What do you do with yourself when the news makes you red hot? You could take a cue from Illinois’ Pat Stirniman and pound your cadmium red.
Pat uses polymer like ceramic clay, building all sorts of dishes and vases and objects to brighten the house or just to let off steam. She adds balls, stripes, dots, and other bit players. Here’s Pat on Facebook.
I’m stuck on vessels this week. These bumpy, tall, short, lidded, and open containers are from North Carolina’s Ginny Parrish (bluefrogclay) who’s embarked on a vessel tour of her own.
Her in-progress shots show how she gives an olive can a makeover for her spring show.
Need a change of pace? Update a lowly jar to a keepsake.
There’s been an uptick in polymer vessels lately. Could be that thing where you discover something and then see it everywhere. Whatever!
These vessels from North Carolina’s Elizabeth Hamilton are a couple of my favs – extrusions, dots, vessels – a trifecta of favorites.
Scan the polymer horizon with us on StudioMojo this Saturday. We pluck the most surprising, exciting ways artists are rolling with clay and drop these juicy treats in your in-box every week!
A shell from North Carolina’s Ginnie Randolph Parrish (BlueFrogClay) looks graceful and smooth – like it could have been sanded by waves and washed up onto the beach.
Ginnie’s a caner and makes the ugliest whelk on the beach into something spectacular by dressing it up with cane slices.
What a perfect bit of the beach to take home from a hot July weekend.
When Melbourne’s Michelle Sansonetti (zedembee) picks up bits of old projects to cover humble glass jars and bottles, she unleashes her inner abstract painter. She gets loose, She shines!
There’s a common blue/green thread that runs through her palettes and when you put them together, there she is in all her glory. It’s not about perfection, it’s about being present.
February will be a mash-up of Valentines and Black History Month. These HeartBoxes from Massachusetts’ Kathleen Anderson hit all the right notes.
Kathleen designs her boxes to be filled with heartfelt messages on business-card-sized notes for all kinds of celebrations – weddings, birthdays, graduations, anniversaries, retirements, and memorials.
Her lidded containers have been widely exhibited and collected. West African patterns influence her polymer designs. She will be teaching at Snow Farm this spring.
PCD will be trolling for loving hearts and remarkable works from Black artists all month long.
Lindly’s fundraising campaign has put me back in touch with artists who usually lurk quietly in the background.
What a treat to get reacquainted with Maryland’s Margaret Polcawich. Her vessels and wall art have a delicate sensibility….reeds blowing in the wind, small tiles thick with color, vessels with spindly legs.
They trigger some part of my brain that says, “Yes…let’s try that!” Visit her site if you need to walk on the wild side.
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.
North Carolina’s Julie Eakes brought sand and pantyhose to the Virginia retreat to experiment with rounded polymer forms like this one that has a 4″ diameter.
It’s all polymer and built on a shape filled with sand that is removed after curing.
Julie continued her dark, curving theme on gently rounded squares for the bowl swap.
With several successful vases and one blowout (hot sand needs to cool slowly before handling), Julie was hooked on vessels. Watch for more on Instagram and Facebook.
Florida’s Pamela Carmen winds down her 100 Day project with a few more birds. Can you imagine the menagerie she’s accumulated in 100 days?
The neutral palette is a change for Pamela. Tropical colors are more to her liking and she applies slices over most any form she can find.
You’ll find her transforming vessels and found forms on Flickr and Instagram. She changes her style according to what the shape calls for. If you’ve been thinking about covering items, her work will educate you.
