FOLLOW FRIDAY: Susan Crocenzi

Susan Crocenzi mixes glass and polymer in large lively mosaics on PolymerClayDaily.com

Weary of earrings? Done with slabs? Nothing better than a scroll through Susan Crocenzi’s mosaics for a breath of fresh air.

Look closely, she combines glass and polymer in ways that make it hard to tell what’s what in the riot of color. And her pieces are big and bold. They will lift your mood if you’re feeling timid and uncertain.

Feeling lazy and unproductive? Good! And when you’re looking at the clouds and swaying the hammock, you’ll be surprised at the ideas that pop up.

Join us over at StudioMojo for a Saturday morning dose of surprise and delight.

Warm up with mosaic

Syndee Holt uses pan pastels for her try out of Kim Korringa's free video on PolymerClayDaily.com

California’s Syndee Holt bypassed using scrap polymer for her mosaic jewelry based on Kim Korringa’s video. See them on Instagram.

Syndee pulled out her pan pastels and created a colorful abstract for her top layer of polymer.

This may sound confusing but it’s all explained in Kim’s video of her simple and quick way to play with a bit of clay. It makes a good warm-up exercise in case you’re in a post-holiday rut.

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.

Mika’s geometry

Laurie Mika is all about triangles and diamond shapes in Inner Woven, her latest polymer mosaic which will appear in the 2017 Mosaic Arts International exhibition in Detroit from May 4 to June 15.

The piece’s geometric, almost quilted look makes it stand out from Laurie’s usual round and exotic patterns and shapes. Some of geometric shapes are set in windowed openings that reveal deeper layers. The rich colors are unmistakably Laurie’s palette.

She’s teaching this week in Santa Rosa, CA and it’s fun to check out more of her most recent cubes, crowns and mandalas class samples.

Thanks to Laurie for starting our week with opulence! See more on Instagram and Facebook.

Polymer coloring book

“If as a child you loved coloring in a coloring book like I did, then this is the class for you.” says Laurie Mika about her Coloring on Clay workshop this September.

These class sample tiles show how acrylic paint on clay expands the range and intensity of Laurie’s colors.

She starts with light polymer clay which is stamped and/or textured then painted. Gold leaf and sparkly bits add finishing touches.

See all the mosaic wonders that Laurie composes with her richly decorated tiles on her site, on Pinterest and on Facebook