Bowl bandwagon

Suddenly (or so it seems) polymer vessels and furnishings are popping up online.

Angie Wiggins has long loved mixing paper and polymer and beads into embellished delights. See the legs she adds to her little ring pots using an antique ice cream mold for her form.

Kate Tracton covers wooden boxes or creates platters from pure polymer, topping them off with cane slices and tiles.

And Jon Anderson found a metal strainer that worked well as a form to build this new lighted dome at the top of a lamp (left). You have to visit him on Facebook to see it light up.

Just yesterday, Barb Fajardo jumped on the bowl bandwagon with this blooming bowl.

Artists are seeing more possibilities for mixing polymer into their art and adding it to their home furnishings.

StudioMojo

Ever wonder how other artists pull such long square sheets of polymer through their pasta machines? Are yours always dog-eared and mishapen like mine?

Lindly Haunani has the answers that will be revealed in a video on Saturday’s StudioMojo. You can sign up for the premium weekend newsletter here.

Inspired bowls

Encouraged by the progress that Donna Greenberg enjoyed with her series of polymer bowls, Gera Chandler decided to have another go at what she calls her segmented bowls.

Gera says of her first efforts, “A few days ago I saw the amazing holey bowls that Donna Greenberg is making. It was an epiphany moment. I got the inks out again and made this petite prototype (right).”

That led to Gera’s Segmented Vessels (left). ” It is always good to switch things up every now and then,” she says.

Supermoon viral spiral

Last night’s supermoon gives us a great opportunity to feature these lunar like polymer constructions from Donna Greenberg.

Her bowls have progressed over the last six months from palm-sized spikey cups to larger, shallow vessels with spiraling textured interiors riddled with holes. This 10-inch wide one she calls Viral Spiral.

Donna’s documented her lunar explorations on Facebook and Flickr. Her work has encouraged others to revisit polymer bowl designs as Donna moves on to incorporate metal clay into more complex designs.

She collaborated with metal clay artist Kathleen Nowak Tucci for the series of small bowls that were featured on the cover of the Fall 2014 edition of Metal Clay Artist magazine.

Kickstarting Oozeq

Oozeq has 5 days left to raise the seed money that will help launch production of its starch putty that can be used for hollow forms. Manipulate the putty into any shape and bake it hard. Wrap the baked shape in polymer and bake again then soak in water to wash away the putty.

Kickstarter tells the whole story and you can be in on the ground floor. Will you support this exciting development?

Polymer shards

This bowl that looks like a mosaic construction assembled from pieces of Delft pottery is Wendy Malinow’s lastest in her series of nests.

The pieces in the China Shard Nest are made from polymer on which Wendy as drawn blue images. The piece isn’t finished, she says there’s a honey covered egg to come.

Wendy’s style is unmistakeable. Here I am modeling one of her wonderfully strange dolls at the Buckeye Bash. Surf through her world on Tumbler and on Facebook. Have a wonderfully strange weekend.

Chinese vases

Beefball Papa seems an unlikely name for a polymer artist from Bejing. It could be a bad translation.

There are few other clues to guide us and we will have to let this Chinese artist’s Flickr photos speak for themselves. You can see how he has moved from creating small vessels to larger items over the last year.

His latest mokume gane striped vases are particularly interesting.

The extruded strings make his vase resemble the colorfully melted candles that were popular in the 60s. Heidi McCullough sent the link to PCD. Let us know if you find more information.

Sewn-on polymer

Virginia’s Angie Wiggins mixes handmade paper, felt, beads and polymer with colorful abandon and an embroiderer’s precision.

Following her on Facebook will give you the latest news about her creations. The pattern and texture pictures posted on her Pinterest boards show what catches her eye and influences her choices.

After she embroiders beads and polymer slices onto the bowls, Angie often elevates her vessels with a tripod of whimsical polymer legs.

When she tires of bowls, she moves to platters or switchplates or buttons or jewelry – all with her signature mix of sewn-on delights.

Martha meets polymer

Gourd season is just around the corner. It’s rare to see a decorated gourd that incorporates polymer. Laurie Prophater featured gorgeous painted ones last week. Then this lovely polymer example from Oklahoma’s Penni Jo Couch popped up, part of her display at the Michigan Festival of Gourds where she’ll be teaching classes.

Penni Jo started making polymer miniatures in 1981 and after years in the giftware industry, started her own Best Flexible Molds business as she continues to travel and play with clay.

Voting Day

Voting begins today in Martha Stewart’s American Made competition. Let’s stuff the ballot box for polymer’s own Steven Ford and David Forlano who have entered in the craft category.

You have to jump through a few hoops (give your email) to participate but think of the fun of watching them win and take our craft to new places. Their entry page is a treat, complete with a video look into their studio. Go vote!

ALERT Two more nominees!

Thanks to Lynda Moseley who slogged through all the nominees to find two more polymer artists for your consideration in the Martha Stewart competition. Please check out contestants Loretta Lam and Corliss and John Rose too!

Emerging polymer

Melanie West is on a roll too! She’s added two vessels along with three new textured necklaces in a series she’s calling Beautiful Uglies. Note the clever use of small rubber O-rings as spacer beads.

Melanie moves between heavy texturing on her new beads to a cane-slice encrusted 6″ tall vessel in her signature style. She’s calling this vase NudiFlounder.

If she tires of one style, she can move to the other. Smart! Melanie was working toward these new series when we played together in the spring. What a gift to see them emerge.

Digging up more artifacts

We can’t talk about artifacts without including Tory Hughes in the conversation.

Check out some of her Trebizond works and read about her class that teaches students to make a vessel of polymer amber with inlays from other simulated materials – a talisman for your own myths. If you’re lucky enough to be in the Santa Fe area, be sure to visit her during her upcoming Studio Shindigs.

Polymer shoe-in

Jacqueline Cherie has retrieved her studio from storage and unpacked all the molds she researched and collected.

You’ve probably run across images in books like these that feature her polymer pieces which were meticulously rendered and based on antiquities, pre-Columbian images and Asian icons.

This polymer encrusted shoe, created for a contest several years ago, still stuns. Here’s a box and a small container from her collection.

Welcome Jacqueline back after her three-year breather and expect to see photos of her new works posted soon.

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