The Summer Cover!
April 23, 2018
Inspirational Art, The Polymer Arts magazine news
This beautiful Monday, I’m sharing with you the latest cover for the upcoming issue of The Polymer Arts, graced by the beautifully balanced jewelry of Dorata Kaszczyszyn.
Summer is soon to be here and the Summer issue – themed “Everything in Its Place” – will be here next month to help you greet the season. You can look forward to such articles as:
- Looking for Balance with Christi Friesen (part of a new regular section by Christi, called “What Are You Looking at?”)
- The Art of Meredith Dittmar
- Remembering Tory Hughes
- Spilling the Beads: a textural tutorial with Nikolina Otrzan
- Tiny Tiles: a variation tutorial with Chris Kapono
- Design Your Own Silkscreens
- Translucent Silkscreen: a tutorial with Sage Bray
- Composing Photos for Every Occasion with syndee holt
- Making the Most of Your Time
- Lessons from Knitting with Ginger Davis Allman
- Colors Spotlight with Lorraine Vogel by Lindly Haunani
Renewal notices went out over the last couple weeks but if you’ve not had the chance to renew your subscription or subscribe, you’ll want to be sure to do so soon so you can be on that initial list to get the first copies fresh from the printer (or for digital readers, fresh from our server). We lock down the mailing lists in the first week of May. The release date for the summer issue is set for May 20th.
If you have questions about your subscription, you’re welcome to write us at connect@thepolymerarts.com or, if you get this by email, just hit reply. Sydney, my fabulous assistant and keeper of subscription lists, will get back to you shortly but be a little patient if it takes a day or so. She’s just getting back from a very exciting weekend … she just got married! Congrats and all the best to Sydney and Ben!
The Spring 2018 Cover … All Things Big & Small
February 7, 2018
Inspirational Art
Our upcoming Spring 2018 issue is finally coming together, I am happy to say, and it’s set to come out the last week of February!
We are very lucky to have Doreen Kassel as our Color Spotlight artist as well as the cover artist for this issue. Lindly Haunani did a wonderful job of getting Doreen’s thoughts and secrets out of her to share with you all.
Also in this issue …
- We have an amazing article on how to plan and create lifelike miniature versions of just about anything by the prolific Stephanie Kilgast.
- I created a tutorial and sampler article on numerous ways you can decorate and design with tiny bits of clay including clay embroidery, faux filigree, granulation, cloisonné, and a few things I don’t have a name for but all so much fun to do.
- We’ve compiled a ton of secrets and tricks into a step by step guide to cane reduction that is not to be missed.
- Spend time in the world of Donna Greenberg, from her days as a big interior mural artist to her big ideas in smaller polymer packages, in an in-depth interview by Anke Humpert.
- We picked the mind of Laura Tabakman to find out how large installations art projects are started, planned and completed.
- As requested by numerous readers, I put together an article based on my Synergy 4 presentation on how polymer art fits into an environmentally conscious world, with my research and conclusions that are probably not what you would expect.
… and much, much more.
You can start or renew your subscription or pre-order your copy on our website here.
Beauty in Old Clay
January 31, 2018
Inspirational Art, Technique tutorials
If you haven’t seen this technique, created about a decade ago by France’s Dominique Franceschi, you really have to try it. Like Monday’s post, this too came out of an accident, one many of us have probably experienced to some degree. It was from dry, crumbling clay, once again ruining our expectations. Well, Dominique took that experience and ran with it and what a beautiful texture arose from playing around with this stuff.
Basically, she extruded some older clay and it cracked all up and down the length of it. Instead of tossing it, she wrapped it around base beads, flattened and smoothed the clay, and ended up with these beautiful, organic looking textures. Wonderful stuff.
Her full technique was shared and translated on Parole de Pâte way back in 2006. But just because it’s an older technique doesn’t mean that it can’t be new or newly played with. Try it out and maybe you’ll even have some pleasantly unexpected outcomes by using it slightly differently such as laying it on a sheet to create surface designs that can be made into jewelry or wrapped around boxes. Or what would these cracked snakes look like and how would you use them if you tried just smoothing out the snakes alone? In any case, it would certainly be fun to play with.
Find the simple steps and a couple of options for these beads on Parole de Pâte here.
Outside Inspirations–Watercolor Texture
January 6, 2018
Inspirational Art
Trying something different this year may mean looking outside the polymer realm for new techniques pulled straight from other mediums. Our innovators all did that back when there were no techniques yet and many polymer artists still do. And why not? With the flexibility of polymer, it is not hard to work out a way to recreate effects or adapt other techniques.
