These polymer pendants from France’s Cathy (dumauvobleu) are intensely caned, collaged and textured. Balancing colors and patterns takes skill and patience. Cathy must have her dot technique down to a rapid fire rat-ta-tat-tat because her Flickr pages are full of patterns riddled with texturing.
In the mood for spring? Take a look.
Who knew that a 3-hour time change could wreak such sleeping/waking havoc? Surely I’ll feel awake tomorrow!
I’d be remiss not to mention a few more polymer “scribers” but this list is by no means comprehensive. Lately Rebecca Watkins with her Circus beads and Bettina Welker with her Sgraffito earrings have been at the forefront.
Looking back, names like Maggie Maggio, Luann Udell and Tory Hughes come to mind. And we haven’t even touched on the Zentangle folks yet!
I’ll be scribbling this weekend…taking notes in a class in Philadelphia.
With any luck we’ll get some pictures from the opening of the exciting Woman Creative – Art and Jewelry gallery in the Atlanta suburb of Buford, Georgia. Gallery manager Ellen Prophater has gathered an extensive exhibit of polymer work from artists across the country. The Polymer, From the Beginning exhibit opens this weekend. See video and teasers here.
Ioana Weber from Rotterdam quiets the week with her White Noise series of polymer brooches. This Dutch mixed media artist had been collecting vintage laces and looking for a way to use them in a project. “Some are so delicate and old, it’s almost impossible to make something with them,” she explains.
Ioana came up with the idea of making them timeless by impressing them in polymer and using the resulting texture plates to create delicate polymer brooches. With no surface enhancement and no color the lace patterns speak for themselves. Some are embroidered with matching cotton thread.
I’m trying to remember where my grandmother’s box of tatting tools and remnants is stashed. My nieces might cherish a brooch with a family history. Do you have heirlooms hiding in your attic that could be shared with future generations in polymer?
This polymer brooch from Cecile isn’t new but it’s just what I needed for a fall Friday. Extrusions and a tree shape added over a Skinner blend form a seasonal abstract.
I’ll include these chrysanthemum rings from Genieve Williamson to my fall pastiche since her textured dark tones and rough surfaces are right for cooler weather. She pairs polymer with wood shanks for her wintery fashions.
Two Reminders
Get in on the bidding for some juicy polymer pieces on Ponsawan Sila’s site. Auction proceeds benefit Ponsawan’s daughter, Ada.
Elections are coming…IPCA elections, that is. The international guild for our craft is looking for enthusiastic board candidates who will help the organization thrive. October 29 is the deadline for nominations (and they encourage nominations from outside the US). Questions? Contact France’s Kylee Milner, the elections chair.
Did you catch Bettina Welker’s new carved and textured series of polymer beads, brooches and bracelets?
Bettina’s experiments using Pardo clay, paints and carving resulted in a lively series this summer and evolved to this chunky new fall batch that’s rich with color and full of bead-within-bead movement.
I keep running into carved polymer pieces lately. Is texture the new frontier to explore this fall?
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The latest discovery in my hunt for polymer and texture techniques led me back to Celie Fago. She posted these carving and texture plate tips on her blog a while back and I happily stumbled upon them.
When Celie first started in polymer, she spent many hours carving warm, baked polymer and she developed many tricks, including ways to keep tools sharp.
Time-intensive carving made her think about creating texture plates which she now uses for both metal clay and polymer. You’ll see evidence of both techniques in her Etsy shop. I hope your weekend is filled with texture.
Helen Breil’s recent polymer works (and some new stamps) show off more of her expertise with textures. A sneak peek at her radiating lines tutorial has convinced me to try textures this week.
I was also encouraged at a recent retreat by a chance to inspect Laura Tabakman’s stash of homemade texture plates made from Super Elasticlay.
She creates and collects graphic elements that transfer in a deceptively simple process. Of course arranging the elements is the trick and learning to use the plates is another art.
Look at the works of these two artists to get an idea of the possibilities.
Dan Friedlander’s series of 4″x4″ white polymer tiles is a study of textures. This Colorado artist makes the process sound like a meditation – sculpting the clay with only his hands, firing the tiles in a solar oven, and giving each a poetic title. You can see how he digs deep to come up with his wide range of variations…and titles! Ann Kruglak sent the link along.
Because my vacation mates are serging and sewing I’m drawn to France’s Cathy (Dumauvobleu) whose pendants resemble quilted and collaged fabrics. Here’s her Etsy shop.
Cathy textures layered and collaged canes and strips of colors to achieve a sunny mix that blends into a cohesive design.
The link comes to us from Betsy Baker. Betsy’s published some new work and a couple of tutorials that you’ll want to examine.
In these new beads from Berkeley’s Selena Anne Wells the color comes from small surprise vintage glass cabochons embedded in black or faux ivory polymer, stained and buffed to look aged. Her mastery of simple and intricate sculptural and texturing techniques is impressive.
Digging deeper into her Flickr history gives you a peek at her other interests – masks, faces, kaleidoscopes. Though she doesn’t reveal much in words, her art tells an engaging story.
She calls her small pieces miniature abstract wearable art.
