Time for eggs
Could this be the year that we actually get a polymer-covered egg made? No April-fooling!
Germany’s Kerstin Rupprecht has already filled her basket. Take a look at them on Instagram.
Curved and pinched beads with color and texture
Look closely at this necklace from Kansas’ Carol Beal (BeadUnsupervised) to understand the multi-colored, bubbly, bumpy surface of her beads.
Her simple shapes turn out to have a mysterious tactile quality. Low fire enamels on polymer? Textured paint? Who knows? They put me in mind of a PCD post and tutorial about chunky heishi beads by Marina Rios.
The rounded beads and pinched spacers give Carol’s necklace an appealing cohesiveness.
Tomorrow’s StudioMojo will include an interview with Lindly Haunani about how she teaches and about what she learned from her day-long session with the inmates at the Ohio Reformatory for Women. Sign up at StudioMojo.org to join us.
A bird in the hand
Russia’s Anna Oriana quickly creates a bright beautiful bird on Instagram.
Anna’s videos of miniatures are wildly popular and she shows impressive skill in her tiny artworks and her YouTube tutorials. For a quick shot of inspiration and color, try her tutorials.
Pin up polymer
As one reader commented, Maine’s Bonnie Bishoff’s pinned up work-in-progress has a little voodoo edge to it.
But mostly it’s a wonderfully smart way to figure out how a neck piece hugs the body. In what direction does your eye travel? Where do your eyes stop? What’s balanced? What’s not?
See how Bonnie has solved these riddles with the finished necklaces on her Instagram and website.
Theory meets reality
Our master class with Lindly Haunani exhilarated us to exhaustion. She wraps color theory and head-slapping tricks and her years of experience into a two-day blitz of information and exercises.
This piece from Ohio’s Sue Wartell is a lovely one of many examples created by students in the last couple hours of class. But more importantly, we understood the how and why of what we were doing. It’s no wonder that many students in the class were back for a second time. Learning from a polymer master is a heady experience.
My poor brain needs a well-earned rest.
Mixing spring in your hands
UK’s Clare Lloyd mixes up spring colors that make us breathe in lilacs and peonies, closing our eyes to exhale.
One of the true pleasures of polymer is the ability to create spring right in your hands. Color mixing is a particularly satisfying studio chore this weekend.
Speaking of studio chores, our class will be mixing colors galore with Lindly Haunani. What a week it was for StudioMojo research. I can’t believe how many spring goodies I found. Come on over and celebrate spring with us.
Blooming spring
How do I know spring has sprung? There are delicious colors all over including this pod from Australia’s Tracy Feldwick (Mimosa Muse on IG and Twitter)
But wait, March isn’t Spring in Australia! Ah, this was posted several months ago. That explains.
She mixes patterns inside and out. Her stamen are gaining color as they grow. Spectacular.
Spring shapes and colors
Thinking of spring? This pendant from Italy’s Cecilia Leonini (ImpastArte) says it all – fresh colors, delicate lines, light flowery shapes. Here she is on Instagram.
Cecilia is teaching her Comic and Chopped techniques at an April 13 workshop in Turin sponsored by Staedtler.
Her background is in illustration so drawing smooth blends and fine lines with inks on raw polymer suits her just fine and delights the rest of us.
Faux Faberge
France’s Mihaela Georgescu (LearnPolymerClay) gets you ready for Easter with her free YouTube tutorial that relies on Sutton slice steps for texture and embedded rhinestones for bling.
Is it time to dress up your Easter with some faux Faberge?
Germany’s Monika Busch (Efmoni) tells us that, ” I like to be inspired by artists like Mucha, Hundertwasser, Monet, and Klimt. The luminosity of colors and strong contrasts fascinate me.”
But you already sensed that, right?
Monika makes big hole beads and buttons, many of them a variation on the Bettina Welker cane into which Monika injects great colors that wake up your Monday.