Polymer Clay Daily

More than one way to Skinner…

What is a "Skinny Skinner" you ask? Lots of polymer artists attribute this variation on the Skinner blend to Dorothy Greynolds (shown here at a 2004 Columbus, Ohio workshop). Instead of the typical triangle blends, narrow rectangular bands of color totalling the width of the pasta rollers are laid side-by-side (look on the table in the picture).

Folding and rolling them through the pasta machine gives you a marvelous blend. In Santa Fe, Lindly and Maggie showed us how to refine and control this blend further. One trick is to keep the very light and very dark bands quite narrow, allowing stronger colors to prevail.

Back from Santa Fe
Light, dark and middle tone Skinny Skinners from Lindly’s palette.

A few polymer friends spent a week in Santa Fe being guinea pigs for color theorists Lindly Haunani and Maggie Maggio. Be prepared to learn heaps in their upcoming workshops.

We began with collages of our favorite colors and vaulted into color mixing, limiting ourselves to just three colors plus black and white. We then careened through value and contrast and hue and composition. We "skinny skinnered", created color relationships and considered simultaneity. All of this we did in a lovely Santa Fe setting.

It may take me a while to process and pass it on to you in bits and pieces. Check back tomorrow.

Inspiring Artist: Sean Samoheyl

Sean’s medium is quite literally, anything he can get his hands on — soap, straw, old bicycle parts — and his subject matter is equally eclectic. A true self-taught/outsider/visionary artist, art is his way of life. This featured piece is made of carved wood, house paint, dipped in rubber.

Although Sean lives a rural lifestyle on a commune in Virginia, his work is now sold at the museum shop of Baltimore’s American Visionary Museum, as well as websites and other venues.

To view his ever-expanding body of work, now propelled into the digital age, (*ahem* at the nudging of his friends) visit seansamoheyl.com

Away from My Desk

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The webmistress is on vacation in New Mexico, so guest-posting this week will be her daughter, who figures that her mother has embarrassed her enough on the web, now it’s time to take revenge.

She currently lives in NYC, land of billboards and irony, as documented here by Wouter Deruytter.
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Library of Tips

Usually the Carol Duval show aims at the polymer clay beginner and hence the tips are too elementary to be interesting. Sometimes you find something simple and elegant, however. Browse through the list of "how-to’s" in the HGTV library. Their online tips are usually well photographed and documented (click on the tip photos for larger versions).

Donna Kato’s tips are far and away the best. Donna relies on her hands and her design skill rather than gadgets. And Donna’s genius comes from her ability to synthesize a technique, boil it down to its simplest steps. Here are some of my favorites.

Tip 1 | Tip 2 | Tip 3 (you’ll never find a simpler ikat technique).

Donna has a new segment coming up November 4.

Future Me

Since I’m completely grown and my parents are gone, there’s no one to nag me, coax me and support me except myself. Oh yes, I have a husband and children but those are different sorts of relationships.

Sometimes I need someone who understands me on a really basic level, who is in tune with my creative urges and artistic temperament. Who knows better what I need than me?

Hence I was glad to stumble upon this "Future Me" link which allows me to send emails to my future self. "Remember, you said you wanted to have this done by today," is a great way to keep myself on track. Today I can send the email to myself and it will be delivered when I need that prodding in another month.

There are other "to do" lists and reminder programs but none quite as clever (and free) as this. Take a look. (The heart is by Karyn Kozak.)

Who knew?

It tickled me to come across this site about polymer clay lures. Who knew? I acquired a strange looking neon-colored lure at the national retreat a few years ago. I thought it was primitive and interesting…sorry that I’ve forgotten the artist’s name. I never dreamed that it was a serious instrument.

My fishing-freak father-in-law spied the lure and loved it, begged for it for Christmas. I obliged.

You never know what this polymer clay stuff can be used for. Keep an open mind. The lure site looks a bit out of date, however.

It’s that time of year

The trees have hardly lost their leaves here in Ohio and we’re already gearing up for Christmas. Polymer artists like Sharon Sahl hold their annual sales this time of year. Sharon, like so many other fine artists, has no website and rarely enters juried shows. Instead she holds one open house and exhibits at three Ohio shows in October and November. Her works are collected and sought after. I’ll feature more of her works in the coming months. Her craftsmanship and attention to detail are remarkable.

If you know of other artists who, like Sharon, prefer to work out of the mainstream and the glare of the internet, let me know. They deserve some recognition and I’d like to give it to them.