Polymer Clay Daily

Buggy polymer…and a giveaway

Lehmann on PCDaily

The problem is not your monitor, there really are bugs in the system and they’re polymer from Jana Lehmann. You can watch these beetle brooches escaping from their cute little boxes.

Lehmann on PCDaily

Jana’s work is consistently the most graphic and the tidiest I’ve encountered. There’s considerable sanding involved and lots of attention to detail.

Her polymer-covered pens always appeal to me with their shapely Skinner-blended bodies and their whimsical tops. Just for fun, I’m offering five of the wooden pen bases that Jana uses as a giveaway today. I ordered a bunch from the German supplier (Bettina Welker delivered them) and they’re fun to try.

Make a comment and you’re automatically entered. I’ll announce a winner tomorrow.

Otto-matic polymer

Jake Johnson on PCDaily

After several days in a hotel at a great polymer event I’m GPSing my 8-hour drive home. Otto-Matic, a 12″ polymer, wood, metal and resin sculpture from Virginia’s Jake Johnson makes perfect sense.

Jake’s on Etsy and Facebook but he doesn’t explain much about his art. Jake’s other characters have names like Freakshow Freddie, Klankenstein, Ape-Bot. You get the picture.

While you may not understand this horror genre, when you’re facing a long road trip Otto’s demeanor looks right.

Who do you think sent the link? Bet you didn’t guess Ronna Weltman!

Wild horses and polymer

Michaud horse on PCDaily

Equine artist Stephanie Michaud bought Eugena Topina’s faux cloisonné tutorial online. Eugena was surprised when Stephanie sent her first results which sold the first day they were offered on Etsy. This plaque is 7″ tall made of polymer, mica powders, artistic wire and resin.

It’s marvelous when good teaching and a student’s passion for a subject collide.Wild horses can’t stop the magic. Proud teacher Eugena sent in the link.

Multi-national building

Samunnat’s building fund has received nearly $6,000 in donations from ten countries! Isn’t that remarkable? Yes, they are still accepting donations. Plant your flag on the list: US, Canada, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Australia, New Zealand, Spain, Cyprus and the UK.

Fauxpal bowl

Opal has tickled the “faux rock” area of my brain since Donna Kato offered her free online tutorial. Camille Young, Randee Ketzel, Liz Hall and others devised their recipes.

My husband’s turned walnut bowl and a looming show deadline gave me the perfect opportunity to try out my own color combinations and mixtures.

Though I learned along the way and would do some things differently, these ideas are finally out of my head and strewn about my studio. It’s been a long time since I’ve shared with you and I want to start the year right.

Party tonight over at Craftcast where the group from the Polymer Clay Master Class book will gab and guffaw. Lots of prizes and fun. Join the gang!

Pietra dura polymer

The UK’s Fiona Abel-Smith created this polymer box with its decorative panels using an ancient inlay technique called pietra dura. Fiona watched Sue Heaser demo the technique in November and she was smitten.

The box is 5 1/2 inches (13 1/2 cm) square and 4 1/2 inches (11 cm) high with decorative panels of birds on each side and the top. Fiona details the her successes and failures (cracks during baking) with this technique and shows how she began with inlay and added minute dabs of polymer from fine extruded strings. Adding these flecks of color for the feather details gives the piece a more painterly feel.

This ancient technique may not be for everyone and Fiona admits that the box took 120 hours of work. See more pictures on her Flickr site. The link came to us from another polymer painter, Cate Van Alphen.

Bottled polymer

It may not dawn on you that Joyce Cloutman has formed these polymer art dolls over bottles. They’re not the kind of bottles we’re used to seeing covered with polymer patterns. These blissful sisters cradle simple treasures in their hands.

Joyce is teaching this 2-day Bella Dona class at All Dolls Are Art (ADAA) in July in Austin, Texas.

In an interview Joyce talks about how important it has been to her to get together with friends and guild mates. Prompted by a magazine article she stumbled into sculpting and she hasn’t looked back.

Polymer spirits

Fantasy, science fiction, and fairy tales fuel Starla Friend’s imagination. She renders her creatures using both traditional and digital media.

Egon, the spirit monster to the left, is 5 inches tall and his antlers span 6 inches. Regulus (below) is somewhat smaller.

Peek into Starla’s studio here and read about this Texas artist’s process as she sculpts polymer and mixed media monsters, dragons, cats and other creatures. Ronna Weltman stumbled on Starla’s Etsy shop and sent PCD the link.

Polymer shrine 2.0

Germany’s Georg Dinkel has rolled out version 2.0 of his TonSchrein. This shrine measures four feet tall (120 x 45 cm) and houses an Ipad. See several closeup views here.

“The shrine grew up to 120 cm – you, know, the gothic architects and their early skyscrapers! It holds an ipad, LEDs and a sound system,” Georg reports.

He embellished the polymer and wood structure with metal powders, leaf and acrylic stone. Here’s edition 1.0 which PCDaily featured in 2011.

Georg looked at polymer for many years in his job as a photographer for Fimo manufacturer, Staedtler. A couple years ago he started playing with Fimo to build a housing for his daughter’s ipod nano.

Lonely-hearted polymer

You may not be acquainted with Munny, Zukie, Bub, Trikky, Raffy, Rooz and the vinyl character gang but you have to admire what Dave Webb does with them. This Phoenix artist sculpts polymer over the plain DIY vinyl toys. His sculpts are both dark and cute. How does that happen?

It’s unclear whether Dave bakes his creations on the form. The manufacturer recommends sculpting on the form then freezing the piece. According to their instructions, the blank toy is removed from the cold sculpture and the hollow polymer shape is baked. (Let me know if that’s not correct.)

Take a walk on the wild side at his Pinterest and Facebook sites. The link was sent by Annie Pennington who was charmed by the little creatures. Have a wild weekend.

Heartfelt polymer

Just a few days after the big holiday season and already the hearts are popping up for the next celebration. Tejae Floyde is in her element and this year’s line includes a polymer heart with a love-me/love-me-not indicator. See the video for her Spinner Hearts.

And in the “awwww” category, Melissa McCarthy shows off this 2-inch tall miniature love tree that’s topped with a heart. Her Etsy shop is appropriately titled Made with Clay and Love.

More to come in the heart department!