Eakes’ polymer gifts

Julie Eakes offers a nifty poinsettia tutorial on her blog. She collages slices from four or five basic canes onto a graduated background for one variation. Then she shows how the same canes can be used for sculptural or dimensional pieces. What a nice gift to readers.

If you’ve caught the generous spirit of the holidays, you may want to:

Visit the EBay site of “Benefit Ada” which lists polymer clay items from several artists for auction. More than 80 items from around the world were donated. Ponsawan Sila’s daughter will receive the proceeds from this lovely project.
Help support the Cerebral Palsy KIDS Center in Louisville, KY by purchasing Ron LeHockey’s polymer clay heart pins. Contact Ron at rlehocky@bellsouth.net.
Donate on the site of the Sammunat project. The Australian government has recently provided grant money to this project that assists abused Nepalese women by teaching them beading and business skills. You can help keep this important project moving forward by donating on their site.

Thanks to Susan Lomuto at DailyArtMuse and Lindly Haunani for the links.

Belcher’s greater-than-the-sum art

The collaboration theme of the Synergy 2 conference in Baltimore has already inspired some terrific mash ups. The fiber/polymer and metal/polymer creations on Judy Belcher’s Flickr site are impressive. Judy is the consummate team player so it’s not surprising that she’s good at partnering her art.

This jacket is by Kerr Grabowski with reversible jewels and closures by Judy. The model is Judy’s daughter.

Universal Connections, the 12.5″x8″ piece pictured, is the result of Judy’s collaboration with Victoria Altepeter, a metalsmith and currently resident artist at Arrowmont.

Take a look at the 37-artist polymer mosaic that Laurie Mika pulled together and see if you can identify each artist with only 2″ squares as clues. You have until December 20 to enter the contest. There is still space in classes at Synergy companion events, Cabin Fever Clay Festival and Synergy 2 Hands-On. You might drop a hint to Santa.

Beach-inspired tidbits

This French polymer clay bead from Céline Charuau at Parole de Pate reminds me of a beachball. There’s a companion tutorial that shows a clever way of making these and I’m intrigued by the necklace. Though the round beads are all the same size, the random combinations of extruded colors make the resulting beads randomly striped.

It’s hard to explain but you’ll get the idea from the pictures.

I abandoned my husband at the beach to find a McDonald’s internet connection. He’s fishing. He won’t notice that I’m gone but I’d better get back. We’re heading home tomorrow.

Did you see Tina Holden’s link to Joan Tayler’s sand dollar cane tutorial?

Polymer spring flowers

I was looking for polymer clay hints of spring to start your week and the daffodils from “SilverPepper23” fit the bill. Her innovative combination of wire, ribbon, seed beads and polymer blooms is impressive.

Problem is, my translators aren’t giving me much more info than the pictures provide. I don’t even know what country we’re looking at. Any help out there?

Israel’s Marcia Tzigelnik (MarsDesign) has a facility for flowers and a reputation for her remarkable rose cane. Her Etsy shop and her Flickr photos are full of inspiration for the season.

Geoffrey’s chic pendants

Rebecca Geoffrey’s clean graphic look is hip and chic and she’s got a whole gallery of similar pieces on her IndiePublic site. She shows an incredible ability to control and exploit every mokume gane slice and cane pattern.

It looks as though Rebecca has narrowed her web choices to IndiePublic, there’s little on her other sites. Networking has become overwhelming and I imagine that we’ll all be narrowing our focus soon.

The Tucson bead show in February sounds warm, sunny and tempting at this time of year. Just look at the roster of classes at ToBeadTrueBlue and the list of vendors. Thanks to Barbara Sosna of the Tucson PC Guild for reminding us.

More Simmons’ canes

Carol Simmons built this William Morris inspired cane here in New Mexico to add a new color way to her line of designs. I watched her construct the original extravagant cane that was about 6″ across by 2″ deep. Reducing the cane took a couple of hours with one or two 3-second trips to the microwave. She had only a miniscule amount of waste.

From this one cane, Carol generated at least 16 kaleidoscope patterns which will be turned into many, many beads. It’s a fascinating process that will soon be featured in a new color book by Maggie Maggio and Lindly Haunani.

New Mexico is a “target-rich” environment which means I won’t have to do much computer research this week. I’ll just pick up my camera and shoot. Even the sunsets are Skinner blends.

McCaw launches new site

As promised, another new polymer clay site for you. Sandra McCaw launched this stunning showcase of her work last night. It’s refined and sophisticated with a dash of New England style.

“In working with polymer clay, I am able to create complex patterns where lines seem to lose their distinction and blend, and where colors bloom and merge,” she says.

Sandra’s complex and energetic work reflects her spirit well. We wish her much success as she takes off for her first wholesale show.

Take a look at last year’s post (and some archival photos) to see how far Sandra’s come!

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