This bowl of succulents from California’s Kim Korringa was a marvel to behold. Everything…the 6″ rock bowl, the succulents, the soil, even the string-of-pearls…was made of polymer.
You can tell from Kim’s attention to detail that she’s quite a gardener.
Meanwhile, Kim was also working on a line of caned Christmas jewelry for the Uno Alla Volta catalog adding minuscule ornaments on yards of caned trees.
Of all my eclipse week memorabilia, these polymer totems from Minnesota’s Maureen Carlson (weefolk) make me smile the most. Maureen is known for finding fantasy characters everywhere.
Her old man monuments are made of polymer rocks stacked in an Easter Island way. Though they’re only 2″ tall, they look massive. The faux pebbles form another face on the back side.
Here they are laid out on the swap table, ready to be slipped onto a garden stake. If you like rock cairns these may give you ideas for enlivening your garden. There’s more on Facebook.
Two weeks of travel have provided a bonus of exciting new works that we’ll examine on PCD this week.
We continue our eclipse theme with this cheeky moon from Melissa Terlizzi. Don’t you love the glasses and solar flares? Here she is on Facebook
I’m still on vacay but can’t bear to leave you without your daily dose of polymer.
sent PCD this photo of a solar eclipse pin made by her husband, Randy Townsend, at a post-Synergy4 micro mosaic class on Friday. He finished it quickly after their return to California so he could wear it for the eclipse.
We’re recovering in the Colorado mountains and will upload photos as the network allows. Enjoying all the submissions of your personal eclipse artworks.
Are you ready for the eclipse? It’s all the rage in the US and we hardly know what to expect.
Since our Colorado group is near the path, we’ve created some solar-themed big bead totems for a swap, brushed PearlEx powders into our hair and tried on our eclipse glasses. We’re psyched!
The sun/moons are by Wendy Malinow, the cutout light/darks come from Barb Harper, Eclipse cane beads were from me (Cynthia Tinapple).
Joan Tayler’s raven pendants allude to How the Raven Stole the Sun, an ancient Native American myth. Randy Ketzel models an eclipse tee that she created using bleach. Here’s wishing you clear skies and a momentous event.
Germany’s Georg Dinkel was the darling of the Synergy4 conference with his award-winning visions of heaven and hell in polymer.
His most recent small characters (which sold out quickly) allow him to complete a project in an evening. These creatures from hell (a la Hieronymus Bosch) give Georg a break from his complex architectural constructs that take months to build. The ship shown here was built over a metal gravy boat.
Synergy4 was a rich and energetic environment with perhaps the best presentations and most forward-looking projects yet. Georg has also posted some great shots from Synergy4.
My travel schedule continues and PCD posts will be sporadic for another week. In the meanwhile, please explore the archives and check in for updates. We’ll explore new ideas from Synergy4 at StudioMojo on Saturday. Join us there.
Lindly Haunani presented a lovely tour through the Global Leaf Brooch Design Challenge in a Synergy session yesterday. Lindly has graciously opened the Facebook group to the public so that you can scroll through the many entries like this Ice Plant brooch created by Sage Bray.
You’ll see the finished products and discover both their inspirations and their processes.
And you have a chance to join in! The project collected such interesting works from around the world that it will be ongoing. The details of the continuing effort will be posted shortly.
If you sense that I’m rushed, you’re right. Information and beauty swirl around the IPCA/Synergy4 conference participants and no one wants to miss a minute. Stay tuned for the full reports.
Alisa Levy’s jaunty necklace caught my eye at Synergy. The jumble of circles and stripes looked a little Hundertwasser-ish as it sparkled brightly at the opening Synergy4 reception. I snapped a picture.
I’ve learned that the patterns are from a design transferred onto glitter clay. Alisa then colored it cleverly and the effect was perfect fun for the party.
The simplest shapes and techniques dazzle the eye and help make a party festive. I’ll tantalize you with a few more goodies from Synergy as the week progresses. I have to corner Alisa to learn more about her other business called Embrace Your Space.
The Canary Islands’ Pilar Rodriguez Dominguez has mastered building canes and all the polymer basics. Now her work has taken a leap forward and what’s the reason? Scraps, of course!
Playing with scraps is often a freeing experience. There’s no wrong way and often you stumble into some very right accidents, especially when you have a strong color sense like Pilar does.
These bohemian beauties appear on her Instagram. You’ll see similar methods on her Etsy, Facebook, and Flickr pages and videos here and here.
Feeling stuck or restless? Go explore your scraps!
It’s Synergy time! We’ll be digging through the pre-conference scuttlebutt for this weekend’s StudioMojo. I’ll be reporting from the front lines so PCD posts will be juicy and fun and probably not on the regular schedule next week.
Italy’s Cecilia Leonini (ImpasteArte) prolongs the bright colors of summer with this pendant inspired by Picasso’s Two Girls Reading.
On a 2.75 x 2.5″ area, Cecilia makes a collage of colors and sketches in the characters then colors the scene.
By using lots of colors and shapes piled on each other in a small space, Cecilia creates the illusion of a much bigger canvas. See more on Instagram, Facebook, and Etsy,