Recently, I landed on a page of watercolors with a texture that I hadn’t seen before. With a little exploration, I found a how-to on a plastic wrap texture technique and just had to try it with polymer. The technique, as you can see on this page, is a simple application of crumpled plastic wrap which causes the watercolor pigment to pool where the plastic touches the paper. Although watercolors don’t do so well on polymer, I figured the technique should work with alcohol inks, with some adjustments. So I gave it a try.
The image on the top is from the link I just mentioned, from Dr. Anastasia Halldin’s blog site, HealthyMamaInfo.com. It’s watercolor on paper and is so simple, that almost all the pages I found instructions on were for kids. The one below is my experiment on polymer. It’s a sheet of pearl clay with the right side dusted and burnished with pearl mica powder. I did this because I wondered if I would need to keep the ink from sinking in too quickly and the mica powder and burnishing acts as a mild resist. As it turned out, I didn’t need it to make the ink pool and it came out brighter on the unburnished left side.
I did spray the whole polymer sheet with a good amount of alcohol before dropping the ink on it so there would be plenty of liquid to pool, then quickly but loosely laid down the plastic. It all pooled quite nicely. It took three hours to dry enough to remove the plastic so the technique takes some patience. I’ll play with texturing and stretching the sheet to see how that affects it. And maybe next time, I’ll texture the clay first to see what that does to the pattern. I might try watered-down acrylics, too, to see how that works and what can be done with it.
So, you see how just playing with the basic idea taken from watercolor can lead to all kinds of wonderful ideas? It’s also a lot of fun. So go out and research a little and then play a lot with the ideas you find out there from all corners of the art world!
Variation on Time
December 1, 2017
Inspirational Art
I spent a lot of time looking for differently constructed clocks in polymer and couldn’t find much that really illustrated the point I was hoping to make. What I wanted was to show that a clock does not have to be on a flat surface. It can be made of many parts, attached or not, and fully dimensional. As long as you have something that can house or hide the clock mechanism while holding out the hands, the rest is wide open. You can have the hour markers designated by any form and attach them with sticks or wire or be free floating–whatever suits the piece and your inclination.
These two examples are commercial designs rather than polymer art but I think they give you the basics of this idea of moving beyond the flat clock face. Not only do these kinds of clocks make for really interesting wall pieces, they give you the freedom to use pieces you may already have such as large hollow beads, faux stones, unhung pendants, small figurines, flowers, etc.
As a gift, giving a clock that has separate pieces might be best attached to something that can be hung as one piece, like a backing of Plexiglas or painted plywood. Or include instructions for a template to mark on the wall where each piece goes. There is little to no construction to deal with but you will have to make concessions in the design for how the individual pieces will be hung. Alternately, go for a design where the elements are attached like the flowers you see here.
The sky is the limit with these kinds of designs. For more ideas, try searching “DIY clocks,” which was the keyword set that brought me to these two pieces. I hope these sparks some ideas and I look forward to seeing inventive clock designs this month!
Following the Rooftops
February 16, 2017
Inspirational Art
I so need something bright and cheery as we prepare for serious flooding level storms out here in Southern California. What a winter we are having! I wish it were snow though. Much less messy. But here we are, under cloudy skies, waiting for the deluge.
So, in looking for a couple more bowl style containers to share this week, I was delighted to find this beauty by the equally beautiful Nevenka Sabo. Her work lately has been so intensely bright and cheery. It was just the thing for a day such as this.
I love that she breaks away from the standard bowl form and cuts the lip of it to follow the roof tops of her little neighborhood. The bright blue interior and the mixed colors of the houses add to the playful look. The fully saturated colors are well matched to the illustrative look of the imagery on the pieces she creates. It’s just a wonderfully done, fun piece. If you like this, you’ll want to see the other views of it on her Flickr photostream.
Nevenka has been working with this technique for a couple of years now with really eye-catching results. She even put out a very detailed tutorial for this technique she calls Nambi. You can find it in her Etsy shop. But also take a look at her other examples of how this technique can be applied by checking out her Flickr pages and her Facebook page.
Ok, hopefully I won’t be heading to the rooftops myself this week. Hope you all stay warm and dry!
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Journals: Organic Matter
January 21, 2017
Uncategorized
Journal covers are very much like blank canvases, which means you can do anything you desire on them. Your medium is probably the only thing that will constrict you, but then you aren’t restricted to one medium, are you? Polymer is amazing and will always be my go to material but I wouldn’t ignore other wonderful options, especially since so many other mediums work so well with polymer.
