Eliciting a response

Susan Crocenzi's 30" mixed media Radiate brought her client to tears on PolymerClayDaily.com

This sumptuous and resplendent mixed media mosaic piece by California’s Susan Crocenzi brought tears to her client’s eyes! “I don’t know how she created such a perfect replica of what my head dreamed up without me being able to describe it, but she sure did,” said the new owner.

The 30″ wall art entitled Radiate is made of polymer clay tiles (border and inner circle), salvaged glass, minerals, beads, crystals, druzy, geodes, crystals, and smalti. Follow Susan’s progress on the polymer components on her Instagram video and visit close up on Facebook 

If you browse through Susan’s sites, you can see how polymer grabbed her and wouldn’t let go. More and more pops of polymer began showing up in her work. She currently exhibits 20 6″x6″ mixed media tiles in a show at Blue Line Arts. She will teach new methods she’s developed for mixing polymer and glass in Mexico in February.

What a thrill to have your artwork elicit that response!

Polymer ready for snow

Karen Walker's wrapped snowmen gather for the holidays on PolymerClayDaily

The UK’s Karen Walker wraps her snowmen in mufflers with fashionably oversized buttons on their coats. They gather in a group with their pets, ready for winter.

Karen deepens the textures and highlights them with a dark wash then adds a few polka dots.

The simplicity of her shapes gives the scene added charm and you can see more examples on Instagramher site, and on Facebook.

Polymer under the bed

Feel the love and understanding in this small sculpture from Wisconsin’s Gina Griffith. Gina shows a deep understanding of children’s fears in her Dark Corners of the Nursery.

The strewn blocks, the bunny slippers, and the superhero cape capture the scene with a little girl clutching the covers as she imagines monsters under her bed.

Enjoy every step in Gina’s detailed process on Instagram and Facebook. And you’ll see the children who are her obvious inspirations.

The little kid in me wants the birthday cake Gina made recently. What lucky kids they are to have such a talented and loving mother. They’ll want to treasure this piece of her heart.

Thanks to Lindly Haunani for introducing PCD to Gina.

 

No-fail knitting

Leila Bidler gives imitative knitting a new twist on PolymerClayDaily.com

Even if you never learned to knit, Italy’s Leila Bidler demonstrates how you can simulate the look. She extrudes strings of polymer in shades of blue, twists them and lines them up…without dropping a stitch!

A second layer of stitching every inch or so gives the swatch the look of a fancier pattern and more complex knitting.

On Leila’s Instagram page she turns these faux knits into cozy cuffs and finishes them with a faux wood button for a wintry accessory.

A snowy day is a perfect time to check out this season’s crop of faux knit ideas. Every year there’s some new twist. PCD’s all-time favorites are still Juliya Laukhina’s from 2010.

If you’re looking for more fun behind-the-scenes tidbits, come on over to StudioMojo where we indulge in deep polymer chats every Saturday morning. 

Contrarian polymer

Lela Todua's bright mixes tell a story on PolymerClayDaily

The slicker and more commercial the holiday frenzy gets, the more I appreciate roughly handmade, Bohemian, tribal, rustic, gypsy, hippie, ethnic designs like this pendant from Ukraine’s Lela Todua (Leland Jewelry).

Lela’s techniques and patterns follow her own whims. She pulls the mix of various textures together with color themes and accents of paint.

I realize that PCD featured Lela’s butterflies just recently. Once my eye locks onto a vibe, I find myself visiting and revisiting a collection to soak it up. Lela builds compelling stories as she picks and chooses an assortment of related components.

Follow her story on Etsy and Instagram.

Bio Bopping polymer

Bonnie Bishoff's multi-media bio bop in Boston on PolymerClayDaily.com

The Bonnie Bishoff Bio Bop brooch is quite a mouthful for mid-week. This polymer, copper, paint and steel wire mixed media pin is on its way to CraftBoston for one last holiday hurrah. While they look light and airy, Bonnie’s pieces are built on metal which makes them incredibly solid.

Betsey Baker and Kathleen Dustin will also have their wares in Boston on December 15-17. You can watch Betsey, Kathleen and Bonnie pack up and run to the show on Facebook and Instagram. These ladies work hard!

Polymer takes wing

Karina Formanova's birdy brooches take wing on PolymerClayDaily

Russia’s Karina Formanova has created flocks of small bird brooches in a huge variety of colors. You can see from her Instagram focus that Karina has studied her birds.

She distills their colors and shapes down to combinations of subtle Skinner blends and delicate canes that make her birds seem to flutter on the wearer’s collar. 

Follow her works in progress on her Facebook and see the range of colors in her shop. The brooches are nicely packaged in nests of matching papers.

Mud cloth Monday

Kathleen DeQuence Anderson's polymer mud cloth on PolymerClayDaily.com

These mud cloth pattern Bogolanfini polymer bangles strike a balance between tribal and contemporary jewelry. The colors are perfect and the patterns are purposely loose and energetic.

Each bracelet is formed from two curved mud cloth-patterned tube beads and four spacers joined with a twist. Another version joins over a wider cuff.

They’re from Massachusetts’ Kathleen de Quince Anderson and she sells some of her polymer creations at the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington. See her signature heart box and most current works on Instagram.

Mosaic moments

Cecilia Leonini's italian mosaic in polymer on PolymerClayDaily

This delightfully asymmetric pendant from Cecilia Leonini (impastarte) leads us into the weekend. The energetic mosaic reaches out in several directions, as if in celebration.

This piece appeared on the FoltBolt Facebook page. If you’re looking for color, you can count on FoltBolt to give you a jolt of inspiration and polymer art appears regularly in their features.

If your muse is befuddled or your mojo is misaligned, come on over to our group at StudioMojo, the Saturday newsletter that provides the spark, the reminder, the new perspective to set you straight again. 

Riotous color winner

Silvia de la Torres explosion of colors becomes a winner on PolymerClayDaily

The first prize winner in the Arcilla Polimérica de España is this color explosion from Silvia Ortiz de la Torre.

Silvia’s riot of colored disks and squiggles are neatly grouped into a necklace that looks ready for New Year’s Eve. For more of her hot colors and unusual constructions, check Etsy and Flickr.

But wait!  There’s more! Ten Spanish award winners are pictured on the guild’s Facebook page.