Kansas’ Carol Beal (BeadUnsupervised) gives us this week’s interpretation of Fall.
No two leaves are alike. Some are blended, some bargello or stripes, gradations, mottled. They have sculpted edges and contain a wild palette of unexpected colors.
Her polymer brooches are remarkably real.
They make you want to go outside and take a closer look at what you may have missed.
This pile of brooches from Florida’s Lynn Yuhr (theflyingsquirrelstudio) exudes a mid-century sensibility. They look like tv sets from the 50s.
Lynn has been exploring and pushing the boundaries of using colored liquid clays on polymer.
I watched Lynn in action and persuaded her to share a few of her discoveries on this week’s StudioMojo. You’ll be surprised at how she uses the liquids and what she’s found about how they behave on raw clay.
See why she keeps a “puddle” on her worksurface and how she dips into that puddle for surprising effects.
There’s a lovely luminosity about these most recent hearts from Kentucky’s Ron Lehocky. The gold dots popping through watery colored layers lead us to summer’s end.
Because Ron builds his hearts from lots of others’ scraps, it’s hard to know the provenance of the bits and pieces he uses. His heart brooches are lovely collaborations between other’s scraps and Ron’s magic.
He’s close to making 50,000 of these for his Kids Project that receives all the proceeds from sales.
Did I mention that Ron’s on Instagram now? Be sure to follow him. He’s also teaching at ClayOutWest in late September.
Poland’s Malgorzata Wawrzynczak (Moiko) mashes up Nikolina Otrzan’s methods with her own silkscreens to create a series of flat flower brooches with a mod twist and rusted finish.
Cutouts allow the fabric below to show through.
Gosia heads off on her own toward other flower and shapes. Those tab (half oval) shapes are popping up in more and more designs.
If you want to see what other ideas are catching fire for the fall, join us over at StudioMojo this Saturday when we’ll make sense of the designs and products that are showing up in the shows and exhibits.
France’s Marion Le Coq (FancyPuppet) enlivens our week with these graphic collages on Instagram.
She’s been reviving her YouTube channel and taking her work in new directions like this.
Instagram is the best place to get an overview of her work and to get a sense of where she’s headed. Are these textured and painted or silk screened? I’m not sure. We’ll have to follow along and find out.
This week’s snowstorms lengthened my visit with family. I was out of action longer than I anticipated. Not to worry, I’m back and raring to go.
You didn’t think PCD would get through Valentines Day without featuring Ron Lehocky, did you? Nope!
The problem was picking one. Ron has photos of his avid collecters bedecked in his pins. They make perfect gifts for any occasion.
This heart is just emerging from a great collaged sheet of veneer.
For those of you who don’t know Ron, he’s a Kentucky physician/teacher/author who has been creating heart pins for sale with all proceeds going to Louisville’s Kids Center since 2005. He’s aiming to hit 50,000 hearts in his fundraising effort. He’s the undisputed king of hearts and this is his day.
Utah’s Jana Roberts Benzon’s latest new pins/pendants show off her wing-like dimensional, veneer-covered collages.
She’s about to offer her work on Etsy in a few weeks after years of resisting online sales. She’also promises to beef up her Instagram. It may be the grandbabies who are compelling her to stick closer to home.
While we wait for Etsy to launch her, enjoy Jana’s works on Facebook and her website.
These patterned feathers on Instagram from Australia’s Debbie Crothers will take you right over the mid-week hump.
Debbie loves her veneers and surface treatments so I’m betting that she’s made herself a stash of veneers for source materials.
Assembling them in perfect balance like this is no quick project but they’re worth the effort. The occasional splice on the edge and bend in the shape gives each one distinct look.
On Facebook, Debbie says she’s refining her methods and these are prototypes for her sessions at Clay Out West from September 30 to October 3 in Albuquerque. Registration opens February 1.
Debbie offers a few clever hints about her methods in her blog post today.
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.
We can all get up and do a little happy dance that polymer clay is making its appearance in the National Museum of African American History & Culture in Washington D.C. thanks to the work of Ohio’s Debbie Jackson.
She will be offering two series of designs for sale in the museum shop. Debbie’s indigo line shown here combines polymer clay, indigo fabric, African brass, metallic foils and raffia into a powerful group of shield shaped pieces.
See the rest of her designs on Facebook.
Debbie is also working with DC sculptor Woodrow Nash to produce beads and pieces that will embellish his dramatic figures.
It’s been a banner year for Debbie full of paperwork and negotiation and waiting. Debbie has long been known as a talented and persistent artist and teacher here in our home town and we’re very proud of her. She shows us all how hard work pays off.
