Wednesday could use some seasonal glitter and British Columbia’s Tina Holden (Beadcomber) provides it with her colorful sparkling leaves. Looks like metal leaf, right?
Usually, she sticks to beach themes that reflect the world around her. But in the fall the leaves put on quite a color show that Tina takes up a notch with inks and glitz.
Pennsylvania’s Genevieve Williamson shows the chunky polymer hoops on her work table.
Subtle texturing on the polymer adds intrigue. The variety of shapes and muted colors make it hard to choose a favorite. Bending the wires to hang just right would be challenging. Genevieve was trained as a metalsmith so she jumps right in.
Look at them on Instagram. They’ll be in her Etsy shop soon.
Germany’s Vera Kleist Thom twirls extruded strings around a ball of clay and carves (or maybe she just textures) the surfaces so that they look woven. The result is a necklace with a thermal waffle weave accentuated by its muted winter colors.
Vera has perfected her woven methods and I’m only guessing about how she makes it happen. Go to her Flickr page to study how she applies similar strategies to vessels, disks, and other beads.
As the season changes, Vera shows us how to shift our palettes and our wardrobes.
UK’s Lizzie Campbell (Clay Disarray) created what most of us have thought about, a clay version of a Gustav Klimpt painting.
His glittering patterns and his geometrics are perfect for our medium. Lizzie brings off her complex painting in style.
Enjoy a closer look on Instagram (lots of in-process shots) and see her other polymer illustrations on her site. She’ll put this one on her Etsy site soon.
Join us on StudioMojo this weekend where we’ll find out where else polymer has crept into the culture. It’s everywhere!
Sometimes a neat, tidy, geometric polymer pendant hits the spot.
Spain’s Zazu Polymer Clay Jewelry convinces us that everything is under control when the news and the weather tell us anything but that.
If you need safety and predictability, see how Murcia Aranzazu (Zazu) creates sleek, bright, controlled jewelry on her website, Facebook and Instagram. Her Pinterest page lets you roam around in her inspirations.
This cosmic-looking mokume gane brooch from Moscow’s Juliya Laukhina stopped me in my tracks. Turns out, a while ago Juliya’s home caught fire and she and her family moved to another place. She’s finally feeling settled and safe.
“The tragic mood has already passed, everything will be fine. I will sculpt here, but it takes time while we settle down. A beautiful night like this I wish to all. Sculpt, create, create! It is not so important that others buy or not, appreciate or not, it is important for the tranquility of the soul to create something,” she says.
Juliya’s Instagram and Etsy are full of pieces that reflect her gratitude and tranquility.
New York’s Nicole Johnson (MealyMonsters) is coming up on her favorite time of year. Her witches have taken up residence in their teacups. The pumpkin heads are everywhere on her Instagram
Note new details like dripping noses on her popular witches. Where will the monsters show up in your studio? In the spoons perhaps?
Maryland’s Lindly Haunani debuted her new class Telling Your Color Story: Harmonious Color Schemes at Creative Journey Studio’s new facility in Georgia over the weekend.
Students’ undulating patterns wave you gently into the week. Lindly taught techniques for a series of veneers that serve as fabric for polymer Half Square quilts.
This design is new and mouthwatering. You can see more class work on Lindly’s Facebook and on Creative Journey’s site
Oklahoma’s Katie Way made stripes in her own distinctive palette using Carol Blackburn’s clever instructions. By cutting slim slices and incrementally jogging their positions, Katie re-assembled her stripes into a veneer that looks like a miniature afghan. It could provide warmth in some dollhouse this winter.
The result is so alluring she probably hates to cut it to make her holiday jewelry line. Go to Katie’s Instagram to see what her veneer becomes.
Over at StudioMojo this weekend, I’m taking a deep breath and revealing the subject of a new book I’m writing. I won’t be alone. There are several other polymer artists who are writing this fall. Join us to read about the bumper crop of books and the trends that have started a buzz.
More often these days polymer artists are holding designs up to the light to see what new effects we can create.
Here Brisbane, AU’s Lyne Tilt (lynetiltart_lyneartdesigns)holds a little experiment up to the window. “Experimenting! This little piece makes me so happy! Joy comes from the journey,” she says.
First, she created small canes with translucent centers and mounted thin slices of those canes on another translucent background layer to create earrings. See her Instagram for the in-progress shots.
