Polymer Clay Daily

Birthday presence

Birthdays have a way of reminding you to get busy and for Scotland’s Melanie Muir and West Virginia’s Judy Belcher, recent big days pushed them into action.

This hollow-bead Skye-line necklace was inspired by Melanie Muir’s birthday trip to the Isle of Skye and the dramatic mountainous landscapes there. Invited to submit work to several prestigious US shows this year, Melanie says she’s been “squeezing my brains” to develop new work. You can see the results on her Facebook page.

Judy Belcher’s birthday prompted her to launch her new and improved website today! (It was polished by my dear daughter.) Judy’s energy and savvy shine through on every page.

She’s also developed a new MicroKnitting class for CraftEdu that debuts on Wednesday. Be sure to get in on her clever twist on the polymer knitting craze.

While both Melanie and Judy welcome your birthday wishes, sometimes it’s the gifts we give ourselves that are truly important.

Never give up

Watch Dawna Sharp experiment with polymer clay! She’s only been working with polymer clay a year and a half, but you can’t tell, can you?

She gave credit for her quick progress to the generosity of the online polymer clay community sharing tips and encouraging her to keep going.

She shares her works in progress on Facebook, friend her there to see what she’s up to next. Check out her Artfire studio as well.

Guest post from Tejae Floyde

.

 

Switching identities

Tory Hughes made this new necklace specifically to wear at last week’s RAM gala. It’s part of her new SeaCliff series using various techniques with the major elements pin-hinged together. Sea Cliff is a reference to an area of San Francisco that Tory sees as full of light, color and energy.

The necklace was on Tory one minute and then on Penina Meisels the next. (Tory decided it looked better on Penina.) Maggie Maggio’s necklace migrated to Cynthia Toops’ neck. It was as if the artists were switching nametags. The game to keep up with who was wearing whom made me realize how good it is to develop your own signature work.

Garden inspiration from Vee

Veruschka Stevens' bounty necklace from polymer clay

Veruschka Stevens was moved to created this wearable polymer garden after watching Michele Obama on tv gardening and surrounded by children.

“This necklace is very much inspired by the gorgeous garden in the White House and the wonderful health and joy that a garden – no matter how small or large – can bring into everyone’s heart, mind and body,” she explained. Here’s a collage of her inspiration and her results.

Vivacious Veruschka

Vee Stevens polymer necklace

Veruschka (Vee) Stevens is not shy. You can tell that by the exuberance of her work and the energy emanating from her site and her diva jewelry.

“I create custom couture pieces and sets exclusively for my clients, based on whatever their inspiration might be and never repeat a design,” she says.

Vee Stevens polymer flowers

An IT professional, Vee grew up in Germany, Bolivia and South America. She set up her polymer business in Philadelphia a year ago.

The butterfly necklace at the left reflects the metamorphosis metaphor and is meant to remind the wearer that she is a beautiful, changing creature too. Vee is new to us so wander through her site and her Flickr pages and have a beautiful weekend.

Arden’s bittersweet journey

Kim Arden's solo show

Kim Arden’s current solo polymer show at 20 North Gallery in Toledo, Ohio gives us another example of “forced” creativity. “Adorning Glory” is the gallery’s first all-jewelry show.

Kim explains that, “Making work for this show has been a wonderful yet bittersweet journey. I recently lost my mother, my greatest fan and critic. In creating these new pieces, I was able to get away from the heartbreak and emerge a little stronger each day. Mom would have been proud of this new body of work and surely would have picked out a few pieces for herself!”

Kim’s bold works are featured within gold picture frames hung at eye level throughout the gallery. It’s a simple and effective exhibit technique that leads viewers comfortably through the show. The gallery’s web site gives you a 3D view of the show and Kim’s latest works can be seen more closely on her revamped website.

Abrams’ forced blooms

Abrams spring 2010 necklace

Preparing for a show and an online teaching gig forced Lauren Abrams to try new polymer clay designs. “It’s always fun to have a show to do, it gives me motivation to create work I might not otherwise,” she says. Take a look here and here.

My husband and I are blasting eastward across the country (I’m posting this from a motel in Kansas). Can’t wait to give up road food and get back to my own routine. Funny, the things a vacation forces you to appreciate.

Fairy tales and artichokes

Lopez del Prado's fairy tale polymer necklace

Barcelona’s Elvira Lopez del Prado wraps and spins wire around her fanciful polymer clay flowers and baubles to create what she calls her Fairy Tales series.

Meanwhile Austria’s Eva Ehmeier (Hoedlgut) folds and stacks her polymer slices into undulating rows that create the cuff shown below from her Artichoke series.

Both artists are this week’s poster girls for thinking outside the box, breaking the rules and following their muses.

Eva Ehmeier's polymer artichoke cuff

Links

Thanks for all the links you’ve submitted to the new page. Since I must approve every one, there may be some delay between your submission and actual posting. If your link doesn’t appear immediately, don’t be alarmed, come back and check later.

Unselfconscious polymer

Moucadel's loose style necklace

France’s Danièle Moucadel (fimotifimota) knows how to hang loose with polymer. Not sloppy or thoughtless but carefree and unselfconscious. The mixture of colors and shapes in this new necklace look springy.

For me it’s a trick to ride a wave of inspiration while silencing doubts and self-criticism, especially as I try to cram work into the last few days of vacation.

Danièle’s Flickr pages and website are full of loose, fresh works that inspire me to hang loose.

Thanks to Bettina Welker for the link. And speaking of links, you can add your site to a new page on PCDaily by going to the top of this page and clicking on Readers’ Links.