Here is a journal cover that has no polymer on it but most of the materials used are quite familiar to polymer clayers and could be combined with it to create looks inspired by this texture rich cover. Gabrielle Pollacco uses an insanely wide array of paints, inks, powders, sprays, stencils, stamps and a few other things to create this cover. Sometimes, too many materials is like too many ingredients in a recipe … going overboard can really muck things up. But Gabrielle brings it all together here by limiting her palette and sticking with a weathered look as her thematic motif.
She seriously looks like she is having way too much fun in this video tutorial that she recorded of her full process for creating this cover. I now have a new list of products to find and try so if you watch this, you have been warned that it may result in a bit of frenetic online shopping! Also … the music she uses may get stuck in your head and have you bopping about the rest of the day. It’s not a bad thing. Just wanted to give you a head’s up so you are ready to defend yourself with the mute button if bopping is not appropriate at the time.
Weekly Inspiration Challenge: Create a journal cover for your goals and plans book. Try some new materials to really make it interesting. If you’ve not covered a journal or sketchbook before and find covering a pristine new book on your first try to be a bit too much pressure, create on a separate sheet of clay that can be glued to the journal later or, if you like it as is, can be a bit of inspiration to frame. A sheet of raw clay, cured between two tiles to keep it perfectly flat can be a great ‘canvas’ to work on.
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Way Beyond Translucent Canes
October 7, 2016
Inspirational Art
It’s been a while since I shared something you could actually sit in the studio and try so although this isn’t exactly within the theme of the week, it’s related enough and could be a really cool and fun thing to try this weekend if you are looking for something new and have a bit of translucent clay on hand.
They are related to translucent canes because they are translucent and the technique came from pushing caning. As the artist Agnes Dettai says on the Flickr post for this technique, “I have to thank Christine Dumont again; the idea for these came from the work on reinventing caning that we did for the course ‘Becoming a better artist.'”
It’s great to see how pushing yourself in a completely different direction, way beyond what you think something is or should be, can result in something so radically different. The shells are little gems all by themselves but there is much more than can be done with this. She uses Play-Doh to create a temporary base to wrap the translucent clay around but as she notes, the clay leaves a bit of stain from the color of the Play-Doh. Although this may not have been intended initially, it gives a lovely, vibrant and still very translucent color to the polymer. A great incidental discovery within a successful exploration.
You can see what else Agnes does with her playdoh hollows and what exploration she has done with this idea on her Flickr photostream and can find detailed notes on the technique on this blog post of hers. Get the complete steps for these shells by clicking the photo to get to the Flickr photo they are on and then go the next image left for the finishing steps.
Inspirational Challenge of the Day: Try out Agnes’ technique with translucent clay or just try using water-soluble clay (Play-Doh) as a form for hollow or open forms. Where can you take this idea?
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A Ring to Start With
August 3, 2016
Inspirational Art
Have you ever made a polymer ring? It’s not one of the more common polymer jewelry forms but it sure is fun and they are becoming more and more popular. They can be a bit intimidating since they need to be durable and they need to be sized. When creating ones to sell, you have to either make a wide range of sizes or you have to stick with just a selection of the most popular and then maybe offer custom-made ones. In any case, rings can be a touch tricky but I think once you’ve made one, they are kind of addictive.
So to start your addiction, you might want to try out this simple but elegantly styled ring using the online tutorial on the Craftliners blog. These simple but pretty little rings get their style from the special effects clay in the Glamour and Nature line of clays from Cernit. You can get granite and other faux effects by mixing your own clay with inclusions or just start with solid colors.
The Craftliner blog is posted in support of the online wholesale hobby and craft suppliers Craftlines. Although the shop is wholesale, the blog is for everyone and has a lot of great little gems in a variety of mediums. You can check out what they have to offer from the blog home page.
For more specific polymer ring ideas and how to make them, take a look at your copy of the Winter 2012 of The Polymer Arts or get your copy here.
Inspirational Challenge of the Day: Make a simple wrapped ring. Give yourself all of 30 minutes to condition, roll, cut, and form the ring. The time limit will keep you from over thinking it. Just make one and don’t worry about the outcome, just enjoy the experience. Then once you have that one under your belt, let your imagination run wild and make more!
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We have a bit of business to do first today but it’s exciting business! I wanted to share with you the next cover of The Polymer Studio, coming late April.
