Interactive polymer

NYC artist Olga Ayala wants her art to be interactive. “I am a polymer clay artist who doesn’t believe that art should be something you just look at. That’s why many of my pieces of art are also functional, ” she says.

She’s preparing for Fiesta Navidena which celebrates Puerto Rican heritage month in NYC this weekend with her Bomba Dancer finger puppets, dolls and cutouts.

For the holiday season she’s created sets of Los Reyes Mago in several sizes including these finger puppets. See more of her drummers and dancers on Facebook and on her Etsy site.

USA polymer

Olympic fervor has thrown us into an oddly patriotic mood. Who better to show team spirit than Chicago’s Dan Crowley? His ladies, loosely based on his aunts, are his favorite characters. This one is called America the Beautiful!

Dan is a sculptor and puppeteer and you can watch him build a finger puppet while he talks about his career in this short video interview. He sells online through Etsy and Art Of Toys and shares new works and tidbits on Facebook.

Five winners

Five lucky PCD readers will be picked to win a copy of the Fire issue of From Polymer To Art magazine published by Saskia and Marjon in the Netherlands.

Scroll down and submit a comment to this post and you’re automatically entered in the giveaway drawing. Instead of competing for Olympic gold or silver, you’ll be in the running for Fire if you make a comment by Sunday midnight. Look at the goodies in this issue and have a winning weekend.

Moveable polymer

Nova Scotia’s Kate Church has uploaded a stash of recent work that will keep you thinking about sculpture. The posture and expression of each of Kate’s polymer sculptures imparts emotion, drama, action and joy.

Most of them are made to be adjusted, posed and moved. “Each piece is meant to become an artful muse for those who collect them,” she says.

The 21″ tall Betti and Geranium is one of Kate’s current favorites. Look out, her site is full of treasures! Don’t miss the gallery, her blog, her list of classes and even this student’s class pix.

Simple gifts

As long as we’re talking gifts, we’d better think about the kids. These poseable pieces from Australia’s HollyJayne are so cute and simple (she has a 2-year-old son). Of course Holly’s mastered the devilish details that can make simple spectacular.

Holly shows the pieces and parts on her Facebook page and she sells them on Etsy. See all her creatures on Flickr.

Speaking of simple, don’t you just love these little striped Christmas trees from Ukraine’s Masha Shupova? These are just the thing for that sylish, minimalist friend. Here’s her Etsy gallery.

Helm’s Auntie and tools from trash

While I shy away from new tools for polymer clay, I can’t resist tools repurposed from items found in my junk drawer. Donna Diseker, a newcomer to clay, sent this link to Edith’s Bijoux blog which is filled with pictures of all kinds of household junk turned into terrific tools.

Tania Zakharchenko‘s (Russian, I think) uses the bottom of beverage cans to form nice brooch shapes. Of course, why didn’t I think of that?

And since we’ve steered off course, you need to see what Sarajane Helm is up to with her Aunt Acid, a polymer clay puppet with a purpose. Sarajane calls her “a tie-dyed tempest with a teapot and a wicked sense of observational humor whose satirically sharp wit goes along with a soft heart and a hard head.” Auntie even has her own myspace page.

Auntie says she prepares her web posts attired in a blogging suit and blogging bra. I’m still chuckling.