Budding vase

Phyllis Pollema Cahill's vase moves us to spring on PolymerClayDaily.com

This lily bud from Colorado’s Phyllis Pollema Cahill hints at spring. Dark veins cut through the Skinner blended green and lavender petals.

Phyllis spent years as an illustrator which helps explain her thorough planning and construction of this vase. She’s also been trying out her carving skills on this necklace from her Symmetry/Asymmetry online class with Christine Dumont and Donna Greenberg.

Phyllis carefully documents her technique and product experiments on her blog which contains lots of DIY tips and solutions.

Phyllis shows she’s ready for a new season. Watch her bloom on Facebook and Instagram.

Heartwarming hearts

Sizzling thank you hearts from Fabi Perez Ajates on PolymerClayDaily

These thin hearts in sizzling hot colors were thank you gifts from Spain’s Fabi Perez Ajates to students in her classes in the Czech Republic and France.

“I love happy colors, a song to happiness and love of life,” she says.

Look more closely at Fabi’s happy hearts on Flickr. Are your hearts ready for the holiday?

Groundhog Day

Illinois’

Linda Webb's groundhog predicts six more weeks in the studio on PolymerClayDaily.com

Linda Webb (CreeksideStudio) reminds us that February 2 is Groundhog Day here in the US. Here’s her polymer mosaic pendant of Punxsutawney Phil who predicts how long our winter will last.

Linda makes her chunky geometric mosaics look easy on Instagram. She has an eye for animal portraits. For the rest of us, a pendant like this might require six more weeks of winter. Happy Groundhog Day.

If you’d like to catch up on what’s happening in the wider world of polymer, come on over to StudioMojo on Saturday mornings. We share lots of tidbits and treats and make sure that your mojo is happy and ready to dive in.

Challenging exhibit

Margaret Polcawich's 30-day challenge exhibit on PolymerClayDaily

Maryland’s Margaret Polcawich took on a 30-day challenge to create a wall of 6″x6″ pieces to be displayed at the Spitzer Art Center in Harrisonburg, VA.

The squares feature a metal flower or leaf cutout layered on a patterned polymer background mounted on a painted wood frame.

Now that she looks over the first 15 works shown here, Margaret says that she prefers the ones that weren’t finished at 2:00 a.m. (You can sympathize, right?) Examine them all on Facebook.

Impressive and almost makes you want to take on a challenge now that it’s a new month!

Thanks for all the birthday wishes yesterday. I’m Facebook-challenged and the list of well-wishers that popped up surprised and delighted!

AiryBeasts

Brooke Duckart merges a love of characters and airplants on PolymerClayDaily.com

This lot of AiryBEASTS from Oregon’s Brooke Duckart has already sold out and there will be a new batch on Etsy on February 4.

Brooke works at a stop-motion animation studio in Portland and has a head full of characters which sometimes emerge as AiryBEASTS, small containers for air plants. You can see what she’s up to on Instagram.

I just discovered that Claire Maunsell will be teaching her Artisanal Polymer Bangles on Craftcast today (Wednesday, January 31). Claire approaches clay from a background in glass so her methods feel very different and she’s forever finding some stunning new surface techniques. Catch her if you can or add the recorded class to your library.

Bowls redux

Angela Pike's retro bowl from Helen Breil's online class on PolymerClayDaily

You may have thought you’d done bowls, You remember all those little round ones we made? Then along comes the UK’s Angela Pike (BeadMeUpButtercup) with her first go at Helen Breil’s bowl tutorial.

Here’s Angela on Facebook and Instagram, The textures highlight the orange and blue glow of this retro bowl. Angela followed Helen’s instructions to the letter for her first try. Use your signature colors and your veneer patterns to put your own spin on them.

Helen is very methodical and her instructions are thorough. Looking for a no-fail fun project? This could be it.

Monday illusion

Lindsey Hansen swirls black and white into a 3D cane on PolymerClayDaily.com

Lindsey Hansen (Vivid Clay) lures us into the week with a tempting cane design that fools the eye with its 3D illusion. She covered a straight-sided jar with the slices and replaced the lid with a cork top.

Using black and white, she layers and stacks blends strips of blended clay into a square cane.

Lindsey shared her step-by-step how-to photos on the Hooked On Polymer page on Facebook. Several HOP members tried it with success and Ron Lehocky sent us the link.

If cane-building seems too much for your Monday brain, you can purchase Lindsey’s raw versions on Etsy.

More with less

Barb Fajardo embraces matte finish on PolymerClayDaily

Albuquerque’s Barb Fajardo has tweaked and tried every variation of her mokume gane. Her color choices are striking and her compositions are amazing. Now she’s trying to do less.

“I’m loving making earrings these days since I’ve recently forgone sanding. I’ve gotten lots of great feedback on the matte finish,” Barb says.

Is there a step in your work that you need to rethink and dial back?

Join us at StudioMojo Saturday where we look at lots of alternative approaches to work. Bigger? Brighter? Simpler? Crazier? Sure! Why not? Pop on over for a walk on the sometimes wilder side.

Tribal echoes

The stitching marks on Shelley Atwood’s earrings contain echoes of Kanta stitching, embroidery from South Asia that’s quite popular. The red beads on the edge provide a wonderful contrast.

Much of Shelley’s work has a tribal and fabric look that’s both powerful and fashionable. Go to her site and Facebook to get the full effect.

Benzon branches out

Why a branch on PCD today? Because it’s polymer and over the past year Jana Roberts Benzon has refined and refined her tools and technique for shaving polymer until it looks spiky. It’s remarkably durable.

Like yesterday’s Julie Picarello and her hardware store appropriations, Jana grabbed tools from a nail tech’s drawer for her new trick.

This is just one of the goodies from Jana’s Nature Walk workshop scheduled for March 17 and 18 in Texas. Taking classes from artists who have already done the laborious research saves you oodles of time and allows you to daydream about how you could integrate their research into your own style.

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