We are thrilled to include projects from Cynthia Tinapple, our featured and interviewed artist for this issue, as well as Christi Friesen, Kathy Koontz, Elena Mori, the Mitchell sisters, Deb Hart, and Wendy Moore. Also, tips, tricks, and other bits of wisdom from Debbie Crothers, Ginger Davis Allman, and little old me. And you won’t want to miss the tour of Christine Dumont’s studio, complete with a conversation about her space and process, which I think you’ll find very intriguing.
All this and more, just a month away! Support our projects, this blog, and the betterment of your own polymer journey, of course, or just because you’d like to look at all the pretty things tucked into those pages, by subscribing to The Polymer Studio here.
(Be sure to scroll down to the last section for the 33% off sale stuff.)
A Fine Mix-up
So, did you get a chance to look through the winning entries for the IPCA awards? Here’s the link again if you didn’t see them. The winning entries are just beautiful and maybe even a bit surprising. If you saw it, did you notice any trends or changes in trends and what was presented? I thought it was interesting that there were a lot of mixed-media pieces where polymer clay might have been the focus, but other materials played large roles in important design aspects and visual impact of the work.
One of the reasons I find this so interesting is that the idea of expanding into other materials seems to be a regular conversation myself and many other people are having. I couldn’t say exactly what that means but I do believe that polymer, with its unparalleled flexibility for combining with other materials, has kind of come of age where our exploration of what it can do is being placed on the back burner in order to focus on artistic expression. I look at these mixed-media pieces in the awards and other pieces I find during my research and general perusing online, and it seems that we are seeing more instances where polymer centric artists decide what they want to make and then determine the best materials for the work rather than push to see if polymer can be used for most, if not all, of the components of a piece. Or perhaps I am just hoping this is the case because I would love to see more folks focused on personal expression will rather than letting our obsessive, but understandable, infatuation with the material determine our creative parameters.
Of course, for most of us who work in polymer now, this colorful, durable, and chameleon material will remain our primary love and, regardless of other options, we will often still try to do as much as we can with polymer, if just to see if we can push it a little bit farther. But, opening oneself up to the possibilities of combining it with other materials in major ways will allow us, and even the viewer, to focus more on the design and expression and less on the material itself, which will let the artist’s expression, vision, creativity, and aesthetic really shine. I find this very exciting!
So, this week, let’s look at some of the mixed-media pieces where other materials play a primary role alongside polymer. This could be very helpful for you if you have felt like you’re in a rut or are too often hitting technical or design walls in your work. Trying out a different material may just be the thing to inject you with new enthusiasm and, possibly, send you down a new path with your artwork.
Mixed Directions
Let’s first look at some of the winners of the IPCA awards and in many ways that other materials have been mixed in.
This first piece is both a mixed-media and a mixed artist piece. Ellen Prophater or worked with Sherry Mozer, a glass artist, led to the use of the black glass piece with its shades of green within reflected in the mokume polymer it sits upon. It is set in a silver bezel and accented with Swarovski crystals. Both the mokume and the glass show off a subtle transparency, drawing the connection between the two along with the green cast colors. It’s a nice reminder that collaboration can also push us in new directions making new discoveries in our work and even ourselves and our friendships.
Donna Greenberg just killed it as the professional mixed-media category. This wall piece is called Wedgewood Wave but the word that keeps coming to mind for me is swoon. Not just because I feel like swooning, it’s just so gorgeous, but that’s also the word that comes to mind from that fabulous flow of energy through those waves, back into the pool of blue. Those waves are paper, but the application of color and shape are similar to the polymer pieces so the different materials feel cohesive. This is definitely one of those cases where another medium was the better choice. Trying to create those waves in polymer would’ve been just silly, even though it could be done. The paper gives a lighter feel to the overall piece as well as a light and easy flow to the visual movement. She also used Ultralight polymer alongside the Arches cold press paper, acrylic gouache paints, watercolor pencils, and Apoxie paste, each material fulfilling its purpose in a way that another material would not have been as successful with.
With the issue of the environment heavy in many of our minds, we are seeing a lot of exploration into found or recycled or upcycled items. Sarah Machtey offered up this steam punk pouch necklace with removable magnifying glass for the mixed media category of the awards with a bit of all of that. The front and back of this small pouch is from a soda can turned inside out – you can still see the printing of the soda can on the inside – but she embossed the can with decorative lines and used mica powder infused liquid polymer in the recesses to make them stand out. The band across the top is upcycled copper from a renovation project while the side leaves and earrings are polymer clay. Not sure if the magnifying glass was bought or found but it certainly could have been reused from something else.
