Christmas mystery solved

Cynthia discovers matching earrings from Karen McCorkle in her Christmas collection on PolymerClayDaily

As I layered up for the snow today, I figured out why I had these plain Jane earrings in my collection.

They’re the companions for this Karen McCorckle beautifully caned angel pin that I love. Oh, that goes back a couple of interesting decades!

Karen told us that she conditioned clay when she went to the movies with her family. In the darkened theatre, she could twist and knead the stiff version of polymer that we used back then. Her production schedule was so tight that she couldn’t waste any time.

Can anyone update us on Karen?

Where is your heart?

Chifonie wears her heart in her art on PolymerClayDaily.com

France’s Chifonie sprinkles tiny red hearts over all her animal friends.

Underneath their simple shapes and endearing expressions are layers of luscious colors, bits of cane, swirls of stripes, and shimmering crackled metallics.

It’s an endearing combination of fancy and plain, whimsical and serious. Always dotted with a bright red indication of where Chifonie’s heart lies.

Where does your heart show up in your work? We’ll be examining that in Saturday’s edition of StudioMojo. Sign up today!

Another mystery

Anna Nel resonates with Wassily Kandinsky on PolymerClayDaily

Anna Nel layers crisp pieces of abstract patterns into a brooch. Her colors tease the eye with subtle gradations. Curves and angles cluster around a window in the center of the pin.

I’m not sure where she is in Europe but her heart resonates with the art of Wassily Kandinsky.

This is turning into a week of mysteries. Here is Anna on Facebook and Instagram.

Forced blooms

Odile Marchais and Nikolina Otrzan team up for early spring flowers on PolymerClayDaily.com

France’s Odile Marchais uses techniques she learned from Croatia’s Nikolina Otrzan to make these stylized springy brooches. Nik teaches a surprisingly simple way to fill unusual shapes with air, keeping them light yet strong.

The childlike design of spring Odile’s flowers reminds us of the spring flowers we’re forcing to bloom at this time of year.

Nikolina Otrzan gathers her inchies into a brooch on PolymerClayDaily.com

In Nikolina’s most recent post, she shows how to make use of those “inchies” that lots of us have collected from various classes and events. She picks out a few favorites and gathers them into a great looking pin.

The polymer olympics

Circle pins from Olympic experimenter Nikolina Otrzan on PolymerClayDaily.com

A few more circles and Croatia’s Nikolina Otrzan (Orson’s world) could be building her own polymer Olympic logo with her Texture Play series of circle pins!

Let’s hope she’s building a tutorial to show us how she achieves the painterly textures and loose patterns.

Nik is certainly in the Polymer Olympics when it comes to pushing the boundaries. She’s created 26 rich, dense tutorials, each with an AHA moment that comes from ceaseless playing around. Keep a close eye on her on Facebook.

Bio Bopping polymer

Bonnie Bishoff's multi-media bio bop in Boston on PolymerClayDaily.com

The Bonnie Bishoff Bio Bop brooch is quite a mouthful for mid-week. This polymer, copper, paint and steel wire mixed media pin is on its way to CraftBoston for one last holiday hurrah. While they look light and airy, Bonnie’s pieces are built on metal which makes them incredibly solid.

Betsey Baker and Kathleen Dustin will also have their wares in Boston on December 15-17. You can watch Betsey, Kathleen and Bonnie pack up and run to the show on Facebook and Instagram. These ladies work hard!

Polymer blooms

Yes, yes, Germany’s Jana Lehmann knows just what we need for Monday. Her flowerpot pins bloom with bright graphic flowers springing out of textured cone shaped Skinner-blended pots.

Each flower contains a contrasting “seed” bead and is topped with dots of polymer. Jana says she prefers flowers in pots because they last longer than cut flowers in vases.

Jana stepped away from her precise style and used only very basic tools to create these monsters for a Fimo kids book she’s writing. See the whole range of her work on Pinterest, Flickr and Facebook.

Polymer and knits

Bonnie Bishoff, long known for large polymer inlays in the wood furniture she and her husband JM Syron produce, has been adding more jewelry and a line of shawl pins to her repertoire. The shawl pins were originally requested by Bonnie’s mother-in-law, fiber artist Barbara Jones. They’ve grown into a new line being sold in knitting stores across the U.S., Canada and the UK. The polymer is set into bezels that Bonnie designed with sturdy, clever closures.

Enjoy a browse through other recent additions like these Circle Brooches which she treats like small canvases that alude to life on the northeast coast. She’s also expanded to Facebook here.

Korringa’s canes

Kim Korringa’s pins give me more caning ideas here at the conference. The shaped edges and slice combinations take my thinking in a new direction.

I found Kim quietly stockpiling components for a necklace series. Mindless production work is her way of accomplishing something in the midst of creative overstimulation.

Her collection of polymer pearlized, ruffled disks and balls made a beautiful collage.

Ford/Forlano add blog

The Ford/Forlano duo have added a blog to their newly renovated website just in time for their Synergy presentation and the opening of their show at Snyderman-Works Galleries in Philadelphia.

The show features the new jewelry and print/painting collaborations of the Steven Ford and David Forlano who carry on a back and forth dialog between Santa Fe and Philadelphia.

Ford/Forlano Calder-inspired polymer pin

Steve says that he’s, “…excited about what’s happening with our print/painting collaborations. And some of that imagery is coming back into the clay work as well.” Read the story of how the new line of pins began with a mistake.

And leave them a comment to welcome them to blogland.