Polymer Clay Daily

New Twist

There's nothing more fascinating to me than seeing a new twist on an old theme. And this technique by Colorado's Karen Sexton has it in spades. Here's a polymer bead based on the old paper roll-up bead (take a long skinny triangle of clay and roll it up).

What Karen's done next is to stamp the bead, flattening it somewhat. The resulting bead has wonderful shape and texture. Karen's an officer of the Denver guild but doesn't have much of a web presence. I'll badger her to get one up so that you can see more of her colorful and finely crafted works.

Additions

Here are three new sites for your viewing pleasure. Holland's Annette Duburg (her necklace is at the left) hasn't been featured here and I ran across her lovely work at Ravensdale. She also appears in the The Art of Polymer Clay book.

Michelle Petelinz recently appeared on my radar as well. She embellishes boxes and masks and mirrors with polymer clay.

Colorado's Janis Holler's site came to my attention compliments of Crystal Gourdine. Janis' career history shows a high geek factor, she's an electrical engineer with wide-ranging interests and artwork. I'm fascinated by the number of scientists, engineers and other geek-types who are attracted to polymer clay.

Nostalgic

Vermont's Barbara Lang's polymer pieces with found objects have a fascinating nostalgic quality. She uses polymer clay to form rustic findings that capture objects of all shapes. Note how an old key embedded in polymer becomes a finding in the pendant at the right.

Her fondness for faux stone techniques, stamping and photography combined with her flea market finds fill her pieces with secrets and mystery.

And be sure to check out Barbara's studio in the Vermont woods. It looks perfect.

Singing Bowls

New work by Mary Filapek and Lou Ann Townsend (aka maryandlouann) was spotted by Ronna Weltman at a recent show. This work, which they've graciously offered to share here, is a departure from their earlier pieces.

With titles like "scarab" and "singing bowls" and "celestial tones" I sense a story. The work is much more sculptural with a heavier reliance on metal.

You won't see these items on their web site yet! It's a PCDaily exclusive!

Carrotbox

I want to spend the day looking at this site but I have no time. Carrotbox is totally kewl and I hope you can luxuriate there. The author has a "ring thing" and the site contains some of the features I plan to add here in the next few months. A great big thanks to Columbus' Donna Reed, who was reviewed on the site (look at April 5) , for putting me onto this one!

Here's one from Carrotbox. I know it's resin and not polymer but it's a terrific idea. These resin "wobble" rings contain magnets. The detachable magnetic pebbles allow you to pile on whatever sizes and colours suit your mood. This "wearable toy" jewellery is the brainchild of Edinburgh's Kaz Robertson, one third of the Diverse Workshop group of designers.

Polymer Books

On Geraldine Newfry's blog, she shares the slides of her newest handmade books (scroll way down on her page). She's submitted them to Lark for inclusion in 500 Handmade Books. This one's called "Beloved" and is single sheet coptic bound with pages and covers made of polymer clay.

I loved reading through Geraldine's blog, going on virtual retreat with her then looking at all her Flickr pictures. There are so many cool artists with great stories on the web. It's a wonder I get anything done.

Thanks to Margaret Donnelly for the tip. Be sure to check out Margaret's "Sampler."

Kaleidoscopes

Sarah Shriver is directly responsible for many of the kaleidoscope cane freaks out there. Sarah makes it look disceptively easy and few artists reach her level of balance between chaos and control in their work.

As entertainment and practice for those who can't get enough of repeating patterns, I recommend you go to this site and play for a while. Have a great weekend. I'll be on vacation next week and the site will be on auto pilot with some fun posts.

Home Schooling

Can't get out to a class? Try home schooling with DVDs and videos.

Lisa at Polkadot Creations pointed us to some new polymer clay videos by Dayle Doroshow (International Inspirations in Polymer Clay – Volume 1: Provence and Volume 2:China). Take a look at the trailers in either Quicktime or Windows Media. There's a great gallery of Dayle's work on the site too (takes a moment or two to load).

And Weefolk's Maureen Carlson has put out the word that her site's been updated with a new look and updated info.

From Germany

We bumped into Bettina Welker's work back in March. Since then she's added some interesting pieces to her site. Bettina is a graphic designer and her polymer clay work is as cleverly designed and neatly executed as her web sites.

Bettina's site has an English translation (whew) and I'm just guessing that she looks after the German guild's site which is a true beauty.

Back to School

Jeff Dever's pieces are organic, brilliantly colored, flawlessly constructed and impeccably designed. At Ravensdale a container of Jeff's spit, rumored to be his secret ingredient, was auctioned off at a stunning price. I wish I'd taken his class because his students produced some great work and gained some valuable insights.

Students in the Ravensdale color classes led by Lindly Haunani and Maggie Maggio couldn't believe how quickly they had learned to replicate colors using the basic primary colors and their own special "mud." Here you see Switzerland's Nadja Fuenfsinn holding her collage in her left hand and her mirror frame covered in polymer clay in her right.

Judy Kuskin's students were so proud of the metal work and polymer studies tried in her class that they wore their creations the entire week.

A class from a polymer clay master can stretch your talents and take your skill level to new heights. Get back to school this fall.