Polymer shell game

Steven Ford solicits your opinion on the findings on this new Shells necklace. Silver or blackened silver for the chain and clasp? Silver or gold-leafed centers for the shells? Version 1 or 2? Steve contends that the white silver looks “unconsidered” while Dave likes the slinky polished white silver. How do you weigh in? (Leave a comment on their blog.)

Steve explains that, “In a way, this new work is getting back to our roots with caning polymer clay. There is an added layer of my recent interest in printmaking too, as the clay is embossed with a linoleum cut plate. It’s also painted to bring out the texture of the surface, and to complicate the color within the clay itself.” Read the full story here.

This shell design sat around in the studio for a couple of years before the artists could decide how to use it. Do you have designs marinating in your studio?

Riveting polymer

Calgary’s Susan White has been a jewellery maker for 15 years, transitioning from lampwork and metals to polymer and metals. Her etched copper links are accented with gilders paste.

The squares of pearlized polymer are riveted on. Below you can see her earrings with silver tubes riveted in the middle of lentil beads. More links here and here. Have a riveting weekend!

Thinking inside the box

Sometimes it’s good think inside the box as in Dawn Schiller’s latest polymer OddFae tucked in a 1″ locket. Guru in a box? Consultant in a box?

Dawn cautions, “For the record — If anyone EVER hears me say, Gosh, I’m bored! I think I’ll sculpt a little, tiny, less-than-an-inch-tall oddfae into a copper box! Feel free to whop me upside the head ’til I drop the sculpting tool.”

Check out more of her work in the June issue of PolymerCafe magazine. Her Faemaker book is due out this August. Read about her latest exploits on FaceBook and Etsy.

Bobble head polymer

Texas’ Lisa Renner finds her seeds of inspiration in pods. This mixed media artist will be teaching a polymer pod head doll class in July at the Austin All Dolls Are Art conference. It’s based on an article she wrote for the Autumn 2011 Art Doll Quarterly magazine.

A second class will feature these polymer bobble head dolls with abstract pillow bead bodies. They bob and weave on their wire supports.

The Bird Peeps are from another mixed media class. Check out her galleries to see all the textures and artforms she mixes into what she calls her visual poetry.

Round five

Dayle Doroshow’s Rounds are playful accumulations of layers and cane slices and they remind me of the playtimes that Dayle and I have had together. These pieces began as companion pins for her fabric collages.

She added center pieces but abandoned that idea when someone said they resembled breasts. She set the work aside.

Over time the designs were revived with more slices and fiddling. They seemed to play nicely with each other. Notice the stamped scrap beads she uses as spacers in the resulting necklace.

Dayle practices what she preaches in our Creative Sparks book (now available as a download). She shares many tricks for stalking your muse and for teasing each project to a happy conclusion.

Real and faux felt

Hot colors help Oxana Volkova (Oksoon) warm up the winter in Moscow (check out the pictures from pancake weekend). This brooch is a mix of bright felt colors with a multicolored organic growth of polymer at its center.

A similar oval brooch (below) looks like it has a bit of Stroppel cane next to felt. But the felt is faux, a texture achieved by attacking the polymer surface with a toothbrush!

Oxana includes an intriguing hollow bead experiment in her Flickr pictures. And this star is one of my favorites too. So much to look at!

Normal polymer

If you had any tired or timid thoughts this Monday, prepare to lose them. This shot of exhuberant, exotic polymer beads, called Same Same But Different, comes from Thailand’s Aow Dusdee.

Her beads are made into simple necklaces here. Her more elaborate works mix beads and fibers and polymer in constructions that drape the body.

Aow has added new images of “my crafty home” to her Flickr site. Crochet and polymer and color surround her in an inviting tropical home. Polymer beads hang in the doorways, pair up with tassels and embellish sculptures. Colors that might seem garish in other settings fit perfectly here.

It’s a big world out there and there are many, many ways to express yourself with polymer. A page from her sketchbook reads, “Everyone seems normal until you get to know them.” Happy Monday!

Polymer and ceramic

Some polymer artists aren’t content to just wear polymer, they have to live with it. New York’s Joan Israel and Germany’s Mareike Scharmer are two who surround themselves with color. They revel in bright patterns in quirky flavors.

Joan is partial to bottles and paintings. Give her a shapely bottle and she’ll give you back a masterpiece. This encrusted small ceramic pot is a current example.

Recently Mareike Scharmer has been adding polymer slices to vessels too. She’s added wildly colored canes to a mailbox, her toilet seat, a lampshade and a bunch of ceramic vessels. And she jumped into the granny square craze! Mareike designs interiors aimed at sparking children’s imaginations.

Hang on to your hat as you cruise through Joan and Mareika’s Flickr sites. These artists embrace color and believe that more is better.

Monday mind-benders

When you take a close look at this new Encrusted polymer bracelet from Jana Roberts Benzon are you as mesmerized as I am? The colorful texture is sumptuous and mystifying. How could you possibly make such a multi-dimensional pixel-like construction? It’s a Monday mystery.

Jana admits, “Honestly, when I finished it, I was just like dang, this is the coolest thing I’ve ever done.” More pix on Flickr and Facebook. Jana’s teaching in Philadelphia in April.

Polymer-covered pasta machine handle

Can a pasta machine handle survive the heat of the oven? Lisa Pavelka tested hers and the answer was yes. The next step, of course, was to cover it with a base layer of scrap clay and start adding cane slices.

She’ll never lose her handle in a class! Lisa’s theory is that you make better art with artistic tools.

Revived polymer

Rebekah Payne gave up on these polymer earrings. She figured she had nothing to lose and baked the sad, scooped out green beads. Then she let them sit around for a while. She layered them with paint and added dots. They started to look better. She hung crystals in the hollows and topped the beads with some wire wrapping. Rebekah calls them her Happy Returns earrings.

This story of persistence and patience is a good one to start the week. Get the full scoop on her blog and scroll through her Etsy offerings. Don’t you have ugly ducklings waiting to become swans?

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