Polymer Clay Daily

Lizards

I’m not usually drawn to lizards and snakes but these are spectacular ones made of polymer clay by Sandra Lee, a western U.S. artist.

There’s little information about her on her photo site and she doesn’t google well. (Please comment if you know her.) Sandra’s lizards on intricately painted gourds are something to behold.

With the fires out west, one starts to consider the fate of creatures like this regal horned lizard. Of course my eye gravitated to the Huichol-like colorful snakes she creates as well. Many thanks to Kim Cavender who spotted this new treasure for us.

Trendspotting Monday


Washington artist Pam Sanders signed the guestbook with an intriguing polymer clay piece so naturally I went exploring. Her loose and playful approach is very appealing with a nice sense of balance and color. I wish I could see more of her work.

And Pam gives us another example of that jewelry/sculpture pairing in her "Dream Temple" piece shown here which incorporates a wearable pin into a 5 x 7 collage meant to hang on the wall.

I’m spotting a trend.

Sherbet


Another example of a simple polymer clay technique done right comes from California’s Maureen Thomas. The bicone swirl/lentil bead is so much fun to master that it’s often overdone.

Maureen’s beads remind me that when the colors are right, as in these "summer sherbet" colors, the technique is enlivened. They tickled my fancy on this first day of summer.

Sharing


One of the people to emerge from yesterday’s lovely flurry of activity was Israeli polymer clay artist Lesya Binkin. She’s turned her graphic arts and fashion experience into fashionable, graphic jewelry which you can see on her Etsy site and study more closely on her Flickr page.

The tip came from Christie Wright whose Dragonfly Lane sites (Etsy and personal) are also a treat.

Thanks so much for your great response to yesterday’s guestbook. I got many great links and heard from people I’d completely lost track of. And the worldwide connections are stunning, aren’t they?

Guestbook

Mandy Rentmeester van Goeije from the Netherlands has been working quietly in polymer clay for 10 years. The bonanza of supplies and guilds and classes that we in the US enjoy aren’t available in her country.

Mandy did what enterprising artists around the world are doing. She created a web presence, joined an online guild (etsy), set up shop, uploaded some pictures to a photo site and began making connections. Read her story and see what she’s accomplished.

It’s so gratifying to see those worldwide connections grow that I decided to experiment with a little piece of new software today. Share a picture of your work let’s see what happens.

Swimming Pool Palette


Polymer clay extrusions are so much fun the first few times you do them. Soon, however, the shapes and color combinations that seemed so magical become boring. It takes a keen and curious mind to push the technique into something fun again.

These extrusions from Germany’s Kerstin Rupprecht reignited my interest. Kerstin’s friend, Ulrike, supplied the tip and says that Kerstin fills the clay gun with varying tints of translucent blues interspersed with thin slices of white. Perhaps it’s her swimming pool colors on this hot summer day that make me ready to dive into extrusions again.

Ikebana

Bead Dreams winner, Pennsylvania’s Marlee Page, carved her winning entry, Ikebana 2, from a faux bone mixture of polymer clay formed over a wood and wire armature. This functional hair ornament can be displayed in the stand when it’s not being worn.

We spotted a similar dual functionality of jewelry/sculpture last week in the Ford/Forlano exhibit.

PMC/polymer artist Robert Dancik markets his own version of Fauxbone®. His gallery of Faux Bone pieces and Marlee’s winning entry may move you in a new direction this week.

Ultra Fun

With an impeccable palette Bettina Welker takes the simplest polymer clay techniques (like this single slab of pattern looped over to form a pendant) and turns them into very appealing pieces. Her graphic arts background shines through her work.

Her Ultra Light beads become ultra fashionable orbs glued onto memory wire.

While Bettina’s site is nicely designed and inviting, it’s her Flickr site that best showcases her art. And as a bonus, you get a glimpse of her studio setup. Have an ultra fun weekend.

Energy and mystery


Our cub reporter/photographer at Bead and Button, Barbara Young, found the polymer clay works of Barbara McGuire intriguing and I’m sure you’ll agree.

Are they ancient or modern? McGuire has a loose, freeform approach to the clay that combines timeless energy with a dollop of mystery. I forget about technique and focus my attention on the art of the clay. Her class page listings leave me wanting to head south to Georgia.

Jewelry as Art

Ford/Forlano’s polymer clay show in a local gallery exhibited pieces with a painterly quality. I particularly enjoyed the way the show was displayed on a narrow strip of black running horizontally at eye level across a long span of white wall. Their brooches were displayed at intervals on the black band (see the picture).

Ford and Forlano also included a couple of larger sculptures in the show. The one at the left above is about 16 inches tall and one of the ovals (the large one) is a wearable pin that is held onto the sculpture magnetically. Pier Voulkos was the first polymer artist that I know of who integrated her jewelry into larger sculpture so that the pieces could either be worn or viewed as sculpture. A clever trick and most effective in this impressive show.

Ford/Forlano’s work is represented in the current show at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston called, "Jewelry by Artists: The Daphne Farago Collection." Take a look at the slideshow of these wearable works of art.