Since riotous colors have emerged as this week’s theme, we’ll revisit beads that New York’s Doreen Gay Kassel made for a swap.
After the swap, Doreen created another batch of pods, ruffles, and berries and combined them into this sumptuous necklace. She builds the beads from white clay shapes and then with an illustrator’s practiced eye, paints each one in beautiful colors.
The riot of color and shapes becomes a party necklace that will make heads turn.
Take a closer look at how Maryland’s Linda Loew uses up her bits of veneer from a recent Lindly Haunani “Shale” class.
Linda adds cutout beads that zig and zag across patterns. The shapes add up to an exciting visual mix of companionable colors.
Do Linda’s necklaces make you want to reconsider what treasures can be salvaged from your experiments? Here she is on Instagram.
Whenever you’re feeling apologetic about our plastic art form and its hippie roots, take in the trendy vibes from Sardinia’s Duecentogrammi’s fashion runway photos.
This is not your grandma’s polymer…or it doesn’t have to be. Check Chiara Curreli out on Instagram.
Delaware’s Arden Barbol was trained as an architect and that strongly informs her approach to her polymer jewelry. Her latest Multi Dots series appear in the drool-worthy issue of the Artful Home catalog.
“I usually describe my work as rich in complexity and simple in form. I focus on thoughtful craftsmanship and pay attention to the detail on every side of a composition, embracing the notion of edges, yet excluding the idea of front or back. All sides are created equal.”
See all the polymer artists represented in Artful Home and enjoy seeing Arden’s pieces on models. She shows even more of her art on Facebook.
Russia’s Tatyana Parshikova (seventh-heaven) brings us a harvest of watermelons.
Only a couple the varying sized melons have been cut to reveal their fruit. A clever treatment with occasional dots of red mixed in. This necklace catches your attention.
See Tatayana wearing it on Instagram.
The UK’s Debby Wakely’s graduated round summer beads have a crisp summery feel. Look closely and you’ll see polka dotted petals and a dab of red at the center of each dark blue flower on the clean white background.
Debby has only this one post on her Instagram (and the BritishPCGuild’s page) so she’s off to a good start! Earlier works show up on Facebook.
Are you ready for tea and scones in the garden?
I know, I know, this necklace of concave beads from Italy’s Graziella Spina and Laura Pagani (TacchiDadieDatteri) is super simple.
So why do I return to it again and again? I like how the colors are so slightly different and the shapes are wonky and fingerprinted.
These two women are both healthcare workers who met years ago and started a business recycling their stash of fabrics scraps and jewelry parts which are often given new life by combining them with polymer,
The story is a happy one and their pieces somehow communicate fun and friendship. It’s their confidence that captivates. Wouldn’t you like to sprinkle more confidence around in your studio? Follow TacchiDadieDatteri on Instagram and Flickr.
Germany’s Lucia Friemel is a metalworker who may overwhelm you with her ideas but it’s Monday so let’s dive in.
Lucia explains that she likes, “…the difference between slow metalwork and fast clay work and also the contrast when the piece of jewelry is finished.”
What I couldn’t resist with Lucia’s Snake necklace here is the way the shape of the beads allows them to snug against each other and move beautifully. She discovered the shape when she was cleaning her shower.
The cores are black and decorated with cane slices (a la Bettina Welker’s tutorial) on the ends.
Minnesota’s Jan Geisen considers herself an improv artist. The scraps interest her much more than neat and tidy patterns.
Here she jumps on the wire trend and a wire ring comes to the front and then the back of this unusual layered necklace with circles and rough edges. See all of her improvisations on Flickr.
Wiwat Kamolpornwijit showed his latest petal necklaces at an art fair in Orlando before moving on to Houston, Atlanta and then Washington.
The curved petals fold over gracefully to reveal alternating patterned surfaces. Wiwat is known for his geometric construction tricks.
This feels like a new venture into more lyrical designs. Zoom in for a closer look on Facebook.
