Polymer Clay Daily

Nine ways to Sunday – FREE

Jane Hewitt gathers the mokume gane variations into one neat booklet that's free

Holidays are a perfect time to try something fun, easy, and no-fail. Hello, mokume gane!

Problem is there are variations nine ways to Sunday! You’ve got your deep, shallow, scrap, ghost, and natural methods.

For your holiday polymer pleasure, follow this free link from the UK’s Jane Hewitt, who gathers a slew of approaches to the technique into one nicely-illustrated .pdf booklet to download.

If you feel like giving to Jane’s charity, that would be lovely. Donate on the LimbBo page.

Polymer music

Kansas City’s Heidi McCullough (BlueHeron) wrote and performed the theme song for last weekend’s Polymer Art Summit. I believe that’s a first. It’s sung to the tune of “My Favorite Things”.

It ends with the honest refrain, “I simply remember my giant clay stash, and then I don’t feel so bad!” Thanks to Heidi and to the PAS organizers. (click for a bigger image)

Heidi McCullough penned new lyrics to her favorite things on PolymerClayDaily.com

How do you like your mokume gane?

Julie Picarello reveals her mokume gane tricks online on PolymerClayDaily.com

California’s Julie Picarello is famous for her mokume gane in soothing mellow palettes. She haunts hardware stores for obscure metal tools and gizmos repurposed to make surprisingly pleasant abstract paintings in clay.

How do you like your mokume gane? Scratched, half-toned, custom cut, reversed, quilted, landscaped? 

The organizers of the August 7-8 weekend online event decided to take a deep dive into a single technique. From its Japanese roots in metal to today’s homegrown varieties.

Shaving slivers off a Mokume Gane block reveals layers of unpredictable and fascinating beauty and a world of endless possibility. How do they do that?

This is the last week to sign up for a look at Mokume Gane approaches from seven polymer experts. 

A nip in the woods

Chris Owens creates a flask for the woods on PolymerClayDaily.com

Kentucky’s Chris Owens (chris325o) uses layers of Cernit metallic clays with a touch of Sculpey Souffle white to achieve this tree bark look. She’s made a big mokume gane veneer that wraps all around the Blue Bark Flask.

Chris makes luscious mid-century modern patterns collide with woodsy colors. Usually, you hide a flask but I’d want to set this right on the table for all to admire.

Aren’t you curious to know what she used for those patterns? She’s Retrovenue on Facebook.

Monday surprise

Anna Nel finds magic in mokume gane on PolymerClayDaily

Let’s ease into the week with eye candy from Poland’s Anna Nel.

She makes her mokume gane slices look tempting. “How hard could it be?” we ask ourselves.

Make a thin pad of colored layers, Poke some textures, and slice off the top to reveal Monday magic.

I hope your Monday surprise is as delicious as this one.

Barbara McGuire’s shimmering mokume

Barbara Mcguire's painterly approach to mokume gane on PolymerClayDaily.com

North Carolina’s Barbara McGuire will be teaching her own special brand of Mokume Gane this weekend at Tryon’s Arts and Crafts school. These class samples have me salivating.

Barbara’s Shimmering Mokume brings influences from Gustav Klimt with a touch of Paul Klee (to my eye at least).

Wouldn’t you love to know how she arrives at such painterly pieces?

Study her on Facebook. She offers some wonderfully deep rubber stamps in her Etsy shop.

Playful leaves

Meisha Barbee plays with leaves and mokume gane on PolymerClayDaily.com

California’s Meisha Barbee has been having some summer fun. You might not recognize these leaves as hers but she’s pushing her boundaries.

Meisha uses mokume gane veins interspersed with textured leaf parts imprinted with the tread on her shoe.

Go back on her Instagram and you’ll see the decorations for her summer glow-in-the-dark party.

Meisha’s having fun! Do you have some fun built into your schedule this week?

Da to metallics

Natalya Pakhomova coaxes the luster from Cernit Metallics on PolymerClayDaily.com

The translation from the Instagram of Moscow’s Natalya Pakhomova makes little sense but her beads may speak your language.

We know they’re made from Cernit metallics using what they’re calling a snakeskin texture plate to achieve this loose mokume gane pattern.

With just the right coaxing, Cernit metallics can create a soft luster that says yes (that’s “da” in Russian). Here they are as earrings.