Tidy Tuesday – Polymer in the news

My desk is littered with notes about polymer clay in the news and it’s time to tidy.

The January Art Jewelry Magazine contains two significant polymer articles, “A conversation with Kathleen Dustin” and Seth Savarick’s “Go Big with Lightweight Polymer Clay.” Kathleen shares how she plans her pieces and says that playing around with small jewelry often gives her ideas for larger works.

The articles, additional photos of Kathleen’s work, and one of Betsy Baker’s in the gallery make polymer prominent in this issue. ArtJewelry also has a terrific online gallery where readers are invited to submit their work. The brooch above is by Jan Geisen.

In her “Getting the Most from a Jewelry Class” article in the winter StepbyStepWire Magazine, Ronna Sarvas Weltman advises students to, “…push your boundaries and test the materials while you have an expert to answer your questions.” It may mean that you won’t end up with a beautiful project but you will learn more. Ronna delves into the minds of eager students and gives them sage advice.

Susan O’Neill (11BoldStreet) has won first place in Interweave’s Bead Star Contest in the plastics category for her faux turquoise choker pictured here. Winners are chosen by readers from around the globe.

These are tidbits that you’ve sent me or that I’ve come across. It’s gratifying to see more polymer articles popping up in a surprising number of publications.

Flaky, funky, folksy holiday polymer

Much of the country is in a snowy mood and I drifted to the snow-inspired polymer works of two artists.

Kim Owens (folkartfromtheheart) antiques her folk art/primitive characters (the one at right is Frosty Frightcicle) to give them her signature funky folk look. She’s from California and must have to imagine her snowy scenes.

Janell Berryman (pumpkins-seeds) lives on the Oregon coast where I doubt she’s seeing snowmen like those in her newest collection (pictured at left) either.

Janell has been sculpting and selling her pieces since 1997 and she’s part of a group of like-minded “sweet and spooky” sculptors on the spookytimejingles site. The rich polymer and paperclay links on that site provide a perfect diversion when you need a break from your studio.

Sahl’s winter wonderland polymer

When Sharon Sahl unveils her polymer clay gingerbread houses, I know the holiday season has begun. Sharon’s attention to detail is phenomenal and her knowledge of Christmas cookies and candies is comprehensive. Every butter cookie and ribbon candy is mouthwateringly accurate and the scenes are magical (so much so that I keep mine on display all year long).

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The houses are decorated with candy and cookies and icing, requiring multiple bakes before the bases are started. Finishing the bases with paths, fences, trees, gingerbread men, snowmen, candy gardens and perhaps a pond or stream is the last step,” she says.

Sharon’s only made ten of these beauties this year. Please buy them quickly so that I can stop obsessing. She’s been making ornaments and sculptures since the 1970s, first in bread dough and in polymer since 1983. Her long-time collectors are happy she’s moved back to Ohio.

Enjoy her winter wonderlands and have a wonderful weekend.

Belcher’s greater-than-the-sum art

The collaboration theme of the Synergy 2 conference in Baltimore has already inspired some terrific mash ups. The fiber/polymer and metal/polymer creations on Judy Belcher’s Flickr site are impressive. Judy is the consummate team player so it’s not surprising that she’s good at partnering her art.

This jacket is by Kerr Grabowski with reversible jewels and closures by Judy. The model is Judy’s daughter.

Universal Connections, the 12.5″x8″ piece pictured, is the result of Judy’s collaboration with Victoria Altepeter, a metalsmith and currently resident artist at Arrowmont.

Take a look at the 37-artist polymer mosaic that Laurie Mika pulled together and see if you can identify each artist with only 2″ squares as clues. You have until December 20 to enter the contest. There is still space in classes at Synergy companion events, Cabin Fever Clay Festival and Synergy 2 Hands-On. You might drop a hint to Santa.

Breil’s texture tricks

Helen Breil takes using stamps and textures to a new level with her most recent polymer clay focal beads. She introduces surprises and layers colors to provide drama.

I often hesitate to use stamps because they feel static. Helen has overcome that shortcoming with a bag of tricks that makes me want to try again. Looking at her design idea gallery is like taking a workshop.

I’m composing this post from 30,000 ft. in between time zones. Tomorrow is all about jet lag and preparing for an evening class at Craftcast.com. California beaches provided a heap of pebble research and I’m pumped for the class. Join us.

Barbee shifts colors and studios

San Diego’s Meisha Barbee showed me her new polymer clay circle pendants in colors that are a bit brighter than her earlier palettes.

She sent along these Serenity pendants as well. She’s tweaked the colors while continuing her distinctive combinations of extrusions, canes and textures.

Meisha promised to rank “launch my website” high on her list of resolutions for 2010. In the meanwhile, you’ll have to settle for this link back to her earlier work. She sent along a couple of pix of her new sunny in-home studio as a bonus. It’s back to Ohio for us today.

McMillan’s polymer bobbins

Californian Dotty McMillan (here’s her latest book) showed me these bobbin beads she developed using a stash of old sewing machine parts from her fabric store manager daughter. Dotty was pleased to see a photo of Cynthia Toops’ bobbin necklace in Polymer Clay Color Inspirations. “We don’t do them the same, but it was good to see someone else had thought about using them and I wasn’t nuts,” says Dottie.

Here are links to four more examples (1, 2, 3, 4). She’s written a how-to article on the beads for a spring edition of Bead and Button magazine.

Dotty reminded me about our original online polymer group on the ancient Prodigy network. What year was that? Does anyone remember?

Van Hemert’s ephemera

Lauren Van Hemert has added a new line of focal beads and pendants like this Eye Chart to her collection. Click on the catalog tab on her new site to flip through her collection. You’ll see her experiments with image transfers onto colored clay and a bit of caning.

Lauren is masterful at incorporating historic, romantic and nostalgic image transfers into her polymer clay pieces. She’s only recently started adding canes to her ephemera. Read more about her evolving process on her blog.

Thanks to Susan Lomuto (DailyArtMuse) for the link.

Friesen’s polymer crowd

Each year this 8″x8″ polymer clay wall piece by Christi Friesen pretty much sums up my Thanksgiving. Today you’d have to add more organic vegetables and a spray of Pacific Ocean surf to get the full effect. Our celebration combines a wild mixture of California friends and family for which I am very thankful.

Of course I’m also thankful for you readers from around the globe. Perhaps that’s who Christi had in mind when she created Just a Face in the Crowd! Happy turkey day.

West’s fantasy creatures

More wings! This time they’re on “Angel”ina, the polymer clay fantasy sculpture of Nevada artist Nicole West (wingdthing).

Nicole has an uncanny ability to imbue her creations, from pin ups to pixies, with hyper real features and emotions. It’s easy to see why she was selected this year’s Most Promising Sculptor by her peers on the Deviant Art site.

I’m in the Hollywood vicinity and couldn’t resist the pull of Nicole West’s sexy creatures. Thanks to Andrea Polite for the link.

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