Polymer Clay Daily

Circus Memories

Inspired by a childhood spent growing up in the Australian traveling circus, Sonny King creates captivating polymer clay dioramas of circus life. More than 50 years after he traveled with his father’s circus, Sonny King found expression for his vivid childhood memories.

Two years ago King decided to interpret his memories through 11 three-dimensional dioramas, each about 2 feet wide and 20 inches tall. King crafted each performer, animal, scene and object from scratch, using polymer clay and LED lighting. Every person in his audiences has a distinctly individual facial expression.

His collection of dioramas is on exhibit through October 7 at the Craft and Folk Art Museum in Los Angeles. Museum Director Maryna Hrushetska says, "It’s the essence of folk art and craft mixed together. They draw you into this vibrant, vivid place and time."

Wine Cabinet

A bit too much celebratory wine with dinner last night. Perhaps that’s why I gravitated to Margaret Polcawich’s lovely wine cabinet inlaid with polymer clay panels. The polymer clay pebbles used as accents in the open spaces are a current passion of mine. I love it when I find artists using our medium in bigger, bolder ways like this.

Margaret has a whole raft of new works on her site. Take a look while I take a nap.

Thai Flowers

If you’re hungry for summer color, take a look at these photo albums.

Bangkok polymer clay artist and entepreneur Ravivan Petchprepa says of her work, "My flowers are handmade out of clay dough. We have to hand sculpture them petal by petal, paint, then gather them into a bud/a blossom then into a spray/stem. We are group of housewives and maidens handmade these like real clay flowers in the suburban of Bangkok, Thailand. You may email the pictures of any kind of flowers or plants including the sizes to us to quote."

It’s eye-opening to see how women in other countries employ their artistry and fascinating to catch a glimpse of their joyous colors. Thanks again to Kim Cavender for her detective work.

Lizards

I’m not usually drawn to lizards and snakes but these are spectacular ones made of polymer clay by Sandra Lee, a western U.S. artist.

There’s little information about her on her photo site and she doesn’t google well. (Please comment if you know her.) Sandra’s lizards on intricately painted gourds are something to behold.

With the fires out west, one starts to consider the fate of creatures like this regal horned lizard. Of course my eye gravitated to the Huichol-like colorful snakes she creates as well. Many thanks to Kim Cavender who spotted this new treasure for us.

Small Monuments

When Seattle’s Charlie Nagel and I met in class 10 years ago, he was a metal sculptor just beginning to explore polymer clay. He delights in creating pieces that feel monumental and architectural but are actually quite small in scale.

His background as a psychiatrist and a musician reveals itself in his provocative and contemplative approach. Take some time to view his new pieces and read his statements about them.

Charlie begins by explaining,"It was Emerson who said, "What lies behind us and what lies before us are of small consequence compared to what lies within us.’ The process of exploring that inner space I think of as a voyage of discovery, and the function of art can be to provide a series of sign-posts to awaken our inner vision."

All this talk of visions and voyages reminds me of my own UFO’s (UnFinished Objects). What a perfect long weekend to complete them.

Billboards

How often do you see polymer clay on a billboard? Thanks to Meredith Ditmar’s work, folks in Portland have that pleasure. Meredith’s characters also appear in books, on cell phones, in commercials and in other unusual venues.

Interest in contemporary character design has grown. It draws on pop culture, graffiti and visual art and its artists have moved beyond the boundaries of the gallery and introduced polymer clay work to a new audience of avid collectors.

Take a look at the works of Fergus Ray-Murray (Oolong) from Scotland and Bulgarian Dinko Tilov, for example.

Copy Cat

Uh-oh…this always happens. I’m so smitten with a piece of polymer clay art that I must try it myself. Naturally I started looking at doll sculpture tutorials after yesterday’s post.

Deborah McCain offers a step-by-step face sculpting tutorial on her site as well as some full-body lessons. She makes it look so easy.

McCain’s links also took me to a supplier who sells baby body and face push molds. Luckily, reading all this information has rid me of the urge to sculpt and given me a greater appreciation of others’ talents. Have a lovely weekend.

Captivated

I’m skeptical about this post because I know little about doll artists and because I’m simply captivated by these polymer clay babies by Cynthia Malbon.

Malbon sells resin versions of her works to a wider market and her name somehow always appears with Richard Simmons. I learned little about the artist herself and that makes me nervous.

Be that as it may, I am fascinated by the realism achieved by great doll makers like Malbon, Camille Allen, Jodi and Richard Creager, Annie Wahl and others listed on the NAIDA site.

If you can tell us more about this artist, please send your comments along. Thanks to Barbara Fajardo for the link.

Earth Day

Earth Day is this Sunday. It’s a good time to look at young sculptor, Jessica Swanson, who uses polymer clay with sytrofoam and flocking to create her "Goats on the Summit of Mt. Debris" piece in zero degrees art online gallery based in Los Angeles, CA.

Jessica says of her work, "In the name of convenience, our culture often avoids considering that our own survival as human animals depends on the survival of the entire network of our earth and its life forms."

"Our habits suggest our reluctance to change. I believe our values and actions will shift through a deeper look at our views of the wild."

Thanks to Susan Rose for unearthing this thought-provoking link.

Spanish Harlem

Olga Ayala grew up in New York’s Spanish Harlem. With its pulsating rhythms, spicy aromas, and the diverse make-up of its inhabitants, Spanish Harlem inspired Olga and her best works reflect the culture around her. Her dancers and drummers are filled with a remarkable sense of movement.

Olga’s been working in polymer clay since 1997, teaching herself techniques gleaned from books.

The best place to see Olga’s work is on her MySpace page which is as noisy and energetic as her work. It’s fun to look at some of her sculptures in progress.