Prototype polymer

These two pieces from Jon Stuart Anderson fall into my ones-that-got-away category. Arlene Groch pounced on the 3-legged cup when Jon showed it to us during a demo in Bali. Then she posted a picture of her acquisition on Facebook as an eye-catching reminder for Clayathon. (Arlene was just showing off her purchase, Jon’s not going to be in Atlantic City.)

This Buddha carved from a solid cane block is another one I missed when we were touring Jon’s studio looking at his experiments and one-offs.

Jon’s recovering from a bout of typhoid (the downside of the tropics) and PCDers will surely want to wish him well as we gaze at the astonishing work on his site and Facebook pages here and here.

Fa-la-la polymer

Who says you can’t wear holiday decorations? Kansas’ Becky Miller wears her polymer flower creations year round. This Heavenly Holly necklace was featured on Fire Mountain Gems’ site as a finalist in their 2015 Jewelry-Making contest.

Read more about Becky’s garden-inspired works on Facebook, her blog and site. Click here to see how the model looks decked out in Becky’s polymer.

Polymer ribbons

In this season of ribbons and bows, Sharyn Neuwirth (NewEarthCraftWorks) demonstrates how you can shape ribbons of polymer. I’d guess the strips are extruded and dusted with metallics.

This Washington, D.C. artist bypasses social media pretty successfully but she offers quite a selection of variations on the ribbon theme on her Flickr pages.

Hard wired polymer

This Baobob Trees pendant from Pam Sanders is suspended in Pam’s distinctive solid and rustic black steel wire frame with matching chain.

The roughly wrapped wire matches the feel of the roughly carved and painted polymer pendant. The combination brings the necklace together with distinctive style. Sample more of Pam’s style on Flickr and Facebook.

Polymer brushes

Yes, there’s still time to try your hand at unusual polymer gifts like these artist brushes from Angie Wiggins. A neighbor gave her some horsehair that she wanted to put to good use.

Add your handmade touch to keys, pens, bottles, utensil and tool handles, switchplates, card cases and such. If the basic item can withstand 275-300 degree temps, add polymer and you’re good to go.

Not sure? Put the undecorated item you wish to cover into the oven to test its ability to survive the heat.

Then go and be inspired by how Angie embellishes bowls and makes light pulls, business card holders and other items of delight. Time to get busy.

Tigertail in circles

Bonnie Bishoff coiled loops of tigertail (nylon coated wire) and embedded part of each coil in striped half-circles of polymer to make this light, bouncy necklace. It can be doubled into a short curly version.

Assembling it must have been tricky since the necklace would have to be constructed first and then baked. The wire adds to the graphic quality of the design. There’s another example on Bonnie’s Pinterest site.

This was Bonnie’s response to one of the Creators Art Challenges that’s traveling around online. See more of her challenge creations on Facebook and follow Bonnie on her site.

Catching Dumont’s bug

Christine Dumont has had another outbreak of Cellularia in her studio and it’s a colorful, complex strain. These multi-layered pieces have been punctured and and stacked precisely to reveal mystery underneath. See lots more cellularia on her site, Flickr, Facebook and in this FIMO video.

Christine is the program chair for this summer’s EuroSynergy2 in France and she’s gathered programs and workshops that are guaranteed to spread enthusiasm and excitement throughout the polymer community.

Circling back again

The latest batch of textured and segmented circle earrings and pendants from Croatia’s Nikolina Otrzan may have you running for her Etsy site….but they’re not listed for sale yet.

Her meticulously rendered textures look as though they could be textiles. Miniscule round pops of color have rolled into the crevices. Nikolina has turned her experiments on these shapes into new pendants and earrings.

I never wear her work without getting comments and questions and I sure hope she lists the new ones soon. See the earlier PCD features here and here.

Time for easy ornaments

No reason we can’t make a few ornaments for the tree this year. I’ve collected easy snowflake features on PCDaily each year and wistfully yearned to make my own. Now’s the time to get busy.

Heather Power’s newest holly cutout ornaments make it looks easy and she shows how.

If that’s not enough here are three past PCD features that use flat clay and mini cutters in the most clever and fun ways. Pick one or try them all.

Camille Young created these layered geometric ones in 2009
Jan Montarsi uses small image patterns in unusual ways (and there’s a tutorial)
For a more upscale look, try Kladiva Kurrent’s sophisticated metallic ones

Stealing the moon with polymer

Think you’ve exhausted ideas for extruding? Take a look at how Virginia illustrator Joseph Barabaccia turns spaghetti-sized strands of polymer into portraits and scenes like this Raven Steals the Moon.

You can zoom in for a closer look at his tightly packed drawings on his Saatchi Art pages and follow him on Twitter and Behance.

The raven piece was Joseph’s entry into the 2016 Niche Awards where he joins Wiwat Kamolpornwijit, Doreen Gay Kassel and Christi Friesen as a finalist in the polymer category. Emily Squires Levine is a finalist in the basket category.

Start your week with unusual and intense award-winning works.

‹ 1 … 140 141 142 … 405 ›