Tina Holden creates realistic Hawaiian Opihi limpet shells with a set of silicone molds and a tutorial. The starburst texture and jagged edges make interesting designs beyond shells too.
Tina’s a coastal girl from British Columbia and she excels at shells (plus molds and silkscreens). She likes to experiment with new shapes and techniques. Read about her on her blog, Facebook and shop her on Etsy and her website shop.
Lina Takhautdinova (Wildhorn) introduces us to the world of dark dressers and stylenoir. Goth meets high fashion in St. Petersburg. Lina pairs upcycled leather, coarse fabric, and aged silver with her own polymer antlers and imitation stones.
She refers to her colors as sombre and you’ll note hashtags that range from avantgarde to postapocalyptic. A short interview on StyleNoir.com gives you a better idea of Lina’s aesthetic and worklife. The best place to see her work is on Instagram and Pinterest. Keep up with her latest news on Facebook.
If you were overwhelmed by the color on Monday and Tuesday’s PCD posts, this should cleanse your palette.
Margarita Repsiene (from Lithuania now in Singapore) developed her own batik methods for the sea urchin earrings and on the fabric-like belt buckle on the right.
Batik is definitely on the rise again and this version bounced around the world and landed in my lap via Irena Lapasinskaite, Margarita’s friend.
You’ll find a whole bunch of intriguing items on her Flickr, Etsy, Pinterest and Facebook pages. I studied them and kept asking myself, “How is she doing that?”
If you dig up a polymer artist who rings your chimes or piques your curiosity, please send her/his name to PCD. You readers are my eyes and ears in the crazy, huge internet/social media world. I can’t possibly keep up on my own and I count on you. Thanks!
The feel of baked polymer reminds Lindsay Locatelli (wazodesigns) of wood. She carves the hardened clay to give it natural and organic textures.
“I graduated with a BFA in Furniture Design from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design and worked mostly in wood/metal. After college, I began working in a smaller scale and I fell in love with the idea of art jewelry because there’s a component of function as well as sculpture. Polymer clay became my new medium of choice because it’s much more satisfying to work with at a smaller scale,” says Lindsay.
“Polymer clay allows me to have much more control than wood did. I’m interested in creating new textures/forms out of the material and working with it in unique and unusual ways.”
Minneapolis has a lively emerging fashion and art community and Lindsay’s active in shaping it. The necklace here, Bleached Bones, is made of polymer, brass with acrylic paint and the ring is polymer, silver and citrine. Follow her on Instagram and Facebook as well.
Lindsay was part of the ACC’s first Hip Pop Showcase at the St. Paul ACC show in April this year.
If you’ve been around polymer for a while you may, like me, think you’ve seen every cane possible. But then a cane brain like Meg Newberg shows her newest ways to make an imitative indigo dye cane and you shake your head in wonder. That soft-edged tie-dye look is challenging in polymer.
Her monthly cane subscription is one of the best deals out there. Each month she emails subscribers cane tutorials that baffle and delight.
I’m off to the studio to try this. Here’s a sampling of my first efforts. It took me several tries to get the hang of it.
You can sign up with Meg or buy back issues on her Etsy site and follow her on Facebook.
It’s not easy to salvage that sweet bit of polymer veneer and turn it into something wearable and delightfully designed. That’s why these earrings from Minnesota’s Jan Geisen caught my eye.
She has a way of putting geometric shapes together in a way that makes them both simple and remarkable. She leans toward muted imitative stone patterns or watercolor-like washes of color. These earrings measure 1/4″ x 1 3/4″. The black rectangle attaches to the earwire and surrounds the patterned slab.
On Jan’s Flickr pages you’ll see more examples of her mix-and-match stacking style. She’s compiled a great stash of inspirations on Pinterest.
The UK’s Claire Wallis used translucent and metallic clays plus paint as she experimented with her imitative rock crystal ring. She plans to tweak and explore what she’s discovered and we’ll plan to watch!
This new work is a departure from the large and intricate complex canes that she demos on Facebook. She shows more on her site and on Flickr.
What would you find if you scooped up a handful from Nikki Zehler’s bead stash? Pyrite? Porcelain? Polymer? If LoveRoot is missing a color or needs more texture she turns to polymer to fill the gaps.
The earrings to the left include chunks of pyrite along with African baule beads. The rusty textured chunks are polymer.
The distressed earring bells to the right? Yep, they’re polymer. The big bead in the bracelet is the only polymer there. Nikki lets her eye guide her, not the material.
This exotic gypsy sensibility comes from wild Ohio! Who would have guessed? See loads more on Facebook, Etsy and Pinterest.
You may not be drawn to Sarah Sorlien’s polymer imitative rock but there are plenty of dogs who love it!
This Philadelphia physician makes Odor Stones, hollow polymer stones that are used as hiding places for dog training and competitions. She creates these functional faux stones for a canine sport called Nosework. Now you understand the holes.
Sarah says she learned rock basics from my online class and then added her own magic ingredient – cement. “Add a little liquid clay if it gets too powdery,” she suggests. It’s cheaper than embossing powders and was already available in the garage. “Don’t get it near your eyes,” physician Sarah cautions. See more of her examples on Pinterest.
An interesting diversion from jewelry on a Thursday. PCD took an interesting diversion too and stopped posting on schedule. Technological spring fever!
Heather Powers’ Wedgwood Pottery-inspired beads contain promises of a new season. Her imitative Jasperware beads feature raised white relief sculpture on matte backgrounds in spring colors. Here the Wedgwood beads are paired with leafy designs and topped by birds.
Heather is one busy blogger! Tonight she presents her tips for Promoting Your Jewelry Business Online to the Baltimore Bead Society. She’s gathered her source material, over 300 articles for artists/sellers, into one hugely helpful Creative Biz Pinterest board.
She operates multiple shops and teaches on cruises, workshops, bootcamps and retreats. She writes books. She blogs and connects like crazy. Go marvel at her talents and don’t miss her free jewelry tutorials!
