Polymer Clay Daily

Cavender’s polymer clay chips

West Virginia’s Kim Cavender was all set to debut these vibrant new polymer clay sea urchins at the Euro Clay Carnival in England. Family health matters took precedence at the last moment. Everything’s on the mend, read her blog for the whole story. Motherhood trumped art.

She played her cards right and sent the pile of sea urchin poker chips pictured here to England without her. Look at the new natural, woodsy and watery pieces she’s developed lately!

The good news is that she’s all prepared to teach her class at the Clay Carnival in Las Vegas in November. And speaking of being prepared…

You have 30 days to enter your work in the NPCG Progress and Possibilities international juried exhibition. The entry is online, no muss, no fuss, no excuses. Here are the exhibition guidelines, and here’s the entry link. This is a chance for the guild to demonstrate its vitality and for you to receive recognition for your work. Start planning now and have a great weekend.

Kato rings true

Donna Kato has a new batch of polymer clay rings on her web site. Other sites have already featured them but I didn’t want you to miss these graceful and playful new designs. (Sometimes her pictures load slowly but you know it’s worth the wait.)

Donna’s been working with these signature canes for a while, inspired by Peter Chang’s work. There’s no mistaking Donna’s flawless control of detail in her canes. All-polymer wedding rings tweak the noses of those whose notion of fine jewelry only extends to precious stones and metal.

Extruding dry clay

It must be hard to extrude clay this dry but I’m sure likin’ the results. I guess I’ll have to break down and run this Parole de pate page through the French translation instead of just looking at the pictures to figure it out. Lazy day. (Here’s the English translation. Thanks, Annerose.)

Annerose Doering and others in that part of the world are making some playful multicolor beads out of clay that looks like it’s way past its prime.

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Rings & Things Winners

Lynne Ann Schwarzenberg swept the table at the Rings & Things contest with her polymer clay “Three Tiger Lilies” necklace winning first place in the polymer clay category as well as the $1000 grand prize. Congrats to Lynne Ann!

It was heartening to see so many good entrants in this year’s contest including (some, I see now, are from prior years…thanks Kim):

Ann Inman’s Cedric and Bubba, Lynne Ann Schwarzenberg’s Good Things Come In Threes, Eugena Topina’s Wild Fire, Deborah Anderson’s Reversible Tile Bracelet, Sandra Cowan and Lori Bouchard’s Roses of One Garden, Ginnie Parrish’s Happy New Year Vessel, Judy Dunn’s Fall Floral Splash, Cheryl Moore’s Nile River Goddess, Christina Cassidy’s Trot On (pictured here), Judy Dunn’s Underwater Starfish Box. Thanks to Tommie Howell for the link.

Benzon shifts to surfaces

Spring blooms have prompted a change in Jana Roberts Benzon’s polymer clay work.

She’s shifted her focus from canes to surfaces. Her crumpled brooch series has a luxurious fabric look and her new beads shaped from flat sheets have gone all organic.

I like to think she was working on a crane for Judy Dunn’s project and gave up in frustration only to discover a great new look. Perhaps she’ll let us in on how and why she was able to work in this new loose style. Thanks to Ronna Weltman for the link.

Montgrand’s Chocolate and Chantilly

A chocolate and chantilly necklace may never have occurred to you but don’t these polymer clay strawberries look marvelous? They’re the work of Paris artist, Delphine Roche de Montgrand (aka La Fille du Consul) who was recently interviewed on CraftySynergy.

Her collection of wearable cherries, peas, and even radishes reminds you that spring is around the corner. Her chocolates are yummy. She started playing with polymer clay as a child and her works retain a look that integrates the child and the designer. Remember her bloody Halloween necklace?

Delphine’s work is in several online boutiques including Egg Mercantile.

Tribal Trends – Kuskin and Dewey

I’m digesting the ideas and information from the Synergy conference and may be rolling out new materials for weeks.

These new polymer clay earrings by Judy Kuskin were jaw-dropping (to use Ponsawan’s terms). By the time I got back to the gallery to buy some, she had sold out.

Don’t they remind you of the primitive ones by Philadelphia Perishables we looked at a few months back? There must be a tribal trend in the air.

Seeing Katherine Dewey’s work up close was stunning too. The detail and the power of this “Family Tree” piece was amazing.

The slides from my speech are available here. You may be able to glean some Synergy excitement and ideas just from following along.

Silas and the unseen artists

At the Synergy conference I’m catching up with those polymer clay folks who fly under our internet radar and are hard to track – like Virginia’s Cindy Silas. She doesn’t have much of an online presence for her dynamite polymer clay/PMC work. It’s an impressive marriage of the two materials.

Clay pushed through open-work metal must be an idea whose time has come. The concept popped up on Susan Lomuto’s site and she’s experimented with it impressively as well.

My nagging about creating an online presence is paying off. Dan Cormier swears that the Cormier/Holmes site is nearly ready for prime time.

The set-up day was exhausting. Classes start early tomorrow. Need my beauty sleep.