South Australia’s Leah Radlett tales a different approach to mosaics. Her 4″ tiles are composed of round polymer elements.
Nice of Leah to share her in-progress shots. She starts with the background and works inward. which isn’t what you might have expected.
See more of her landscapes on Etsy and Instagram. She calls this one Joyful and says, “I’ve been blessed by so many nice comments about my work and it makes my heart happy to know that people enjoy my art.”
Madrid’s Elena Fernandez (NaniPollito) combines many talents in this mosaic polymer neckpiece. The polymer elements are sewn on and surrounded by intricate beadwork,
The focal piece is strung on a long cord of polymer and antique trade beads.
Wherever her muse leads, Elena bravely follows. Her work is free form and dramatic. It requires bold wearer.
You can sense that Elena has been a painter all her life. Look at her wide-ranging art on Flickr.
Starting the week with step-by-step photos from the UK’s Bridget Derc makes us feel like we’re already working in the studio.
Bridget’s Katie in the Garden is a 9″x12″ homage to her cat. It took her over a year to finish this polymer mosaic to her satisfaction.
The colors are alluring and her ingenious skinner-blended border will give you a Monday morning headful of ideas. See more of her on Facebook.
Illinois’
Linda Webb (CreeksideStudio) reminds us that February 2 is Groundhog Day here in the US. Here’s her polymer mosaic pendant of Punxsutawney Phil who predicts how long our winter will last.
Linda makes her chunky geometric mosaics look easy on Instagram. She has an eye for animal portraits. For the rest of us, a pendant like this might require six more weeks of winter. Happy Groundhog Day.
If you’d like to catch up on what’s happening in the wider world of polymer, come on over to StudioMojo on Saturday mornings. We share lots of tidbits and treats and make sure that your mojo is happy and ready to dive in.
Kathy Cannella has a distinctive sense of color and a fondness for geometrics, mosaics, and veneers. But I don’t really know much else about this Santa Fe artist. It’s nice to bump into folks who hide out on Flickr or lurk quietly on other social media.
Look through Kathy’s Flickr pages. She’s been creating quietly and competently for several years and last fall she turned more active. She changed her groove. This is all conjecture on my part, of course, but I like to theorize and whatever happened looks positive.
When you examine your work, can you point to when something shifted in your life, an event happened or a direction changed? What would you like to shift in your art this year?
Victoria Mkhitarian (vimhandmade) is smitten with birds and she finds a lovely way to capture her obsession in polymer. She gathers her small tiles into a couple of framed bird mosaics.
The birds are fancifully rendered in mokume gane polymer on textured backgrounds in various shades of yellow.
Do you have a mark or an image that you repeat again and again, sometimes without thinking? What could you make of them if you gathered them into a composition?
Victoria is from Russia and now lives in New Zealand. It’s hard to keep track of you artists! You can be sure to see the latest from Victoria on Flickr and Facebook.
Well-known California mosaic artist Susan Crocenzi says, “I am currently going through a major polymer clay bender. You wouldn’t believe how many tiles and doo-dads I’ve created over the past month!”
She sees polymer as an amazing material, especially for mosaic artists. “You can make tiles in the size, shape, and thickness you need! You can create super-flashy textured embellished colorific tiles, or quiet, flat, subtle ones. Seriously, this stuff’s flexibility will amaze you,” she gushes.
Here’s the info on her September 9 class in Portland, OR. Flip through her Instagram to see how she combines handmade polymer clay tiles with mosaic materials, most notably tempered glass.
If mixing media makes your heart sing, the flash and sparkle of mosaic might be just what your polymer muse yearns for.
Illinois’ Linda Webb (creeksidestudio) tells her story in mosaic code, this one a heartfelt condolence to Manchester, UK families.
Linda keeps her work surface covered with sheets of veneers that she crafts into images. This Instagram photo of her workspace explains it all.
Mosaics offer another use for the polymer, paint and ink veneers that have been growing in popularity.
Does it bug you when you can’t quite figure out how a piece was constructed? I am stumped by this pendant/bar/bead from Jana Honnerova and the Czech translation doesn’t help.
Blended and stamped veneer? Extruded interlocking patterns? Faux mosaic? Silkscreen?
What you can clearly understand is that Jana put a lot of time and skill into developing this brain-teaser pattern. She has a masters in biology/genetics and was a skateboard champion too.
Here’s her work on FB, Flickr and Etsy. Oh look, Jana will teach in Dallas in March!
In the meanwhile, let her design tease your polymer brain.
The rich textures in the polymer mosaic work of Darwin, Australia’s Nicole Boucher (BlueMallee) reflect her tropical surroundings.
This particular oriental-inspired piece was snatched up by a customer who then sent Nicole a photo of its new home. It landed where it belonged!
Another photo of the mosaic here shows off its dark jewel colors with lustrous gold highlights. Over 90 tiles surround what looks like a slab of ancient text.
Scroll through Nicole’s Facebook to view some of her other mosaics and jewelry.
