Reversible, articulated, flexible polymer

Reversible, articulated and flexible – these three adjectives have defined the design ideas that France’s Olga Nicolas has pursued in polymer.

The dangles on these earrings can be removed and flipped over to reveal another pattern on the second side. On her Flickr pages you can see the results of recent research – articulated bracelets, clever magnetic closures, hidden hooks and buttons.

Olga notes that her ideas have “ripened and evolved…” as she looked for well-designed closures, comfortable bracelets and earrings that offered variation.

See other research results from Olga on Facebook and Pinterest.

Say it with polymer

France’s Nadege Honey telegraphs messages through her Dots and Dashes jewelry. This necklace says “Life is beautiful.”

“I wanted to create jewelry with meaning, where the piece itself is not the main focus, but rather the message is,” says Nadege. Decipher the Morse code of Happy Birthday, Thank You and other phrases in her Etsy shop.

You don’t need to know Morse code to enjoy the clear colors and graphic combinations in Nadege’s pieces which are best seen on Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook and her site.

Here’s a springy page of brooches from her design journal.

Translucent fever

No matter how hard you try not to catch it, Translucent Fever is in the spring air (in this hemisphere anyway).

Once you come in contact (Marie Segal got it going) then you start encountering glassy pastel examples everywhere. These stacked petal earrings are from Spain’s Manon van Kempen on Instagram. Manon has a feel for flowers and these look just challenging enough.

Though you may not feel you have time to get sidetracked, resisting the urge to play with translucent is futile. Go ahead, get it out of your system. Enjoy!

Last but not least

If you thought you were the only one who worried over their FIMO50 entry, think again. Even Julie Picarello fretted about working in a size and shape she wasn’t used to. “I have never made anything that size before and was honestly a little overwhelmed. I’m just so glad my tile is done,” Julie admits.

What better way to start May and end the project than with Julie’s dreamy colors and ethereal mokume gane? There’s more on Flickr and her website.

If your entry is just getting to the mailbox (the official deadline was extended to May 3), let me know.

Over a hundred tiles from the US have been individually wrapped and I’m looking forward to boxing and shipping what looks suspiciously like a large heap of contraband.

Heartfelt thanks to all of you who worried and worked to help others.

Multi-talented

The UK’s Fiona Abel-Smith moves between painting, mosaic and caning with ease. The dancing fish necklace is a recent creation. The curves and colors splash around the wearer’s neck.

Fiona started her large Tiger cane last October and worries that the fall-to-spring hiatus may have stiffened the clay and cause problems with reduction.

One of the drawbacks of being multi-talented may be the distraction of ideas and projects but that hasn’t slowed Fiona down.

See the range of her works on her site, Facebook and Flickr.

Seeing through Cernit

Here in the US, Marie Segal is creating a buzz with her experiments with Cernit’s translucent clay. Look at how the layers from these sample canes read through each other and retain their vibrancy.

Marie has put together a 12-bar translucent starter kit of Cernit if you’re in a mood to try something new. The kit contains 8 bars of translucent plus one each of Cernit’s four translucent colors –amber, emerald, ruby red and sapphire.

Usually Marie starts by mixing 2 parts translucent to 1 part color and adjusts from there to create the desired effect. Here’s her recipe for the colors used in this piece. You can examine more of Marie’s efforts on Facebook.

You may also be interested in the Cernit color mixes that Spain’s Ana Belchi has been sampling in her studio. You’ll find them on Instagram. If you need to know more, Ginger Davis Allman (BlueBottleTree) discusses the properties of Cernit in this review.

Thimbles of color

These Thimble Beads from Florida’s Patrice Pfeiffer are her swap items for the upcoming Fandango gathering in Orlando.

But don’t they look best in a grouping like this? The deep textures, rich colors and wonky cone shapes work so well together that it’s a shame to break up the set. Isn’t that the way? We grumble about making swap items and end up loving them only to send them off to new homes. Remember to make yourself a few extras next time.

Patrice is on Flickr, Facebook and Pinterest.

Gray to great polymer

No matter how many times I watch Rebecca Watkins dust her bright unbaked polymer work with her special mix of dark PearlEx powders, it feels so wrong. There’s no way you can pull this ugly gray thing back from disaster.

But she does. With a bit of sanding she reveals a dramatic tile for the Fimo50 World Project. Read all about Rebecca’s methods in my book and catch up with her online on Facebook, Instagram, her blog, and Etsy.

Boxes of tiles have been sliding through my mail slot at a furious pace and I’m afraid to talk to the postman until next week when the package tsunami ends. You still have time!

Spring shapes emerge

London’s Olga Perova used oil paint with Cernit polymer to wind this 6″ x 7″ vessel into its elaborately layered and sculpted shape.

Olga experiments with many techniques and objects, occasionally leaving jewelry to craft small bulbous vases that express her feelings about events and places. Her series of vases leave the viewer wanting to know and see more. You can follow her on Flickr, Etsy, Instagram and Facebook.

Are there shapes that you find yourself trying again and again?

Polymer love story

France’s Stephanie Kilgast has found a way to keep the cat that she had to put down recently. She created a palm-sized polymer version of Arya that can be popped into a pocket or gazed at on a window sill.

This was a heartfelt departure from the fruits and veggies that Stephanie usually creates. She documented the sculpt with the video below. It’s a love story in polymer.

There are more videos on Stephanie’s YouTube channel and Facebook as well as her site.

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