No particular reason

Linda Loew lets loose with bowls of balls on PolymerClayDaily.com

As I sorted the posts and pictures grabbed for this week’s StudioMojo I realize I’ve collected exciting polymer works made for no particular reason. These bowls of balls are a case in point.

Baltimore’s Linda Loew admits that her bowls of balls aren’t very functional. She liked the colors…so why not add a few more? And some texture just for fun?

I take it back…there is a good reason. The pieces we’ll feature this week were made joyfully to please the artist. In Linda’s case, she was making bowls for a swap at an upcoming polymer conference. The point is that perfection can be tedious, driven, and controlled. Come on over to StudioMojo and watch polymer artists let loose, have some fun!

Curvy polymer

Julie Eakes keeps pantyhose and sand in her toolbox on PolymerClayDaily

North Carolina’s Julie Eakes brought sand and pantyhose to the Virginia retreat to experiment with rounded polymer forms like this one that has a 4″ diameter.

It’s all polymer and built on a shape filled with sand that is removed after curing.

Julie continued her dark, curving theme on gently rounded squares for the bowl swap.

With several successful vases and one blowout (hot sand needs to cool slowly before handling), Julie was hooked on vessels. Watch for more on Instagram and Facebook.

Nailed it!

Christine Kaczmarek shows how metallic oxides like polymer on PolymerClayDaily

Florida’s Christine Kaczmarek dazzled us in the bowl swap with her sparkling 4 1/2″ round shallow swirl bowls. Those of us who don’t keep up with the latest nail treatments couldn’t figure out how she’d achieved such sheen and sparkle. See more on Christine’s Instagram.

Lumiere Lusters and Born Pretty powders are her favorites. Many other metallic oxide powders used in the nail trade are available online. These powders almost jump onto wet nail polish and they are equally attracted to polymer clay. Glass artists use them too.

The fine powders are tricky to work with. Sneezing, heavy breathing, and ceiling fans will make them take flight. But once you get the hang of it, they’re immense fun.

Christine gave us a demo of both the powders and how to construct this swirl pattern. I’m staying up late to edit it into a video for StudioMojo. If you want to know the rest of this shiny story, join us for the weekly update every Saturday morning.

Finishing your homework

Elizabeth Hamilton's quilt bowls help her remember what she learned on PolymerClayDaily

North Carolina’s Elizabeth Hamilton turned her veneers from Lindly Haunani’s class into these charming square dishes.

This week PCD has featured homework of students from a variety of classes and tutorials. Finishing your homework and turning what you’ve learned into a finished product is often a struggle.

The benefits of persisting are worth it. Not only do you have a tangible memory of the event, but you also cement the process firmly in your fingers and your brain.

Hungry for more? Jump on over to StudioMojo and join the growing group of polymer fans who are figuring out how to put more of themselves in their art.

Beyond the bowl

PolyStudio stumps us with bowl wall art for a Monday Mystery on PolymerClayDaily

This wall art from PolyStudio.shop takes ring bowls to a different level. This could simply be a pile of polymer bowls that have been made more exciting with Swellegant! dyes and metal coatings. But wouldn’t this assemblage of bowls look great on the wall? I’m calling it wall art. Sometimes I have to improvise.

It’s not often that I can’t dig around a site to identify the artist of a piece but PolyShop.shop has me stumped. Will one of our French friends help? I prowled through the shop, Instagram, and Facebook to no avail. PCD will call this our Monday Mystery and wait for your clues.

Thanks for the assistance! It is wall art and it’s from Valerie (Veesuel on FB).

Polymer in the air

Emily Squires Levine's trees go to Washington on PolymerClayDaily.com

Emily Squires Levine’s dense and colorful Magical Copse bowl will be among the artworks for sale at the Smithsonian Craft Show in Washington DC April 26-29.

She joins a select group of polymer artists in this premier crafts show. From over 1000 applicants,120 are chosen to participate. We’ve come a long way from hippie beads to welcomed participants in fine crafts. See more of Emily’s works on Flickr.

At StudioMojo, the weekend behind-the-scenes newsletter, we marvel at where artists are showing and where we may end up next. If your art needs a shot of inspiration and a push toward new possibilities, join us!

Back to bowls

Silvana Bates turns salvaged cane bits into charming soap dishes on PolymerClayDaily.com

You may have thought you’d seen enough polymer bowls. Ireland’s Silvana Bates’ soap dishes pulls us out of bowl overload.

For her jewelry designs, Silvana creates batches of canes in her favorite palettes that lean toward faded colors and homey patterns.

By joining the tail ends of canes and shaping random bits into bowls, she accentuates their charm in a way that hints of soft old quilts in cozy cottages. She made these to hold her daughter’s collection of soaps.

Browse through her photos on Facebook and don’t miss the video of her woodsy creations that will be part of November’s Into The Forest exhibit.

Can you salvage bits of your favorite pieces and create a signature bowl?

Cruising creatively

We gotta have a chat with Christi Friesen and find out what’s going so right in her life. She’s been churning out new ideas, following her bliss and coloring outside the lines for months.

Take these freeform bowls, for instance. Forget symmetrical half dome bowls. Christi stretches her polymer into shallow elongated irregular ovals. She draws her images of branches, leaves, and flowers and adds color with pastels or paints or whatever strikes her fancy.

Christi’s preparing samples for her upcoming Aloha Creative Hawaiian cruise. That would definitely improve your mood, wouldn’t it? She’s planning another one in 2019 so save your pennies.

You can see more of her brainstorms and samples on Instagram and Facebook.

Bold bowls

Polymer vessels are moving to the wild side thanks to artists like Massachusetts’ Kathryn Corbin.

This one has holes and textures and what looks like three or four layers with a rough exterior. The chopped edged interior is colored with pastels and who-knows-what and given a mysterious touch with some cryptic drawing.

There are more vessels on Facebook and an earlier post on PCDaily to give you more samples of Kathryn’s work.

How many of us have drawers of pens, powders and inks that we’re saving for just the right project? Maybe this is the week to pull them out and venture beyond our comfort zones.

Pull this

Fan pulls! Now wouldn’t that be a smart idea on a hot day like this?

Angie Wiggins makes these in her rustic studio in the woods of Virginia – a good place to work when it’s hot. Picture her chickens clucking in the background.

Grab yourself a beverage and wander through Angie’s world on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest.

Angie’s known for her handmade paper bowls embroidered with beads and polymer do-dads though she veers into switchplates, spoons and other dashes of color that customers enjoy using around the house.

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