California mosaic artist Susan Crocenzi mixes tempered glass and polymer clay in unusual ways, an example of a hybrid use of polymer to get your week off to a fresh start. There are more examples of her tesserae mosaics on her Flickr site.
I have no idea how one works with tempered glass but the effect is watery and rich with color. You can read more about Susan here and here while she gets her web site ready. It’s ready.
Friday’s a great time to tidy my desktop. Be sure to see Donna Kato’s new polymer clay split pods. Just when you think her design is perfect, she turns it on its head and comes up with something even better.
Arizona’s Amy Gebhardt had these velvety smooth, touchable vessels in the Synergy gallery. I’d love to show you more but her site’s under construction (sigh).
Polymer clay book artist Geraldine Newfry did her taxes (good girl) and she’s been using flick! artists database software that tracks her works. It looks fantastic and I plopped down the $30. Does anyone else have experience with this product?
“You can’t wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.†Jack London
One thing led to another on Betsy Baker’s web site. Her “illustrated transfer” technique intrigued me. She transfers portions of found images (using catalogs and magazines) onto polymer, then alters them with colored pencils. But that was just the beginning. Hang onto your mouse.
Feels like time for polymer clay spring cleaning. Here’s a list of all the notices, fun links and loose ends that have been building up over the past couple of weeks:
A Russian tutorial of running shoes from Ehidna that appeals to the kid in me
Step by Step Beads (look at the free Christi Friesen download) is hungry for good polymer clay projects for the magazine. Check out the writer’s guidelines and contact editor-in-chief Leslie Rogalski.
Ronna Weltman (new pictures on her site) is doing an article about cool tools. Send her a note about your favorites.
Victoria Hughes is offering a special on her DVDs and she’s including handmade polymer samples with her books. More on this and other class news on her site. And have you heard her interview on craftcast?
The painted polymer clay pendants pictured above look like spring. They’re from England’s Eva Soehjar (guessing at the last name). Thanks to Judy Dunn and Melanie West for the link. See how Melanie’s bangles have evolved.
Ponsawan Sila’s daughter was in a bad auto accident. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers.
Leslie Blackford’s polymer clay art is quirky and powerful in its personal intensity. Most artists work hard for the kind of unselfconsciousness that flows easily from Leslie.
Currently her day job keeps her out of the studio, a difficult circumstance for someone so dependent on art to communicate.
Her “Pain of Words” sculpture in the Synergy gallery (pictured at left) was particularly poignant. She also had a silly, delightful collection of jewelry like these jellyfish and an assortment of strange creatures made from pods and twigs found around her rural Kentucky home.
Take a look at works in her Deviant gallery. Or if you’re curious, check all the posts we’ve done on her over the past three years.
By the end of last week, you could spot Meisha Barbee’s work on the neck of many Synergy shoppers. She combines simple canes and soothing colors in graphic ways with subtle textures woven in. The modern minimalist design continues through her findings. The harmony and detail in these pieces make them very pleasing to wear.
Since Meisha has no web site (her studio and shop are in the Spanish Village Art Center in San Diego, CA), I’ve assembled a few pictures here. Her brothers are glass artists and they urged her to enter her work in the Niche competition which she and Loretta Lam won earlier this month. Have yourself a winning weekend.
It’s difficult to attend a conference, report and shop at the same time. I tried to stop only at artists you might not otherwise see.
Virginia’s Wiwat Kamolpornwijit and Wisconsin’s Susan Dyer allowed me to photograph a sampling of their work. You may not be familiar with them and Susan has no web site. Ponsawan Sila is a friend of Wiwat’s and assisted him in his booth.
There’s more coverage of the Synergy conference over at the fun blog, Art and Tea.
Even though no one brought polymer clay to work on at Synergy, you could tell that participants were filling their heads with ideas.
These ping pong balls covered with polymer by Gloria Askin made me smile and shifted my brain into high gear. They’re super light.
Robert Dancik showed wire forms covered with pantyhose and made rigid with white glue. Yes, you can cover the pantyhose/wire/glue forms with polymer and bake them. His classes made your head reel with the possibilities.
The glowing neon colors and velvety texture in this necklace by California’s Cheryl Lois Walker made me reconsider using Ultralight clay as a base as she did. She packages her necklaces in a clear plastic box with a matching bead glued on the lid as a handle. Nice presentation.
The microwave clay from Eberhard Faber has me stumped and wondering. Could it be useful? Do I want to use it in my microwave?
I’m digesting the ideas and information from the Synergy conference and may be rolling out new materials for weeks.
These new polymer clay earrings by Judy Kuskin were jaw-dropping (to use Ponsawan’s terms). By the time I got back to the gallery to buy some, she had sold out.
