Polymer prospecting

Like a rock hunter with pick and shovel in hand, the viewer discovers the glowing opal in Liz Hall’s newest Boulder Opal Bracelet. What looks like rough stone gives off flashes of surprising color and touches of crystal druzy on a 1″ wide brass cuff.

Liz has moved from small mosaic imitative opal to this larger, more dramatic treatment captured between borders of sterling ball chain buried in polymer.

Here’s another example of her boulder opal technique and her Facebook page. What are you prospecting for this week?

Mixing media

Polymer slices baked right on frosted resin beads. What a great idea from California’s Karen Lewis (Klew). She embellishes glass beads using the same technique.

This layered look is Klew’s trademark. See more of her on Etsy and on Facebook.

There’s a free how-to video about her sculpted accent beads on her site for your weekend enjoyment. And here’s a self-care snippet from Klew (with Sarah Shriver) from a few years back.

The IPCA crew is flying into my home town for the retreat and Klew is among them. This is the first time Ohio has hosted such a big time event! News from the retreat coming your way next week. Have a big time this weekend.

Bowl bandwagon

Suddenly (or so it seems) polymer vessels and furnishings are popping up online.

Angie Wiggins has long loved mixing paper and polymer and beads into embellished delights. See the legs she adds to her little ring pots using an antique ice cream mold for her form.

Kate Tracton covers wooden boxes or creates platters from pure polymer, topping them off with cane slices and tiles.

And Jon Anderson found a metal strainer that worked well as a form to build this new lighted dome at the top of a lamp (left). You have to visit him on Facebook to see it light up.

Just yesterday, Barb Fajardo jumped on the bowl bandwagon with this blooming bowl.

Artists are seeing more possibilities for mixing polymer into their art and adding it to their home furnishings.

StudioMojo

Ever wonder how other artists pull such long square sheets of polymer through their pasta machines? Are yours always dog-eared and mishapen like mine?

Lindly Haunani has the answers that will be revealed in a video on Saturday’s StudioMojo. You can sign up for the premium weekend newsletter here.

Mysterious methods

Kathrin Neumaier has uploaded a new batch of translucent polymer earrings to Flickr. You may find it difficult to choose a favorite from these watery colored wonders.

She uses Pardo translucent clay and performs her own brand of magic to spin and swirl inks into patterns of color. Kathrin has only revealed her ingredients, the rest of the recipe remains a secret. Enjoy the mystery.

Inspired bowls

Encouraged by the progress that Donna Greenberg enjoyed with her series of polymer bowls, Gera Chandler decided to have another go at what she calls her segmented bowls.

Gera says of her first efforts, “A few days ago I saw the amazing holey bowls that Donna Greenberg is making. It was an epiphany moment. I got the inks out again and made this petite prototype (right).”

That led to Gera’s Segmented Vessels (left). ” It is always good to switch things up every now and then,” she says.

Supermoon viral spiral

Last night’s supermoon gives us a great opportunity to feature these lunar like polymer constructions from Donna Greenberg.

Her bowls have progressed over the last six months from palm-sized spikey cups to larger, shallow vessels with spiraling textured interiors riddled with holes. This 10-inch wide one she calls Viral Spiral.

Donna’s documented her lunar explorations on Facebook and Flickr. Her work has encouraged others to revisit polymer bowl designs as Donna moves on to incorporate metal clay into more complex designs.

She collaborated with metal clay artist Kathleen Nowak Tucci for the series of small bowls that were featured on the cover of the Fall 2014 edition of Metal Clay Artist magazine.

Kickstarting Oozeq

Oozeq has 5 days left to raise the seed money that will help launch production of its starch putty that can be used for hollow forms. Manipulate the putty into any shape and bake it hard. Wrap the baked shape in polymer and bake again then soak in water to wash away the putty.

Kickstarter tells the whole story and you can be in on the ground floor. Will you support this exciting development?

Polymer shards

This bowl that looks like a mosaic construction assembled from pieces of Delft pottery is Wendy Malinow’s lastest in her series of nests.

The pieces in the China Shard Nest are made from polymer on which Wendy as drawn blue images. The piece isn’t finished, she says there’s a honey covered egg to come.

Wendy’s style is unmistakeable. Here I am modeling one of her wonderfully strange dolls at the Buckeye Bash. Surf through her world on Tumbler and on Facebook. Have a wonderfully strange weekend.

Polymer with a point

Using 413 small millefiori canes and lots of patience, Canada’s Dorothy Siemens created this 5″ diameter ball.

She describes her system as, “…one step at a time – and eventually it’s done! Truth be told, it happens over a period of weeks as each stage seems to need baking, drying or thinking!” She calls this latest one her Ball of Pointless Pointillism.

Dorothy has been pondering her obsessiveness in both polymer and beading. “Much of my work, especially in polymer, seems to involve the creation of many small components of similar appearance, arranged in grids or around spheres,” she says. Her shelf of creations tells the story.

She prefers to think of these repetitive works as meditative which means they’re not really pointless at all.

You can read more about her inspiration and her meditations on her blog. See more in-process shots on her Facebook page and Pinterest.

Potty polymer

Why yes, I believe that Germany’s Mareike Scharmer embellished even the potty with polymer. Here are the photos of the rest of the guest bath installation at the new Galerie Freisleben where inspiration will follow students from the classroom to the washroom.

The knobs and trim are polymer additions to the fancifully painted cabinets and mirrors and…well just about everything. Read about Mareike’s polymer work on her blog.

The facility is nearly ready and Ariane’s dream looks fabulous. Pore through more pictures of the gallery on Flickr. Claire Maunsell will teach in August and Loretta Lam is scheduled for October.

Bali boots from polymer

This must be the week for innovations. I’d heard rumblings about a new transfer process that Bali’s Jon Anderson is working on. He’s keeping the process under wraps for now but you can see what he’s up to (and purchase works) on his lovely new site.

He transfers the image from his polymer canes to fabric using a secret elixir. He’s getting consistent results while he works out colorfastness and other issues. You can put your name in for your own JSA boots and be a trendsetter.

The site is chock full of goodies including an interview that explains his history in polymer art. Keep up with Jon’s progress on his site and his Facebook page. Jon was voted the members’ favorite in this year’s IPCA Awards.

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