Polymer Clay Daily

Haunani refreshes

Colorist Lindly Haunani has refreshed her site and refined her class offerings. (I’ll happily add the disclaimer that I assembled the site.) After writing a bestseller and overcoming other challenges, Lindly’s back up to speed.

She’s the queen of pinched beads. Her subtly blended polymer squares pinched together at two corners instantly become convincing flower petals.

Read about how her necklace of pinched rounds attracted the interest of Nepali polymer artists.

If, like Lindly, your work often takes its cue from nature, you’ll love this BBCearth online show. This month’s theme is “Life is Colourful” and it’s stunning. (via Coolhunting) Have a colorful weekend!

Show and shop Labor Day

Need a Kathleen Dustin polymer piece to complete your smashing ensemble? Now that she’s added a shop to her site, you don’t have to wait for the next ACC show!

And speaking of shows, Seattle-based artist Stephanie Tomczak uses polymer clay, copper, and enamel to create jewelry inspired by the nature of the life cycle. Tomczak’s work is now on view through September 9th at the Heidi Lowe Gallery in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.

This faux coral necklace is from her Oceanic Gems Collection. (via Wearable Art Blog) She gives a great overview of her studio, her process and her display on her blog.

Power’s Art Bead Scene collaborations

The goal of Heather Powers’s Art Bead Scene daily blog is to unite bead artists and jewelry designers who use art beads in their work. (Here’s Heather’s personal blog.)

The collaborations of the Art Bead Scene’s wire, metal, glass and polymer artists result in trendy, nostalgic assemblages of friends’ work and scavenged beads from the past.

Heather’s Humblebeads gallery on Flickr tracks how Heather’s polymer beads have been used by 23 of her fellow designers over the last couple of years (like this necklace from Lorelei Eurto that uses Heather’s work as a focal bead).

Most of the members of her group concentrate on one medium and when it’s time to create a wearable piece, they happily pick and choose the components from a wide array of baubles.

Other artists who work with polymer on the Art Bead Scene roster of editors include Cindy Gimbrone and Lynn Davis (hope I didn’t miss anyone). Warning: the links lead you to lovely sites that may suck up your afternoon.

Bangle bender

Bangles are everywhere! Corliss Rose (2RosesJewelry) recently stitched up a fabulous polymer patchwork bracelet. She took the quiltmaking that she learned from her grandmother and brought it to polymer. The Roses experiment with all kinds of materials and it’s great when polymer pops up in their work.

The Roses studio led me to Lauren Abrams brass-based bangle covered with polymer that’s been deliciously striped with alcohol inks.

Lauren led me to the source of this bangle craze, Melanie West. I watched Melanie make one of her lovely biobangles this year and it’s been on my mind ever since.

She’s developed great new techniques and I had no idea that I could refresh my memory with an inexpensive online tutorial. (The brass bangle tutorial is not currently listed but I’m guessing Melanie will put it back up.) Off to the studio!

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.

Gourley’s Core Sample exhibit

Gorley's polymer core samples

Next Thursday marks the opening of Rachel Gourley’s Core Sample show at the Craft Council of BC in Vancouver. Her colorful collection of self-supporting hollow polymer tubes stand 30″ tall looking like modern totems.

Rachel’s first explorations for this exhibit began when she developed back problems. Awaiting treatment, she would intently study the diagrams of the human spine in the offices of doctors and physiotherapists. Since then Rachel says, “I have thought a lot about the spinal column and how the body supports itself.”

Initially she titled the exhibition Vertical Vertebrae but she realized that the scope of her work had expanded beyond the human spinal column. She found herself investigating the structural core of organic forms and began to see parallels between spines, trees and columns in their ability to support a larger mass.

You can see more of Rachel’s exploration with natural forms in earlier PCDaily posts here and here. The show runs through September 5.

Giveaway winner and your suggestions

Jan Montarsi was the winner of the Friday book giveaway. Thanks to Jan and the more than 500 of you who took time to fill out the survey I can more accurately read the pulse of the PCD community. The number of responses bowled me over and your enthusiasm was a hoot. Thanks for all the suggestions and the compliments. You’ve helped greatly.

Garden inspirations from Clawson

Clawson's fresh start
Clawson's queen anne's lace pendant

I’m using Kate Clawson’s garden-inspired polymer creations to give myself a fresh start. Life events have intervened and left me with unfinished projects and forgotten chores that I plan to tackle this weekend.

In my own overgrown garden I hope to find the beauty Kate sees in her lush vegetation. She says that she wants her beads to “…recall many a wonderful memory of the farm days and the great meals from the bounty of the earth.”

She impresses plants into polymer, adding paint to enhance the delicate details. Enjoy more of her work on her Etsy sites and Flickr pages. Have a rejuvenating weekend.

Leupold’s polymer process

Dede Leupold gives me a vicarious thrill on a day when I can’t get to my own studio. She posted pictures from her process in creating a masterful kaleidoscope cane on Facebook.

It takes thought and planning to achieve such delicate shading and color combinations that sing. Here are earlier looks (1 and 2) at Dede’s work and the jewelry made from her canes on her Esty site.

Polymer bugs

Wisconsin’s Joyce Fritz has been making her “Yipes” polymer clay bugs since 1993 and she has pieces in hundred of galleries and shops. “Bugs are a great vehicle for colors and pattern,” she says. “I like inventing my own species. It’s my chance to play God.”

Creating jewelry of butterflies, beetles, lady bugs, bees, grasshoppers, dragonflies and other critters is Fritz’s full-time occupation. She has about 70 bugs and critters in her line, and at least a third are new each year. She and part-time assistant Joan Berkopec make about 6,000 pieces a year.

Though the photos on her 2010 Web site are small, you can read great stories about her process here and in her alumni magazine. Her galleries show larger photos of her work here, here and here.