Polymer Clay Daily

Farrow-Savos’ women

Elissa Farrow-Savos’ women sculptures in polymer and found materials resonate with me after a long weekend sharing stories with my sisters and my niece in NYC.

Elissa says of her work, “My women…show their scars and wear them proudly because after all, they make a good story, if nothing else.”

This piece is called “Chorus of Elders.” Her work will appear in this year’s Washington Craft Show (beware, the link will suck you in).

Ingrid Gans sent the tip and I later realized that Susan Lomuto also wrote a lovely post on Elissa just yesterday on DailyArtMuse.

Davis’ studio tour

Vermont’s Marie Davis takes viewers on a walk through her studio for a Friday treat. Many of her works are large wall pieces created from canes. She’s been working in polymer since 1987 and you can tell that she still delights in the medium.

I’ve taken the liberty of editing one of her studio tours to make it manageable for PCDaily. My edited version is show here at the top of the right column. Visit her YouTube site for the full treatment.

Besedina’s vivid dreams

Toronto’s Tanya Besedina speaks of vivid dreams of her loved ones, the magic of color and the spirit of joy. She pours these feelings into polymer goddess sculptures and fanciful fairy jars.

“Only with love it is possible to see the mystical light and find a key to its door. Our imagination can come to life only if we are born with soul,” she says. The earnest expressions on her faces and the quaintness of her houses tell me that she has soul and make me want to believe.

Have a blissful weekend.
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Sweet and spooky polymer

Jenn McGlon’s sculpted polymer clay Luettes have bits of vintage text added for extra charm. Her sweetly haunted houses are featured in Somerset’s Holidays & Celebrations current issue.

The little village is also part of this month’s SpookyTime Jingles offering. In keeping with spooky, new works are added on the 13th of each month.

SpookyTime is a sales site for like-minded holiday artists gearing up for the season. They say it’s “…where sweet and spooky comingle” and the site could keep you clicking through Halloween and Christmas sculptures for the rest of the day. I like getting an overview of what’s new on their Flickr pool.

Morris’ polymer embroidery

Each polymer dot, loop and swirl on Jennifer Morris’ jewelry is added one at a time. She calls it her “embroidery” style. It’s not hard to believe her when she says she goes into a meditative state when she works. You can learn more from her interview with ArtBeadScene here.

Jennifer’s ornate baroque/victorian style is often rendered in the sunny colors of Mexico. Add to that her romantic product shots and her poetic descriptions and you’ll understand why she’s a big seller on Etsy.

Drench yourself in her dreamy gems on Facebook and Flickr.

Watkins’ etchings

Watkins polymer fish

Rebecca Watkins of West Virginia likes texture and she shares her personal process for etching unbaked polymer on her Flickr site. No smelly solvents, just a stylus and some patience.

Watkins etched bead

This process looks like it was made for the Zentangle/polymer crowd.

Rebecca’s turtleneck-wearing fishes are dressed for fall. They’re shaped and marked in delightful ways. Thanks to Christine Damm for leading us to this new link.

Carlson’s other faces

Maureen Carlson examines her more soulful side in her new collection of polymer totems. She says it’s a relief to sometimes leave her sweet fantasy characters behind and examine other ideas, emotions and cultures.

These modern tribal images are based on her face molds. Further decoration and coloring with alcohol inks and pencils give them distinct identities and stories. She makes the process look loose and fun.

Maureen will be teaching her new totem designs as part of her narrative bead class at the Florida Fandango retreat next May.

Friesen’s TP trick

The armature for Christi Friesen’s latest wrap vessels may make you smile. She uses a ball of wet toilet paper!

Christi reveals that, “The technique is simply to take some toilet paper, get it wet, wad it into a ball and wring out the excess water. Wrap the clay around the ball and sculpt! The paper provides firmness to work against so you’re not poking through the vessel when you try to add details. Once the vessel is baked, just submerge the pot in water until the toilet paper gets all dissolvey. Then pull it out. It’s fun.”

Her new vessels will be in the next issue of American Style magazine and her annual eBay sale is happening this week.