Polymer Clay Daily

Sharing and inspiring

Jeff Dever and others inspire and share us in difficult times. on PolymerClayDaily.com

Maryland’s Jeffrey Lloyd Dever presents his Passage Obscura. Hanging from a long pin back, reminiscent of a medal hung on a presentation ribbon, this single round medallion has backfilled surface detailing,

For Jeff, the piece serves witness to the forces at work in a chaotic world, to obscure vision and all too often smother hope.

Two bright rays of hope come from the tutorials that educate and distract us. Click through France’s Sonya Girodon’s textures here and Utah’s Jana Roberts Benzon faux alcohol inks here. They share their inspiration free for all during tough times.

Stay strong!

Tubular trends

Mona Ferrar stacks up an arty pile of embellished tubes on PolymerClayDaily.com

Spain’s Mons Ferrer (Bisuteria Creativa – Fi-Mons) brought tubes home from a class with Lucy Struncova. She’s been making and arranging them into pendants ever since.

With an assortment of diameters, lengths, colors, and patterns, they stack up into geometric tubular art to wear.

Summer pistachio, slate, lilac, salmon

Angela Garrod takes a calm, subtle approach to summer on PolymerClayDaily.com

The UK’s Angela Garrod gears up for summer with these Sugar in the Air necklaces.

“Simplicity in itself for summer,” she says. Each necklace is 16″ long in pistachio and slate and lilac and salmon.

Similar streaks of white unite the colors and the soft summer vibe.

The sizes aren’t perfectly alike which emphasizes its handmade aura. We’re comforted by Angela’s sedated colors. No drama, no in-your-face, look-at-me attitude. Good for this Friday, right?

We’ll be looking at Conscious Creating and Creative Composting in polymer on StudioMojo this week. Things shifted in our lives this week. We’re connected. We know we have to work together. Once we get past the anxiety and panic, we can see the upside of this difficult time. 

Zen blends

Jenny Sorensen calms us with her mini-blends on PolymerClayDaily

As anxiety rose steadily today, I looked for something, anything that would calm me. I found it in the blends of Colorado’s Jennifer Sorensen (WishingWellWorkshop).

Look at the lovely blends Jenny makes with the smallest bits of clay. Gorgeous!

While sculpture confounds me and fantasy eludes me, color speaks loud and clear. Jenny’s colors meld into each other in a most soothing way. I hope they make you feel better too.

There’s a fly in my clay

Edith Fischer Katz captures a fly on PolymerClayDaily.com

Forgive the pun. It was just too easy to smile and wince and admire this ambitious and detailed cane from Israel’s Edith Fischer Katz.

On her Instagram, she has compiled several in-process shots that document how she built the components for this large complex cane.

Edith uses these components in sculptures that are often edgy and alarming. See how she used an earlier crow cane here. Who knows what plans she’s hatching for the fly?

Semi-precious polymer

Pennsylvania’s Genevieve Williamson considers polymer a semi-precious material in her Redeemed show of all-recycled jewelry in Ohio. “Plastic has been vilified,” she says. “It’s not the material that’s the problem, it’s our one-use, throwaway attitude toward plastic that has caused the problem.”

Genevieve makes a case that could change your whole approach. She gives us new talking points that elevate our art in this conversation recorded for last week’s StudioMojo.

Signs of spring

Shannon Tabor's spring Nests predict a vibrant spring on PolymerClayDaily.com

We look at polymer for signs of spring and if South Carolina’s Shannon Tabor (Charleston Clay Jewelry) is any indication, the season will be bright and energetic.

Her Nest earrings are uninhibited and unafraid coils of polymer decorated with splashes of color. On her Instagram, you’ll see polka dots as well.

She makes them into studs or, for the bolder customer, studs with big dangles. They are selling briskly, according to Shannon. Are you ready for a big, bold spring?

Preserving a world

Celine Roumagnac captures her world on PolymerClayDaily.com

Like France’s Celine Roumagnac (untempspourrever), I got lost in my own world and nearly forgot to post some Friday fun.

Celine captures a charming hilly, green world of flowers, trees, and houses. She places it under a glass dome so that nothing ever changes. Idyllic!

I videotaped my chat with Genevieve Williamson and was so busy editing that I got lost in the world of StudioMojo which drops into your email every Saturday. Join us!

Polymer panache

Zazu does a simple cane with style on PolymerClayDaily.com
Zazu does a simple cane with style on PolymerClayDaily.com

Spain’s ZaZu shares her basic cane in a 15-second tutorial that’s hard to resist.

Zazu does a simple cane with style on PolymerClayDaily.com

Her design looks like stitching and she turns it into all sorts of trendy geometrically shaped earrings and pendants in a wide variety of colors.

While the designs aren’t complex, they’re rich with panache and style. Here’s ZaZu on Facebook.

Leather flowers

Olga Kadokhova explores Fimo leather clay for flowers on PolymerClayDaily.com

How are some of the new clays being used?

Here Olga Kadokhova puts Fimo’s leather effect clay through its paces. The texture is softer and the clay is flexible and holds up for her thin spidery petals.

I don’t know where Olga is from or much about her. Fill me in if you know more.

For those of us who are timid about testing and trying new products, it’s instructive to watch others explore.