The pouch is 7” (18 cm) in height from the top edge to the bottom of the magnifying glass, so it’s no small bit of tin on there. Of course, she could have used polymer to create the metal sections but it would’ve been a bulkier piece. The tin keeps the weight down as well as adding some structural strength that would only have been accomplished with a much thicker wall of polymer.
Keep in mind, when we are talking mixed-media it doesn’t necessarily have to be another art material. For instance, I combined poetry with photos of polymer in a challenge last year that I was posting on my personal Instagram page. Other people mix it up by installing the work in unusual places so that the what is placed on becomes part of the artwork such as fairy doors installed on walls or in tree trunks or tiles installed into a kitchen backsplash. Rachel Gourley takes it just a touch further, installing her little collections so that they recede into the landscape. She scatters her polymer elements out and about in natural settings, looking much like organic growths but unexpected in their color, shape, and placement.
Putting Together Your Own Mixer
This week, I didn’t pull any tutorials for you to try because it would have to be a mad, a long list of other materials to give you any real idea of your options. Instead, I might suggest that you keep your eye open for what other polymer artists are doing with other materials. Perhaps one of the above ideas piqued your interest already. If so, research that other material and find ways to acquire or hone your skill in that medium. Just put “polymer clay and [fill in the blank with the material you’re curious about]” into the search bar on Pinterest, Instagram, Flickr, or Google images and see what pops up. Add the word “tutorial” to see what offerings there are online. I’m sure there will be plenty of inspiration.
You can also grab your Spring 2015 – Diversity issue of The Polymer Arts or the Convergence themed issue from Spring of 2016, both of which have a ton of ideas around using other materials with polymer. You can see the table of contents for all back issues of The Polymer Arts on this page to check out what these issues have to offer. Then, if you don’t have the issues, you can order them on the website.
In fact, let’s have a sale!
Why don’t you grab a few back issues and take a full 33% off 3 or more! Good on digital or print, I’ll keep this up until next Sunday so grab them this week. Use promo code TPA33 at checkout.
And … I’m Off!
I would normally have some community news and deals for you to look into at this point, but I did not get to that. This week has been a struggle. I am being kept busy by a house that has decided to just fall apart all of a sudden. My creative energies have been used up relocating kitchen activities to the garage, the porch, and even my studio because of plumbing issues while getting tons of exercise running large circles around the house because the garage door won’t open, washing my clothes in the bathroom sink because the laundry machine won’t drain, and constantly shuffling ice packs from freezer to fridge because the fridge is on and off and its replacement is weeks away from getting here. All this happening two weeks before we start some (apparently!) much-needed kitchen remodeling. I’m not making this up. But talk about mixing it up!
So, I’m going to get back to my at-home glamping while trying to get the next issue wrapped up for you. But tune in next week for more polymer pretties and inspiration, and, hopefully, less house drama from Sage’s corner! In the meantime, if you work with another medium, please share it below. Or tell us the most unusual medium you’ve combined with polymer! I’d love to get a feel for what you all are working on besides polymer. Leave links to the work as well if available! (If you get this by email, click on the post title to get to the post page and scroll down to comments.) I’m excited to see what you all have to share!
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Are you familiar with something known as the flow state? This is that space you get in where you are lost in your own little world because you are so wrapped up in what you are doing. It happens quite commonly when people are working on creative projects and it’s a really good thing for you, both because it dissipates stress and because it increases your level of “feel-good” chemicals like serotonin and dopamine. It’s also defined as an “optimal state of consciousness where we feel our best and perform our best.” Now, who wouldn’t want that?
I bring this up because I want to talk about mosaics. I think a lot of people look at all those tiny pieces and think, “That looks like a ton of work!” And, yeah, there might be a lot of steps to putting a mosaic together, but the technique is also one that really gets you deep into a flow state. It can be kind of like doodling but with little pieces.
It would not be a hard thing to start on. Most of us have access to tons of tiny pieces, either through leftover canes, unused polymer sheets, or failed projects we haven’t had the heart to toss out. Just slice up those canes, cut up those sheets, and/or start chopping up those cured elements and you have all you need to start creating mosaics. Of course, you can make pieces specifically for mosaics from fresh clay, too!
Mosaics have been on my mind these last couple weeks because, while working on the latest book, Polymer Journeys 2019, it became quite apparent that one of the bigger trends making a splash right now is polymer mosaics and so I thought we ought to take a closer look at this not so new but definitely interesting and flexible technique. (By the way, today is the last day to get the Pre-order Sale pricing on Polymer Journeys 2019! Go to the website to get it at 30% off the cover!)
