More scribbles

You may have to study Vera Kleist’s attractive scribbles necklace to figure out how she did it. The polished polymer lines are surrounded by deep grooves that she’s enhanced with white grout and called To Be Different. Here’s her Etsy link.

Your scribbles

You readers have been great about sharing data with Judy Belcher and me. More data is better! If you haven’t yet filled them out, here’s Survey 1 and Survey 2 that will tell us how the polymer community is trending. We’ll report back at Synergy3.

Tumbling polymer blocks

There’s a buzz around the neat colorful tumbling blocks canes by Germany’s ST-Art-Clay. This updated interpretation of the historic quilt pattern uses shades of the colors to give the design dimension created by extruded triangles and edging strips.

ST’s colors are vivid and fun and she shows lots of variations on her Flickr page. You can see that she’s taken great master classes and that caning is her forte. She is able to control her canes in ways that many of us envy. Did you see her wildlife canes? ST is about to go wild!

The link first came to PCD via Cate van Alphen. Thanks!

Polymeow

Perhaps a polymer version of lolcats will brighten your mid-week. This feline brooch from TZ is bright and simple and fun. Spiraled extruded strings of clay are cut out in a kitty shape and enhanced with texture. A few dabs of clay form the cheeks and eyes. Add a tongue and whiskers and voila.

TZ shows off other cats on his site. It takes a while to load but it’s worth the wait.

The cat’s away today. You mice play in your studios.

Note: The translation confused me and I originally attributed this incorrectly. There’s much more art and a proper explanation on the artist’s site here.

Embellished with extrusions

These beads from Belgium’s Carolina Pazos Michel (malospazos) use extruded canes as embellishments in a fresh way. She adds strips of extruded canes on top of subtle blends. Not satifised with that, she shapes the beads into flat donuts and tops them off with cherry-like rounds in the center.

Her combinations are a riff on Bettina Welker’s retro cane and have a spontaneous vibe that energizes them.

Fall faux soutache

Fall colors are popping up. The faux soutache earrings created by Magdalena on this Polish site bring Halloween to mind….but a very sophisticated Halloween. What a perfect use for extruded clay.

I’m on the road this weekend with no time for research. Any Polish speakers out there who can tell us more about Magdalena?

Thinking big polymer

Svenja Lohse knows how to impress us with size! Those repeating patterns in her Obstschale Mexiko (Mexican Fruitbowl) and Obstschale Strudel (Fruitbowl Swirl) have put me in a Tuesday trance. They’re like meditative mandalas. The canes! The work!

Svenja lives in northern Germany and is a member of the German group. Go kick around on Svenja’s sites. Bettina Welker sent in the link.

Polymer faux wire

Helen Breil’s free String Bead tutorial may keep you busy this weekend. This necklace is dusted with mica powders, sealed with spray and filled with pearls.

Helen extrudes the strings and forms them into faux wire that can be shaped (and reshaped) into slinky cages into which you can tuck other beads.

In most places it’s still warm enough to extrude with ease over the end-of-summer holiday. On her website she offers a slideshow that guides you through the process that you can tailor to create your own designs.

Thanks to Helen for providing our entertainment. And check out her texture stamps too.

Spirals or circles?

The Austrian coils or the Swiss circles? I couldn’t decide which ones to feature so you can choose for yourself. The designs are each made from extruded polymer but with entirely different approaches.

The coils are from Austria’s Eva Ehmeier (she’s the model). Graduated colors are extruded (or rolled) into thin strands which are curled and built right on the earwires. Choose your favorite among the neon colors here. Eva developed this design when she allowed herself some playtime in the studio.

E. Mischler from Switzerland gives a monochromatic twist to Bettina Welker’s retro cane that creates a snakeskin or mosaic look. Smooth lentil beads are suspended below coordinated solid color beads. This artist/pharmacist admits that clay has been her addiction since 2007 when she discovered that polymer brought balance to her life.

Retro soul

Look at Libby Mills’ latest work and you’d swear she had a retro soul. She handles a ripple blade like she was born to it. This extruded cane slice could have been swiped from a Mad Men set.

The Skinner blends she starts with are thoroughly modern, however. Browse through her Flickr pages to see how she’s been building subtle, soothing blends into patterns that delight the eye and take you back to the 1960s. Here’s her post about her process.

Seuss-isms for Success

Another spirited necklace! Today’s Paradise Circus is from Nova Scotia’s Jenna Wright. Extrusions are coiled around some spheres then carved. Extruded slices are applied to others.

Jenna’s Etsy shop name is Boxes for Groxes and what we know about her we learn only from her colorful, playful aesthetic.

A little more research revealed that her shop name comes from Dr. Seuss’ Seuss-isms for Success whose whimsy fits nicely with Jenna’s art. Read the whole tongue twister here.

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