Polymer Clay Daily

Art angels

Our friend Jan Crandell died this week. You may not recognize her name because she never created a cane or attended a conference. But she knew all about you as she followed along on PolymerClayDaily. She collected your works, commissioning me to purchase pieces for her at each event. (This angel from Susan Hyde was a favorite.)

Jan was my college roommate, an English teacher and a retired state education administrator. She had a huge intelligence and a quick wit. She mentored many students and colleagues.

Early each morning she read the day’s PCD post and called me if she spotted a broken link, a misspelled word or, heaven forbid, a grammatical error. The technology terrified her but if I couldn’t get to a computer she’d fix my gaffes herself. She skyped me from her hospital bed and edited faithfully until very recently.

Jan was my personal coach and cheerleader. I was her technical guru. She bought any art I made, even the awful stuff. My art angel is gone and we lost a dear friend.

Three polymer visionaries

Three little piggies went to market! And they did well at the annual ACREs wholesale show.

Kathryn Reid, Leslie Blackford and Doreen Gay- Kassel launched into the wholesale market, thanks to IPCA which sponsors a booth.

IPCA juries three polymer artists into the event each year. They share booth space, enter the wholesale marketplace and promote polymer clay…a win/win.

The pig is Doreen’s, the beads are Kathyn’s and this is my most recent acquisition from Leslie. Each of these artists has a distinct voice and a vision that inspires.

June means polymer at weddings

Wait, wait! We can’t go through the month of June without talking about polymer wedding cake toppers.

My most recent favorite is Spain’s Noemi Hurtado who pays attention to every detail. From noses to fabrics to hair to flowers, Noemi makes a faithful copy of the couple in miniature. The “before and after” photos on her Flickr galleries and her blog kept me reading longer than I intended to stay.

Since I was in a romantic frame of mind, I popped into Heather Wynn’s Etsy shop and facebook fan page. Always good for a tug at your heart.

Beginners tutorial

Sandy's paperclip bracelet tutorial

If you’re looking for a good beginner’s polymer clay project, check out Sandy’s jewelry made with polymer and round paper clips. Easy, peezy.

Polymer that remembers

Luann Udell's Lascaux horses in polymer clay
Williamson's distressed beads
Elvira Lopez del Prado's polymer bangles

Polymer clay simulates nothing better than ivory and bone. Here are three recent examples that caught my eye.

Luann Udell (those are her Lascaux horse sculptures) updates ancient stories with modern artifacts. “I use these modern artifacts to retell ancient stories, stories I feel have much to teach us today,” she says. Her post about telling stories through art is a good Monday read.

Genevieve Williamson’s distressed, faceted, and textured beads seem to have been unearthed from another time as well.

Elvira Lopez del Prado uses fragments of handwritten messages to hint at old stories and past lives on her newest line of bangles.

In the US, it’s Memorial Day…a good day for remembering and retelling stories.

Feel Good Friday

Arendt's polymer rot ringel

The polymer sculptures from Berlin’s Angelika Arendt make me feel good. Words escape me and I can’t explain.

I’ve learned to respect my gut which started singing the moment I landed on her site. The colors, the complexity, the textures. Even the blobs are appealing. I’ll just go with it. Here’s her Flickr page.

Arendt's polymer duschhaube

Speaking of feeling good, I was pleased to see my work and my faux bosom shown on Julie Eakes’ site. Look only at the work and ignore the augmentation Julie added in Photoshop. Have a feel good weekend.

Campbell’s Poly Fiber Masking

Campbell's Poly Fiber Masking Technique

Inspired by the Synergy conference, Heather Campbell was prompted to test out some new ideas. Heather’s works are usually quite large and adhering polymer to slick surfaces is often a challenge.

“Polymer will stick to most anything, but I have found especially with larger surfaces that the clay if bumped or jarred will pop off or over time will shrink off the surface and then has to be glued back on. Here I am combining liquid clay with fabric or paper fibers to create a very durable background to then adhere the polymer components,” Heather explains.

The big photo on her site helps you see the fiber base onto which she’s added polymer embellishment.

The combination of the fibers and clay complement each other beautifully and present new textures and depth. She’s calling the method “Poly Fiber Masking” and she says she’ll get back to us later with more explanation of the technique.

Polymer street art from CZK

CZK's street art polymer

London street artist CityZenKane’s has added a new video to his arsenal. His ray gun video shows the making of his 3D street sculptures. CZK sculpts the basic form in polymer, casts it and then paints it or covers it with cane slices. He also works with polymer UV and neon effects on his street art.

These additional articles and photos (here, here and here) may give you a better perspective on CZK’s work. The link is from Italy’s Leila Bidler.

I’ve been so wrapped up in vacationing and spring that I’ve neglected some of the edgier, more interesting developments in our community. Here are some of the recent polymer-related books you may find of interest as well.

Spring polymer birds

Tayler's polymer bird necklace

Victoria’s Joan Tayler has added the cutest quail to her polymer bird menagerie complete with a photo of the construction. Her strand of colorful birds is a happy reminder that spring is here.

Joan ventures into fiber related projects but is always pulled back to polymer by the creatures that fly by her window. She set up a little studio in a corner of the kitchen while on a recent vacation and said, “Quail are a big deal here so I have made a lot of them…also loons, redwing black birds, eagles and chickadees.”

This Monday Joan reminds us to look closely and to take inspiration from what’s around us.

Easter peeps and bunnies

Cassells polymer peeps

What’s Easter without peeps and bunnies? Here are polymer versions of both for your holiday weekend.

Denver’s Molly Cassell earned headlines in the Denver newspaper for her polymer Peppatar 3D diorama in the city’s third annual peeps competition. Molly used polymer for everything in the piece – the peeps, the drink cups and even the popcorn – and came in first in the contest.

Buddha bunny by Goodin

Ohio’s Cody Goodin finished his polymer Bunny Buddha just in time. The bunny sits on lettuce leaves in the lettuce position, sharing his wisdom with the world. You can see the sculpture emerge (he didn’t start out as a bunny but his ears grew) on Cody’s blog.

However you celebrate, have a joyous and happy Easter weekend.

Vacation polymer

Dawn Schiller's polymer candlewyke

Dawn Schiller’s “candlewyck” has me spooked as I lock up the house and leave for vacation. Will these odd little creatures sense my departure and start popping up from the candlesticks when I pull out of the driveway? Her polymer oddfae suddenly make me a believer. What an imagination she has.

Arizona from a Paula Pindroh illustration

Thanks to Paula Pindroh for the polymer vacation illustration. My husband and I are off to Arizona to visit friends and family, grabbing wi-fi at McDonalds and motels along the way. We’re heading toward sun and heat with polymer supplies in the trunk, naturally.

Susan Lomuto has posted a thoughtful wrap-up of Synergy on her DailyArtMuse.