Time flies and it’s time to start making hearts. No need to stick with traditional reds, however.
Israel’s Orly Fuchs Galchen (Hollowology) shows us her best blues and greens dressed up with carved dots and lines. She shares hollow heart tricks in a tutorial on Etsy.
A look at Orly’s unconventional approaches shown on Instagram and Facebook will have you skipping to your studio to try your hand at some romantic mementos of your own.
What you’re looking at is Virginia artist Angie Wiggins’ wrapped and stacked polymer palette for 2017. Each year Angie starts by choosing her colors and mixing a big batch.
“I cleaned out my half of our tiny crawl space attic and found a piece of fabric from drapes that my mom had made back in the 1950s. It had sat in the sewing room/spare bedroom for six months before it dawned on me to start researching the colors of the mid-century,” she explains in her blog post.
Angie has spent weeks mixing her vintage palette and now she’s ready to launch into her art.
Her methodical, focused yet serendipitous approach is something many artists aspire to but few achieve. Even the way she neatly wraps and stores her stash is impressive. It looks like a box of chocolates!
You can see Angie’s mixed media bowls and polymer pretties on her blog, Facebook and Instagram. Her Pinterest boards lead you through her process even further.
The rich textures in the polymer mosaic work of Darwin, Australia’s Nicole Boucher (BlueMallee) reflect her tropical surroundings.
This particular oriental-inspired piece was snatched up by a customer who then sent Nicole a photo of its new home. It landed where it belonged!
Another photo of the mosaic here shows off its dark jewel colors with lustrous gold highlights. Over 90 tiles surround what looks like a slab of ancient text.
Scroll through Nicole’s Facebook to view some of her other mosaics and jewelry.
This piece from the unpredictable Carol Beal (beadunsupervised) blends nicely with yesterday’s pink brooches.
Carol’s style is carefree, almost slapdash and always entirely her. Her lemons make great lemonade. More on Instagram.
Pink polymer everywhere! Artists hopped on the craze for this symbol of women’s marches around the globe.
These brooches were made by Leslie Blackford (Instagram), Melissa Terlizzi (Flickr), and Christi Friesen (Instagram).
I can vouch for the vibe at the Washington, DC site which was very friendly and upbeat (more in StudioMojo which will come out Tuesday). Many polymer artists joined in marches and cleverly added their wearable reminders that women are united and strong.
Does this inspire you to make your own version?
Rachelle from our polymer classes at the Ohio Reformatory for Women made the We March Together pins for Jackie Burns and me.
Faces were the subject of last month’s class and Rachelle has been making face canes ever since. Mine is has orange/blonde streaked hair and Jackie’s hair is white.
Their brooches certainly remind us that we march together in support of all women’s issues.
Then Pennsylvania’s Andrew Thornton put a pink hat on his baby dragon to show his support for the marchers. He explains the details of his process on his blog. Off to march with a wild cast of characters.
Dayna Corbitt (WhimsyCalling) perks us up with a lighthearted beginning to the season. “You hold the key to my heart…” says the accompanying love poem that you can read on Instagram. Her so simple approach doesn’t rely on red clay and fancy designs. It’s pure romance and love.
She’s cleared the shelves on her Etsy store in preparation for romantics who want something that goes right to the heart of Valentines Day.
Portland polymer artist Meredith Dittmar has appeared on PCD many times, initially for her small sculptures, now grown into the show, Between Our Eyes, at Mirus Gallery in San Francisco from January 20 to March 3.
The gallery describes Meredith’s work as human-animal-plant-energy relief-like amalgams that contain threads of common elements and colors to express deep levels of union across themes of biology, technology, and consciousness. The characters are frequently involved in quiet expressive moments, or lounge facing an audience, sharing their inner space. Dittmar believes it is this space we recognize in ourselves, and through convening in that space, the interconnectedness of all things is revealed.
The gallery’s exhibits are edgy and modern and Meredith’s paper/polymer works are dynamic. If you’re not quite sure about the fantasy/technology/biology scenes that you’re looking at on Meredith’s Instagram, Facebook and Flickr, relax and enjoy the mix of paper and polymer, shapes and color on these large works. Let them hit you between the eyes.
Thumbing through Elena Kalashnikov’s Flickr photos you’ll see how she’s taken popular techniques and given them her own spin.
She’s interpreted others’ designs with such exuberance and skill that it’s only a matter of time until she discovers something all her own.
These earrings have the luster of a silk kimono with gold and blue mokume gane pieces applied on top. Elena is Russian and lives in Israel. She started out making lace so it’s not surprising that her works have resonances of fabric and embroidery.
Your story is written in your collection of works. You might as well own it, capitalize on it and celebrate it.
France’s Sonya Girodon enjoyed departing from her usual path and traveling into the woods.
The result is these polymer thistles, burrs or alien pods created especially for the upcoming Into the Forest exhibit in Valley Forge during Synergy4 and in Pittsburgh next November.
How are you coming with your contribution to this big show? The deadline is April 4.
Sonya’s having a banner year. Just look at all the breakthroughs and game-changers that she’s come up with on her Facebook and Flickr.
As long as we’re looking at our to-do lists, have you registered for Synergy4? Can’t attend? No worries. Even if you can’t go, enter your artwork in the IPCA Awards competition and you’ll be there in spirit. The awards online entry isn’t showing up on the new IPCA site but I’m sure it will be activated soon.
Sonya shows us how to stretch our creative muscles and try out new ideas in 2017.
