Polymer cover-up

Pennsylvania’s Beth Petricoin loves polymer and upcycling. A favorite shirt ruined by bleach spots could have been discarded or demoted but Beth couldn’t let that happen. She decided to hide the problem with a radiating design in polymer.

She fabricated the components from thin pieces of polymer cut out and applied with Sculpey Bake and Bond. “I worked in segments of about 6″ by 8″, curing in between segments to keep the areas for curing totally flat in the oven,” says Beth.

She details her project step-by-step in a blog post. She even laundered the shirt after finishing to test the glue’s strength and gives it a definite thumbs up.

“I can hardly wait to jazz up another piece of clothing! I can also see this idea put into use to cover up unwanted holes in clothing….lots of ideas running around in my head,” she admits.

Follow other of Beth’s polymer experiments on Flickr, Etsy, Pinterest and her blog. What’s in your closet begging for an upcycle?

Transferred history

Since you may have some playtime this weekend, I’ll leave you with the UK’s Jon Burgess. His sites are mecca for those who like abstract, geometric, random, organic or fractal-based patterns.

Jon’s been a longtime writer, illustrator and designer. “I have been exploring the backwaters of the various bits of software I use for many years now but have only recently found practical outlets for the designs I produce,” he explains.

Of course polymer is one of the practical outlets he hit upon. His tiles, coasters and beads often contain his image transfers whose hard digital lines have been softened with elegant, distressed edges and thin washes of ink.

Sure, the 1-2-3 polymer transfer steps he shows are straightforward. When he gets to step 12, the fun begins. From this almost-a-tutorial you get the idea of how he batters his pieces to inject them with history and intrigue.

Start on his Pinterest site to understand his aesthetic. Try Tumblr, his blog, Flickr, Etsy and Facebook. Then luxuriate in the patterns.

Sitting Pretty polymer

Canadian Kate Church refers to her work as sculptural puppetry combining the line and form of sculpture with the playful anima of puppetry. Here in the recent Sitting Pretty a dancer drapes herself on a sofa as she waits for her tutu.

Kate used to create figures for Cirque du Soleil which were sold around the world.

Now she creates art and teaches polymer, cloth and wire sculptural workshops that are on the bucket lists of many polymer artists.

Kate’s freshened her website making it easier to access her rich and spritely archives.

Polymer mini-munchies

You can enjoy all six scoops of this pendant from France’s Stephanie Kilgast (PetitPlat). She makes mouthwatering miniatures in polymer.

Stephanie’s finely detailed work was featured on Ufunk this month. That post leads you on a miniature binge to earlier posts highlighting two other miniaturists, Shay Aaron and Fairchildart.

Their little feasts are so incredibly realistic that you may head out of the studio and into the fridge after viewing their mini-munchies.

Thanks to Mary Hargrave (Maryclaires) for sending the link to PCD and making my day easy.

Khaleesi stemware in polymer

Game of Thrones fan Marie Segal felt compelled to make an iconic goblet that reflects her favorite show’s sensibilities. She piles on the flourishes and adds vining leaves, fleur de lis, hearts and other insignia in polymer.

Washes of metallic and dark paint give the glass a heavy ancient air and make it fit for the Khaleesi. What a great gift for a special occasion!

Here’s the glass up close. You’ll find more Marie on Facebook, the Clay Factory, and Etsy.

Matchy Monday

Perhaps we should call the first posts of the week Matchy Mondays because it’s on Monday that I’m most drawn to polymer works that coordinate with PCD’s colors.

Consider these beautifully graduated and sharply creased beads from the Czech Republic’s Dana Phamova. She plays with the light and shadow caused by the bent surfaces. Here’s another of her light/shadow experiments.

Her beautiful Skinner-blended colors are accented by a few judiciously placed light colored dots. A close look shows that the texture is created with hand-applied pin pricks. She shows a work-in-process shot here.

Dana calls this series Dreaming Cucarachas. Cockroaches? That title breaks the zen mood, doesn’t it? You can catch the vibe again (lots of polymer scratching and distressing) on Facebook and Pinterest.

Brotherly love in polymer

This city scene shows the Philadelphia skyline compressed into a colorful and small (7 1/2″ x 5 1/2″ x 1 1/2″ deep) 3D polymer wall piece.

It’s the first time Veruschka Stevens has attempted wall art (though she’s created lots of diorama necklaces) and she challenged herself further by limiting her tools to a knife, a blade and a roller.

She’s looking for your input about framing her creation. Here are four possibilities that you can comment on. Which do you prefer?

Veruschka likes big, bold statement jewelry that she photographs in sunny, fashionable settings. You may consider jazzing up your wardrobe after seeing how her models vamp with attitude in her colors. She has a board on Pinterest dedicated to her models.

Poke around the vibrant website of this fearless artist (yep, she sent PCD her link so you wouldn’t miss it…hint, hint). There’s more to see on Facebook and Pinterest.

Polymer art genesis

Katarina Mravcova
Claire Maunsell
Lee O’Connor
Sabine Spiesser

Christine Dumont sent in a link to the remarkable work of her students in the Genesis course. The works above and many others are showcased on the Voila site and are the result of this spring’s four-month online creativity course. The virtual exhibit demonstrates how students got in touch with their creative ideas and learned how to turn those ideas into an original body of work.

You can see that Christine brought out the best in each artist as they grew their studio practice and expanded their vision. Subscribe at the top of the right hand column on the Voila site so that you can be notified when the next class begins.

Follow along on Christine’s Facebook page to see more work-in-process photos and comments on the class. These works are by students Sabine Spiesser, Claire Maunsell, Lee O’Connor and Katarina Mravcova.

Gardens in polymer

Tennessee’s Veronica Hahn spent summers working in the garden with her grandmother as a child. Those days had a big effect on Veronica and now she sculpts in polymer what she learned among the roses and at the pond’s edge.

Vines and flowers and ferns cover the shutters which open to reveal her Meadow Mirror at the right.

Her Feathers and Pinecones Bowl (below) is encrusted with leaves and branches. Here’s the side view of the bowl. Veronica’s polymer jewelry is covered with dense foliage as well.

Thanks to Kathy Bradley for leading the way to Veronica’s site which doesn’t link to any social media and would have been difficult for me to find without help. The responses to yesterday’s request for links makes means I can back away from the computer, head for the studio and enjoy a mini summer vacation. This is great. Keep those links coming.

Digging up artists

Margarita Repsiene (from Lithuania now in Singapore) developed her own batik methods for the sea urchin earrings and on the fabric-like belt buckle on the right.

Batik is definitely on the rise again and this version bounced around the world and landed in my lap via Irena Lapasinskaite, Margarita’s friend.

You’ll find a whole bunch of intriguing items on her Flickr, Etsy, Pinterest and Facebook pages. I studied them and kept asking myself, “How is she doing that?”

If you dig up a polymer artist who rings your chimes or piques your curiosity, please send her/his name to PCD. You readers are my eyes and ears in the crazy, huge internet/social media world. I can’t possibly keep up on my own and I count on you. Thanks!

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