Reclusive polymer

Bali’s Jon Anderson has been slow to warm to the social network scene and just launched a new website and Facebook fan page. Hop right on over there to greet this prolific polymer artist and make him feel at home online.

You’ll recognize Jon’s richly cane-covered animal sculptures which are carried widely in US gallerys and have ended up in the collections of such notables as Carlos Santana, Dave Abbruzzese, and Bill Clinton.

Jon creates massive complex canes inspired by Moroccan images and limits his colors to his favorite palette.Though we’re familiar with Jon’s work, his reclusive nature has made him something of a mystery in the polymer community. (You may remember his custom guitar designs from an earlier PCD post.)

We’ve been waiting since last fall when Canadian polymer artist and textile expert Barb Alexander scheduled a tour of Jon’s studio for her group of Bali visitors. Jon and his wife, artist Skid More, were working then to prepare the site.

This copper bowl, made from scrap copper telephone wire hammered by local artisans and covered with Jon’s signature cane slices, is part of his most recent collection. Browse and enjoy.

Breezy polymer

A slice of polymer cane artfully draped over a swinging silver loop makes a particularly breezy summer earring. The pointed elliptical shape reminds us of blooming petals.

Moscow’s Anna Kokareva says she was inspired to make these after looking at Sandra McCaw’s project in the recent Master Class book. Here’s Anna’s Flickr link.

Polymer mashup

These pendants-in-process by Meisha Barbee begged to be photographed at the end of the conference. Right next to them a few new earrings waited to be assembled.

The angled cuts on the earrings may give you a clue that Meisha had watched Jana Roberts Benzon demonstrate her laser cut technique. But with Meisha’s distinctive color sense and handling of elements, the Benzon-like pieces retained Meisha’s vibe. What a great example of integrating a technique and sharing without simply copying!

Damascus with a twist

Virginia’s Tina Wujick has an affinity for the Damascus cane and when she took a Skyscraper class with Iris Mishly earlier this year, she saw new possibilities. On Tina’s newest earrings black bisects the cane for added interest.

This week you’ll see snapshots of works in progress as a group of us play here in Virginia. “What if…” is our mantra as we take what we know and turn it on its head.

Tina is also making bright beads with rope edges from her bright pieces of cane as she tries to give her favorite technique her personal signature.

Extruded polymer bowl

Emily Squires Levine pushes what a polymer bowl can do with her recent work. Lots of open work and tendrils on this example from the Philadelphia Area Polymer Clay Guild site (there’s an even closer shot here).

Emily uses the extruder to reduce her canes! She taught her method to the PAPCG in February and you can see her basic steps here.

Synergy fallout

The Synergy fallout continues with Rebecca Watkins’ Floral Bangle. After attending a Seth Savarick session on planning your projects, Rebecca decided walk the talk.

She wanted to work on more complex projects that required planning, precision, and polish so she took her usual methods of working to the next level. The process wasn’t without pitfalls that she recounts on her blog. She’s ready to keep going.

Part of Rebecca’s inspiration also came from this Curl-Up bangle that Christine Dumont wore. The openwork makes the cuff appear delicate but I examined it myself and it was very tough and sturdy (using Kato clay). Christine made her bangle as she was rethinking cane slices on her site, Voila.eu.com, for a module in the popular How to Become a Better Artist series.

Don’t miss Rebecca’s Saturday post about what she learned in Jeff Dever’s session. Jeff taught the crowd how to keep an eye out for unusual materials that cost next to nothing. So smart!

Egg hunt


Ariane Friesleben	Angela Hickey	Jan Montarsi

Go on a little egg hunt with me today. First I bumped into Angela Hickey’s flower-covered eggs (one chicken, one quail). Hers is a traditional approach straight from her garden of flower canes.

Ariane Friesleben camoflaged her eggs with Swelligant patinas to make them look like precious metallic treasures. She offers a carved faux ivory version as well.

This Jan Montarsi egg was hiding in his Flickr gallery. His palette includes pearl clays and pinata inks (here’s the tutorial) in the mix which makes the extruded strings glow.

All of this led me back to the PolymerArtArchives and one of my all-time favorite eggs from a 1991 series by Ford and Forlano (then City Zen Cane). You can still find echoes of David and Steven’s bright graphic roots in their current work.

Even Martha Stewart was in on the hunt this year. Yep, here’s the video that shows Martha trying her hand at polymer.

More Meisha

It’s rare that I have to jump up on my soapbox these days. But California’s Meisha Barbee still doesn’t have much of a web presence other than PCD! How can that be? (Sigh) She has a little spot on Facebook.

She’s won a Niche award! She does a big wholesale business. Her refined, color-perfect work makes us feel good in an updated-retro sort of way. Wouldn’t you like to see more? She wants to start teaching so she’ll surely have to have a site soon.

I’ll be hounding Meisha for the next couple of days at Synergy and you can join me by leaving a comment. More Meisha! More Synergy on Monday after I’ve had time to sift and sort photos and process all the great ideas floating here.

Magic polymer

These shapely complex beads from Dixie103 (Julie) provide a pleasant start to the week. Her husband thought they looked like magic lamps and dubbed them Alladin beads.

The shapes and patterns and muted colors make your eyes dance around to take in all the delightful curves and canes.

Julie is still shy about her work though it’s now her fulltime day job. See what she’s up to (she even posted her first tutorial) on Flickr.

The Deerclayer

When Arlene Groch‘s son asked her to cover a resin deer’s head to hang on the wall of his San Diego office, he was serious and it was a request she couldn’t refuse. The black and white pattern was his choice.

In a post on the Philadelphia guild site Arlene explains how she covered and baked the beast. Arlene doesn’t divulge what kind of business her son is in. Aren’t you curious to see how the mounted head looks in place?

For more of Arlene’s work, visit the Xanadu Gallery site. She was a finalist in this year’s Niche Awards (and not in the taxidermy category).

Guild web writer Sarah Sorlien sent the link along.

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