Monster Monday

If you tracked monster storms all weekend you may be in the mood to purge your world of all its monsters.

Monster Monday courtesy of Anthony (Ace of Clay) on PolymerClayDaily.com

Watch as Michigan’s Anthony, Ace of Clay, turns his demons into pins. With ferocious teeth, of course.

Some texture, a few wrinkles and a dusting of dark shadows around the eyes heightens the ominous look. Some have sunlight color-changing eyes, others glow in the dark.

Anthony also keeps switch plates, phone cases and sculpted figures in stock. If you’re squeamish, you’ll prefer his colorful imitative sugar skulls. Look on Instagram, Etsy, and Facebook.

Hot hands for custom clay

Karen Lewis (Klew) mixes a custom clay for this cane on PolymerClayDaily.com
Karen Lewis (Klew) mixes a custom clay for this cane on PolymerClayDaily.com

California’s Karen Lewis, (Klew) spent a day planning and mixing colors for this stylized horse. The cane is made of a custom blend Klew calls Fremo.

“My Fimo was quite aged – 15 years or more – and my Premo was fresh. My hands are very hot so creating my own brand is just right for me,” she says. Here are some of her hand tips.

This design by Klew pays tribute to the style of Laurel Birch with a combination of strongly defined areas and painterly backgrounds.

Customers were standing in line on Facebook, waiting to see how she’d use the figure in her distinctly southwestern pairing of stones and beads and spirited images.

Tomorrow’s StudioMojo contains an impromptu session with Carol Blackburn as she assembles one of her impossibly neat and graphic canes. She makes her methods look so simple. Join us. 

Floating into fall

Katya Karavaeva's twists a fall leaf brooch on PolymerClayDaily

This fall brooch is from Russia’s Katya Nikami (nikamiart)

Twisted strings of fall golds and browns are interspersed with graduated balls of color to create a textural feel for this long curving leaf. Or perhaps it’s a feather. No matter, it’s a languorous shape perfect for floating on a lapel.

Katya is also trying out a number of imitative stone technique with success. Look on Instagram for them.

Making a difference with polymer

Angie Wiggins lends a hand on Polymer Clay Daily.com

One of the extraordinary things about our medium is how and easy it is to make a statement, raise some funds or lend a hand.

Angie Wiggins quickly created these Lone Star pins to raise funds for Texas storm victims. “I hope to have 20 Lone Star pins for the Virginia show on September 16. 100% will go to the Cajun Navy,” she says. See these and other show stoppers on Angie’s Instagram.

As a polymer artist, you have a super power. Your challenge is to claim it and use it for good whenever you can.

Good hair day down under

Good hair day from Wendy Moore on PolymerClayDaily.com

Whether you’re having a good hair day or not, these face canes from Australia’s Wendy Moore demand attention. Check out the details. Admire the hairstyles, catch the young vibe. The earrings are some of Wendy’s class samples for an upcoming workshop. There are more on her Instagram.

Wendy bought a pair of earrings from another Australian up and coming polymer/fiber artist, Heidi Helyard. Wendy found Heidi’s earring shape so wearable that she used it for these creations.

Heidi weaves fibers through holes on her polymer bases. We’ll want to cover her more thoroughly soon.

Recover from your holiday, go comb your hair. Let’s head into fall.

 

PolyPetal celebration

Cheery PolyPetals for the BPCG 20th anniversary on PolymerClayDaily

Carol Blackburn’s teardrop-shaped petals are made from cheery combinations of stripes, blends, and patterns in colors that sing.

Cheery PolyPetals for the BPCG 20th anniversary on PolymerClayDaily

That’s because her workshop on September 23 and 24 for the British Polymer Clay Guild celebrates their 20th anniversary, an occasion for singing! 

The Poly Petals’ domed dimensions and varied teardrop sizes add a carefree note.

See them again on Facebook. There are lots of tempting workshops listed for the event. Here’s hoping you have time to play with clay on this happy Labor Day.

Hollow polymer vessels

Cynthia Tinapple builds her own hollow forms with an ancient air on PolymerClayDaily.com

This hollow 5″ tall raku-looking vessel is completely polymer. This is one of my new organic forms that don’t need glass or metal or even paper to hold a shape.

I didn’t quite like the pan pastel colors that I applied before baking so I kept adding surface treatments.

Crackle medium added a tactile surface and oil paint gave it an aged finish. A dash of gilders paste made this lumpy, organic shape glow.

You will laugh at the form that this pot was built on. Let’s just say that you shouldn’t throw your pantyhose away just yet. More pictures on this weekend’s StudioMojo.

We’re thinking of PCD readers affected by Hurricane Harvey, hoping that you’re safe.

Be careful what you watch

Television influences Lindsay Locatelli's necklaces on PolymerClayDaily

Mother of Dragons? Night King?

Lindsay Locatelli admits that she may have had Game of Thrones in the back of her mind as she worked on these polymer pieces for her August/September Gallery 360 show in Minneapolis.

“Currently, I am interested in creating pieces that juxtapose polished, traditional fashion jewelry ideas with rough, asymmetrical, and dynamic wearable art,” she says. See it on Instagram and Facebook.

Does what you’re watching affect what’s on your workspace?

Can’t mute Meisha

Meisha Barbee goes for granite on PolymerClayDaily.com

Meisha Barbee takes her bright colors down a notch for this recent series. She admits that she’s found a new love in Premo Gray Granite with its speckles buried in a rich translucent polymer.

She’s fond of thinning sheets of granite and overlaying them on other colors for depth. You’ll note resonances of Jana Roberts Benzon in the dimensional shapes and find other influences in the graphic stamps and stripes.

Still, the composition is unmistakable Meisha. If you want to see more, come on over to StudioMojo this weekend for video of some of her tricks and shortcuts.

Succulent polymer

Kim Korringa creates a succulent world on PolymerClayDaily.com

This bowl of succulents from California’s Kim Korringa was a marvel to behold. Everything…the 6″ rock bowl, the succulents, the soil, even the string-of-pearls…was made of polymer.

You can tell from Kim’s attention to detail that she’s quite a gardener.

Kim Korringa creates a succulent world on PolymerClayDaily.com

Meanwhile, Kim was also working on a line of caned Christmas jewelry for the Uno Alla Volta catalog adding minuscule ornaments on yards of caned trees.