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Russia’s Mariya Kulakova (pterdaktell) doesn’t just take a painterly approach to her beads, she uses polymer clay as her canvas!
The twenty year old produces polymer Picassos, Klimts, Warhols, Van Goghs and her own flowers and scenes on bead canvases.
Check out the Flickr site of this St. Petersburg artist’s dazzlingly bright colors sometimes mixed with caned spirals and traditional onion dome beads.
This sunny Rosa Amarilla polymer clay necklace and enamel-look swallow pin from Alisa Treasurefield look sunny and just right for the first post of the week.
Alisa specializes in unusual faux effects – wood, enamel, bakelite, ceramic, metal and more – in the items in her Etsy shop.
It takes a keen eye and a deft hand to use the clay so convincingly. In an earlier post we looked at her faux faceted wood gems and now there’s much more to look at.
Here are two tutorials I found this weekend as I tried to distract myself from other chores that were calling me. Both the faux agate cane and the twisted wire/polymer ring look interesting and need little translation. If you experiment with them, I can get back to work.
These wonky polymer clay chrysalis pendants from Lori Wilkes made me smile with their colorful, lopsided messages. And I read that she’s in a show in my area this weekend.
I’ve seen her scarabs in the June Bead and Button magazine, she’s had her wearable icons, story lockets, and windows in Belle Armoire. It’s about time I saw Lori’s work in person.
“Lately, I’ve spent a lot of time thinking of works that incorporate trash. Redeeming used up, throw away items is a great spiritual metaphor. It’s these stories and ideas that keep me working into the wee hours. Pushing for something new,” she says.
Here’s her blog and her flickr site. Have a lovely weekend.
Several people told me to look at the polymer clay work of Denver’s Valerie Krohn (NovaFolia) and I’ve been lurking in the web weeds waiting for the right day to feature her bright, hot colors.
Valerie’s only been working in polymer for a year and a half and already she’s made her mark with a distinctive color palette and graphic style made more complex with mica shifts. If you don’t mind a little more summer heat, check out her Etsy site.
Thanks to Janice Abarbanel and Dede Leupold for pointing me in Valerie’s direction.
The Path from Nothing to Something is the title of an article on Tory Hughes in this month’s Ornament magazine. Tory’s path usually leads to new levels of play, experiment and expansion and it should be a good read.
If the article and the delicious photos aren’t enough, you may want to consider Tory’s creativity retreat, Perception and Play, in France this fall. The two basic concepts of the retreat are:
Doesn’t that sound enticing? Find all the details here.
Today I had my own private meditation on Michael Jackson as I quickly built one last polymer clay face cane of him based on an illustration in the New Yorker magazine.
Years ago, I remember my son feeling sick after celebrating his birthday with a black cake decorated with one white sequined glove made of frosting. Jackson’s music is entwined in our family’s growing up stories.
I made a Thriller cane in the early 90’s, my black and white phase, and still have a chunk of it left. It’s still useable and the image still resonates. His death marks the end of an era. Have a look at my process here.
This colorful bangle by Belgium’s Moïse Vanden Broeck traps extruded canes between two polymer clay plates. Moise brings a metalworker’s eye to his polymer work as in this additional bracelet design and these rings.
He also explains how to create a cutter tool using rotary blades which is an update on the original tube bead cutter by Elise Winters.
Nice to have a few mental exercises to get us in shape for the studio week ahead.
Wire-wrapping has been on my radar all week. Here’s one more in Dee Wilder’s (Malodora) Butterfly Wings polymer clay bracelet – a riot of colors, beads and wire combined into a noisy, noticeable bracelet.
Dee credits a workshop with multimedia artist Mary Hettmansperger and a tutorial from Deryn Mentock for leading her to wire work. Dee’s sites show a wealth of dramatic works that range in tone from exhuberant excess to careful extruded and turned shapes to constrained micromosaics.
In an Etsy interview Dee explains that, “I feel for the first time that I have reached a level of competence where I can control my materials. I’m not just trying to duplicate techniques and processes. I’ve never [before] stayed with a medium long enough for that to happen. I am able to visualize a finished piece and execute my vision. That might not mean much to most crafters and artists, but to me it is a giant breakthrough.”
Enjoy Dee’s shower of colors like the Independence Day fireworks we’ll see this weekend!
The eye-popping color of this polymer clay necklace by Austria’s Carina Feichtinger startled me as I plowed through the web this morning.
Carina credits Ronna’s book for inspiration (see yesterday’s post) though it’s certainly Carina’s own colors and design.
I was also touched by this guerrilla craft, polymer piece from LA’s Lauren Steven which was created for submission to Stampington as a part of Monica Magness’ “AdDRESSing the Situation” campaign to bring awareness of the murders of women in Juarez, Mexico.
The front and back of her piece is shown here. See more of Lauren’s thoughtful works in her Etsy shop.
Julie Picarello’s “Boheme” polymer clay necklace reflects a little of a trend you may have spotted. There’s a looser, almost primitive style that’s gaining ground. French polymer artists excel at the look.
Ronna Sarvis Weltman gives step-by-step instructions in her newest book, Ancient Modern, and in the past few weeks I’ve been stunned and delighted by the number of versions her book has spawned.
When a style gets in the air, it starts popping up everywhere. I like how Julie has reinterpreted the wrapped wire look to go with her unmistakable designs (and she may have never seen Ronna’s book…I didn’t check).
Grant Diffendaffer’s workshops have caused a similar phenomenon with experimental recursive molded beads popping up all over the world. Today was my day to catch up on the web and these global waves of new designs really struck me.
