Polymer Clay Daily

Making polymer clay art choices

Let me share more of the polymer clay choices I consider each day. Today, I received a link from Dan Cormier about television personality Rosie O’Donnell’s polymer clay work on Etsy.

Alaska’s Sue Savage introduced her wares at this year’s Acre wholesale show. Her web site tantalizes us with a few pictures.  Judy Belcher and the polymer participants at the show reported that Sue’s work reflects her surroundings in Alaska and is a treat to see.

Time to go fishing through the hundreds of posts that you have added to your blogs overnight.

Jodi Creager has posted a couple of luscious recipes on her hilarious blog. Her “Truffles Thimble Doodle” doll looks as strange and forlorn as I sound this week. I laugh. Perfect. Reel her in.

Note: My post meter will hit 1,000 this week! No wonder I’m taking a look at my process. That’s a lot of choices.

Understanding Russian polymer

These watermelons from polymer artist Natakorneeva are from a Russian site that translates incomprehensibly and muddles my brain. All I know is, “Me likee.” What more can I say?

Some days sorting out the best, the most interesting or the cleverest polymer clay art from around the world feels like trying to drink from a fire hose.  Try me tomorrow and enjoy Natakorneeva’s summer fruits in the meanwhile.

Tajvidi’s minis and a freebee

Toronto polymer clay artist AfsanehTajvidi (JooJoo) makes such charming miniature sculptures that I could hardly believe my eyes. Can cute be that perfectly done? I ordered some from her Etsy site and can report that the answer is yes.

The mini-sculptures that you see best on her Flickr site are as flawless and charming as they appear. In an interview she reveals that she draws the sculpture first and is satisfied only when the clay character matches the drawing.

You might guess that she’s also an illustrator/painter/computer artist. She and her sister have a website for their digital works which offers a great free treat – computer icons and wallpaper for jewelry afficianados like us! I am delighted with the turquoise earrings that dangle on my “polymer” desktop folder. Look here under “goodies” for a fun freebee to start your week!

Chandler’s painterly techniques

Victoria, BC’s Gera Scott Chandler ends our week in a sea of polymer clay flowers. “She Could Only Choose One” is Gera’s largest piece to date. Composed on fibreboard, it’s 16″x19″(46x40cm) and weighs 11lbs. (5kg)!

Most recently, Gera’s been working with polymer on 5″x7″ stretched canvases, developing her own distinctive look and refining her painterly polymer techniques.

Weekend thought

If you’re in the mood for a bit of creativity talk, you’ll enjoy this TED.com talk by “Eat, Pray, Love” author Elizabeth Gilbert. She reframes our thinking about creativity and suggests that instead of the rare person “being” a genius, all of us “have” a genius. It’s a funny, personal and surprisingly moving talk.

Mora’s polymer birds & Bead Dreams winners

Elsa Mora is a Cuban born California artist most recently known for her intricate evocative papercuts. Lucky for us, she’s picked up polymer clay again, sculpting and carving it and mixing it with recycled findings. Her bird brooches look very old…and completely new.

She explains that, “There is something about pins that make me really happy. They are like a little miracles. I often plan my outfits around them. In my collection the most important themes are flowers, birds, bugs, cameos, fruits but I also have elephants, cats, dogs, snakes.” She promises to share pictures of her pin collection soon.

Elsa’s clean quiet website is not only a treasure trove of resources, it’s an oasis of calm. Once you read her story, you begin to understand the calm and the intensity that radiates through all that Elsa does.

Bead Dreams Winners

And speaking of treasure, Bead and Button attendee Libby Mills has posted snapshots of the 2009 Bead Dreams polymer clay winners on her website. First place winner is this “Chinese Cinnabar Big Bead” from Diane Villano.

Official photos will soon be posted but in the meanwhile enjoy the scoop and pictures from Libby.

