Polymer Clay Daily

Miller mixes silk fusion and polymer

Tracy Miller

Colorado’s Tracy Miller mixes polymer clay with her bright southwest fiber art. Using silk fusion as a base, she paints, stitches, beads and sculpts the surface to create wall art. The medium has dramatic possiblities and Tracy achieves lustrous results.

This medium, also known as silk paper, looks like a promising new companion for polymer clay. Tracy demonstrated her technique on this HGTV tutorial.

Odell’s gift; Winters’ golden information

This polymer clay hostess gift from Maryland’s Mari Odell to Taz Chaudry has a lovely story. Mari pressed transluscent faux jade into antique Japanese sweet mold fragments to create the centerpiece of the necklace. The side beads are a combination of extruded polymer, serpentine jade and antique brass.

Mari taught high school art in Maryland and Taz was her student. Twenty-five years later Taz contacted Mari to thank her for that high school inspiration and Taz, now in Colorado, hosted Mari on her visit. And once again Mari had an opportunity to teach Taz art, this time polymer clay.

Golden Information

Elise Winters passes along this interesting link about gold that gives us more support as we polymer clay artists struggle to defend our medium. The article reports that:

The ecologic, economic, social, and political price of gold is far costlier than we imagine. We are in the midst of a new gold rush, one that is consuming wilderness areas, contaminating watersheds, destroying ecosystems, and imperiling the economics of poor nations and the well being of indigenous people throughout the world. Some cumulative, irreparable consequences of mining will be with us, in this country and around the world, forever.

This new gold rush is the result of a converging complexity of circumstances on a global scale, including:

  1. The development of highly effective and extremely toxic methods of gold extraction,
  2. A continual rise in worldwide demand for gold,
  3. The demise of gold as global monetary standard,
  4. The continued withholding of enormous stockpiles of gold in the vaults of national banks, and
  5. Huge, multinational corporations very eager to cash in.

DeWolff One of a Kind

Frustration…web surfing on a pc…grrrrrr. You’ll just have to believe me and visit One of a Kind Chicago and look at Debra DeWolff’s new work. Yummy.  Once I get to a good connection, I’ll add a better picture. Search the roster for other polymer artists as well. Sorry…too much wine with Colorado friends. Have a great weekend and be ready for good stuff next week.

Ford/Forlano video

Here’s a 4-minute video that gives you a peek into the process and production of Ford/Forlano metal and polymer clay artworks. Those of us who’ve been around a few years will appreciate a glimpse of their canes from yesteryear still squirreled away in the studio. (Go here for a full view.)

That these two have been able to collaborate, evolve, and succeed in polymer clay since 1986 is quite remarkable.

Their links led me to a fun fashion show at SandraWebster and to a preview of the prestigious Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show. And whose name did I spy in the "emerging artists" category? Melanie West with her biobangles! Congratulations to Melanie and thanks to David and Steve for the studio tour.

Polymer clay MealyMonsters

Today I felt like Priscilla, one of the polymer clay mealy monsters. Faced with packing and organizing for a trip out West I was overcome with inertia and ended up sitting, sneezing (allergy season), gazing into space.

These endearing creatures speak to me even though I’m rushing the Halloween season. They’re the creation of Buffalo, NY artist, Nicole Johnson, who describes them as, "whimsical, creepy, fun, strange, cute, weird, one-of-a-kind, decorative, art dolls." You can see a little of her behind-the-scenes work on Flickr and on her blog.

If you share my mood, you’ll enjoy kindred spirits at MonsterEtsy. Now I must go pack, really. Thanks to Susan Lomuto for the link.