Polymer Clay Daily

Made you look!

How does Jana Honnerova roll up blended colors with cracked edges on PolymerClayDaily.com

When I find myself stuck on a photo, I stop and ask why it’s captured my attention.

That’s what’s happening with these rolled-up earrings from Prague’s Jana Honnerova.

Narrow strips of clay in blended colors are rolled up. But look at those cracked edges! And how does she control the color or is it random? You start drilling down into Jana’s methods and it makes you think about her skill, her tricks.

But on top of that is the elegance of these little gems simply stacked on a headpin. Sweet! And that’s what it boils down to. Do your designs make people take a second look? That’s the real trick.

Balanced reds

Pat Bolgar balances a bouquet of polymer pods on PolymerClayDaily.com

A splash of red from Ohio’s Pat Bolgar (AccessoryArt) rounds out the week.

Pat perches a tight bunch of delicate pods on silver circles. Their balance and fine details make them a perfect lead in to Valentine’s Day.

Let the reds and the hearts begin! Here’s Pat’s work on Instagram.

How did we get to Friday already? We’ll parse the developments that rocked the polymer world over at StudioMojo tomorrow morning. Join us!

Why the Aussies are leading the way

PickledGinger's Drifters earrings teach us a thing or two on PolymerClayDaily.com

Perth’s Pickled Ginger (pickledgingerjewellery) is on fire…in a good way. Owner Fe is one of the young, energetic, enthusiastic polymer artists that are currently on the cutting edge in polymer clay art.

They know how to use social media, they know how to produce products, collaborate with clothing designers and start social campaigns. They take simple designs like these Drifters earrings and inject them with color and excitement.

Over at StudioMojo, we’re spending January looking ahead to see what’s on the horizon. Australian artists seem to have a strategy that works. Come on over if you’d like to know what secrets the Aussies have unlocked and why they’re so hot right now. They’re teaching us a thing or two. 

Barbara McGuire’s shimmering mokume

Barbara Mcguire's painterly approach to mokume gane on PolymerClayDaily.com

North Carolina’s Barbara McGuire will be teaching her own special brand of Mokume Gane this weekend at Tryon’s Arts and Crafts school. These class samples have me salivating.

Barbara’s Shimmering Mokume brings influences from Gustav Klimt with a touch of Paul Klee (to my eye at least).

Wouldn’t you love to know how she arrives at such painterly pieces?

Study her on Facebook. She offers some wonderfully deep rubber stamps in her Etsy shop.

Monday zigzags

Greece’s Katerina Strouggari (@mepolymeraki) zigs and zags her polymer earrings, tucking in balls of clay for an imitative soutache design.

She starts with one long strip of black and white, adding alternating colors of balls between each turn.

Soutache is the narrow braid embroidery associated with military and band uniforms.

See how she creates the same effect on pendants on Facebook

Dad’s ties in polymer

Olja brings silk ties to polymer on PolymerClayDaily.com

These pieces from Germany’s Olja (@olgasmodeschmuck) look like men’s silk tie patterns.

There’s something very buttoned-down and crisp about the blue gradations intersected by gold lines. The bail is made from the same clay.

The polka-dotted element loosens up the tight geometry.

I couldn’t find much info on Olja. Care to comment with some details or links?

Spirited seasonal icons

Anita Kennerley and Jan Montarsi tweak holiday icons on PolymerClayDaily.com

Simple designs contain great charm at this time of year.

Ohio’s Jan Montarsi gives dimension to the snowmen pins he made for a swap by shadowing their rounded edges. To give them personality he splurges on scarves, hats, and earmuffs.

Anita Kennerley and Jan Montarsi tweak holiday icons on PolymerClayDaily.com

Anita Kennerley builds her angel earrings by wrapping a circle and using hearts for wings. Using only a red circle, white belt, and black belt buckle, her earrings say that Santa is coming.

It’s the merry attitude in these designs that captures the spirit of the season.

Slip over to StudioMojo if you want a weekend helping of festive polymer ideas and insider news. StudioMojo comes right to your inbox each Saturday.

Mix and match tree decorations

Erika Bregani decorates her trees on PolymerClayDaily.com

These bright, cheery trees are from Italy’s Erika Bregani (Centodiecigrad).

Their sharp-edged shapes are covered with happily collaged patterns. Because Erika consistently uses bright colors and strong contrasts in her canes, even the smallest bits play nicely with each other and make sense.

She mixes and matches her earring pairs, putting a tree on one and an ornament on the other.

Tomorrow’s StudioMojo takes a look at some of polymer’s current cutting edge artists who are reflecting current cultural thoughts in their work. Join us for a look at what our work says about us.

Holiday harmony in clay

Amy Sun Ah brings harmony to the patterns in her holiday collections on polymerclaydaily.com

Baltimore’s Amy Sun Ah (SunAhBlair) Is in the throes of the holiday bazaar season. While the repeated shapes in these earrings and pendant are straightforward, it’s the mix of patterns that makes them harmonize..

Amy deftly brings Victorian and Japanese textile designs to polymer via silkscreen and paints. Some, like the pendant here, are backed with slightly larger textured clay shapes and joined by a central crystal.

Visit her on Instagram and her site to experience the variety in her collections.