Polymer Clay Daily

Davis’ faux ceramic amulets

I’ve admired Lynn Davis’ work but never featured her because I wasn’t sure what materials she was using. She mixes glass, stones, found items, metal, ceramic, polymer clay and more in her romantic pieces. Her faux is so pro that I was never sure what was polymer.

She says of her faux-tique amulets, “Some resemble white bisque fired clay, with wear and showing a lot of rustic aging. And others look like marble or limestone chipped off an old building, or parts from ancient grecian architecture.”

Recently Lynn’s been experimenting with faux lithophanes (she’s looking for an easier name) and writing about it on her site. You can add your two cents there.

Note: There’s a nice faux ceramics tutorial on Michael Johansson’s PolymerClayWeb site.

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My studio renovation should be finished soon. It’s been a great week. Thanks for all your comments and suggestions. Have an olympic weekend.

Dustin first at Sunapee; new Balombini in SF

Kathleen Dustin’s “Leek Blossom Pod” has won Best in Show at the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen Show (Sunapee Fair, August 2-10). Her “Moss and Pods” neckpiece also won the Best in Mixed Media Jewelry award. Sandra McCaw, Ann Dillon, Marcia Herson, Luann Udell, (and I hope I didn’t miss any others) Barbara Sperling and Susan Samitz are also in this popular show. (Thanks to Ann Dillon and Judy Dunn for the corrections.)

I like the show’s new blog which keeps you up-to-date on the activities.

Laura Balombini sent out a sneak preview of her new work for the ACC San Francisco show August 15-17. This is a mixed media piece 16″x16″x2″ of acrylic paint with polymer sheet (house) on a panel with encaustic wax/collage. There’s show info on her site.

Is gold green?

From a recent ASJRA newsletter:

It is purported that to create one 18k gold ring results in:

  1. 20 tons of mine waste
  2. another 250 tons of mine waste for a 1ct. diamond
  3. cyanide to separate the gold from the ore
  4. smelting to remove gold impurities (Smelters release upwards of 140 million tons of sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere annually.)

Thanks to Elise Winters for the info.

Wallace shares new tutorial

Since my studio’s closed for construction, I’m hungry for some hands-on polymer clay activity and Amy Wallace was kind enough to share a brand new tutorial with us.

Her “stacker” beads are a riot of color and pattern that combine into a patchwork quilt effect. If you like the surprise of “natasha” beads, you’ll love Amy’s simple tutorial. Amy’s instructions contain few words, just pictures (I think steps 6 and 7 are reversed). Amy’s tweaked it and added a few more instructions. Write her for clarification if you need it.

The technique is called Damascus Ladder by metal workers and you can find similar tutorials on Polymer Clay Central and other sites. What sets Amy’s version apart is her spiraling the cane into a disk/bead which adds interest by exposing two variations on the pattern, the flat side is a stripe and the edge is a figure.

See more on her etsy site and her blog. Thanks for sharing, Amy.

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I may have to make this cake to keep my caning skills sharp since I’m out of the studio for another day.

Ponsawan Sila returns to clay

I’m sure you’re as happy as I am to hear that Ponsawan Sila will be back working in polymer clay and being a stay-at-home mom. Her daughter was seriously injured five months ago and will be coming home soon. Theirs is a story of survival and triumph and nobody says it better than Ponsawan herself.

Read her story and see the strength and spirit that shines through in her polymer clay work. Welcome back, Ponsawan.
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I’m in a fix-up, spice-up mood and your comments about PCDaily have been very kind and helpful. Per your suggestions, I’m going to:

  1. find some guest editors
  2. interview some outstanding artists
  3. shoot some video
  4. get a gallery going
  5. and I may even show some of my own work

Not to worry, PCDaily is my habit and my baby. I’ve got new ideas and I’m over myself. Keep those comments coming.

I picked out a paint color for my studio based entirely on gut feeling. Living large…read more here.

Dever at del Mano

My studio is under construction this week (see construction photos here). As long as I’m planning what I want it to look like, it’s a good time to think about readjusting this website as well.

Writing daily has become a comfortable habit but there are days when I fear I sound like an infomercial and I’ll bet you can predict what I’m going to say. Thousands of polymer clay blogs cover our craft. How can PolymerClayDaily continue to be of value to the community?

I’ll be rethinking content this week and I’d love your input. What are you hungry for on the web?

I can’t let your week begin with my whiny rant, however. Here’s a new piece from Jeff Dever who has an August show, Fiber Art Explored II, at LA’s del Mano gallery. These juicy new works should start your week on a high note.

Cavender’s polymer clay chips

West Virginia’s Kim Cavender was all set to debut these vibrant new polymer clay sea urchins at the Euro Clay Carnival in England. Family health matters took precedence at the last moment. Everything’s on the mend, read her blog for the whole story. Motherhood trumped art.

She played her cards right and sent the pile of sea urchin poker chips pictured here to England without her. Look at the new natural, woodsy and watery pieces she’s developed lately!

The good news is that she’s all prepared to teach her class at the Clay Carnival in Las Vegas in November. And speaking of being prepared…

You have 30 days to enter your work in the NPCG Progress and Possibilities international juried exhibition. The entry is online, no muss, no fuss, no excuses. Here are the exhibition guidelines, and here’s the entry link. This is a chance for the guild to demonstrate its vitality and for you to receive recognition for your work. Start planning now and have a great weekend.

Polymer clay on wheels

The UK’s Simon Buck and Utah’s Bill Robbins have found most unusual ways to incorporate polymer clay into their vehicles.

Simon specializes in fluorescent and glow-in-the-dark murals as well as polymer clay (glow-in-the-dark, naturally). The picture you see at the right is the sculpture on the steering wheel of his van. You’ll have to imagine it at night. And you can see one of his glowing figures here.

Bill Robbins (aka elmerpresslee) lovingly built the most twisted polymer clay baby car ever for his daughter who seems to truly delight in the madness. Of course his studio, the nerdatorium, is also a trip.

Both artists look like they’re have such fun with their art that it’s easy to look beyond the scarey parts. I scrounged the Robbins link from Kim Cavender who gravitates to the deviant side herself.

BlockPartyPress sells 1000 online

BlockPartyPress’ Tamara Shea is a prolific polymer clay artist, chalking up her 1000th online sale at the end of June. Her cloud nine design is a new one in her series of designs that combine her love of block printing and painting with polymer.

I marvel at her work and at the effort that such volume demands. Look here and here to witness the quality and consistency of her many appealing pieces.

The recent American Craft Council-sponsored conversation between artists from traditional and trendy marketing backgrounds got me thinking about the young savvy marketers in our craft. Names like Meredith Dittmar, Heather Powers, Shannon LeVart, Betsy Baker, Eva Soehjar, and Tamara Shea spring to mind (there are many others). These artists are busy with online galleries like Etsy, Kaboodle, Trunkt, DaWanda, Stylehive, Flickr…to say nothing of the blogs and social networks on which they stay active.

I’ve heard a number of artists my age disparage online galleries but it’s hard to dismiss the numbers. Both camps can learn something from each other and this talk (audio only), though it’s a bit slow in places, gets the dialogue started. Give a listen.