Denise Graham’spolymer painting put a smile on my face and seemed appropriate as we approach fall and head back to school. Her fish swim onto the canvas and layer themselves over the polymer water.
In her recent Pittsburgh-based paintings she stacks bridges and buildings around the rivers that flow through the city. It’s no surprise that she started out as a watercolorist.
Denise is an expert on water and waves in polymer and you can catch some of her tricks from her CraftArtEdu classes.
The in-progress shot of her desk (above) has me checking the map to see how long a drive it would be. Wait ’til you see the mouthwatering photos on her Facebook page of her huge Skinner blends, her layered silkscreens on polymer, her handmade paper bowls.
Her eggshell mosaics fit right in with polymer and her felted bowls stand on polymer bases. In her hands the media mix like old friends.
Wouldn’t you love to stroll through her booth on a crisp fall day?
Allow the color to wash over you as you watch Jeff Dever’sEdensong Revisited – Buzz, Skitter and Crawl YouTube video. This 3-minute video chronicles the growth of Jeff’s piece through installations at the Fuller Craft Museum and later at the Racine Art Museum.
The closeups show sinuous shapes and gradations of color on lovely alien creepy crawlies. Jeff promises the debut of his website later this year.
Note that the Racine (RAM) polymer exhibit closes on February 5. The museum is offering a Kathleen Dustin mug and Terra Nova: Polymer at the Crossroads book package deal. Thanks to Maggie Maggio for the link!
The identity of France’s Cebeka is unclear but her style is distinctive. Her various constructions take great advantage of simple canes made of subtly graduated colors. She throws in a few stripes for variety and sometimes shapes slices into teardrops for elegant dangles. Cut, repeat, manipulate is the basis for many great designs.
Simple and effective polymer techniques are catching my eye since I’ll soon be teaching artists who need to produce appealing quality items in an efficient way. Cebeka’s approach is a good strategy. Her site is full of delightful examples.
This polymer pendant from Canada’s NoneOfTheAbove speaks of summer and sunflowers and, who are we kidding, tweezers. Do you suppose she plans her geometry or does it evolve as in nature?
Notice that the small dots of color are graduated in color and size. Each dot is textured. Her Etsy shop is full of examples in a range of colors and patterns. The almost mandala-like patterns have a meditative and soothing effect. Have a soothing weekend.
These Ancient Luminous Art Dolls from Texas’ Tricia Dewey transform modern glass bottles into icons from ancient cultures.We looked at Tricia’s luminous polymer beads some months back and now she’s incorporating the technique into her sculpture.
She reveals that, “Growing up with my mother and grandmother as artists, I did not personally begin working artistically until my mother’s death in 2002.” Polymer clay and digital imagery were her first explorations with later ventures into encaustic wax. You can track the zigs and zags of her explorations on her Flickr site.
Based on overlapping rectangles of clay, this method is good for those of you who, like me, have trouble cutting triangles. Ponsawan has a gift for simplifying that makes every trick look easy.
Another dose of color for you from Anna Anpilogova today. The warm colors of her polymer “mango” beads remind us that spring is not far off.
The text on her blog is in Russian and it’s fun to follow along on her studio experiments in Belarus. Anna’s Flickr pages give you the pictures without having to translate anything. She invents constantly and offers this simple faux chevron tutorial that ends with a sophisticated result.
The soothing color blends in Carina Feichtinger’s rendition of autumn flowers make me forget my list of chores and head full of ideas. I look up to see the last leaves falling from the trees.
The simple design is based on one cookie cutter shape topped with slim Skinner blend petals. Take a break and chill out with a stroll through her blog and her Flickr site.
Austria’s Carina Feichtinger knows her way around a Skinner blend. With a few beautiful gradations in polymer and a some clay cutters, she layers simple shapes onto brooches and pendants. The subtle shadings and a few metal clay embellishments give the pieces extra dimension.
As a bonus, you’ll see a photo of the Austrian and German guild gang on Carina’s Flickr site. They gathered for a Christine Dumont workshop recently.
Survey Results
Your answers to the PCD survey have been very helpful in figuring out how to keep the site lively and on target. We’ll gather your answers Friday night and pick another giveaway winner. Keep ’em coming!
Early polymer pioneers, Michael and Ruth Anne Grove, left the business several years ago and are selling the last of their work this July 3 in California.
Michael explains that, “Ruth Anne and I are finally dealing with all of our past canes – thousands of them – and some of our old work. We are planning a sale at our home in 2510 Russell Street, Berkeley, CA on Saturday July 3. The canes for sale include faces, variegated, colorful patterns and black and white. These are canes which were the collage elements from which we made the majority of our work.”
The couple perfected the pre-Skinnner “step blend” and created magnificent complex canes and jewelry. Not familiar with the works of these polymer pioneers? You can read up here and here and find them in many books.
He says of those early days, “Since there were so few people working in the medium, it was wide open for play. I think that play is what still draws people to it. The techniques have been developed and refined and a new palette of them added since we played with it. But playing is what brings people into polymer and the pleasure and surprise of what they create keeps them there. Ruth Anne and I enjoyed the ride of being working artists in that medium. And we are delighted that it has continued to grow!”
