Dove of peace signals big things

Lady Gaga signals the end of small brooches on PolymerClayDaily

My son tells me that America needs a nap. Scared, excited, relieved by Inauguration Day? Now it’s time for a nap.

But before you toddle off, let’s just take a look at Lady Gaga’s Dove of Peace brooch and agree that her fab outfit spells the end of small brooches. I’m pretty sure it’s fabric and integral to the dress. Dig deeper and see the up-close pix on Daniel Roseberry’s IG. He’s the design director for Schiaparelli,

Yes, we’re moving bigger. Today I was struck by the larger earrings at Australia’s Studio 1405. Do you need to enlarge your vision? Time to go big in 2021.

Now have a good nap.

Start with a smile

Michelle Sansonetti spontaneously creates Monday's cat on PolymerClayDaily.come

Melbourne’s Michelle Sansonetti (Zedembee) can’t predict what polymer creatures will take shape in her fingers.

Here it’s a bemused cat with a bird on its head.

It made me smile and that’s the main criteria for a Monday post. The cat’s stripes are comfortably rumpled and the expression is satisfyingly silly (Felix and Philomena). It’s a good way to start the week.

Bird in the snow polymer

Colorado’s Jenny Sorensen (WishingWellWorkshop) was inspired by a twig she picked up. The result was this charming cardinal on a snowy polymer perch. It makes a lightweight tree ornament or a visual seasonal treat hung from a shelf.

The trick is the smooth surface of the snow and the just-right color and shape of the tiny bird. A sweet and easy-to-make gift to start your week.

A bird in the hand

Anna Oriana offers quick tutorials to help your creativity take flight on PolymerClayDaily

Russia’s Anna Oriana quickly creates a bright beautiful bird on Instagram.

Anna’s videos of miniatures are wildly popular and she shows impressive skill in her tiny artworks and her YouTube tutorials. For a quick shot of inspiration and color, try her tutorials.

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.

Warbling character

This simple sweet warbler from Melissa Terlizzi continues our review of characters. She was so anxious to hear songbirds again that she made her own. Zoom in close and you can almost hear him singing.

A smooth base shape, some marbled polymer cane feathers neatly arranged and some color details for the head, eye and beak. Melissa knows her birds!

Turns out this is one of the samples for a CraftArtEdu class that Melissa is working on! He may have to be slightly smaller to perch on your lapel.

Have you followed along on FB as Melissa drilled us on our ABC’s? She spent 26 days sculpting a most exotic alphabet.

No angry birds

Leslie Blackford’s polymer woodland birds perch just the way they should but there’s something definitely wacky and endearing about them. Pictures of the flock she created at a Philadelphia Guild workshop demonstrate the point.

One wears a crown, another a cowboy hat. One smokes a cigar, several have outlandish plummage and cheeky grins. It’s easy to identify the birds but hard to put your finger on why they’re so appealing. While Leslie’s style can appear deceptively simple and childlike, students soon realize how difficult it is to accurately capture an essence and then veer into fantasy with polymer.

Leslie grew up in the woods of Tennessee and Kentucky with a botanist father helping her identify, study and appreciate the wildlife. The shapes and characteristics of each species were clearly imprinted in Leslie’s head. Maybe it’s her understanding and kinship with animals that startles us and makes us stop in our tracks.