Concepts that ricochet

Galka Vasina cleverly combines popular designs on PolymerClayDaily

Russia’s Galka Vasina is playing here. She’s swapping beautiful components to see which ones look best together. They all work in my book.

From what I can glean from the translation, Galka was inspired by Tanya Mayorova. The commenters seemed to be lamenting what’s happening on VK, their version of Etsy.

To me these cutouts and textured components look like Sona Grigoryan meets Donna Greenberg meets Henri Matisse with a 2020 twist. Lots of artists contribute along the way.

I’ll happily jump on that bandwagon. Concepts are sometimes in the air and they pick up steam as they ricochet around the world.

Memorial Day at home

Chris Baird shows gratitude for home in brooches on PolymerClayDaily

Houses, homes have appeared frequently in polymer imagery of late. These small brooches from Minnesota’s Chris Baird (BairdPlayWorks) celebrate “Gratitude for home, nature, and curiosity” according to her tag line. This series is all made of small stripes and solids with touches of gold.

Her striped birds on Facebook are charming as well.

We may be missing the parades and parties today but we can enjoy the beauty of home as we celebrate Memorial Day.

Daring dots

Debbie Crothers takes dots to a new place on PolymerClayDaily.com

Last I talked with Australia’s Debbie Crothers she was going to lay low for a while.

If you check in with her Instagram, you’ll see she’s wasted no time and is coming up with hot new ideas like crazy. “I’ll be running an eight-week course in Geraldton next term so I’ve been busy preparing workshop content,” she reports.

I particularly like this dotted “stick” necklace that shifts between positive and negative dots on narrow strips of polymer. Some are painted on, some are cut out. The colors are muted with a fashionable grungy feel.

Over at StudioMojo we’ll look at how our current situation has affected us. Some of us hunker down and others are kicked into high gear. There’s no right way, there’s only your way. Join us at StudioMojo.org

Earrings with a twist

Susan Sju twists patterns into lightweight dangles on PolymerClayDaily.com

These featherweight dangles from Macedonia’s Susan Sju stopped me in my tracks.

Don’t you love to reverse-engineer pieces? I’m not sure I understand how Susan got to this point and she has even more confounding and delightful patterns on her Facebook. Extruded blended strings laid next to each other and flattened perhaps?

Look at the displays in her Ohrid retail store and you’ll see that she’s got lots of tricks up her sleeve.

I’m trying to order a pair of these imaginative swirls from her recently-launched online store. Thanks to Sabine Spiesser for alerting me to Susan.

Flowers and flutters

Bonnie Bishoff suspends translucent curls from wire cable on PolymerClayDaily.com

I admit to having an art crush on Maine’s Bonnie Bishoff. Take a closer look at her imaginative use of stainless steel wire. She has mastered using Apoxie Sculpt as a strong base form. Her color sense is impeccable and makes my heart sing.

And now she’s laid up with a broken foot but still, she posts sumptuous earrings to her webshop. She and her husband have crafted a great life.

Here two thin translucent slivers of clay curl toward each other as they dangle from wire cable. Light as a feather.

If you need a mid-week pick-me-up, go admire the flowery and fluttery earrings in her shop.

Quirky challenge

Barbara Nalepa's quirky characters enliven a 10-day challenge on PolymerClayDaily.com

Sweden’s Barbara Nalepa was nominated by EvaMarie Törnström to take part in an ad hoc challenge for 10 days.

Barbara’s creatures have a wild and funny demeanor with an unexpected sprinkling of shimmering glitter from what may be low-fire enamel powder on polymer.

Since the challenge specifies that the artists don’t have to explain a thing, it’s hard to determine all that’s going on. Perhaps Barbara will elaborate on her quirky characters later.

More characters roam through her Facebook.

Groovy polymer

Deb Hart takes us back to peace and love on PolymerClayDaily

Texas’ Deb Hart takes polymer back to its roots with these three hippie-themed tiles.

With regular retreats canceled, Deb is using her free time to indulge her inner flower child and make some class samples for next year’s events.

On her Facebook, you can see her in-process photos as she creates an outline with a string of extruded polymer and positions the main elements. She fills in later with colors and more patterns. The peace theme feels hopeful and right.

Playful design and simulated retreat

Angela Garrod mixes textures and shapes with a delicate touch on PolymerClayDaily.com

UK’s Angela Garrod builds her long pendant with square tubes that end in birch-like round beads.

Childish Games We Played ends in a pendant that’s textured and worn with a surprising top to its shape.

Just when you think she’s finished, Angela adds a length of handmade chain. It all adds up to a refined and elegant yet playful piece. Her works are consistently well-considered and thoroughly designed in a way that makes it look effortless.

You have to visit her website to get a full view of her impeccable taste.

We translated the Virginia retreat into a Zoom meeting this week. For an hour and a half every day, we simulated the annual gathering. It was nostalgic and fun and reminded us of what we were missing. We left feeling hungry for next year. Come on over to StudioMojo to see our takeaways.

100 days of surfaces

Iris Mishly doggedly and delightfully pursues her 100-day challenge on PolymerClayDaily.com

Israel’s Iris Mishly is deep into her 100-day challenge for veneers. This one didn’t go as planned so she cut it into strips that she offset and reassembled into an even better, almost digital-looking version.

You can learn a lot from watching others’ work evolve. My 100-days are languishing at the two-week mark but that’s how things go these days and I refuse to feel apologetic.

Better to ride on Iris’ coattails and learn from her. Her collection is amazing. There’s no paint, powder, ink, or stencil she won’t try. Lovely to look at. Here’s her Etsy.

No shrinking violets

Maryanne Loveless finds hundreds of flowers in her garden on PolymerClayDaily.com

Utah’s Maryanne Loveless has been creating a garden of earrings for her 100-day challenge. No shy, shrinking violets here.

She arranges flower petal and leaf cane slices a backing shape and then adds texture, pods, and dotted details. They hang head up or down. She arranges a garden of delight from a handful of small canes.

Maryanne and her mother started long ago making salt dough creations and she carries on the tradition. Here she is on Etsy.

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