Living with polymer

Alev Gozonar renovates with polymer in the kitchen on PolymerClayDaily.com

Turkey’s Alev Gozonar moved from Istanbul to Ayvyalik, a small historic village 270 miles south. As part of the makeover of her old stone house, Alev added a polymer backsplash in the kitchen.

She covered vertical 10″ ceramic tiles with baked polymer veneers in an assortment of bargello-like patterns. She glued the baked veneers onto the tiles with superglue.

Integrating polymer into your home decor adds your very personal touch – plus it’s inexpensive. Got a backsplash that’s in need of an update? Think polymer.

See more on her Instagram and Facebook and follow her renovations there.

Minimalist scraps

Seattle’s Susan Hyde’s Madonnas (7″ x 3″) aren’t technically from scrap but her textiles are stunningly vibrant and she reconfigures her canes in a variety of ways to extend their usefulness. She mixes and matches endlessly and drapes slices of her fabrics so that they become ethnic dress on this compelling symbol of motherhood.

Her method is a variation on a theme that Kathy Amt taught us years ago and in Susan’s hands, it still looks fresh and contemporary.

Susan’s online presence is on Facebook and her site. She was scheduled to demo her skills at Collective Visions Gallery next weekend but was sidelined with a broken arm this week. Get well fast wishes to Susan.

Every last scrap

The king of scrap and the queen of color collaborate with hearts on PolymerClayDaily

Of course, we couldn’t get through scrap week without Louisville’s Ron Lehocky who continues his march to 50,000 hearts for the Kids Center. Ron receives polymer scrap from around the world, turning tail ends and discarded projects into what will be a half million dollar benefit. See him on Instagram and Facebook.

Here you can see how Ron reconfigured Lindly Haunani’s blended cane ends (top left of photo) turning them into bargello-like veneers that he learned using exciting new methods from Lindly’s Sagacious Sumptuous Color class.

Lindly will help Sue Sutherland and Ellen Prophater at the grand opening of their new Creative Journey Studios in Milton, GA this weekend. Lindly will have a trunk show at the gallery’s opening. She’ll also be teaching the first class in the new facility.

Ron’s hearts will also be available at the opening. You’re invited!

Scrappy chutzpah

To Carol Beal (BeadUnsupervised) there is no such thing as scrap. She follows some powerful inner radar to assemble this Big Bead Bracelet, mixing media and colors, precious and preposterous for a vibrant combination of shapes, and materials.

Her devil-may-care approach and high voltage colors require more chutzpah than most of us can muster which makes her unsupervised mashup exciting.

Look closely and you’ll see some polymer scrap beads — a little Stroppel cane, a bit of Barenholtz textile treatment. Wouldn’t it be fun to dive head first into a project like Carol does? On Flickr, her site, and Etsy.

No-fail scraps

Silvia Bordin makes a summery Stroppel with leftovers on PolymerClayDaily.com

Italy’s Silvia Bordin flips a Stroppel cane into summer mode by using white as her color for the solid layer. If you look through her Flickr photos you’ll see any number of variations on Alice Stroppel’s theme.

Has it really been seven years since we started tracking the Stroppel effect?

Maybe June will begin with scrap week since I’m currently fixated on playful pieces from discarded patterns. Because scraps are so disposable, working with them reduces the pressure to make a masterpiece.

And when you’re not so driven to make the perfect piece a spontaneous piece sometimes jumps out.

So we start the week with unpretentious scraps, formed with a cutter and strung on hemp. Thanks for teaching us not to take things so seriously, Silvia and Alice. Ease into the week with some no-fail scrap time.

A reef at your fingertips

Toni Ransfield gives us calm smiles with her coral reef pen blanks on PolymerClayDaily.com

Just looking at this coral reef pen blank from Alabama’s Toni Ransfield will drop your blood pressure and bring a Friday smile to your face. Watch her rotate the design on her Instagram.

Toni calls it, “My favorite fish blank to date. I added coral this time. I think the coral is what made it look so awesome!”

Since this tube is meant for a longer (Zen model) pen, Toni was able to include coral and layer more fish swimming under your fingertips. See more on her ClayPenBlanks site and Facebook.

Keep your smile all weekend by joining us over at StudioMojo.org

Smile for hairy pods

Sarah Shriver's inscrutable pods elicit smiles on PolymerClayDaily.com

Why do Sarah Shriver’s new Hairy Pods (at another point she calls them rubber chickens) make us smile? Those bushy tops look unmanageable. Does one wear the pods or are they simply meant to delight the eye? The colors and patterns are tribal and muted yet unquestionably hers.

Don’t you imagine that Sarah has an explanation and joke to accompany these smile-eliciting objects? Sometimes it’s just as well that we don’t understand a piece. Better to just smile and enjoy their beauty.

Get more clues about what Sarah’s thinking on her Instagram.

On the road polymer

Kim Arden creates smiles and pendants on the road on PolymerClayDaily.com

Let’s keep the smiles going with these hot, bright colors from Ohio’s Kimberley Arden.

“Every single one of the canes used on these pendants was made while we were at our camper this past week! I am absolutely in LOVE with the bright colors and can’t wait to finish them! They are so happy!” she says.

She’s on the road all summer and I just figured out that her “Dashboard Studio” is called that because she shoots photos on the dashboard of her vehicle.

The new fabric panels Kim sewed to match her jewelry give her booth a very cohesive and put-together look. In her bright booth, she always has a smile on her face and it’s infectious.

Join her on the road on Facebook and her site.

Smile-worthy polymer

Smile-worthy polymer from France’s Caroline Cornic Isola (Klick-art) feels awfully good.

Stripes, dots, a big mug and swinging legs. And what about those orange ears and mean teeth on her Happy Wolf?Caroline knows just how to tickle our fancy and start the week with a smile. Follow her on Facebook and shop on Etsy.

Caroline is an illustrator and comic artist who translates her art perfectly to polymer. What do you draw that could be translated?

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