicz' polymer embroidery mixes hard with soft on PolymerClayDaily

The last time PCDaily posted about the work of Poland’s Justyna Wolodkiewicz she was making jumping jacks and clocks.

She’s moved on to 3D mixed media pieces that blend embroidery hoops with polymer. It’s hard to picture, right?

Look on Instagram, her blog and Facebook to get the idea. Read what ArtUpon has to say about her.

Three of Justyna’s pieces appeared in the Feminist Fiber Art exhibit in Seattle. How cool is it that this 20-something represents our community on the feministfiberart.com scene?

Watch her how-to video on Facebook as Justyna explains, “First I sculpted colorful rings, circles and spikes out of polymer clay and baked them. Then I started stitching. The mixture of textures is rich and eye-catching. Thread makes polymer look softer. Polymer contrasts with the fluffy look of fabric and thread.”

What happens when you mix polymer with another medium?

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