Australia’s Heidi Helyard’s smooth droplets of bright colors poke up through perfect holes in a heavily textured white circle of clay.
A fantastic volcanic eruption? The mischievous imaginings of a happy child bubbling up? A clever girl fooling around?
Heidi’s simple pendant doesn’t rely on her clay skills. It leans on whimsy and spirit and fun.
And then there are dots by Madrid’s Silvia Ortiz De La Torre. She’s been making her blended, layered, high voltage colored, roughly textured dotted beads for years.
Silvia has stayed way ahead of the trends. We can learn a thing or two from her.
We go back and forth on StudioMojo. Every weekend we look at artists who’ve been around for years while we also keep up with the fresh faces that bumped into polymer during our forced confinement. Both vantage points teach us. Come see what we see.
Dallas’ Lisa (makesmalltalk) has been draping, wrinkling, and wrapping polymer for some time. As the Olympics have us saying this week, “She nailed it,” with this translucent striped vessel. Lisa had been creating big earrings but now she’s gone even bigger.
Can’t you see it filled with brushes or tools? Or hanging with a light inside? The container has a tactile, fabric quality that’s exuberant and fun.
Lisa sells her new collections every Friday evening.
If you want more examples of polymer artists who are veering off course into new territory, join us at StudioMojo each Saturday morning where we suss out fresh ideas, emerging trends, and other artists who are nailing it!.
Homemade tools are such a relief and a pleasure. No need to run out and splurge on the latest cutter or magic potion.
Chicago’s Marina Rios reaches into a drawer and shows us how she sacrifices a comb to make a spectacularly textured snake of clay that becomes a cool bead.
Her generosity and her cleverness remind me of the joy that polymer clay art brings to lots of us. Thank her for sharing.
Sure, StudioMojo looks at what’s trending but we’re really interested in art that requires heart and shows you something new and exciting that makes you slap your forehead with delight. Come take a look.
Phoebe (Otie & Co) introduces breezy basketweaves into her swingy earrings.
The texture adds hints of lazy days, picnic baskets, and porch furniture.
Phoebe started making boho baby art when she first started. That quickly morphed into baby mama jewelry and art.
Visit her IG for a taste of summer.
Texas’ Myranda Escamilla uses what she has onhand as she slaps together rough-hewn textures and stone color mixes for a bold fashion look.
“I’ve realized brown is usually available for purchase or at the very least, easier to find than other shades, and to save what precious clay I have, I’ve had to make-do,” she explains. The exercise pushed her out of her color comfort zone and into what turned out to be a trendy collection.
See more on her second Instagram page. The look is very 2021.
Maine’s Melanie West posts daily on Facebook about an astonishing array of artists that she’s discovered.
She rarely reveals what she’s working on. But in a July feature, she shows a new series brooches that she calls Fabric Rocks. Polymer is involved but she’s done a sleight of hand so that it’s difficult to tell what’s fabric, what’s textured polymer, and how the pattern is created.
She’s probably proudly smirking at having stumped us with her new tricks on a Monday. What’s your guess?
Their legs gallop as Russia’s Galka Vasina’s creatures romp across your shirt.
Nothing fancy here. Cutouts, textures, fun colors. Layers of polymer stacked up. It’s the movement that really rings our chimes.
How can something so simple be so satisfying? Why question it? It works!
I know very little about Cyprus’ Arieta Stavrodou except that she’s a strong, in-your-face, badass kinda woman.
And I want to paint like she does with polymer. Her 5″ x 6″ portrait is aggressive, driven, forceful with a soft underbelly and a discerning eye.
We’ve covered her wild teapots and other quirky works but her latest polymer paintings reveal something more.
See the power in her recent Instagram and follow her earlier works on Facebook.
If you’re fed up with jewelry and tiny formats, take a tip from Australia’s Nicole Boucher (BlueMallee) and slap some layers of color on a straight-sided form to make flower cups!
Layers of bright sunflower petals stack up over a graduated background. She piles on leaves and flowers with delightful energy. Her sculptural composition is topped with a decorative edge and brushed with a wash of dark paint to enhance the details.
Who couldn’t use a creation like this to hold tools or utensils? Nicole will introduce her new series at her gallery.
Over at StudioMojo, we’ll be looking at how to keep moving when your heart doesn’t wanna. How do you loosen up and let the clay do the talking? Come on over and explore with us.
