Step by striped step

It was tempting to try the other shiny techniques that others are playing with as I sat making stupid stripes out of a palette that I was less and less sure of.

I wanted to finish a project so I persisted on my own path. Plodding forward on your own unexciting path often pays off. I was surprised when those stupid stripes lined up into a pleasing pattern on this walnut bowl (turned by Blair).

I added a few dots for visual surprise. And I have enough scrap to turn into a 4″ tile for FIMO’s 50 Anniversary project. Win/win!

Warm fuzzy polymer

You can see the influence of Judy Belcher’s knitting technique in this necklace by Blanka Prochazkova from the Czech Republic. The layers and fuzzy, bumpy textures make it hard to read as polymer but it is. The colors give it a wintry ethnic feel.

Read the whole story (lots of comments stacking up) on Blanka’s Facebook page along with more examples of outstanding work. Thanks to Lindly Haunani for the link that I would have otherwise missed.

Scrappy girls

What do you do with your scraps? All the girls at my work table are scrappy girls. Reuse, recycle is certainly a theme for polymer artists. Often those recycled scraps of pattern provide buried treasure.

Laurel Swetnam keeps a record of her patterns neatly displayed in plastic pocket pages. That way she can look back over her color choices and unexpected discoveries and try them again. Here are the recycled experiments of Laurel, Laurel 2, Laurel 3, and Dayle.

Smash your leftovers into a big block, slice into pieces, recombine with a solid color between layers and see what happens. Check the tutorials of Alice Stroppel and Angela Bahrenholtz (and I know there are others) if you need more instruction.

Recycling patterns and stretching them into new combinations provides some of our most serendipitous and pleasing pieces.(Finished pieces are in the oven so you’ll have to wait to see.)

Polymer wrist corsage

This polymer wrist corsage from Greece’s Anarina looks festive and fallish on my California laptop. The bangles are crudely formed with childlike exuberance. Anarina throws caution to the wind and makes what she likes. Maybe that’s our signal for this week. Can you throw caution to the wind and make what feels good to you?

Here’s more of her work on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram

Once upon a time polymer

Julie Eakes finished this 4″ tile here at our California gathering. It’s Julie’s entry into the FIMO 50 World Project. These tiles will cover a globe-shaped sculpture to be covered with polymer tiles as it moves from place to place, generating enthusiasm for clay and revenue for several philanthropic projects. Check PCD’s earlier post about the project.

Julie’s tile says “Once upon a time” in several languages and contains one of her series of iconic fairy tale canes, this one her Beauty and the Beast. Click the image to properly examine all the exquisite details included by this expert caner.

See more on Julie’s site and on Facebook. I’ll report more about Julie’s work plus take a look at a very different look from Kim Korringa in tomorrow’s StudioMojo. You can sign up for the weekend in-depth look at familiar artists by signing up now.

Polymer garden on a bottle

Florida’s Pamela Carman covers an 18″ tall vase with a garden of polymer flowers. She upcycles the container by applying a base layer of solid-color polymer that she textures. Over that she adds slices of canes (she must have a large stash) letting the blue background show through and unify the design.

Containers, vessels, ceramic fish and animals call to Pamela and you can see the hundreds of objects she’s rescued by covering them with updated colors and her own vision. You’ll find them all on Flickr and HiveMind plus Pinterest.

Polymer skeptics

Really? Simply offsetting a Skinner blend could result in this? Our little group couldn’t quite believe Claire Wallis’ tutorial in the latest issue of ArtJewelry magazine (it’s a particularly good issue for polymer folks). We had to try it. One person read the instructions while the rest of us followed along with clay. And yes, we all sort of screwed up the first time but that didn’t stop us.

Here’s Meisha Barbee’s (red) sample, plus mine (blue), Dayle Doroshow’s (bottom left) and Julie Eakes (bottom right).

We proved that Claire Wallis was correct. Once we got it, we could not leave the concept alone and you’ll see Dayle’s results at the right and Meisha’s earrings here.

Hanging polymer history

What a treat to have dinner at the home that Dayle Doroshow and her husband built in northern California. Art is everywhere and guests are surrounded by their strong palette and distinctive aesthetic.

History hangs on the walls. Can you name the artists responsible for these mostly polymer pendants? It’s a display of some of Dayle’s favorites that she made and traded for over the years.

Can you spot the two collaborations between Sarah Shriver and Dayle? Maybe you’ll find the early pieces by Kathleen Dustin, Carol Simmons, Cynthia Toops. There are several of Dayle’s own pieces in the group plus pieces by Christopher Knoppel and Liz Tamayo. Do you hang your stories and your treasures on the wall where they can bring you constant pleasure?

Cones of creativity

France’s Sonya Girodon has had quite a time coming up with versions of these Ray of Sunshine cone-shaped earrings. This series has a crackle finished base with polka dot embellishment topped with flat disks. The square earwires make a geometric counterpoint. See her variations on this theme on her Flickr and Facebook pages.

How does she keep churning out variations on her latest theme? It has to do with letting go as she explains, “What a feeling when the brain shuts down and inspiration overflows into the fingers, hours fly by in seconds, and wonder is created out of nothing.”

Is this your week to loosen up and create wonder?

Home on the range

Miranda Farrand (MirrandasCritters) sculpts some great Halloween characters offered on Etsy. But it was her cattle skulls that fit right in with my worldview today.

I’m in Utah in a ski area. Finding two polymer artists in the shops here with big sculptures made me feel like I’d hit the jackpot. I’ll explain more in tomorrow’s StudioMojo.

Back to Miranda. Odd thing is that she’s from my hometown. Sometimes you have to leave home to appreciate what’s there! See more of her clever jolly monsters on Facebook

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