Polymer tubes

Designs seem to show up in bunches, don’t they? Here’s Ford/Forlano’s most recent variation of an angular piece that shares a shape with Margit Bohmer’s stamped and painted folded squares that we looked at on Monday.

Dave models the big black necklace version of the theme that they’ll be selling at ACC Baltimore this weekend.

Dave and Steve make their design from round tubes cut at an angle that allows the beads to bump and bunch. The surface treatment on the red, white and blue polymer is tantalizing and almost looks metallic.

The edge of each bead reveals solid color below the thin surface veneer. The clasp is cut at the same angle and repeats the theme. You can read about their latest shows on Facebook.

Inchie beads

Germany’s Margit Bohmer decorates a small square of polymer then bends back two corners so that they touch to form a bead. The resulting beads fit together snuggly and join visually into a single shape.

Maybe we should try this with the inchies we trade and collect at events!

Snowbound/Beachbound

For those of you who are snowbound, I invite you to warm yourselves by following the polymer-bikini clad models on Italian runways and streets.

Chiara Duecentogrammi cooks up bright polymer pieces that have high fashion appeal. Here’s one show. You’ll want to check in with Chiara to see where she goes next.

Cloud, rain and trees

This award winning Cloud, Rain and Trees by Virginia’s Wiwat Kamolpornwijit combines both more structured and more organic elements than the necklaces usually created by this environmental researcher turned polymer artist.

Wiwat had been a winner in the 2011 and 2013 Niche awards and a finalist in the Saul Bell Awards in 2011. He took the top 2015 Niche Award in the professional polymer clay category with this neckpiece.

The luscious color on his latest work on Facebook looks like another move from a limited palette to one with more echos of Thailand. Wiwat doesn’t give us many clues but you can sense that 2015 may be his year and there are changes ahead.

Seeing polymer birds

Cynthia Toops combines large lentil beads covered in millefiori cane slices with small insets of micromosaic bird motifs for this new necklace called Seeing Birds.

The birds are all native to Washington state and the piece is featured in the Of a Feather show at the White River Valley Museum located between Tacoma and Seattle. Read more about the exhibition here .

I wish we had a higher resolution photo so you could dive in for a closer look at her magical images made from super fine threads of polymer.

For a better example, zoom in on this brooch that Cynthia made for last fall’s Tilling Time/Telling Time show at Facere Gallery. Keep in mind that the brooch is only 1 1/2 inches square! Silver bezel is by Chuck Domitrovich.

Complex geometry

Simple geometry like Bonnie Bishoff’s can quickly move off course, take a turn and end up in the woods of Kentucky with Leslie Blackford.

Leslie loves snakes and she doesn’t see this necklace of polymer links as alarming at all. Her idea of geometry and nature may differ from yours and mine. (I snapped this picture of a piece that Leslie wasn’t sure others would appreciate.) Check out her King Snake necklaces at the bottom of this page.

Snakes pile up in the winter for warmth and mating and their patterns combine in a delightfully wearable way. She sees only the beauty of nature here.

This week of simple ideas ends on a profound and intriguing story. We see life in delightfully different ways, don’t we?

Simple geometry

Bonnie Bishoff keeps expanding her polymer jewelry line (she and her husband, J.M. Syron, are also known for their furniture and functional art). Her designs have gotten both more simple and more complex.

These recent pieces are comprised of wonky polymer-covered circles that are linked and stacked. The striped patterns vary in size and change directions with dashes of color playing against the black and white. Bonnie says that these black and white designs take her back to her woodcut days.

The new designs on her gallery page were sold at holiday shows in Boston and Washington. This one with half-filled circles is my favorite but it was too complex to silhouette for PCDaily (I’m not that crazy). The gallery is full of geometry that draws you in for a closer look.

Here’s Bonnie on Facebook and her line of shawl pins.

Polymer flourish

Barcelona’s Sona Grigoryan will bring in the new year with a Baroque flourish! Her polymer swash necklace combines architecture and drama.

Imagine the superpowers you could claim if you wore this on New Year’s Eve! Such strength and self-assurance. I’ll be wearing this…virtually.

Sona shares her bangle tutorial on YouTube as an end-of-the-year treat. Go soak up some of her vibe on her website and make a powerful entrance to 2015. More on Facebook and Pinterest.

Decorating for the holidays

Cecilia Leonini’s necklace has a holiday air about it. Like a garland you might string around a tree.

The long Skinner blended tubes are matched by round beads of varying sizes. The balance appears haphazard but hangs in a most appealing way.

Cecelia has been working on balancing elements as you’ll see on Flickr and Facebook.

Anthropological polymer

The trendy Pennsylvania-based store, Anthropologie, asked Genevieve Williamson for a line sheet in July and samples in November. Her polymer pieces are rough hewn, carved, textured and faceted in soft heathered colors. The retailer loved the samples. Now she waits.

Can you imagine being nervous that they’d say no and petrified that they’d say yes? That’s 2000 pieces and exposure in over 185 stores!

How brave is Genevieve to share her samples and her anxiety in a blog post? Will we think she failed if they turn her down? Not me! That takes guts. You go, girl. You make us proud.

I’m happy to say that you can read more about Genevieve in my book, Polymer Clay Global Perspectives. You can catch more of her vibe on Pinterest.

If you’d like to say, “I knew her when”, you can shop in her Etsy store now.

Going bigger

Arizona’s Marlene Brady likes big beads. In this case they’re chunky ceramic-looking polymer beads with loads of texture.

This is as large as she’s let herself go since the textures and layers of colors add visual weight. Does she dare go bigger? When you’re having fun, it’s hard to pull back on the reins!

See where she’s headed on her blog, Pinterest, and Flickr.

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