Polymer Clay Daily

Communicating with clay

Perrin's polymer illustration for the Fabulous Reggae Dogs

Polymer illustrators like Sylvie Perrin communicate cleverly with their clay art. These distressed fish looked particularly topical even though she made the illustration for a children’s series last year.

Checking her site and her blog from time to time is like a crash course in politics, pop culture and current events.

Second Look

One of yesterday’s commenters pointed out a slideshow about Joyce Fritz and her workspace that I had overlooked yesterday. It’s worth a second look here. Thanks Sylvia.

Begin Within

Pindroh's polymer Begin Within plaque

This 12″ polymer illustration by Paula Pindroh will hang in my studio and it’s a perfect bit of post-conference wisdom. With all those new tools and techniques swirling in my head, this plaque reminds me to gently tune out the noise and listen to my heart.

I feel great about shopping at Trader Joe’s knowing that the store hires people like Paula to create their weekly signage.

Short and sweet post today while I deal with the heaps of email and laundry.

Polymer street art from CZK

CZK's street art polymer

London street artist CityZenKane’s has added a new video to his arsenal. His ray gun video shows the making of his 3D street sculptures. CZK sculpts the basic form in polymer, casts it and then paints it or covers it with cane slices. He also works with polymer UV and neon effects on his street art.

These additional articles and photos (here, here and here) may give you a better perspective on CZK’s work. The link is from Italy’s Leila Bidler.

I’ve been so wrapped up in vacationing and spring that I’ve neglected some of the edgier, more interesting developments in our community. Here are some of the recent polymer-related books you may find of interest as well.

Serendipitous Monday

Tammy Durham illustration in polymer clay

You’ll need a big cup of coffee to sip while you follow today’s links. Polymer illustrator Tammy Durham emailed me her latest densely decorated, Klimt-inspired piece and a link to her updated web site.

Coincidentally Jay King sent a link to Smashing Magazine’s extensive collection of beautiful plasticine (and polymer) artworks. Tammy Durham’s work is in the collection and you’ll find several others familiar to you. Charlotte Oh (see her teen blogger here) works in sculpey and is new to our list of illustrators.

Charlotte Oh's teen blogger

You can blame fate for the time you blow looking at animations and illustrations from around the world. These novel and often humorous ads, posters and illustrations provide great inspiration for a Monday. Enjoy!

Vacation polymer

Dawn Schiller's polymer candlewyke

Dawn Schiller’s “candlewyck” has me spooked as I lock up the house and leave for vacation. Will these odd little creatures sense my departure and start popping up from the candlesticks when I pull out of the driveway? Her polymer oddfae suddenly make me a believer. What an imagination she has.

Arizona from a Paula Pindroh illustration

Thanks to Paula Pindroh for the polymer vacation illustration. My husband and I are off to Arizona to visit friends and family, grabbing wi-fi at McDonalds and motels along the way. We’re heading toward sun and heat with polymer supplies in the trunk, naturally.

Susan Lomuto has posted a thoughtful wrap-up of Synergy on her DailyArtMuse.

Apostolescu’s freestyle toys

Matei Apostolescu’s profusion of polymer toys and models make him look like Romania’s modern day Santa Claus. His fleet of race cars, jets, submarines and weapons delight the kid in all of us.

He uses simple clay shapes to build complex machines which he textures and paints. Keep clicking on his 152 toys to see the whole range.

Matei’s paintings and illustrations on his DeviantArt site help acquaint you with his aesthetic. His illustrations and his clay art have a 1960’s “Peter Max meets the digital age” sensibility.

Matei is known as one of the hottest freestyle artists in the world of illustration and says of his process, “I try to explore as much as I can. It is a fusion of different media: drawing, vector, photography, manipulation, sometimes even clay modeling. To me, inspiration is about having the courage to explore the world, and especially yourself and the processes that take place in your own mind.”

Susan Lomuto (DailyArtMuse) ran into Matei’s work and sent the link along.

Easing into Monday

Start your Monday with a big dose of cute from illustrator Inhae Renee Lee, a former California game industry pixel animator and artist. Her blog, My Milk Toof, follows the adventures of two polymer clay baby teeth named ickle and Lardee as they frolick around her home. If you think you’re immune to cute, you may be surprised.

“A year ago I made my first polymer clay toy as a gift for my boyfriend. It was a whale holding a Panda holding a birthday cake. After that, I began playing around with the medium for my own projects,” she says.

As long as we’re easing into the week, take a look at the simple, silly Halloween jewelry on VoilaViola’s Etsy site – Frankenstein bolts, blood necklaces and earrings, and my favorite, the reattached head necklace. Ready to play now?

Friday shout outs

It’s Friday so I’ll give a shout out to several artists on my desk and let you decide which path you’d like to follow today:

First there’s Sylvie Perrin, France’s QueenOfClay, who’s created a polymer clay illustration about our health care situation. If you haven’t looked at her site for a while, scroll through her blog and see her recent work (including the Bouche Chante here).

Second, there’s Camille Allen, the queen of polymer babies, and her latest newsletter. You’ll marvel at her realism and her worldwide following. Her Facebook fan page shows pictures of her at the Dubai Doll Festival in July and her most recent offerings. And no, they’re not marzipan.

Third, are you following Dee Wilder’s latest lathe-turned polymer beads? She’s trying all sorts of techniques and it’s fun to look over her shoulder via Flickr.

Last but not least, if you’re hankering for a class with a polymer clay legend, check out Sandra McCaw’s workshops in Normandy and Burgundy in late October and November. Have a lovely weekend.

Daniels’ canes sculpt time

At five years of age, David Daniels had a coffee can full of clay that he and his siblings started playing with on the kitchen table. They never put it away and he’s never stopped playing with clay. At thirteen he won his first contest. MTV, Sesame Street, movies and more came later.

Clay sculpting and caning led to animation and the development of his own stratacut process which he describes as motion sculpture or sculpting time. He explains, “That’s my gift, I see time from the outside and I see motion sculpture and see how the pieces all flow together and we’re a part of all that.”

I had to watch his video sampler several times with my mouth open before my brain began to catch up. If you like to cane, this brilliant guy is a must see. He adds that, “I intentionally leave crudeness in the mix, I could control it more, and I choose not to because it is less interesting to look at.” The interview with David Daniels is here. His tutorials at the bottom of the interview give you a sense of his process.

Susan Hyde sent us this mindblowing link.

Polymer playing, risking

Atlanta artist/illustrator Tammy Durham has begun a blog devoted to her polymer clay illustrations. Her newest 18″x24″ piece, Cardinals and Girl with Red Hair, gives us a colorful and exhuberant start for a creative summer week.

Tammy is developing art for physicians and childrens hospitals. She shares her ambitious plans and goals on her website and blog – a bold and gutsy move. Take a look.

The quote below is from Tory Hughes’ latest post. She makes me want to proclaim this a week to play. Following her own advice, Tory allowed herself to play as she created a mobile of 51 polymer butterflies for the August Sculpting Color show at the Fuller Craft Museum. Reading about her stumbles and obstacles may make you more willing to take chances with your work.

Playing and creating are very close together.
When we play, what do we do? We make something up.
When we create, what do we do? We make something up.
When we let ourselves enter the world of play, we…start to romp around in what might be. In the ‘what if’.