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?

Collages to wear

Doroshow's fabric/jewelry wall art on PolymerClayDaily.com

Florida’s Dayle Doroshow will exhibit six mixed-media wall hangings in a popular restaurant (Le Tournesol) near her summer home in Durfort, France.

Each collaged fabric panel is 5′ x 2 1/2′ and is embellished with polymer. Each contains a brooch that can be removed to wear.

Doroshow's fabric collages with polymer on PolymerClayDaily.com

I can almost hear the sighs of students who have experienced the charms of a week of classes at La Cascade. Karen and Ann Mitchell, Dayle, Doreen Kassel and Loretta Lam will all have polymer workshops there this summer.

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Staying flexible

Tucson’s Meg Newberg (polymerclayworkshop) loves devising low tech/high results canes. Her followers find Meg’s instructions easy to follow as she builds precise patterns from simple rolls, blends and stacks. Following her steps is simple, very rewarding and great for building your skills.

The inmates in the ORW class are Meg’s biggest fans because no special tools or exotic ingredients are required to produce stunning results.

Her videos have a large and growing following on Facebook. She sells her tutorials and canes on Etsy as well as by subscription.

Here Meg shows a polymer hex-a-flex. Maybe in high school you sent secret notes to friends using a similar paper trick.

If you’re interested in more secret notes, join the StudioMojo group that looks behind the scenes on Saturday mornings.

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Light and deceptively strong polymer collaboration

Don’t take my word for it, go see for yourself how complex and exciting this 20″ Open Form Necklace from Bonnie Bishoff is.

J.M. Syron constructs the nickel silver and sterling silver wire forms which Bonnie covers with polymer patterns. The piece looks fragile but feels surprisingly sturdy because of its metal underpinnings. The colors and stripes shift subtly from link to link.

The couple’s Body Length Necklace shows another example of long slim shapes that appear ethereal and light yet have strength that allows the wearer to twist and twirl all 60″ of beads.

It takes close collaboration to make pieces that feel both well built and elegant.

The easy/hard parts

Today our eyes gravitate to surface designs from UK’s Veronika Sturdy who claims to have a new addiction to silkscreens and imitative wood looks. She’ll be teaching her methods May 20 in a class in Czech Republic.

Silkscreens are another easy/hard part of polymer art. While silkscreens can feature delicate lines and magnificent patterns, the trick is to fiddle with the designs to make them yours – or to make your own patterns, of course.

Here Veronika combines wood textures with distressed patterns enhanced with luscious mottled colors. Look at them large on Flickr to appreciate the details. Then hop over to Pinterest to get the full behind-the-scenes treatment.

Low bar/high bar

Girodon's pendant on PolymerClayDaily.com

You know how it goes. You learn something new that rearranges your brain and suddenly you see it everywhere. My eyes glom onto surface designs. Paints, pastels, powders and anything applied to the surface of polymer are the only techniques that register after a class with Claire Maunsell.

Which brings us to France’s Sonya Girodon’s latest batch of pendants. Are those embossing powders? How is the color applied?

What an art it is to make the colors erupt across the shield-shaped surface. Then she reins the color in on the top square. Simple but complex. Easy but hard.

Polymer taunts us with its low bar to entry and its high bar for mastery. See several more examples of Sonya’s latest mastery on Facebook and Flickr.

Experimenting with construction plus an embossing tip

Watkins reinterprets Benzon on PolymerClayDaily.com

This Jana Benzon-inspired wall art from Rebecca Watkins starts your week with a bright flash of color!

Rebecca was one of the students in this weekend’s class sponsored by the Pittsburgh clay guild. That’s clearly Jana’s Encrusted method of construction reinterpreted in Rebecca’s eye-popping palette and dotted with spirals.

Benzon's newest cutwork earrings on PolymerClayDaily.com

Jana’s early polymer bargello evolved into what she calls her 3D Cutwork. Her new earrings here are an example of Jana’s current thinking in 3D compositions.

Rebecca’s an adventurous polymer artist too. Take a look at what she’s been trying with embossing powders on polymer to enhance ho-hum beads.

Jar art for your desk

Lisa Renner’s 10″ tall Jar Head makes a handy desk item that comes with its own feathered pen. Lisa sculpted this whimsical face over a glass jar and added details with inks and paints.

The feather-topped pen becomes a stunning hairstyle and it’s not likely someone would abscond with that. The container could be used to hold paintbrushes or other tools.

See more of Lisa’s pensive polymer people on her site, Instagram, Facebook, and newly on Etsy.

Lisa’s teaching in Phoenix at Art Unraveled in August (Laurie Mika will be there too).

Upcoming

There’s nothing like a class or conference to up your game. Registration has opened for this June’s French Lick Atelier in Indiana (featuring Libby Mills, Leslie Blackford, Ponsawan Sila, Tammy Dye and Lynda Gilcher.

The Northwest Polymer Clay Guild is accepting reservations for its May 18-22 Clay Camp in Washington. Synergy4 offers you an even deeper roster of talents and techniques at its August events.

In this weekend’s StudioMojo, readers will get an extra helping of eye candy and tool updates that were shared in Claire Maunsell’s surface class for NEPAG. If you’re needing a weekend boost, join us!

Going around in circles

Loose, colorful, happily twirled polymer beads popped into view this week.

Kathryn Corbin’s necklace starts with big textured peach-colored tubes on a thick cord.

In the center, bigger loops of random surface textures in springy colors overlap and crowd against each other. It’s a fresh and spontaneous look that kept catching my eye in Claire Maunsell’s weekend surface techniques class in Boston. What a great use for the samples we were accumulating in class!

Then Jean Rutka posted pictures from a weekend group event in Morrisburg, Ontario.

One photo featured thin extruded polymer strings that Lyn Tremblay twirled into flat round disks and strung into a fabric-like necklace. On her Facebook page Lyn shows a number of other fun designs that come to her when she lets the clay “speak to her”.

Is this fascination with easily twirled bits of clay a trend or just a reflection of the exuberance of spring?

Polymer poetry

After the weekend workshop with Claire Maunsell, several of us who had never been to Boston, took some extra time to soak up the sights. We happened upon GennaRose Nethercott, a lovely young poet, performer, and folklorist who had set up her table and manual typewriter on a street corner and hung out her poetry shingle.

We pooled our money (Helen Malchow was the instigator) and gave GennaRose a few details about our art. She quickly composed this lovely poem. Her words speak to the bonds that are often formed at workshops and conferences. We were verklempt.

Polymer: an ode

We are built of you,
O building block of our universe
of eager hands which reach for you,
twist you into beautiful shapes.
The clay brought us to each other.
A love for the curvature of beauty.
For a firmness we can control.
O the color that bounds up
from the jewelry built of you,
not so unlike the wild hues
of our hearts when alit with camaraderie
What is friendship if not
a work of our own art? A sculpted
form we drew together, layered & bright,
in the only way we know how.

by GennaRose Nethercott
www.gennarosenethercott.com

What started as a silly prank turned into magic that we wanted to share with you.

Travel is wreaking havoc with the PCDaily schedule so nothing, including a daily post, is assured for a couple of days.

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