Colorado’s Diane Kremer packages up fall in a simple pair of earrings. Subtly textured shades of orange/red/gold circles stack like a pile of leaves.
The wire that ties it all together is featured front and center. Why not?
This week’s StudioMojo wraps up my last event as I head out for another one. We’ve been cooped up too long! All that pent-up energy has to be unleashed! Come on over and see what’s new and where it’s coming from.
Spain’s Fabi Perez Ajates gears up for next year’s classes with a trio of layered polymer rounds (16″. 10.5″ and 7.5″) that work together.
The three circles brighten the corner of the room with their swirling color palette and engaging textures. Your eye is pulled into the variety of patterns circling around small hearts at each center.
Gift yourself a grouping that will brighten a corner in your home.
Zero in on Chris Baird’s brooches featuring shapes, flowers, birds, and fish that are different from the usual. This Minneapolis artist works small and relies on gradations of dots and stripes.
Chris slices narrow bits of graduated or striped canes and places them next to each other on shaped bases. The light and dark bits reverberate against each other.
She keeps the tap-tap-tap going with indentations and repeated textures. The beat goes on. Here’s Chris on Etsy.
Melbourne’s Allie Robinson (irisheyes6868) follows her fingers as she plays with clay. They have been leading her to a world of textures. This floral tile is covered with what looks like miles of ultra-thin spiraling ruffled-edged ribbons of clay. Other experiments are covered with bumps and dents and flourishes.
When most artists flock left to liquid polymer, Allie heads right to acrylic paint. Some of her earrings are painted with crazy intense dots. She hears a different drumbeat.
You can tell that Allie is just getting up to speed with her ideas and her hands are trying to keep up. She’ll be one to watch on FB and IG.
New Hampshire’s Ann Dillon creates textures and shimmer that beg you to touch them.
I asked her how she created the impossibly fine lines on one pair of lovely earrings and she replied, “Corn husks.”
She has an eye for natural textures and slight bends combined with a fall palette that gives her leaf shapes a “just fallen” look.
As you wander through her new website and Instagram, notice the textures.
Down on your knees outdoors in your favorite jeans, you’re brought up close to the beauty of the weeds in the garden by this necklace that’s a collage of textures and shapes by Moscow’s Marina Merkulova.
Marina is part of one of those “no explanations”, “no words” challenges that asks artists to simply share their work on Facebook.
These soft rectangles and dark textures stack up in a way that’s relaxed and comforting. That’s plenty good for a summer Tuesday.
Lovely to experience the soothing effects of a few weeds pressed into clay.
UK’s Angela Garrod builds her long pendant with square tubes that end in birch-like round beads.
Childish Games We Played ends in a pendant that’s textured and worn with a surprising top to its shape.
Just when you think she’s finished, Angela adds a length of handmade chain. It all adds up to a refined and elegant yet playful piece. Her works are consistently well-considered and thoroughly designed in a way that makes it look effortless.
You have to visit her website to get a full view of her impeccable taste.
We translated the Virginia retreat into a Zoom meeting this week. For an hour and a half every day, we simulated the annual gathering. It was nostalgic and fun and reminded us of what we were missing. We left feeling hungry for next year. Come on over to StudioMojo to see our takeaways.
What? It’s Monday already? I’m not ready!
I’ve been looking at the work of UK’s Dayl Goulsbra-Jones (planetisis) for some time trying to come up with the right words for what’s going on and why it appeals. Here she is on Instagram.
Words fail me. What’s happening here? You tell me. Most of her pieces are reversible. How does that fit in?
I’ve been busy preparing for our first virtual conference. Sounds easy but there’s a whole lotta work behind the scenes. Today is day one. I’ll let you know how it goes.
Give me your words for Dayl’s work.
Maryland’s Jeffrey Lloyd Dever presents his Passage Obscura. Hanging from a long pin back, reminiscent of a medal hung on a presentation ribbon, this single round medallion has backfilled surface detailing,
For Jeff, the piece serves witness to the forces at work in a chaotic world, to obscure vision and all too often smother hope.
Two bright rays of hope come from the tutorials that educate and distract us. Click through France’s Sonya Girodon’s textures here and Utah’s Jana Roberts Benzon faux alcohol inks here. They share their inspiration free for all during tough times.
Stay strong!
Connecticut’s Libby Mills (Libzoid) has hit her stride with her wall tiles that are made of layered slabs of polymer. This latest is not only brighter but there’s a lot going on.
Look closely and you’ll spot veneers and canes, stitches and waffles, circles and arcs, cutouts and appliques.
That’s a lot of elements to make work together! And she does it! Libby comes into 2020 with a look that’s distinctly hers. Here she is on Facebook.
In this weekend’s StudioMojo, we will look into our crystal ball and see who’s leading us toward new ways with clay. Come on over if you want to see what’s ahead.
