Polymer Clay Daily

Modern and mindful

Diane of MindfulMatters stays in the moment with this modern pendant on PolymerClayDaily

“I love working with clay and mixed metals not only to unleash my creativity – but as a vehicle to practice mindfulness or the state of truly being in the moment,” says Diane of MindfulMatters. (Couldn’t find the last name of this Cleveland artist. Help?)

Diane translates intriguing natural geometries and textures into fun and wearable art jewelry. “I am a chemist by training and have always worked with my hands to create things whether in the lab or my home studio,” she says.

This 2.375″ x 1.5″ pendant in muted colors and textures is a delightful mix of off-balance elements that pull together nicely. Have a look at Diane’s Etsy site.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Modern minimalist

Syndee Holt gives her grid/circles combination three tries on PolymerClayDaily.com

California’s Syndee Holt is happily going rogue with this modern pendant made of distressed circles captured by a loose black grid.

Syndee works in threes so you’ll find two more examples of this dot/grid combination on her Instagram.

She has worked for Polyform Products for years developing designs, mixing colors, and trying out products. A good gig, eh? She shares some of her own tutorials and experiments on her blog and there’s a cool extruded coiled bowl post there now if you’re looking for a playful way to start your week.

Hitting the sweet spot

Pondering how Carol Beal works without supervision on PolymerClayDaily.com

Kansas’ Carol Beal (beadunsupervised) hits a sweet spot with this layered pendant. What grabs you? The glowing color? the intersecting lines? The overlapping shapes? Note how the cording color is repeated in a slim sliver on the edge of one layer.

The red stripe finds its way to very small bead at the bottom. Distress on the edges adds an allure too.

Don’t you love the idea of working “unsupervised” with only your very arty self suggesting what to try next? It works for Carol as you can see on Instagram and Flickr.

Groundhog Day

Illinois’ 

Linda Webb's groundhog predicts six more weeks in the studio on PolymerClayDaily.com

Linda Webb (CreeksideStudio) reminds us that February 2 is Groundhog Day here in the US. Here’s her polymer mosaic pendant of Punxsutawney Phil who predicts how long our winter will last.

Linda makes her chunky geometric mosaics look easy on Instagram.  She has an eye for animal portraits. For the rest of us, a pendant like this might require six more weeks of winter. Happy Groundhog Day.

If you’d like to catch up on what’s happening in the wider world of polymer, come on over to StudioMojo on Saturday mornings. We share lots of tidbits and treats and make sure that your mojo is happy and ready to dive in. 

Secrets from the hardware store

Julie Picarello's secrets come from the hardware store on PolymerClayDaily.com

California’s Julie Picarello has a new batch of focals ready for the annual Tucson bead show next week. She’ll be buying, selling, and teaching her new Lunar Feather Beads.

She prowls through hardware stores and walks the long aisles of the big box stores looking for pieces she can stamp into or otherwise incorporate into her mokume gane designs.

In her Tucson classes, students will learn how to use new tools she appropriated from the HVAC department!

In the group pictured here, Julie gives a nod to textiles but look closely and you’ll see washers and traces of metal. This new series is done in her signature color palettes and sprinkled with painted and torched do-dads. She’s on Facebook here.

Tactile textures

Olga Ledneva's textures and enamels provide a tactile experience on PolymerClayDaily.com

Russia’s Olga Ledneva used Cernit clay and low-tire enamels on this pendant that mixes textures and colors in ways that invite the wearer to fondle the corrugated background and bargello center stripe.

Low fire enamel powders leave a slick and shiny surface. The metal bail and leather cord add to the tactile options. Olga likes to engage the wearer with her pieces. See how she does this on Flickr and Instagram.

Contrarian polymer

Lela Todua's bright mixes tell a story on PolymerClayDaily

The slicker and more commercial the holiday frenzy gets, the more I appreciate roughly handmade, Bohemian, tribal, rustic, gypsy, hippie, ethnic designs like this pendant from Ukraine’s Lela Todua (Leland Jewelry).

Lela’s techniques and patterns follow her own whims. She pulls the mix of various textures together with color themes and accents of paint.

I realize that PCD featured Lela’s butterflies just recently. Once my eye locks onto a vibe, I find myself visiting and revisiting a collection to soak it up. Lela builds compelling stories as she picks and chooses an assortment of related components.

Follow her story on Etsy and Instagram.

What goes ’round

Patricia Roberts-Thompson reinvents the wheel on PolymerClayDaily.com

This pendant by Patricia Roberts-Thompson is the result of her playing with Samantha Burroughs’ Oyster Watercolor tutorial. Its loose circles and watery colors make your eyes dive right in.

Patricia added distressing powders to her color combinations and enlarged the design adding a bail fabricated from the same batch.

Samantha admits that she developed her clever tutorial by studying Maggie Maggio’s Watercolor Torn Paper instructions from some years back.

No criticism here! I enjoy the resonances from years back and smile at the progression. Ideas get updated, rejuvenated and taken in new directions that keep our craft healthy and vibrant. It’s also great to see each artist credit her source. Thank you for playing nicely and showing such good manners.

Glittering polymer

Alisa Levy's party necklace sparkles at Synergy4

Alisa Levy’s jaunty necklace caught my eye at Synergy. The jumble of circles and stripes looked a little Hundertwasser-ish as it sparkled brightly at the opening Synergy4 reception. I snapped a picture.

I’ve learned that the patterns are from a design transferred onto glitter clay. Alisa then colored it cleverly and the effect was perfect fun for the party.

The simplest shapes and techniques dazzle the eye and help make a party festive. I’ll tantalize you with a few more goodies from Synergy as the week progresses. I have to corner Alisa to learn more about her other business called Embrace Your Space.