Putting your own stink on a technique

Valerie Anderson's abstract brooch plays with colors and shapes on PolymerClayDaily.com

Scotland’s Valerie Anderson (bedeckedbeads) has played and played with Sonya Girodon’s free tutorial. With this latest brooch, Valerie puts her own spin on the process with deep watery colors.

And if you look at the side view you’ll see how her curved strips add another departure. When you put your own “stink” on a technique and take off in new directions, you make it yours. Here’s Valerie’s shop.

I’ve run across such an astonishing array of new work that we will have to ponder what’s happening in this week’s StudioMojo newsletter. It’s as if you’ve been unleashed! Are you feeling it? Come see where polymer is headed.

Broken hearts

Carol Beal makes crazy quilt hearts for new neighbors on PolymerClayDaily.com

These “Broken Hearts: Keeping a Safe Distance” brought tears to my eyes. They’re from Kansas’ Carol Beal (BeadUnsupervised).

The hearts are certainly wonky and broken but they’re also joyful and celebratory. Carol says she made them for some new neighbors.

The hearts have a crazy quilt vibe. Such a vibrant collage of scraps!

More of her art on Facebook.

Wearable signs of hope

Chris Baird makes gaily gathered sprigs of hope for your lapel on PolymerClayDaily.com

Wearable signs of hope, growth, and comfort for all! That’s the tagline that Minnesota’s Chris Baird gives her small brooches made of sweetly colored cane slices.

She likes to stick to geometrics and color these days though she’s had a long career in various media. You’ll want to explore what grows in her polymer garden on Facebook.

Make yourself a sprig of hope and fasten it to your lapel this fine spring Monday.

Armed and ready

Cynthia Toops pays homage to the virus in micromosaic on PolymerClayDaily.com

Seattle’s Cynthia Toops pays homage to our current reality with her latest small micromosaic brooch.

Her “Armed and Ready” cowboy wields a yellow tape lasso for 6′ social distancing, a mask, nitrile gloves and sanitizer in holster. He wears a covid brooch instead of a sheriff star.

Cynthia bakes very fine threads of polymer which she embeds in an unbaked layer and cures again. All this in a cast sterling bezel by Chuck Domitrovich.

Over at StudioMojo we’ll thread our way around current events and look at all the creativity this crisis has spawned. Join us!

Sharing and inspiring

Jeff Dever and others inspire and share us in difficult times. on PolymerClayDaily.com

Maryland’s Jeffrey Lloyd Dever presents his Passage Obscura. Hanging from a long pin back, reminiscent of a medal hung on a presentation ribbon, this single round medallion has backfilled surface detailing,

For Jeff, the piece serves witness to the forces at work in a chaotic world, to obscure vision and all too often smother hope.

Two bright rays of hope come from the tutorials that educate and distract us. Click through France’s Sonya Girodon’s textures here and Utah’s Jana Roberts Benzon faux alcohol inks here. They share their inspiration free for all during tough times.

Stay strong!

Polymer fungi

Kim Heeang layers petals of polymer that mimic fungi on PolymerClayDaily

South Korea’s Kim Heeang (9angko) moves us in a more thoughtful direction.

Her delicately assembled pieces take their central theme from mushrooms, fungi hat ware neither plants nor animals. They are everywhere and then disappear without a trace.

You may note that thin petals of polymer are being used more and more. The newer clays allow us to stack paper-thin layers in ways that mimic nature.

Join us over at StudioMojo if you’re interested in how polymer is being used in surprising and unusual ways. Stay on top of the latest trends with a Saturday morning review of the week.

Peekaboo Tuesday

Fabi Ajates mixes a new palette and patterns for ACE on PolymerClayDaily.com

Class samples are the best! Teachers take good photos and have great ideas.

These are Spain’s Fabiola Ajates’ prototypes for the October 6-10 Atlantic City Escape (ACE).

Look at how the underneath patterns peek through the cutout of the top layers. The thrill of peekaboo hangs on through adulthood.

Fabi has mixed an all-new retro 60’s palette for her class with 33 colors and patterns that make me giddy.

Reinterpreted in polymer

Jana Roberts Benzon reinterprets Attai Chen in polymer on PolymerClayDaily

Utah’s Jana Roberts Benzon turns her work in a new direction with these latest brooches.

Jana says she’s riffing on the work of Germany’s Attai Chen. He uses cast-offs, carved wood, layered paper, silver, paint, and graphite to express his aesthetic in both jewelry and wall sculptures.

But if you know Jana’s progression of works and understand that she has a background in flower arranging and a love of nature, you can see how this polymer interpretation is a natural next step.

The polymer and alcohol ink piece is 7″ x 5”. Its thin dense petals are very lightweight and it could be worn as a brooch.

How brave of Jana to show us her impressive first efforts.

What will 2020 look like?

Nadia Elkina points us toward the future of polymer on PolymerClayDaily.com

Will 2020 polymer look more like Poland’s Nadia Elkina’s mosaic brooch? Dimensional, mixed, polychromatic?

It’s hard to tell which elements are which medium. And who really cares? It’s the overall snap, crackle, and pop that makes this piece compelling. Look even further ahead on IG here.

Join us this weekend over at StudioMojo where we’ll have our eye on new and interesting directions we can expect in polymer 2020. Who can predict? We’re gonna try. Come on over and add your two cents.

Spirited seasonal icons

Anita Kennerley and Jan Montarsi tweak holiday icons on PolymerClayDaily.com

Simple designs contain great charm at this time of year.

Ohio’s Jan Montarsi gives dimension to the snowmen pins he made for a swap by shadowing their rounded edges. To give them personality he splurges on scarves, hats, and earmuffs.

Anita Kennerley builds her angel earrings by wrapping a circle and using hearts for wings. Using only a red circle, white belt, and black belt buckle, her earrings say that Santa is coming.

It’s the merry attitude in these designs that captures the spirit of the season.

Slip over to StudioMojo if you want a weekend helping of festive polymer ideas and insider news. StudioMojo comes right to your inbox each Saturday.

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