Polymer Clay Daily

Catching up with Zilliacus

Catching up with Carol Zilliacus was a bonus from my clean up, catch up first weekend of 2011. As I added missing names and dusted off links on the list of artists who have been featured on PCDaily, I was reacquainted with art and artists I’d lost track of.

Carol was one of the first polymer artists to paint and weave and collage with polymer clay. This recent story about her made me feel like we are back in touch. Always optimistic, Carol improvises when obstacles appear. Her story is particularly appropriate as we start a new year.

The featured links page contains over 500 artists. If you find errors, omissions or dead links there, please let me know so that I can keep this resource current. You can add your own site to the readers page. (I have to approve each link so it may take a while for your name to appear.)

Kulakova’s polymer canvases

Russia’s Mariya Kulakova (pterdaktell) doesn’t just take a painterly approach to her beads, she uses polymer clay as her canvas!

The twenty year old produces polymer Picassos, Klimts, Warhols, Van Goghs and her own flowers and scenes on bead canvases.

Check out the Flickr site of this St. Petersburg artist’s dazzlingly bright colors sometimes mixed with caned spirals and traditional onion dome beads.

Graham’s polymer watercolors

In these two 8″x10″ polymer clay paintings, Pittsburgh’s Denise Graham says that, “Achieving a watercolor effect was a delightful challenge.”

Denise has been painting with polymer clay for years and was looking for a way to return to her roots as a watercolorist.

Alcohol inks and acrylic paints enhance the overall effect in Summer’s Fruit. In Spring Blossoms, she uses pastels and mica powders to create the subtle background hues.

See additional paintings on her Flickr site and read a bit more about her methods. Thanks to Carol Shelton for the reminder to take another look at this unusual use of polymer.