Polymer Clay Daily

Young’s snowflake cutouts

Camille Young (CamilleArt) usually creates polymer clay figures and toys but she ventures out to stretch other muscles from time to time. Recently she fashioned charming snowflake ornaments using only four or five small cookie cutters and rounds of polymer clay stacked on top one another.

Zoom in to see how Camille turned the cutters various ways, generating more angles and patterns. Paint, texturing and a few seed beads make these simple techniques intriguing and complex.

Christmas may be over but it never hurts to keep an eye out for successful ideas. And snowflakes will be with us for a few months.

During this year-end week I’ll be trying to put some perspective on the past year and start envisioning the next. I’m excited to see what’s ahead.

Lehocky’s giving heart

It’s the season for giving and Ron Lehocky’s polymer clay work reminds us of what a commitment to giving can accomplish.

As of September 30, Ron reached his goal of 10,000 polymer pins made to support the Louisville Cerebral Palsy KIDS Center. He met his goal in four years, a year ahead of schedule. This year Ron was awarded a prestigious Bell Award for his volunteer work and community involvement.

Since he still has lots of clay, he’s moved the goal to twice the original and he’s already at 11,250 with over $100,000 raised for his cause. Ron has acquired impressive skills as he built his stockpile of hearts and he can quickly demo any technique or trick that you can imagine.

May the joys of giving surround you. Wishing you all the happiest of holidays!

Apostolescu’s freestyle toys

Matei Apostolescu’s profusion of polymer toys and models make him look like Romania’s modern day Santa Claus. His fleet of race cars, jets, submarines and weapons delight the kid in all of us.

He uses simple clay shapes to build complex machines which he textures and paints. Keep clicking on his 152 toys to see the whole range.

Matei’s paintings and illustrations on his DeviantArt site help acquaint you with his aesthetic. His illustrations and his clay art have a 1960’s “Peter Max meets the digital age” sensibility.

Matei is known as one of the hottest freestyle artists in the world of illustration and says of his process, “I try to explore as much as I can. It is a fusion of different media: drawing, vector, photography, manipulation, sometimes even clay modeling. To me, inspiration is about having the courage to explore the world, and especially yourself and the processes that take place in your own mind.”

Susan Lomuto (DailyArtMuse) ran into Matei’s work and sent the link along.

Yuli-Ya’s polymer abundance

If you’d like to be dripping with jewels for a holiday event, take a look the polymer clay necklaces from Ukraine’s Julia (Yuli-Ya).

She subscribes to the “more is more” philosophy of jewelry design. Her wire and bead, polymer and crystal creations wrap the wearer’s neck in elegant abundance.

Julia branches out from her organic line and fashions complex Indian and Egyptian pieces in polymer as well. Her Flickr pages are full of diva gems. Thanks to Dee Wilder who sent the link along.

Lehman’s festive pens

Jana Lehmann doesn’t have her Christmas cards in the mail yet. She got sidetracked making these festive polymer pens! These nicely shaped wooden ballpoints were begging for holiday decoration.

Her rationale is that,”Filling in a form, writing a shopping list, signing a contract – all these can be special events now.”

On her new website Jana shares pictures of her little corner workspace. You can take a closer look at her collection on her Flickr pages. Enjoy and have a weekend filled with special events.

Synergy exhibitors’ gallery

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Take a sneak peek and be the first to shop at the IPCA Synergy2 exclusive online gallery! Exhibit chairman Marcia Laska has been gathering polymer clay work for the February conference. The exhibit celebrates the joys of collaborating, mixing media, experimenting and astonishing. She predicts that nearly 60 pieces will be included when all the artwork is in.

Choosing one piece to feature out of the 38 here was too tough. Instead I constructed a page of thumbnails that will lead you to the whooooole batch of fabulous delights. Click on the images for the details on each. Check the gallery page often, I’ll add more as the art arrives.

Even if you can’t attend Synergy2 you have the opportunity to own a spectacular piece. Anyone is welcome to purchase these works. Marcia explains how on the IPCA site.

Can’t afford your favorite? Enjoy owning a fine print of each of them by buying the catalogue that will be available for $25 (no shipping) in Baltimore. The catalogue will also be available online (with shipping).

Enjoy this visual treat that I hope will tempt you to add Synergy2 to your 2010 calendar.

Henley’s fish ornaments, Wade’s bobbins

Ginny Henley has been busy making polymer clay fish ornaments for her family. These are fish with attitude and color and style. The yellow one here is carrying a purse. Another has glasses.

Wouldn’t you love to be there when her relatives open their gifts?

You can see more of her “school” on her Flickr site and see her jewelry work here.

Bobbins with a twist

Susan Lomuto spotted Tina Wade’s polymer bobbin rings on Crafthaus. It’s fun to see how Tina tweaked the design with some ingenious construction.

Eakes’ polymer gifts

Julie Eakes offers a nifty poinsettia tutorial on her blog. She collages slices from four or five basic canes onto a graduated background for one variation. Then she shows how the same canes can be used for sculptural or dimensional pieces. What a nice gift to readers.

If you’ve caught the generous spirit of the holidays, you may want to:

Thanks to Susan Lomuto at DailyArtMuse and Lindly Haunani for the links.