FOLLOW FRIDAY: Seven and Seven

Follow Ellen Marshall and 13 other artists deepening their understanding of racism on PolymerClayDaily.com

Keep an eye on Ellen Marshall whose angular, lustrous work is being featured this week on The Gathering7and7 on Instagram and here on Facebook.

Ellen is one of seven black and seven white artists who formed a group dedicated to courageous conversations about racism in the polymer clay community and beyond.

We’ve been meeting online for a year and a half to discover our commonalities and our differences. It’s been a fascinating and sometimes uncomfortable exploration.

Truth Be Told, an exhibit of the members’ works will open in October. Follow us as we work our way forward.

We’ve got a yummy, wide-ranging lineup of artists in this week’s StudioMojo. New works will dazzle you and we’ve unearthed a tutorial that will wow.

Pop on over and have a look-see.

Constraints bring creativity

Squint and bite your lip, ogle and admire…that’s what I’m doing with these seed necklaces from Ford and Forlano that are part of the Smithsonian show. Stripes and dots? Bring it on!

Can you spot the exciting twists in the latest creations from Steven Ford and David Forlano? They’ve upped their game with new seeds, tubes, and shells.

Everything has shifted as the Smithsonian show has gone virtual. That seems to have broken loose some creativity as well. The bidding process is confusing but it’s forced the artists to lean into coming up with new must-have designs.

Check out Ford/Forlano, Bishoff/Syron, Wiwat, and more.

Back in a booth again

Rebecca Thickbroom makes the most of simple earring shapes on PolymerClayDaily.com

There are all sorts of “wowser” weekend posts out there but I’m stuck on the earring explorations from UK’s Rebecca Thickbroom.

She takes the football shape (or is a leaf shape a more accurate description) and combines with squares, circles, rectangles to arrive at a whole collection of earrings.

The finishes are scuffed and scratched. The colors are muted. Rebecca’s playing around makes me realize how I miss doing that.

Those of us stuck in isolation are wistful about how she enjoyed a weekend in-person, socially-distanced show (oldspitalfieldsmarket). It looks almost unreal. Here’s hoping that we can all experience that again soon.

Mentoring as Art

Washington silversmith Sarah Wilbanks says that the jewelry in her current show contains the most polymer she’s ever used in her pieces. The backs of the silver bezels on her necklace of pods are as interesting as the polymer fronts.

Two other features kept me prowling through her Etsy, Facebook, and Pinterest pages — her series of carved translucent pieces (she documents her process in photos) and the title of her current show at Water Works Gallery in the San Juan Islands.

Called Mentoring as Art, the show highlights the artists who have studied in Micki Lipp’s studio over 27 years. It explores the role of mentor and mentee in the hopes of creating a new generation of mentors. What a smart idea!