We can’t talk about translucent clay without checking to see what Kathrin Neumeier is up to, teasing us with another series of her glass-like earrings. She uses Pardo clay with inks to create patterns and achieve light catching effects.
If I’m not mistaken, the red earrings in her recent photos have burn spots on them. While it’s a controlled burn and the effects look purposeful, Kathrin is obviously testing the limits of translucent polymer. She’s on the edge and way ahead of most of us.
Monika Brydova of Czech Republic imagines spring flowers just about to bloom in polymer. They resemble our snowdrops.
Four slim petals are textured on the inside with brighter colors on the outside. They’re joined at the top and wrapped with what looks like wire but it’s polymer too. Nestled inside the petals a yellow stamen adds contrast.
Dancing Flowers is an appropriate name for this bunch of polymer flowers by Zuzana Liptakova of Slovakia. She mixes delicately edged translucent petal cane slices with crystals, metal chain, beads and findings, draping them with style.
To make them into earrings, Zuzana hangs small glitzy jewels on chain from the center of a circle of petals. The colors are perfect for spring with just a bit of what looks like embossing powder worked in for interest.
She’s been working in clay since 2010 and has already attended an impressive list of master classes. With her spring flowers you can see how Zuzana is finding her own distinct style that you can discover in her Sashe gallery, on Flickr and Facebook.
Eri Dimitriadi’s earrings are composed of flattened curvy wafers of black polymer layered on top of each other with metal stamens poking out. One of the stamens becomes the earwire. That’s it and yet it’s much more.
Eri is a fulltime architect in Greece and she calls herself a minimalist. See her wall installations and read about how she likes to pare down nature’s complexity to essential shapes.
She sticks with a black and white palette with an occasional dash of color and prefers her necklaces off-center. You can see her works on Facebook and catch a glimpse of her influences on Pinterest.
When you’re tied up in technique and color, it’s refreshing to see how less can be more.
PCD has followed Jennifer Morris’ meticulous polymer work from New York to Portland. Her distinctive romantic and bohemian designs are precisely appliqued onto base beads and often embellished with rich beadwork.
Recently Jennifer’s work has taken a geometric turn and she’s being influenced by fabrics – quilts, weaving and needlework. The earrings at the left were inspired by aztec embroidery, the ones on the right by a kilim rug.
Her Etsy interview gives you a glimpse of her studio, her methods and her life in Portlandia.
Cyber Monday helps raise the roof
Lee Ann Armstrong likes simple solutions. Her search for a well-designed cane slicing device led her to come up with the popular Simple Slicer. Her response to the Raise the Roof project is equally straightforward.
On Monday, December 2, buy a tool from Lee Ann Armstrong and she’ll donate the entire amount to Raise the Roof. Your purchase of any tool from Lee Ann’s Etsy site will help put a roof over the head of a woman in distress. No paperwork, no governmental hoops, it’s another simple solution. Indulge your love of tools guilt-free.
Thanks to Friday’s “first responders” we are well on our way. Lee Ann’s generous gesture keeps the project’s momentum going. Read more Raise the Roof personal stories on their blog and donate directly here.
Snowflakes bring reminders of the awesome geometry of nature. Remember cutting and unfolding paper snowflakes that taught you the secrets of repeating patterns? Some of us still thrill to that lesson in polymer.
San Francisco’s YarnNClay (Lina Bailey and Yana Mostitsky) offer these gracefully shaped drop earrings decorated with a snowflake cane reduced to tiny dimensions. The two artists met on the internet and now mix their media fashionably in an Etsy shop.
This year I vow to make some of Jan Montarsi’s glittery snowflake ornaments. Look closely and you’ll begin to see how he used small cutters, combining them into a geometry of his own for ornaments. His delightful tutorial shares some of the finer points.
Bringing back childhood pleasures is a sure way to stay in touch with the truer meaning of the season.
Sherri Kellberg’s earrings from polymer extrusions jumped right out at me. They’re subtle, simple and clever and her site is full of similar examples with fine finishes (she offers a tutorial for that) and appealing color. This Florida artist also offers a tutorial for faux lampwork that is tempting. Here’s her Etsy shop.
I’m working on my Craftcast extrusions class for November 13. You know how when you’re focused on something you suddenly see it everywhere? Be prepared for extrusions this week.
These art deco polymer earrings from Germany’s Bettina Welker make me want to run and build graduated canes. These beauties are samples from a class that Bettina teaches on CraftArtEdu (which happens to be available on a 25% off sale until Thursday night).
Bettina’s website, Etsy shop, FB page, Flickr and Ipernity sites are classes in themselves and lately she’s been percolating with loads of new ideas.
Country connections
I have to walk down the lane to the small adobe wifi hut this month while I’m vacationing out west. I have to carefully schedule (and limit) my online time. Which is my way of saying, don’t be surprised if my email responses are slow or posts show up late.
I find that my head is full of polymer ideas and my hands are itching (in a good way) to get to work. But I haven’t forgotten my faithful readers.
These slinky earrings from Rome’s Michela Mokele may have a snake-like shape but they’re more sleek than slithery. The stripes end in a flat cut that reveals the solid center. The top of the cane curls seductively around the ear wire loop.
It’s a simple and effective earring design and you can see more cleverly coiled and twisted canes on her Flickr page and on Facebook.
Ponsawan gave the drops their blingy pop by using Speedball Caligraphy Ink. She outlined the cane designs and spattered the background with blasts of bright gold. The Facebook crowd erupted in a flurry of comments and questions and Ponsawan shared what she’d done to add the perfect finishing touch.
