When teachers begin to prepare for their 2016 classes, we get an early look at what’s ahead in polymer. Here Eva Haskova shows off her January 31 class samples with their graffiti-like marks and hollowed out interiors.
Eva and her students will be pushing the boundaries of the bead in her class in Prague. Wouldn’t you like to know how she uses embossing powders to achieve those spotty edges and slashes of color? See the other classes here and more of Eva’s newest work on Flickr and Facebook.
Gesine Krastner sells her popular polymer Worry Warts on Etsy. She auctioned this special Star Warts edition on Ebay. Great for those who enjoy a pun.
We totally missed her polymer Advent Calendar which she released day-by-day in December. She’s wondering if she should do it again in 2016. Go have a look and tell her if you’d like her to gear up again next December.
Gesine’s animations, illustrations and sculptures are childlike and delightful. Perfect if you need a laugh and help with your worries.
The winter birds were fluffy on the feeder this morning and naturally I was drawn to this intricately textured bird from Anna Oskina online.
She makes polymer miniatures and lately has moved into jewelry and birds. She shares her methods (as in this chevron pendant below) in free tutorials and even though they’re in Russian, you can get the gist.
Her Instagram site is great to browse. Not much to read, just enjoy the photos.
Yes, these neck pieces are polymer with an dramatic ethnic twist from Sona Grigoryan. Sona, now living in Barcelona, leans heavily on her Armenian heritage for those dark, meandering patterns that vine around necks and arms.
Her patterns weave in and out and she finishes them with dark metallic-like finishes.
Though her construction looks delicate, she engineers the pieces to sit comfortably and sturdily.
After finding the polymer work of Tinisa Teixeira and her studio, Duo Atelie, (thanks to a tip from Sarah Wilbanks) we’re going to have to take a closer look the polymer art coming from Brazil. You can feel a very different polymer aesthetic.
Tinisa’s designs are fresh and unconstrained. The metallics of the PVclay made in Rio glow with a unusual shimmer. The manufacturer claims that the material is 100% recyclable!
A picture of a worn old quilt caught my eye. The stripes reminded me of men’s pajamas -washed and faded ones. They showed up in this polymer veneer for a maple bowl turned by my husband.
Taking a hint from Emily Squires Levine, I’m starting to make a habit of using my scraps at the end of the day. Of course the carefree scrap vessels often turn out to be my favorites.
You can see a few in-process photos on my Instagram page.
Dreamy isn’t a word used often when describing polymer but Sonya Girodon’s pieces evoke that. This pendant is floating, misty with moody colors intersected by vibrating lines.
Sonya’s been so prolific lately that it’s hard to choose something to feature. Just when you think you’ve got her style pegged, she turns a corner and creates a new look.
Her Pinterest tagline gives us a clue. “Eternal dreamer! Dreaming of the perfect world. Dreaming of creating touchable dreams in polymer clay,” it says.
She’s been mysterious and organic and edgy. Now she’s back to graphic. She’s mixing her media, adding tribal sculpted polymer heads onto a dramatically painted canvas. Where will she head next? Monitor her progress on Facebook.
Page McNall added a free 2-page photo tutorial on Flickr for her segmented polymer bead necklaces last month. Now that the holiday hubbub is over, let’s give her instructions a whirl. She shows how on page 1 and page 2.
She blends color gradients into short thick plugs which she threads onto on a knitting needle. She nurses and shapes the plug, removes it from the needle and cuts it into five segments. She gently refines the shape of the cut pieces and places them back on the needle to bake.
After they’re baked Page distresses the beads and adds color accents with shoe polish. Mounted onto short lengths of wire, the segmented beads are then arranged into necklaces. Her pictures make it all quite clear. Follow Page on Facebook and see her influences on Pinterest. (PCD follower Patrice Pfeiffer thought you’d want to see this and I agreed.)
Syndee Holt calls last week’s free tutorial on the Sculpey site the Meisha Squish but doesn’t the Meisha Mash sound better?
Syndee and Meisha Barbee devised this method as they sat at the same worktable cleaning up their scrap. It’s sloppy, fast mokume gane with the best colors (Syndee even provides the recipes) and easy steps.
A necklace laid flat, with its cording positioned in elegant, artful curves was Helen Breil’s inspiration for this magnetic lariat. “Could you maintain that elegant composition as you wore the piece?” she wondered.
Thin magnets positioned behind the two metal-backed components help the wearer vary the positions and come up with many ways to artfully arrange the lariat. The cording stays draped in place as an important design element.
“It’s like I’ve extended the creativity process not just to the making of a piece, but also to the wearing of it,” she says. Helen shares more about her designs (and new silkscreens) on Facebook, her site and Pinterest. She will teach a wrap bracelet how-to class on Craftcast on January 20.
Brave Souls
Two of polymer’s shyest and most intriguing artists are joining forces as they jump into the mixed media crowd at the Portland Art and Soul retreat March 1.