Mind you, being the insanely creative and exploratory artisans and crafters that they are, polymer enthusiasts aren’t just slapping together any old standard expectation of a mosaic. They are mixing mediums, trying out every shape in the book, using three-dimensional forms, and generally just pushing the boundaries of what the mosaic technique is. Gotta love polymer crafters!
So, let’s take a look at what some people are doing as of late and we’ll end with suggestions for getting into the mosaic flow yourself.
Different Kinds of Bits & Pieces
One of the folks who, at least initially, takes a classic approach to the art form of mosaics but certainly adds her own flavor to it, is Christi Friesen. She cuts out squares of polymer, lays a base to adhere them to and then arranges the pieces in pleasing and energetic patterns. But of course, Christi can’t leave well enough alone — she has to add bling and embellishments of all kinds! She’s been mixing in glass, wire, charms, beads, and probably a bunch of other things I will never be able to identify, to create her whimsical tiles, vessels and jewelry. Can’t you just sense the depth of the flow state she must have been in creating this beautiful maelstrom?
You could say that Claire Fairweather is classically inspired too, but her work has a twist to it. That twist is a commitment to circles used to create these wonderful images of graduated color and varied texture. Using round elements instead of squares and straight-sided shapes that join neatly together, leaves more open space but it’s one that has a fairly regular rhythm that flows in and out of the carefully placed circles. This gives the imagery more orderliness and a softer look as you can see in the many sides of her mosaic globe below. (Be sure to jump over to her blog to get the rundown on what each side is showing.)
Keep in mind that a mosaic piece does not have to be all mosaic. Large swaths can be made up of other types of polymer elements such as textured, silkscreen, impressed, or hand tooled layers or forms. A lot of Susan Crocenzi’s work, especially earlier in this decade, consist of entire halves of her pieces being a kind of polymer landscape, surrounded by glass mosaics or a mix of mosaic mediums. Here is just one example below but you can find more on her website too.
For all of you mad caners out there, here is an example of how beautifully energetic a piece can be just by arranging thick cane slices on a simple form. This bib necklace is a yet-to-be-hung creation by Ivy Niles, who makes some of the most impressive canes. You can see how much more impressive they are when working together in this off-center mandala type pattern.
If you really like the idea of doing mosaics don’t relegate your sources of inspiration to the work of polymer artist’s, as unique as they may be. Take a look at what glass and tile mosaic artists are doing these days as well (just type “mosaic art” into your favorite browser or an image-centric site, like Pinterest or Instagram) if for no other reason than there is some amazing and gorgeous work out there to enjoy. Here is a gorgeous piece by Francis Green in what seems to be a rare piece of wall art. This woman will mosaic anything she can get her hands on! She kinda reminds me of some unbridled polymer artist with their canes. Just take a look at her website.
The How-Tos of Mosaics
So, are you itching to try some mosaics now? Here are a few places you could start:
- If you want to start with something classic, even, and orderly, check out this straight-forward mosaic tile tutorial by Korrina Robinson on her blog.
- Prefer a more open and visually textural approach that is flexible enough to use any type of clay sheets or even canes? Take a look at this mosaic vase by Kathy Koontz on the Sculpey website.
- If you’re ready to really dive in, might I suggest you invest in this great tutorial on micromosaics and faux glass by Pavla Čepelíková. The opening image of this post shows examples of some of the things she’ll teach you to make in this downloadable PDF.
- If you want to use mosaic as a way to diminish your pile of scrap clay and cured bits, take a look at Christi Friesen’s mosaic video tutorial here. You can also have fun creating mosaics Antoni Gaudi style on an unusually formed box with Christi in the Polymer Art Projects – Organic book (go to our website to get your copy!)
- And if that’s not enough, Christi sells mosaic kits on her website where you can also find tons of other embellishments and bobbles to assist in your mosaic flow. Just click here!
- I even have some exciting mosaics for you to look forward to too … We just found out that Staedtler/Fimo is going to sponsor Ann and Karen Mitchell, the Masters of liquid polymer clay, to create a mini mosaic tutorial for the next issue of The Polymer Studio magazine. This is a changeup to Karen’s tiny micromosaic technique published in The Polymer Arts back in the Fall of 2015.
