Polymer Clay Daily

Envy

So that's what envy looks like! Visit Chicago sculptor Jill Willich's site to view all sorts of faeries, goblins and polymer clay sculpture.

You won't want to miss the spoon doll tutorials…scroll way down the page for the complete effect. Jill makes the process look easy (the mark of a professional) and tempting to try.

This week's illustrators and sculptors remind us that polymer clay isn't just for jewelry and purses and frames. There are many creatures waiting to emerge from the clay.

Thanks to Alisa for the link!

Bliss Out

It's hump day….bliss out by taking a look at French illustrator, Sylvie Perrin who uses polymer clay to make fresh, witty scenes.

It's fun to compare cultures reflected in the Japanese sites from the post a few days ago to the French today to New York's Marcia Rocha (well actually, she's from Brazil) from a few months back.

The French site of illustrator Sylvie Perrin (aka Queen of Clay) shows characters and scenes that come alive with humor and a finely honed craft.

The tip comes from Véronique H. whose site is also a treat.

If you're challenging yourself to look beyond an altoids box, a votive or a frame to cover with polymer clay, take a look at this site for ideas. 

Transfers

East Vancouver photographer June Hunter transfers her closeups of flowers to polymer clay with stunning results. Hunter's close-ups are so extreme that flowers become dramatic abstracts. She's been experimenting with transfers to a variety of media – tiles, polymer, shell, fabric.

Be sure to look at the .pdf file of her pendants and read the stories of the things she notices "on the way to the compost." This reminds us to be vigilant and look closely at the beauty around us.

Like a breath of fresh air, these inspirations will start your week off right…thanks to Susan Rose's tip.

Dogs

I guess it's the week for unusual treatments. Susan Waddington paints dogs onto polymer bases and fashions them into pins and pendants. With so many dog afficianados and Susan's skill, I'm sure she does a brisk business.

I'm remembering repeating over and over to customers, "It's not painted, it's a polymer cane." And now Susan comes along and confuses the issue…by golly, it IS painted.

Thanks to Merrie60@aol.com for the link. How did it get to be Friday? Have a great weekend.

Anime

There's a big contingent of artists in Japan who are using polymer clay for anime-like characters. The work is finely crafted and very cartoon-like. The whole movement is baffling to my very western mind and I'd love for someone to explain it more fully. It was Kiwis Belgium site that led me to Japan. Visit these sites and prepare to be intrigued. 

Fireworks


This work of Ruth Anne and Michael Grove, a husband and wife collaborative team from California, reminds me of fireworks. Unfortunately they've left the business, sold their fabulous equipment and moved on to other pursuits.

You can still see their work in the 1995 book entitled "Five Artists-Five Directions" and we are indebted to Ruth Anne and Michael for many of the ideas in vogue today. Their work is also in the permanent collection of the Cooper-Hewitt Museum.

Have a Happy Fourth!

Bouquets

Bouquets to all of you for your support this week. Yes, I got the book (and cancelled my online order) and yes, my ear is healing and I'm feeling fine. Thanks for all your comments and good wishes.

The bouquets come from Florida artists you won't find in many books. Nancy Bundy and Bob Paris have been working at polymer clay for years but driving their motor home from show to show every summer hasn't left them much time for publishing.

Now that they're paring down to two shows a year, Nancy's wonderful flower collages have taken on more dimension and Bob is developing his considerable talents in the wheeling and dealing arts. Bob's a great sport and you shouldn't miss the pictures of him reducing an 18-pound cane (click on the "next" button).

Have a wonderful weekend. Fireworks remind me of the works of Grove and Grove. I'll dig out those pieces for Monday. Stay tuned.

More McCaw

Wow…lots of comments yesterday. Everyone has the book but me! That drives me crazy because I thought I was being so diligent by ordering it early in December. You all tell me that this often happens with Amazon. Who knew?

Since I'm in a rush to get to the bookstore, I'll leave you with a homegrown Sandra McCaw demo. She may kill me for publishing these 10-year-old pictures but they tickle me. I took the photos at an early Shrinemont conference. Note that the gradation was done in a "pre-Skinner" way (see the individually wrapped colors in the next-to-the-last picture). Remember how we used to blend the color for each layer separately? Bless you, Judith Skinner.

The demo shows three blocks of graduated colors. Sandra then began by slicing and swapping slices between the blocks. She reduced and recombined the resulting blocks in various ways. I hope you get the idea. And I hope I'm not in too much trouble with cover-girl Sandra. She's in the middle of a move right now so perhaps she'll miss today's post. I'm off to the bookstore.