Polymer Clay Daily

Beautiful to Crunch

I spent a good bit of time over the weekend browsing through the online photo sites, flickr and pbase and such. After slogging through a ton of typical polymer work, I happened on some fresh foreign designs.

I ran a young French designer’s site through Altavista Babelfish for translation. What a hoot that was. Many of Magali Thiébaud’s pieces look like candies. The idiom translations are very rough.

"My jewels point out candies, the chocolate, the liquorice and of other sugar refineries. To carry a Croquezmoicreation jewel is to be beautiful to crunch."

Late at night with a glass of wine it’s a surreal experience. I found some interesting Portugese things too. Nothing like other cultures to shake you out of your own design rut and widen your horizons.

I’ve written to Magali Thiébaud to get details about her work but there’s no response yet. Visit Croquezmoicreation.com.

Her Flickr albums contain her most interesting work. Be warned, it’s easy to get lost in the maze of these monster sites and there’s a lot of stuff to wade through. Let me show you the way. Try this page.

Cleaning out…looking ahead

It felt good to take a whole box of unused materials to the guild’s tag sale. End of year cleanout to a good cause. Next year I resolve not to buy the same things over again…glitters and paints and colors that don’t suit me but I might use some day.

I dumped some unsuccessful projects into the trash as well. I remember Kathy Amt telling a class that it was good to empty your studio of discarded projects. These projects nag you and induce guilt. It’s good to get rid of them. Her only rule is that you must know why the project failed before you toss it.

I learn from others’ fine work and I’ve been finding it in the most unlikely places….like this bracelet by Donna Kato that was photographed by Florida’s Nancy Welsh at a workshop earlier this year. Leaf through Nancy’s album of pictures.

Pretty in Pink

Primitive and pretty. Primitive and pink. Ronna Weltman has taken a new tack. (Her new photos might not have gotten posted on her site yet.) This light delicate look is a nice departure from the heavier designs we’re used to in polymer work.

I guess I’m already in the mood for spring.

Judy Belcher’s new book arrived from Amazon yesterday. I’ll feature a few things to entice you in the coming days. It’s filled with pictures that will inspire you. I’m sure the text is informative too but like most of you, I’m hung up on the photos.

Seasonally Speaking

Jack Schwend of Oxford, Alabama began making these elves when he was in the service stationed in Germany and happened across some polymer clay in a hardware store. He bakes his creations a total of 20 times and gives them an incredible high-gloss finish by dipping them at least seven times in a water-based floor sealant.

His site indicates that he's done for the season but you'll want to take a look at his very precise and detailed work. For best viewing, turn the music off.

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Emerging Artist

We stumbled upon this new site…or rather, he stumbled on us.

SL Savarick was a recent emerging artist at Gwen Gibson’s Emerging Artist Gallery and will be teaching at Ravensdale (August 6-12) this summer. He works in his Los Angeles studio creating inro, minaudiere, art purses and jewelry. Be sure to take a look at his online gallery.

FYI, there’s not a lot of Ravensdale information posted online yet. They’ve got a discussion site to peruse if you’re so inclined but otherwise, don’t expect much publicity until February.

OK, I had to look it up. min·au·dière
Pronunciation (mn-dyâr) n. pl. min·au·dières (-dyârz, -dyâr)

A small ornamental case for a woman’s cosmetics, jewelry, or personal items that is often carried as a handbag. [French, from feminine of minaudier, affected, smirking, from minauder, to simper, smirk, from mine, appearance, countenance, from Old French, probably from Breton min, muzzle.]

Young Things


IRK jewelry is vintage German glass but doesn’t it look like polymer? See more of it at greengrass design.

I surf the young NY designers looking for what’s next in jewelry and accessories. I can’t say that I understand or appreciate what these youngsters are making and buying but I know it’s important to look and get a sense of where things are headed.

Missed my return trip to Winterfair. Rescheduled it for tomorrow.

The Season’s Bounty

Our Winterfair had only three polymer exhibitors, down a couple from last year. Today I shopped a bit, tomorrow I go back with a camera and get serious.

I limit myself to shopping on one day and devote another to photographing work, examining displays and noting salesmanship, ambience, etc. In my experience, shopping and studying can’t be done at the same time. The ornaments here are again from Columbus’ Sharon Sahl.

Hyde out of hiding

Seattle’s Susan Hyde makes the most wonderful polymer fabrics to dress her sassy blondes. Susan is one of those polymer artists who lurks in the background. She’s rarely in shows and sells only locally. You’ll see her work in many books, however.

I’ll hound her to get better pictures so that you can witness the colorful detail in her work.

Perhaps when she retires from her day job in the spring we can coax her into showing us more. In the meanwhile, you’ll have to email her to get in touch.