Feathered polymer

At Creative Journeys Studios Kay Bonitz’ works jumped out at me. The pieces were stunning and the name was unfamiliar. Turns out that Kay is from Asheville, North Carolina and she’s known for her beading work. She hasn’t gotten around to adding her polymer pieces to her web site which is why we missed her.

Kay often adds beads and feathers to her polymer art. She haunts the outdoor stores and fishing supply places for embellishments like the fancy rooster feathers that bounce and wave when you move this textured brooch.

The back of each brooch is an unexpected treat and Kay often etches fortune cookie sayings and pithy remarks there. You can see some examples on the page I made of her polymer work.

Watkins’ etchings

Rebecca Watkins of West Virginia likes texture and she shares her personal process for etching unbaked polymer on her Flickr site. No smelly solvents, just a stylus and some patience.

This process looks like it was made for the Zentangle/polymer crowd.

Rebecca’s turtleneck-wearing fishes are dressed for fall. They’re shaped and marked in delightful ways. Thanks to Christine Damm for leading us to this new link.

Cozzi’s niche

Louise Fischer Cozzi’s Necklace Belt 2 has won a place among the Niche finalists in the costume jewelry category. This is not the category in which she entered the polymer piece but she’s not complaining.

The long strand of etched translucent disks can be worn as a belt or a necklace. Louise is famous for simple, gently-curved and repeated shapes. Here’s her Etsy shop. The Brooklyn-based artist also hosts classes at her summer home in Stresa, Italy.

Voila! launches

To keep everyone up to date on the growing interest in polymer clay in Europe, the UK’s Christine Dumont has launched a new site called Voila! that gathers works and news from around the EU. You’ll want to sign up to get all the information. (Those are Christine’s own butterfly beads at the left.)

Reporting on the recent Euro Clay Carnival in France, the Voila site shows this pendant from Holland’s Saskia Veltnaar (Sassy & Co.) which tweaks Bettina Welker’s etching technique by undercutting, shaping and bending the layers.

Thanks to Marjon Donker for sending the link. My Minneapolis meeting was a success and I’m processing all that I learned. More on that later this week.