Craynor’s faux African beads

Utah’s Cody Craynor sent me a link to his meticulously constructed polymer clay faux African chevron beads. Cody is refreshingly clear that his interest is only in the beads, not in making jewelry. He claims that his passion for beads began when he was transfixed by the color and clatter of a bead curtain in his parents’ 1970s bathroom. Take a look at his new site and work.

The mention of African beads derailed my daily research as I remembered earlier faux ancients. Here’s where the wayback machine took me:

• Jamey Allen’s folded beads (as seen on the Polymer Art Archive)
• Desiree McCrory‘s faux chevrons
• Klew‘s folded beads

Play-Doh video

I didn’t quite get the concept of last week’s Play-Doh/shaped cane breakthrough. I missed the part about Play-Doh only being used for a barrier layer with filler polymer layered on top. This video from ArtbyYonat answered all my questions. All reports are that the technique works.

Breil’s stamp tricks

Ontario’s Helen Breil does wonders with polymer clay and stamps. She combines unusual shapes, adds surprising dimension, and plays with color to build on her line of dramatic patterns. She markets her stamps and offers handy tutorials with lots of clever tricks through Shades of Clay.

“Exploration of design and developing new surface techniques fuel my continued passion with polymer clay,” she says. Prowl through Helen’s new web site to see what she’s been up to.

Modern polymer charms on silver cores

The build-your-own-bracelet system from Pandora is a hit with both teenagers and their grandmothers here in the USA. Libby Mills posted about how to create polymer clay beads on the silver cores made to be used with the Pandora line. She created the ones shown here for her daughters.

Customers line up to buy this modern version of the charm bracelet. Perhaps polymer clay artists can give collectors more interesting and unusual choices. (Lindly Haunani put me on to this trend.)

If you’re looking for even more unusual choices, look at the polymer clay earrings from Arkansas’ Giovanna Coraggio (via Eugena Topina). In her Etsy shop she offers a selection of tendril-like plugs, earrings and hair sticks.

The ear gauges that Giovanna and her fashionable friends use look like slightly larger versions of the cores Pandora uses for bracelets!

Polymer clay inspirations

Nepali polymer clay enthusiasts

An email from the other side of the world changed my fretting, procrastinating week. Wendy Moore, who describes herself as an Australian polymer clay junkie living in eastern Nepal wrote:

These photos are of amazing ladies who I think are the first polymer clayers in Nepal. They are survivors of violence (usually domestic but some trafficking) and among the most resilient people I know. They are looking at ways of generating an income for themselves and their families.

There are all sorts of challenges such as clay supply, existence of ovens, electricity, but no lack of enthusiasm. My main reason for sharing with you was my excitement about the healing and practical capacity of clay, the “we’re all in this together” nature of it, and to share the phenomenal spirit of friends who are helping and the ladies themselves. Loving supportive vibes from readers would be good.

Melanie Dilday and the Australian guild are marshalling their resources to help. Others are pitching in and we’re talking about strategies for supplies and marketing. I’ll let you know more about Wendy’s story and what you might do as the project develops.

I can’t leave you without some inspiring art! Drink in the color and the designs on Tory Hughes’ new brooches page. Have an inspired weekend.

Grueso’s treasures and another technique

Barcelona’s Cristina Grueso (CristinasTreasures) is a bit of a mystery and if you look at her artwork, you can see that mystery appeals to her. Cristina’s polymer clay sculptures are wistful, pensive characters.

Her descriptions of her work are as restrained and elusive as the quiet expressions on her characters faces. Cristina’s work is at Etsy and Flickr.

More technique buzz

The “Sutton Slice” is another technique that’s been enjoying some buzz lately. Polymer clay is shoved into a rubber stamp to fill the depressions and then trimmed to expose the stamp. A contrasting sheet is pressed onto the remaining clay to grab the design. Here’s Lisa Pavelka’s version of it on HGTV. Julie Eakes’ example is shown here. Pete Sutton developed the technique.

Usually I don’t talk about techniques here but I love to try new techniques when I’m avoiding other work. Procrastinated for two days this week.