Whew! I got into a flow a bit there myself writing excitedly about all this fun stuff. I hope you’ll give mosaics a try if you have not already, or at least give yourself some time to just get lost in your craft today. It’s good for the brain and the soul and you never know what will come of it later in your creative journey!
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Have you ever made a polymer ring? It’s not one of the most popular jewelry forms in the medium which seems a little strange because they’re fairly easy to make. Maybe it’s a durability question – will the polymer ring stand up to the knocking and scraping rings have to go through? I’m not sure how they would fare if worn day in and day out but I, myself, have several polymer rings which still look as good today as the day I made them and the unusual and fantastic things you can do with polymer make them a really eye-catching piece of adornment that you’ll get lots of questions about an attention for.
There are so many different types of polymer rings you can make. You can wrap clay onto a form such as small glass bottles, sockets (for socket wrenches), and short bits of metal pipe (try pipe connectors.) You can skip the ring construction and just apply polymer to a metal ring blank. They come as bands with open channels that you can put canes and veneers in, or with a blank bezel for cabochons or sculptural elements. You can also simply create a block of clay that you punch a hole into for the finger to go through. Alternately, you can free-form the ring by hand, cure it, and then carve it into the shape and size you need. There are so many ways to make rings!
The one downside about rings, especially if you are selling them, is that you will need different sizes. Making a selection to show the style but then offering custom-made rings is one way around this but the other way is to just make simple rings that you can create a lot of and only in three or four popular sizes. This way you have those smaller inexpensive, impulse buy items to sell at your fair booth or online. And rings are easy items to sell especially at an inexpensive price point. They’re fun little bits of adornment and you don’t even really need them to match your outfits!
But if you want to create and sell one-of-a-kind rings, choose an average ring size and keep the band thickness and style wide enough to either sand down to create a larger size or add a layer of clay to create a smaller size. There are also adjustable ring blanks if you just need a base for attaching your polymer forms and elements onto.
So now that I have you thinking about rings, let’s take a look at some great polymer ring creations to further get your inspiration going.
Let’s start with one of those ring blank ideas. Here Janine Müller shows how creative you can get with a ring bezel. It doesn’t need to be a solid polymer cabochon. It can be layered or carved or hand-tooled or drilled. I’m not sure what her approach is here but the take away here is that you can try your own preferred surface treatments to create a unique ring in a bezel blank.
If you want to try an all polymer ring in a quick and easy but fun form, roll out those clay sheets and try a stacked set like these ingenious mix-and-match rings by Florence Minne-Khou. Clean cuts and a little sanding is about the most difficult aspect of a project like this so there’s hardly any excuse to not try it.
If you like getting sculptural with your work, you can go in a number of directions. Keep it simple but elegant with uncomplicated and cleanly shaped rings. Start by wrapping them around a solid form to start, and then sculpt the clay. These pieces from Angela Garrod are likely created in that fashion.
Or swirl them well into the third dimension with a folded form like this intriguing finger form from Sona Grigoryan.
Or just go completely wild and don’t worry about the functional aspect. Just make something out of this world. Perhaps this rather celestial feeling ring by Donna Greenberg will get you to push the limits of what you can do with a ring form.
If you are primarily a cane clayer, don’t think that rings–even sculptural rings–are not for you. Take note of Jana Roberts Benzon’s creative cane slicing and build up your own gorgeously detailed rings.
Oh, I could keep going with these! Just put “polymer rings” into a search on Pinterest, Instagram, Etsy or Flickr and you’ll see a ton more to get you thinking. But if you want some step by step instructions to help get you started on what could be a really addictive form, try this block cut ring tutorial from Ludmila Bakulina aka Sweety Bijou. This would be good for scraps too!
Okay … going to have to cut and run but I hope I have left you with some exciting possibilities. I’m on the road today but will be back next weekend with more food for thought and pretty things to ponder. Also, don’t forget to pre-order your Polymer Journeys 2019 before the 22nd. Release date is now March 2! Get yours at www.tenthmusearts.com
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First, a quick announcement … the new Polymer Journeys 2019 book is now available for pre-orders!
As usual, we offer a HUGE discount for pre-ordering: $7 off the print edition cover price and $4 off the digital edition. So jump to our website to pre-order this great tome of beautiful polymer art with artist’s insights into their work as well as a historical retrospective that we hope will help continue to elevate how people see polymer in the art world and beyond.
