My vacation’s over! This necklace with wild fall colors from Ukraine’s Irina Karminova shows us how vibrant and exciting the season ahead can be if you keep your eyes open.
Irina explains that “I rarely use such shades in my work, but a recent walk in the park inspired me! I saw a bush of fall wild barberry with leaves of pink-purple colors and bright red berries! So unusual and beautiful! And I decided to make it!”
Thanks for coming back for a daily dose of polymer art that will nudge your work forward.
If you hunger for more, trot right on over to StudioMojo.org for a weekend wrap up and insider’s look.
This gorgeous chunky collar from Chicago’s Marina Rios (fancifuldevices) includes thirty-one handmade polymer clay beads with textures, pits, facets, and inclusions in a soft array of greens and pinks graduated in size from large to small.
To ensure a smooth visual transition between beads Marina created special spacers including vintage rhinestone rings and gemstone rondelles. The necklace is adjustable from 19 to 21 inches.
As I composed this post, her lovely spring-like necklace sold on Etsy but have a look anyway.
Marina shares some of her methods in tutorials. If you’re thinking about making faceted beads, review her free step-by-steps here on Instagram.
A number of woven polymer beads have popped up online. Eliska Koliosova weaves extruded strips in this light summery choker. She alternates the colors under and over each other, perhaps creating a flat sheet that’s then cut up and rolled into a bead.
Or maybe Eliska is using theMummy Bead technique that Emma Ralph outlines on her site. She starts by winding a base color on a wooden skewer and then layering on additional colors.
My brain doesn’t decode weaving very readily so rather than ponder this any longer, I’ll show you and hope that some enterprising PCD reader can unravel the mystery.
Whatever the method, the effect is eye-catching.
Thanks to Carrie Harvey for leading me to Emma’s tutorial.
Donna Greenberg shows us Blue Bird Biscuit choker, her version of twisted and sculpted polymer on a cord.
Donna includes work-in-progress photos that give you insight into her thinking for this series of organic, flowing shapes. More complex versions link with one another to form chains.
Donna and Christine Dumont and Ronna Sarvas Weltman offer a series of 5-week online creative design courses to enhance each student’s design skills and bring vitality and impact to the work while exploring what it takes to develop their own distinctive series.
My desk is littered with notes about polymer clay in the news and it’s time to tidy.
The JanuaryArt Jewelry Magazine contains two significant polymer articles, “A conversation with Kathleen Dustin” and Seth Savarick’s “Go Big with Lightweight Polymer Clay.” Kathleen shares how she plans her pieces and says that playing around with small jewelry often gives her ideas for larger works.
The articles, additional photos of Kathleen’s work, and one of Betsy Baker’s in the gallery make polymer prominent in this issue. ArtJewelry also has a terrific online gallery where readers are invited to submit their work. The brooch above is by Jan Geisen.
In her “Getting the Most from a Jewelry Class” article in the winter StepbyStepWire Magazine, Ronna Sarvas Weltman advises students to, “…push your boundaries and test the materials while you have an expert to answer your questions.” It may mean that you won’t end up with a beautiful project but you will learn more. Ronna delves into the minds of eager students and gives them sage advice.
Susan O’Neill (11BoldStreet) has won first place in Interweave’s Bead Star Contest in the plastics category for her faux turquoise choker pictured here. Winners are chosen by readers from around the globe.
These are tidbits that you’ve sent me or that I’ve come across. It’s gratifying to see more polymer articles popping up in a surprising number of publications.
