Hankerin’ for polymer hearts

Brady, Segal, Holden, Unknown, Friesen polymer clay hearts

Need another dose of romance, polymer style? The faux tooled leather is from Marlene Brady. That’s Marie Segal’s “I Heart You” note to husband Howard. A very modern Tina Holden pierces hers.

The flowered heart was so frilly and happy that I scooped it into my heart folder in big hurry and didn’t identify the artist. It’s Dominique Lavigueur’s!

Christi Friesen’s watercolor-meets-punk version showed up on her new Etsy site.

You simply must visit Tejae Floyde’s Flickr site to get the full heart experience. Her encased hearts with hidden messages are full of mystery and surprise.

Following the polymer muse

Lynda Moseley (DivaDesigns) turned to polymer’s faux techniques when her creativity hit the doldrums. “I did some research and discovered there are six colors of natural jade – black, red, green, yellow, white and lavender,” she reports. These softly glowing specimens are the result of her research.

Funny how the right side of the brain (where the muse lives) gets freed up when we revisit the left (where the scientist studies). You can see more of Lynda’s experiments here.

Construction dust

I’ve been tapping into my inner code monkey, creating a new fan page and adding Twitter to smooth our communications and sort my non-polymer family from the art addicts. Forgive the tests and duplicate requests, the result of over-anxious fingers that run ahead of my brain.

Please join the adventure by clicking the appropriate buttons. Let’s try some new stuff. PCDaily will be right here if you get lost in the shuffle.

Collaborative catalog

Pine needle and polymer basket by Victoria James

This polymer clay and pine needle basket by Victoria James is a lovely example of the mixed media pieces that will be on view in the exhibit at Synergy2. “Creating baskets pulls together my love for textiles, construction, and three-dimensional forms,” she says.

Following the exhibit theme, the artists sewed, sculpted, wove, and collaged polymer in unusual ways and combined it with unexpected materials. Preview and order the 80-page exhibit catalog online now.

Conference goers who order this week can save the shipping by preordering here and picking up their copies in Baltimore. I assembled the catalog for the IPCA (love that Blurb.com software) and I’m sure you’ll find it a great resource and a treasured memento.

Something about polymer rings

“I’ve never made a ring, but have been wanting to give it a try so I joined a Ring-A-Day group,” says Dee Wilder (Malodora).

For several days she indulged her fascination with Koosh ball threads. Thursday she returned to a micromosaic theme. Imagine making a ring a day! After one month there are already over a thousand in the Flickr group’s archive. (I just found Ponsawan Sila in the archives too!)

Wednesday’s featured artist, Lynn Lunger (UnaOdd), has experimented with a faceted wood/polymer model. Mixed media artist Jillian Moore admits that she previously had an aversion to polymer but has been converted to using the media for her rings which are pictured below.

Ronna Sarvas Weltman will divulge the secrets of her ancient/modern rings at her class at CFCF. Bettina Welker will focus on her european versions in her pre-Synergy class.

I’ve only scratched the surface. Thanks to Randee Ketzel and Susan Lomuto and others who have been sending me “heads up” about this trend. There’s a ring thing going on and poring over the examples may keep you warm on a cold winter weekend.

Generating new ideas thanks to Williamson and Blackford

Genevieve Williamson (Jibby and Juna) shows off a fetching necklace with 60 polymer clay dots on a silk cord. Simple and lots of fun. Her fresh designs created from uncomplicated processes and compelling color surely point the way to the future of our craft.

Blackford's tin apple polymer clay shrine

No PowerPoint progress on my Synergy presentation but lots of encouragement from you readers and calming influences from this personal shrine (note the tin apple) made by Leslie Blackford.

The animation in the right column (via SwissMiss) helps out with timely tips for better ideas. That’s it. No more talk about my angst. I’ll share the results with you after the event.

Faceted polymer beads

I was distracted yesterday. First I was drawn to these faceted polymer beads from Lynn Lunger (UnaOdd). She bought herself a belt sander to be able to achieve that flat-sided effect.

She even has a rainbow version and more in her Etsy shop. Oooh, the possibilities. Would my husband notice the polymer dust on his belt sander?

Then I decided to tinker with the guts of this web site. Diving into the belly of the blog is a sure way to grind things to a halt. Bingo! All of this left me speechless (hence yesterday’s terse post). I thought those lovely hearts would speak for themselves but some of you thought I was ill or irritated. Not so.

It’s thinly disguised avoidance behavior. Finishing my Synergy slide presentation is looming large and everything else but that calls to me. Back to PowerPoint today. Wish me luck (and clairvoyance) as I predict the future of polymer.

Polymer hearts of all description


Wendy Malinow	Stacy Gates	Kimberly Hart	Laurel Steven
Bleeding	Zippered	Spring-Loaded	Carved

Haitian polymer art

Moro Baruk is a polymer clay artist living in Haiti. He’s posted a couple of pictures of how the earthquake damaged his building and shook its occupants. “I am afraid to open the metal doors for fear the walls would collapse on me,” he says.

“My wife and I moved to Haiti in 1979 to help strengthen a Bahá’í community. We own and run a craft factory and we export throughout the Caribbean, the USA and France,” he explains on his site.

His pictures bring the disaster closer to us. Start your week by counting your blessings and helping when you can. The link was sent to us from Saskia Veltenaar in the Netherlands.

First Giveaway Results

The lucky winner of the Judy Belcher earrings is Arizona’s Marlene Brady. The giveaway was fun and you’ll have another chance to win soon.

Wiggins embroiders with polymer

“I was taught to embroider at the age of five. I have been a detail freak ever since,” says Virginia polymer artist Angie Wiggins.

Angie started in polymer in 1987 when she needed better beads to embellish her handmade paper and fiber bowls. The clay also satisifed her intense color needs. She’s added some new eye-popping pieces to her gallery that you’ll want to oggle.

PCDaily Giveaway

I’ll round up the judges and pick a winner Saturday afternoon. There’s still time to enter by leaving a comment (on yesterday’s post). Have a winning weekend.

Belcher and the first PCD giveaway

Judy Belcher reinterpreted the IPCA logo to make these totally cute polymer earrings. Look at the ad in the right hand column to see the logo.

The earrings are the first PCDaily giveaway! If you comment on this post, you could win Judy’s creations this Saturday and wear them at Synergy.

IPCA’s Synergy conference is only a month away. I’m working on an event at Synergy so that PCD readers can wear their work (I’ll post pictures) and greet their many online friends.

Let’s fill up those Synergy classes and don’t forget the hands-on events. You won’t find a more condensed gathering of master polymer artists than this. Now’s your chance.

Giveaways, events, social media….you might guess that I’m being coached by my savvy young daughter and niece, right? Here’s my reading assignment. I rarely promote non-polymer items but the book, How Not To Act Old, has me in stitches and is changing my behavior. You might enjoy the list.

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