Polymer Clay Daily

Crowley’s Rolling Stones

Chicago polymer clay artist Dan Crowley loves characters. His favorites are his “Lady” characters which are loosely based on his aunts. Each face is made up of at least 18 pieces of clay.

Inspired by puppeteers like Jim Henson and Bill Baird, Dan began sculpting heads and finger puppets in 1992. His creations have grown in scale and complexity. His Christmas windows for Tiffany & CO won awards and his sculpted “Character Shoes” for Stuart Weitzman shoe stores have been a hit from Madison Avenue to Rodeo Drive.

I love the idea of sculpting heads onto small wood mannequins as Dan has done here with the Rolling Stones. There’s wonderful work on his site. Don’t miss his shoes, his puppets, and his characters. Some of his links aren’t working but it’s worth the wandering around.

Many thanks to another character expert, Maureen Carlson, for sending the link.

Spring Classes

These springy polymer clay Jack In the Pulpit pins by Loretta Lam get me thinking ahead. Time to make some travel plans.

Of course there’s Synergy in February in Baltimore. I see that the Milwaukee Bead and Button Show class schedule is up…that’s in June.

And I just happened upon a great roster of classes at the Bead House in Bristol, Rhode Island. Victoria Hughes (that’s her exotic piece at right), Kathleen Dustin, Sarah Shriver, Robert Dancik and an equally stellar list of seed beaders and metal workers are teaching there. Just looking at the work on their web sites is educational. It looks like a fine year for learning.

Washington, the heart of “Clay Nation”

Maggie Maggio has renewed her blogging vows and started the year with a post on “white” which includes a terrific link to Minnesota architect/designer Martha McQuade’s Uniform Studio and her polymer clay experiments (here’s her Flickr link). You may want to savor that site this weekend.

The simple, minimalist designs feel so right. And speaking of simple designs, please revisit the work of Washington’s Ellen George. I have a completely visceral response to her work.

“Baby Doll” is a series of hand-formed polymer clay objects that look slightly naughty, almost edible…like lost belly buttons.

There’s a good article in the Portland Tribune about George, Maggio, Dittmar, Toops and other Washington artists who are part of the “Clay Nation.” Think of yourself as a citizen of that nation.

Five 2007 Favorites
Dittmar Young Bonura Simmons MacLeod

These five polymer clay artists and/or their techniques piqued my interest and stood out in 2007. You may agree…or not. If I missed your absolute favorite, let me know.

Carol Simmons – Simmons’ kaleidoscope system is the most logical and elegant mathematical system since the Skinner blend. Can’t wait for her to introduce it. Carol uses Kaleider software to test her color combinations.

Elizabeth Bonura – This had to take the cake, didn’t it? I love that Etsy friends chimed in to help her capture the bride’s likeness.

Camille Young – Her use of Lumina air dry polymer clay pushes us to think in other directions. Check out her new barbed wire.

Sharon MacLeod – You have to see her work to appreciate its detail. I can’t figure out how she wraps such fine patterns so perfectly on memory wire.

Meredith Dittmar – She’s prolific, she’s hot. Meredith’s art has been on cell phones, billboards, books, and in the coolest Portland galleries. This girl is talented and knows how to market. Last week my tivo found her on “Crafters Coast to Coast” – that frenetic program that I usually avoid. I wanted to yell, “Stop moving the camera,” so that I could see more of her work.

Banner Year for New Sites

2007 was a banner year for polymer clay artists unveiling new web sites. Familiar names like Hyde, McCaw, Stokes, and Bolgar threw their hats in the digital ring while others like Haunani and Dustin became bloggers. Of course there were thousands of newbies (more on them soon) who joined the chorus as well…a fabulous trend from my point of view.

Have you looked at the posts on the new Polymer Art Archive? Historical information (like these pictures of early Pier Voulkas beads) is certainly something we have needed to document and explain to artists new to the craft.

Trendspotting

Several trends emerge as I study last year’s posts. The first is the explosion of Etsy where you’ll find 982 pages of polymer clay works offered for sale today. Interesting pieces, like those of Pennsylvania’s LaBeana (Lauren Cole) pictured here, jump out as fresh and new from this vast reservoir of talent.

Three other 2007 events seem especially significant – the new NPCG web site which reveals a newly invigorated group, the Craft/MakerFaire movement (and Leslie Blackford’s polymer clay entré into that group), the revitalization of the American Craft Council (and the magazine).

There’s also the phenomenal growth of art blogging. That’s for later this week.

Sila’s Tutorial

If waiting for the stroke of midnight makes you fidgety, keep yourself busy studying this clever polymer clay mokume gane trick from a new tutorial on Ponsawan Sila’s site. She says it’s a combination of techniques she’s learned from several people. Here’s the link to her Flickr pictures.

I’m combing through this year’s posts, trying to detect some patterns, trends, insights to share with you this week. The year flew by, didn’t it?

Wishing you peace and prosperity in 2008.

Geoffrey’s Indie Streak

Here’s a wintry looking polymer clay piece from Rebecca Geoffrey in wintry Ontario. Her designs have a clean, clear, precise feel to them. Very appealing.

Rebecca runs with the Etsy/Indie crowd and I’ve been cruising through the Indiepublic site to try to figure it out. There’s so much to see, oodles to learn. What to join? Where to put my energy?

I panicked this evening when the PCD site went down. “Loading issues,” the server tech calmly told me. Yes, this is the weekend to deal with our “loading issues” as we look at the year ahead.

Creagers Holiday Offering

I hadn’t visited Arizona’s Richard and Jodi Creager’s site for a while when I bumped into their polymer clay sculptures on their EBay page.

Richard and Jodi have been designing dolls together as a team since 1979. They produce 10-15 dolls a year. You’ll immediately understand why their works are in private and museum collections across the country. The detail in their collaborative figures is breathtaking.

This was one of their special Holiday Dahlia Darkling offerings. The Creagers say of their work, “To be able to create a human form, an image, a personality…to be able to express what you have inside and put into form your mind’s and heart’s vision, and to stir emotion in someone … all from a piece of clay… this is our True Joy in Life”