Urban vibe

Isabelle Masse creates an Urban Tribe on PolymerClayDaily.com

Montreal’s Isabelle Masse (tribu.urbaine) updates the cameo with these polymer dangles. Or are they coneheads? Very modern either way.

The shop name translates to “Urban Tribe” and she’s true to the name. She mixes her media with care. There’s an appealing grunge about her works.

Her doctor told her that she needed to move to feel better. He was right and she hasn’t stopped.

This week’s StudioMojo delivers a heap of new faces, classes, and ideas. I dig deep so that you can save your fingers for the studio. This week we talk about how your work changes you and why you need to continue. Keep on!

Black cameos honor the past

Dianne Quarles' cameos celebrate Black women on PolymerClayDaily.com

“I saw many elegant, beautiful cameos but only one with the face of a black woman so I started making my own,” says Atlanta-based Dianne Quarles.

The name, Maruva comes from the initials of four generations of creative Black women in Dianne’s family. Her Maruvian Women series honors her great grandmother, a runaway slave who became a successful, independent “modes”.

Each face is customized to give it an original personality. “Black Panther,” was the inspiration for her warrior women. The symbols are from the Ashante tribe of Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire.

The works are featured in the Roswell Roots Arts Festival, in Roswell, GA for the month of February.

Russell renaissance

Maryland’s Kelly Russell crackles, paints, transfers, stamps and leafs and she does it so well that it’s hard to say what the material is. But what you can say it that it’s beautiful and you can bet there’s polymer involved.

It looks like Kelly has abandoned her website and only puts photos on Facebook. She has a huge Pinterest site but none of her own art is there. She makes us work to find her.

You can click on these photos to get larger versions but you’ll have to go to Facebook to see other shots that show their intricacy and dimension. The pendant below has surprising dimension (the polymer cameo is quarter-sized) and a glass bezel.

The colors and the crackle make the pieces look ancient. Kelly has spent the last few years refining her PMC skills and we welcome her back to the polymer neighborhood.