Pursuing primitive polymer

First, let me say that Chicago’s Marina Rios (FancifulDevices) is not a child. Or a chipmunk. She sped up the video to give us super fast look.

Marina Rios show us how to go primitive on PolymerClayDaily.com

Marina gets messy and there’s not a liquid or powder that she won’t try in pursuit of the grungy, primitive, gypsy look that she loves to give her polymer. In this one minute session she pulls out paint, alcohol inks, crackle, eye shadow, and more in pursuit of just the right vibe.

We benefit from her experimenting without having to stain our fingers or clean up after her. Thanks, Marina.

100 days of surfaces

Iris Mishly doggedly and delightfully pursues her 100-day challenge on PolymerClayDaily.com

Israel’s Iris Mishly is deep into her 100-day challenge for veneers. This one didn’t go as planned so she cut it into strips that she offset and reassembled into an even better, almost digital-looking version.

You can learn a lot from watching others’ work evolve. My 100-days are languishing at the two-week mark but that’s how things go these days and I refuse to feel apologetic.

Better to ride on Iris’ coattails and learn from her. Her collection is amazing. There’s no paint, powder, ink, or stencil she won’t try. Lovely to look at. Here’s her Etsy.

Spring shapes and colors

Cecilia Leonini blends inks into a spring fantasy of color on PolymerClayDaily

Thinking of spring? This pendant from Italy’s Cecilia Leonini (ImpastArte) says it all – fresh colors, delicate lines, light flowery shapes. Here she is on Instagram.

Cecilia is teaching her Comic and Chopped techniques at an April 13 workshop in Turin sponsored by Staedtler.

Her background is in illustration so drawing smooth blends and fine lines with inks on raw polymer suits her just fine and delights the rest of us.

Parade of hearts

Anarina Anar draws and shades her hearts in surprising colors on PolymerClayDaily

It’s nearly February and time for the valentine parade to begin. Greece’s Anarina Anar leads us off with a new necklace.

Her hearts are assembled from several shapes, made of light clay shaded with pencils or inks. A black backing also serves to outline her bright colors. A bit of texture and some teardrop elements make hers an unusual treatment.

The hand-drawn colors and changing shapes keep your eye skittering around this gathering of hearts. You’ll find them on Etsy and Instagram.

Need a little more polymer love? Head over to StudioMojo for a taste of the wider world – lots of tidbits that we couldn’t cram into PCD. This week we hunt down the experimenters, track the exhibitionists and find new ways to keep your muse happy and your mojo working.

Which came first?

Christi Uliczny layers lavish colors and leaves clues on her Instagram on PolymerClayDaily.com

Don’t you love the mysteries you encounter as you deconstruct a polymer piece like this one from Michigan’s Christi Uliczny (cabinefeverclay)?

“Which came first?” we ask ourselves. Interestingly light colored polymer textured ovals with baked in metal eyes were first. Then what? Color? When did the crackle go on? And then more layers of colors?

It’s dizzying to walk it backward when there are so many layers interacting with each other. You need skill and serendipity to create faux ceramics like Christi’s. She offers more clues to her favorite tools on her Instagram.

Exploring the surface

Maryland’s Kelly Russell excels at jewel-like veneers. She can’t stop saying, “What if.”

With this veneer, she had to figure out what her gilded and colored surface would look like if she gave it Jana Roberts Benzon’s encrusted treatment.

With others, she made rough mosaics and big multi-part beads that seem unearthed from another time. Kelly’s on a roll that she shares on Facebook.

Breezy polymer batiks

Lorraine Vogel (WiredOrchid) brings us more breezy summer batiks. You can feel her home’s Florida influence in the leaves and flowers in her designs.

Lorraine’s been perfecting her own methods using inks and stamps in ways that go beyond shabby chic beads which rely on paints. She’s tried other rustic glazes and effects. She’s dabbled with carving polymer and coloring with washes.

After all that Lorraine has come up with a dyed fabric look that combines the techniques in a new way. She hints that she’ll develop a tutorial that will divulge how she uses inks to mimic the wax batik process so convincingly on polymer.

In the meanwhile, you can admire how she’s refined and evolved her methods on Flickr, Facebook and on her Etsy site.