Take a look at the fall Artful Home catalog for a shot of inspiration. Molly Thomas, Susan Kinzig, Caryn Kinzig, Ford/Forlano and Bonnie Bishoff and J.M. Syron have polymer clay works in the catalog for sale. The publication is lovely to look at and free for the asking. The link came to us from Judy Kuskin.
Julia Sober recycles. From automotive fuses to computer parts, Julia sees beauty and utility in the most mundane materials and incorporates them into her polymer clay work.
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Scrapbooking staples become bails. Grommets embellish bead holes. Julia's shapes are as playful and unexpected as her hardware. Pieces move. Messages appear and disappear.
Combining her talent for color with her ability to assemble Julia Sober comes up with some exciting and winning combinations (including her "best of show" in the recent NPCG show).
Cynthia Toops and Dan Adams have launched a site about their works. It shows only a smattering of their works and if you drag the images to your machine and view them, you'll get some sense of the scale of Cynthia's micromosaics. It's difficult to imagine working so small. The image at the left is ring-size. Click on it to view the larger-than-life version.
Thanks to Judy Kuskin who discovered the site and passed the link along.
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Milwaukee's Debra DeWolff started out as a fiber artist, adding polymer to her repertoire a few years back. At Ravensdale she showed these very popular bracelets that combine felt and polymer clay beads. The felt beads are large and the colors bright…definitely diva attire.
Debra says that her web site will soon be in the works. In the meanwhile, you'll have to settle for these pictures or contact her for more information.
Joan Tayler, a Vancouver, B.C. artist, creates these wonderful small birds which she had on display at Ravensdale. She placed the raven at the center of this commissioned piece in tribute to the event. I'd call these lovely little creatures by their proper name, fetis_es, but you would not believe how much spam results from a word like that.
Joan's work captures the flavor of the northwest and her birds and fish are beautifully rendered. Visit Joan's website for more pictures and info.
Gloria Askin was wearing these earrings at Ravensdale. I shamelessly tracked her down for a picture. She has some new items on her site for you to enjoy as well (click "next" in her site's gallery).
It seems fitting that we feature these Chihuly-inspired beads as we leave the American northwest, home of many glass innovations. Gloria's polymer clay versions are thin, colorful, lightweight…and not nearly as breakable.
The first person I ran into at Ravensdale was Nan Roche (see her knot necklace here). Since it was late in the evening, I only took a few pictures and headed for the hotel.
Today I've run through two sets of camera batteries and there's more ahead. We've got plenty to look at for the next few weeks. The atmosphere is quieter and more professional than I recall at earlier conferences. Perhaps at year 10, Ravensdale has matured and we've started taking our art more seriously. The work certainly reflects that.
How nice to put faces with the web names I've been talking about for the past year. Stay tuned.
I'm deep in vacation mode, relaxing and breathing in the mountain air. This has had an adverse effect on my ability to think about polymer and compose sentences.
Tomorrow I'll be shopping in some funky areas of Victoria which will no doubt get my juices flowing again. Until then, talk amongst yourselves. Check back tomorrow.
Usually I stay away from project books but "Clay Techniques to Dye For" is a treat, successfully combining artistry with how-to's.
The authors (Judy Belcher, Leslie Blackford, Kim Cavender, Donna Kato and Debbie Tlach) cleverly demonstrate how to use a number of Ranger products and Kato Clay in creative and fun ways.
It may take a while for the book to appear in your area. Check with the publisher (www.d-originals.com) or polkadotcreations.com to find a copy online. The earrings at right are a great new design from Judy Belcher.
My intentions were good but the first day of vacation was just too much fun and too beautiful to pull out the laptop. As proof I'm offering this morning's picture of me and two of my sisters hiking in Whistler, British Columbia. You can see the family resemblance in our matching squints. Tomorrow rain is called for and I'll have news for you.
For those of you whose coffee got cold waiting for this morning's post, so sorry.
