Glacial polymer

The fine layers in this pendant from Switzerland’s Enkhe Tserenbadam make it look like a sculpted glacier. Bits of silver leaf accent the thin striations.

Enkhe grew up in Mongolia and these forms seem so personal and intuitive that it makes you wonder if she saw them as a child.

The fine ball chain is baked into the polymer, a good solution for this pendant. Enkhe shows a burst of new jewelry and vessels on Facebook and Flickr.

The beauty of her many layers may prompt you to go thinner and thinner with your next piece to see what happens.

Right and wrong

Enkhe clarified that the shapes really do relate to her childhood, in fact they were medicinal. Read her comment below. But there is no metal leaf in her piece.

Slivered polymer

Steve and Dave (FordForlano) reveal just enough of their new work to whet our appetites. These thick rope necklaces are made of thin oblique slivers of canes. The unfinished bits and pieces they reveal are works in progress for the November 10-13 Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft show,

Peek at the tweaks and twists (more complex components) they’ve given their latest work on their Facebook page. You can also examine the bits waiting for inspiration and assembly on David’s work surface in Santa Fe.

Their work has evolved while at the same time it’s circled back to some themes that were there from the beginning. What themes have persisted in your work?

Simple curves

Sometimes a simple sensual curve and a hollow spot add to the allure of a piece. Here a mokume gane veneer drapes gently over a flat back layer and a cord slides easily through the middle of the resulting pendant.

France’s LN Jewels Creation sprinkles tantalizing design bits throughout her polymer works on Instagram and Facebook.

The land of What If

One benefit of teaching is what the students teach you. Look at this imaginative Miro-like polymer inlay from Florida’s Lynn Yuhr (TheFlyingSquirrelStudio).

My class in Georgia focused on making polymer art for the domestic environment. Students quickly embraced the concepts and happily dressed up sticks, covered paper forms, and drilled holes in whatever wood they could find to inlay. You could see their attitudes change as the possibilities expanded.

Lynn brought wooden jewelry components with her to our class. She and her Florida friends at Banyan Bay are tinkering with wooden beads that can be inlaid. While they were originally thinking of designs for bead weavers, Lynn urged them to consider polymer inlay as well. The new products should be available soon.

Once you enter the land of what if, a whole new world of possibilities opens up.

Autumn leaves

These tiny maple leaf earrings by Michigan’s Sue Screws called to me every time I walked by this display during my weekend class at Creative Journey Studio in Georgia.

Sue made these delicate cutouts for a number of types of trees in fall colors with intricate veining and realistic colors. I couldn’t resist wearing these on my long drive back to Ohio.

You can enjoy a few more photos from the weekend here and here. (Sue is hard to find on ine, try Facebook.) Back to our regular schedule tomorrow.

Studio goblins

Who better than illustrator/artist Wendy Wallin Malinow to remind us of the approaching spooky season with her mixed media Goblins?

She resurrects a cigar box and fills it with her distinctive painting and polymer. Go in close for a look at the details.

Wendy entered this piece in the seriously spooky #mabsdrawlloweenclub on Instagram. See more of Wendy’s works on Instagram, Etsy and Tumblr.

Are there monsters and ghosts lurking in your studio?

Inspired wire and polymer

Indiana’s Ponsawan Sila is a whiz with wire. Moved by Sonya Girodon’s recent polymer bowls, Ponsawan wanted to try her own version.

“I always get inspired by Sonya’s works and the way she pushes us to think, dig deep into our souls and elevate our creativity to the next level,” says Ponsawan.

Ponsawan passes on the inspiration with these wire-edged fall flowers formed into a bowl that is both delicate and strong.

Polymer nesting instinct

Seems everyone is trying out vessels and wall art in autumn colors lately. This 2 1/2″ x 7 1/2″ wire and polymer piece is from Arkansas’ Betty Jo Hendershott. Can’t you imagine an empty space in your home that could use a dash of polymer color?

Are we nesting in anticipation of winter?

Yesterday it was acorns we were gathering for winter. Be sure to see the Melissa Terlizzi version of acorn decor on her Facebook page.

“We’re all a bunch of nuts sharing the same small bowl. It’d be a lot easier if we were all kind to one another,” Melissa says.

Beads from the woods

Alaska’s Katie Way (BullsEyeStudio) took the summer off from her Etsy site. Let’s hope she’s out foraging for acorns.

Don’t caps filled with Katie’s signature beads look fabulously fallish? She made them earlier this year. You can keep tabs on Katie on Facebook.

Polymer acorns would be great for next spring’s Into the Forest exhibit too.

Check out Melissa Terlizzi’s nutty variation on this theme!

Bold bowls

Polymer vessels are moving to the wild side thanks to artists like Massachusetts’ Kathryn Corbin.

This one has holes and textures and what looks like three or four layers with a rough exterior. The chopped edged interior is colored with pastels and who-knows-what and given a mysterious touch with some cryptic drawing.

There are more vessels on Facebook and an earlier post on PCDaily to give you more samples of Kathryn’s work.

How many of us have drawers of pens, powders and inks that we’re saving for just the right project? Maybe this is the week to pull them out and venture beyond our comfort zones.

‹ 1 … 120 121 122 … 405 ›