Spring polymer birds

Victoria’s Joan Tayler has added the cutest quail to her polymer bird menagerie complete with a photo of the construction. Her strand of colorful birds is a happy reminder that spring is here.

Joan ventures into fiber related projects but is always pulled back to polymer by the creatures that fly by her window. She set up a little studio in a corner of the kitchen while on a recent vacation and said, “Quail are a big deal here so I have made a lot of them…also loons, redwing black birds, eagles and chickadees.”

This Monday Joan reminds us to look closely and to take inspiration from what’s around us.

Easter peeps and bunnies

What’s Easter without peeps and bunnies? Here are polymer versions of both for your holiday weekend.

Denver’s Molly Cassell earned headlines in the Denver newspaper for her polymer Peppatar 3D diorama in the city’s third annual peeps competition. Molly used polymer for everything in the piece – the peeps, the drink cups and even the popcorn – and came in first in the contest.

Ohio’s Cody Goodin finished his polymer Bunny Buddha just in time. The bunny sits on lettuce leaves in the lettuce position, sharing his wisdom with the world. You can see the sculpture emerge (he didn’t start out as a bunny but his ears grew) on Cody’s blog.

However you celebrate, have a joyous and happy Easter weekend.

Thomas thinks outside the box

These polymer flowers with antique button centers were made by California’s Maureen Thomas for an “Outside the Box” show at PlacerArts center. She chronicles the progress of her project on her blog.

The flowers look so much like metal that I could hardly believe my eyes. Maureen gives a big hint about the technique she used in her blog post here. Clever girl.

Thanks to Randee Ketzel for bringing us the link.

Oops….I timed the post for the wrong time zone. I’m an April fool.

Western Easter

Montana’s Margaret Regan is one of the pioneers of polymer. If you’ve ever made a bangle bracelet on elastic, you can thank her for the idea.

These polymer covered eggs look so like my vacation terrain that I just had to add them. Margaret’s been making them for years and the raven cane is one of her signatures.

Her web site hasn’t changed much and she doesn’t promote herself much so you may have missed these treasures. Her work continues to be impeccably precise.

Sedona stones

My Sedona stones polymer bracelet is part of a continuing fascination with rocks, this time with flat shapes and western red rock colors. My petroglyphs, based on the ones we saw at nearby ruins, aren’t quite ready for display.

You’ll understand my obsession better when you look at the pictures from our hikes through the local canyons and along the rivers. Sedona is a rock lover’s paradise. Allowing your surroundings to influence your art is an immersive experience.

I was pleased to see the works of Barb Fajardo, Tish Collins and Gwen Pena in one gallery in town. Three in one gallery! Excellent!

Quilted polymer

Because my vacation mates are serging and sewing I’m drawn to France’s Cathy (Dumauvobleu) whose pendants resemble quilted and collaged fabrics. Here’s her Etsy shop.

Cathy textures layered and collaged canes and strips of colors to achieve a sunny mix that blends into a cohesive design.

The link comes to us from Betsy Baker. Betsy’s published some new work and a couple of tutorials that you’ll want to examine.

Dubious Denim

Several of us examined the photos of Sylvie Peraud’s new denim line, skeptical that the fabric could be made from polymer clay. We were forced to run the text through the translation from French which says, “Contrary to what your eyes tell you, there is no fabric here.”

Sylvie promises that she will reveal all her denim secrets on Donna Kato’s upcoming CraftEdu.com site. Meanwhile, marvel at her sleight of hand. We can’t figure it out.

The link first came to us from Randee Ketzel. Have an incredible weekend.

Spanish Samba

Silvia Ortiz de la Torre, another Madrid artist, has a Flickr site bulging with juicy experiments and designs like this polymer Samba collar. I’m a real fan of simple designs done in dynamite color palettes.

The Flickr pages allow us to follow the progress of her development and watch her work out new designs. Fascinating. Silvia is new to us via a link from France’s Eva Menager.

Navarro’s Nurbs

Madrid’s Chama Navarro gives us a break from colors and flowers with her new minimalist line of white, textured polymer clay.

Chama calls the collection her “Nurbs” and says she was inspired by the computer-generated mathematical models of the same name which are commonly used to represent freeform surfaces like aerospace exterior surfaces and car bodies.

Charma’s Nurbs look like organic forms trapped under a blanket begging to be touched. If you need color, visit the Flickr photos of her 2010 work.

Spring petals for your hair

In further pursuit of spring, France’s Delphine Roche de Montgrand brings us polymer petals that look fresh and fashionable pinned in long up-swept hair.

Her site has a whole section on bridal accents and I’m particularly keen on her chocolate tiara.

Vacation update

Our vacation group is finally sitting down to work with polymer after a week of hiking, exploring and entertaining family members on spring break.

Avoidance behavior kicked in and the first thing we felt compelled to do this morning was rearrange the studio. Oh the dances we do to get in the right groove.

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