Polymer Clay Daily

Polymer spirits

Fantasy, science fiction, and fairy tales fuel Starla Friend’s imagination. She renders her creatures using both traditional and digital media.

Egon, the spirit monster to the left, is 5 inches tall and his antlers span 6 inches. Regulus (below) is somewhat smaller.

Peek into Starla’s studio here and read about this Texas artist’s process as she sculpts polymer and mixed media monsters, dragons, cats and other creatures. Ronna Weltman stumbled on Starla’s Etsy shop and sent PCD the link.

Striped trend

 
Diane Keeble Margit Bohmer Lynda Moseley

Diane Keeble has been playing with Lynda Moseley’s Controlled Marbling tutorial. So has Margit Bohmer. Then I spotted a few others. Do you smell a Monday trend?

Polymer artists will stampede whenever someone shows them how to make good use of the pile of ugly scrap they’ve accumulated. And Lynda’s write up mentions that her blending method includes using Pardo translucent (another trend, right). Keep your eye on these soothing stripes.

Wood and polymer

Da Muse shows Tatjana Raum’s wood and polymer sculptures in her Saturday post. Don’t miss it.

Polymer shrine 2.0

Germany’s Georg Dinkel has rolled out version 2.0 of his TonSchrein. This shrine measures four feet tall (120 x 45 cm) and houses an Ipad. See several closeup views here.

“The shrine grew up to 120 cm – you, know, the gothic architects and their early skyscrapers! It holds an ipad, LEDs and a sound system,” Georg reports.

He embellished the polymer and wood structure with metal powders, leaf and acrylic stone. Here’s edition 1.0 which PCDaily featured in 2011.

Georg looked at polymer for many years in his job as a photographer for Fimo manufacturer, Staedtler. A couple years ago he started playing with Fimo to build a housing for his daughter’s ipod nano.

Winter wonders

Yesterday’s post about translucent caused concern about where to purchase Pardo translucent polymer. When Ponsawan mentioned that she gets hers from Creative Journey Studios in Georgia, I called to make sure they have a supply. They do and you can call 404-314-5767 for details.

That call led me to this dazzling picture of Daniel Torres’ hollow polymer pendants. He and Natalia Garcia de Leaniz will be teaching a class on March 10 and 11 (right before Synergy) at Creative Journey Studios. There are a few spots left. Plus a bus trip from Synergy and other festivities are scheduled.

In the mood for a class to beat the winter doldrums? Be sure to check out this year’s Cabin Fever, beginning February 15 in Laurel, Maryland. I’ll be there teaching along with a great cast of characters.

Freebie

Be sure to tune in to the free Craftcast webinar on Wednesday, January 30. The gang from the Polymer Clay Master Class book will be there with lots of tips and giveaways. It’s a party, it’s free and you’re sure to pick up a trick or two.

Polymer goes BAD

Ponsawan Sila uploads her latest experiments to Flickr (and Facebook). Here she shows us Pardo translucent stretched over a steel wire armature, colored with watercolor pencils, and highlighted with gilder’s paste.

“Two years ago, I join the group called Ring A Day and we finished 365 rings in one year. My rings were exhibited and in a book, and I sold many of them,” Ponsawan says. This year she joined the brooch-a-day group (BAD) and she’s right on schedule.

Facebook polymer

Greece’s Anarina Anar displays her vibrant polymer works only on Facebook. (Thanks to Conny Brockstedt who found her on Flickr as well.) Anarina’s textured and painted surfaces have very aggressive, passionate energy.

While the pieces are primitive and rough they are also distinctive and very personal. She makes each technique her own.

Facebook flood

My apologies to those of you who aren’t fans of Facebook. PCD links to where the art appears and for many people around the world, increasingly FB is the easiest gallery to set up and maintain. I’ll try to give you all the info you need here and you can choose whether to explore further.

Do you have a suggestion about how to integrate Facebook so that it’s easier for readers? I’m listening. Leave me a comment.

Polymer goals

These six polymer pendants are part of Angela Garrod’s personal challenge to herself to make entirely hollow forms with unusual polymer bails.

She tints mica polymer with alcohol inks for the patterned pendants. On the black ones Angela uses matte and hi-gloss surfaces to provide more subtle tone-on-tone patterns. Rivets embedded in the clay add metallic accents. You can see more views of the pendants on Flickr.

Angela’s study reminds us that we don’t have to join a group or commit to a year-long experiment. We can simply set ourselves a goal and work toward it.

Lonely-hearted polymer

You may not be acquainted with Munny, Zukie, Bub, Trikky, Raffy, Rooz and the vinyl character gang but you have to admire what Dave Webb does with them. This Phoenix artist sculpts polymer over the plain DIY vinyl toys. His sculpts are both dark and cute. How does that happen?

It’s unclear whether Dave bakes his creations on the form. The manufacturer recommends sculpting on the form then freezing the piece. According to their instructions, the blank toy is removed from the cold sculpture and the hollow polymer shape is baked. (Let me know if that’s not correct.)

Take a walk on the wild side at his Pinterest and Facebook sites. The link was sent by Annie Pennington who was charmed by the little creatures. Have a wild weekend.

Heartfelt polymer

Just a few days after the big holiday season and already the hearts are popping up for the next celebration. Tejae Floyde is in her element and this year’s line includes a polymer heart with a love-me/love-me-not indicator. See the video for her Spinner Hearts.

And in the “awwww” category, Melissa McCarthy shows off this 2-inch tall miniature love tree that’s topped with a heart. Her Etsy shop is appropriately titled Made with Clay and Love.

More to come in the heart department!

Polymer with legs

When you deconstruct these wonderful yellow bugs by Debbie Jackson, you’ll see how she parlays limited colors and basic cane shapes into delightful insects with quirky personalities and a fashion sense.

Even those who don’t like creepy crawlies will be won over. You can see how she used these canes in other applications on Debbie’s Facebook page.