Wannabees are buzzing

Kate Church‘s Wanna Bees are perfect for today and her site is full of eye candy. We’re all acquainted with Wanna Bees in one way or another and hers are delightful buzzing sprites.

Her other creatures include wabbits and starlets. This Nova Scotia artist calls her work sculptural puppetry, combining polymer clay, wire armature and fiber.

Kate’s Cirque Du Soleil pieces are currently sold out and a new batch is in the works. She offers workshops at her winter home in Miguel de Allende, Mexico.

Thanks to Cynthia Becker for sending us this new link – a great diversion a snowy day. Years ago while vacationing, Cynthia visited Kate’s studio. She was pleased to see an article about Kate’s La Petite Managerie in the December issue of Art Doll magazine.

Monday lessons from Uliczny and Campbell

Michigan’s Christi Uliczny (RiverValleyDesign) combines pearlex powders, alcohol inks and gold leaf with two different clays to create these shimmering Rocky Path earrings.

When I saw that her tutorial detailing the process is available I jumped on it. I’m a klutz with powders and inks and need all the help I can get. Her method is straightforward and clearly explained. I’ll start my week with a lesson.

Sculpture lessons

Heather Campbell shows her work step-by-step in a recent post. Starting with two candlesticks, toe shoes and hat boxes, Heather builds an amazing polymer-covered sculpture for Utah Ballet West’s annual “Shoe In”. This small photo doesn’t do the piece justice. It’s the kind of art that’s best appreciated up close.

Generating new ideas thanks to Williamson and Blackford

Genevieve Williamson (Jibby and Juna) shows off a fetching necklace with 60 polymer clay dots on a silk cord. Simple and lots of fun. Her fresh designs created from uncomplicated processes and compelling color surely point the way to the future of our craft.

Blackford's tin apple polymer clay shrine

No PowerPoint progress on my Synergy presentation but lots of encouragement from you readers and calming influences from this personal shrine (note the tin apple) made by Leslie Blackford.

The animation in the right column (via SwissMiss) helps out with timely tips for better ideas. That’s it. No more talk about my angst. I’ll share the results with you after the event.

Etsy features Tajvidi

Etsy’s featured seller is Afsaneh Tajvidi, a polymer clay artist from Toronto. Her story is a good Monday read and I especially like that, like me, she keeps a huge collection of inspirational photos on her hard drive.

“Whatever catches my eye I save it in that folder. I go through my treasure folder once in a while to feed my mind with colors, forms, textures or even the materials that I can use…it really helps my creativity,” she says.

Her color palette full of spring colors and she uses words like “innocent” and “dreamy” to describe her designs. She’s recently added cake toppers to her Etsy shop.

Afsaneh will have a giveaway of her fanciful polymer crabs next Saturday. Just leave a comment on her site and you might win.

Lehman’s festive pens

Jana Lehmann doesn’t have her Christmas cards in the mail yet. She got sidetracked making these festive polymer pens! These nicely shaped wooden ballpoints were begging for holiday decoration.

Her rationale is that,”Filling in a form, writing a shopping list, signing a contract – all these can be special events now.”

On her new website Jana shares pictures of her little corner workspace. You can take a closer look at her collection on her Flickr pages. Enjoy and have a weekend filled with special events.

Henley’s fish ornaments, Wade’s bobbins

Ginny Henley has been busy making polymer clay fish ornaments for her family. These are fish with attitude and color and style. The yellow one here is carrying a purse. Another has glasses.

Wouldn’t you love to be there when her relatives open their gifts?

You can see more of her “school” on her Flickr site and see her jewelry work here.

Bobbins with a twist

Susan Lomuto spotted Tina Wade’s polymer bobbin rings on Crafthaus. It’s fun to see how Tina tweaked the design with some ingenious construction.

Flaky, funky, folksy holiday polymer

Much of the country is in a snowy mood and I drifted to the snow-inspired polymer works of two artists.

Kim Owens (folkartfromtheheart) antiques her folk art/primitive characters (the one at right is Frosty Frightcicle) to give them her signature funky folk look. She’s from California and must have to imagine her snowy scenes.

Janell Berryman (pumpkins-seeds) lives on the Oregon coast where I doubt she’s seeing snowmen like those in her newest collection (pictured at left) either.

Janell has been sculpting and selling her pieces since 1997 and she’s part of a group of like-minded “sweet and spooky” sculptors on the spookytimejingles site. The rich polymer and paperclay links on that site provide a perfect diversion when you need a break from your studio.

Friesen’s polymer crowd

Each year this 8″x8″ polymer clay wall piece by Christi Friesen pretty much sums up my Thanksgiving. Today you’d have to add more organic vegetables and a spray of Pacific Ocean surf to get the full effect. Our celebration combines a wild mixture of California friends and family for which I am very thankful.

Of course I’m also thankful for you readers from around the globe. Perhaps that’s who Christi had in mind when she created Just a Face in the Crowd! Happy turkey day.

West’s fantasy creatures

More wings! This time they’re on “Angel”ina, the polymer clay fantasy sculpture of Nevada artist Nicole West (wingdthing).

Nicole has an uncanny ability to imbue her creations, from pin ups to pixies, with hyper real features and emotions. It’s easy to see why she was selected this year’s Most Promising Sculptor by her peers on the Deviant Art site.

I’m in the Hollywood vicinity and couldn’t resist the pull of Nicole West’s sexy creatures. Thanks to Andrea Polite for the link.

Gould’s mini masks

Brita Gould’s collection of miniature polymer clay masks, this one from The Breath Series, seems like a good Tuesday choice with Tropical Ida blowing in the south.

This photo gives you a better idea of the size of her art. The polymer clay is covered with metal leaf, painted and embellished with metal sheeting and wire.

Here’s her Coppertone series.

Brita lives in Portland, Oregon and has been intrigued by masks for years, inspired by native exhibits and celebrations as she grew up in Alaska.

Her small expressive faces gleam as they blow and pucker and laugh. Thanks to Maggie Maggio for the link.

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