Hints of spring
Patterns and colors skip around this necklace from Loretta Lam. A dark oval focal bead anchors the piece.
No dramatic shapes or crazy textures but a subtle mix of earthy colors that draw your eyes in with hints of spring.
Challenges – the more the better
The links, the beads, the dangles are all polymer in this necklace from Vermont’s Christine Damm.
Only a few spacers and jump rings are from other materials. Making all the components is a challenge and Christine’s not finished yet.
Every year about this time she also challenges herself to sketch some hearts fast and freehand. “I do these very rapidly, so my right brain gets to play without editing from the other side,” she explains. She makes new templates from these sketches and uses her stash of veneers to cut out new hearts.
How many hearts can you draw in two minutes?
Parade of hearts
It’s nearly February and time for the valentine parade to begin. Greece’s Anarina Anar leads us off with a new necklace.
Her hearts are assembled from several shapes, made of light clay shaded with pencils or inks. A black backing also serves to outline her bright colors. A bit of texture and some teardrop elements make hers an unusual treatment.
The hand-drawn colors and changing shapes keep your eye skittering around this gathering of hearts. You’ll find them on Etsy and Instagram.
Need a little more polymer love? Head over to StudioMojo for a taste of the wider world – lots of tidbits that we couldn’t cram into PCD. This week we hunt down the experimenters, track the exhibitionists and find new ways to keep your muse happy and your mojo working.
Wearable chips of polymer
The wonky, potato chip curls of wafer-thin beads make your eyes ricochet around these necklaces from Ireland’s Fiona Herbst. Flat white spacer beads keep the chips from stacking too closely.
Would you guess that she cut slices of one big wrapped cane that was rolled so that its size tapered on either end?
Wait, that’s a lot of chips, isn’t it? Maybe I’ll just admire Fiona’s or wait for them to come up in her Etsy store.
At the first of the year when we’re trying to stay focused It’s hard not to get thrown off-track by some fabulous looking piece. See how we deal with diversions over at StudioMojo this weekend. We found a bunch of treats as we cleaned up after the holidays.
A polymer bird in the hand
Ukraine’s Darya Podorozhna (sofoxyclay) gathers a flock of polymer birds on a delicate chain for bird lovers to wear and admire.
While these little beads don’t require much clay, they do demand a keen eye and attention to detail. Birders know their birds. You can catch them on Etsy and here she is on Instagram.
The first week after vacation has rushed by and already I could be back in the holiday frenzy. Over at StudioMojo, we’ll try to slow it down and move into the holidays with grace, a smile, and gifts from our hearts. Join us.
This way and that
These big-hole tube beads from Pennsylvania’s Genevieve Williamson are sculpted and carved into pleasant shapes that stack together in an unpredictable way that makes the eye search for symmetry and pattern.
Color is the unifying element and soothing shapes are the icing on this cake.
She shows them off on Instagram.
Tame and wild polymer
Spain’s Pilar Rodriguez Dominguez (El Rincon de Amatista) layers flower slices over tiger and leopard cane designs to produce an effect that’s both tame and wild.
The combination seems odd but it works in this necklace.
Isn’t that often the way it works? If it makes sense in your world, follow that and people will stop and take note.
East meets west meet polymer
UK’s Caroline Casswell has created a polymer link necklace that would be so easy to wear with any wardrobe.
It makes me want to sit down and make a whole bunch of blue and white canes that look a little Japanese and a little Willoware china. Old meets new. East meets west meets polymer.
Caroline shows these in several palettes and sizes on her Instagram.
But cane-making will have to wait until Saturday’s StudioMojo is finished. Links to great stuff from all over came sailing in this week. Organizing them and making them make sense is like reading tea leaves. Want to know what’s in your future? Join your friends in polymer over at StudioMojo.org.
Polymer persistence and style
The Netherlands’ Lucie Blaauw has taken classes from an impressive list of polymer artists. This recent necklace and earrings set is from a Nikolina Otrzan tutorial.
If you click through Lucie’s Instagram photos you’ll see her style change and her techniques improve as she continues to explore. Her works have become bolder and more dramatic and she injects what she creates with her own voice, no matter whose methods she’s trying.
Best of all, she finishes a piece in each workshop so she can track her progress. Most of us have a drawer full of abandoned efforts. You’ll like her style and love her persistence.
Shoes to match
Australia’s Keryn Wells was inspired by her shoes, Bonnie Bishoff, and Helen Breil when she created this necklace and bracelet to complete her ensemble.
Who else but a polymer artist makes jewelry that coordinates so well?
The folded bead necklace she learned from Helen Breil, the springy bracelet from Bonnie Bishoff. The elastic shoes are from Wild Sole and they don’t ship to the US (I checked).
Don’t you have an outfit you’d like to accessorize?
Here she is on Instagram.