Now onto a Bevy of Bezels …
What is your favorite kind of polymer bezel setting? Would you say you even have one? Let’s be honest, when it comes to bezels do most of us really give them a lot of thought? Some people really do but I think for many of us, when we do create one, it is probably not much more than a functional element we need in order to hold and maybe frame a stone or focal element. So, I thought this week we would take a look at what else you could do and where you can take the functional, and often essential, bezel.
Like any other element on your jewelry that can be seen, a bezel is a part of the piece’s design and so their form and finish should be quite consciously decided, which means, with polymer clay there’s a tremendous range of things that can be done with it. Mind you, there is nothing wrong with the bezel been simple and primarily functional, as long as it makes sense for the design.
That said, let’s get to the interesting point … there is so much you can do with bezels and bezel style settings in polymer clay! I could yammer on and on about all the things you can do but I think it’s better to just show you. Make notes and start considering what you do with the clay that holds in the focal pieces on your creations and how you can expand on it.
A World of Bezels
One of my favorite bezel-ers, Chris Kapono, has the most wide-ranging ways to hold down a stone with polymer. Her tile and home decor pieces are also a great examples of how bezels can be used for pieces other than jewelry. She has many more tricks up her sleeve in this regards as seen on her Flickr photostream and in her Etsy shop.
Susan Waddington has always been one of my favorite polymer bezel makers. Her bezels are almost always black but are formed into pretty much anything but a basic square or circle and they are textured and inset with additional embellishments to work with the focal piece. This one may be a decade old but it is still inspiring as is her entire collection shown on her Flickr page. I don’t think she does much polymer any more so you have to scroll down past her paintings although looking through them is no hardship either.
A bezel can also be made from individual bits, all lined up. As seen in this pendant by Elsie Smith. The setting around this bezel continues the radiating lines that those lined up little squares start around the gem.
A bezel does not have to be symmetrical, continuous, sit with the stone or focal point straightforward or even completely surround what it’s holding. These pendants by Switzerland’s Chandani of ChaNoJa Jewerly on Etsy give you a few examples of non-traditional bezel settings with polymer.
And don’t be afraid to consider creating, or having a metalsmith create, metal bezels to put your polymer clay creations into. Making her own custom precious metal bezel settings is standard for Grace Stokes’ beautiful jewelry as seen here.
The How-Tos of Polymer Bezeling
Now, if you’ve not created polymer bezels before, or you would like a refresher or some jump-start, hands-on ideas, there quite a number of tutorials and such that you can reference.
Here’s a super quick way to make a bezel that works especially well for small round stones and crystals.
- Roll up a ball of clay about the width of the stone you want to set
- Press the ball flat but not too thin then press the stone or crystal into it.
- Gently push the sides of the clay in towards the stone so that the clay sits up around its edges and holds it in. At this point it can be further embellished with powders.
- Then just scoop it off your work surface using a blade and place it on your piece, maybe with just a tiny touch of liquid polymer to guarantee its adhesion.
- You can embellish it further here too. Just impress dots or lines into it with a needle tool, being careful not to move the clay away from the stone’s edge and lose its grip on it.
That’s it! It’s a super quick and easy bezel. It can be used on other shapes besides round too. You just have to shape the clay to the same size and shape as the stone before you press it into the clay.
By the way, you can see this quick set bezel and how I often use them in Issue #1 of The Polymer Studio in my tutorial, “Shimmering Scenery Pendants”. That same tutorial also shows you how to make an easy polymer clay frame which can readily be used as a bezel setting in addition to the techniques use for frame setting surface treated polymer sheets. Get your issue or a subscription if you don’t have it already. Single issues are only $7.95 in print, $5.95 digital, and that’s for eight detailed tutorials plus other fantastic articles. Can’t even buy one tutorial for that!
For a polymer bezel similar to traditional metalsmithing bezels, take a look at Tina Holden’s tutorial on her blog here. She shares her basic bezel and then some ways to embellish that are very easy to do but give the bezels a very rich look.
For a dainty frame bezel frame with filigree, there is this classic filigree tutorial here. If you stop after the first rim is placed on and cured, you have a bezel frame for cabochons or cut polymer sheets. But the filigree stuff is fun if you have the patience for it. The text’s English may sound a little wonky because it will be translated but it’s worth trying nonetheless.
If you want, or need, to create bezels quickly, you might want to look into purchasing Cabezel molds from Shades of Clay. These molds allow you to create a frame and a perfectly fitting cabochon for it in seconds. Once you have the basic frame molded you can expand on the setting in the area beyond the bezel frame or embellish the bezel itself so although it’s a mold, it has a lot of room for customization. Shades of Clay is a great resource for all kinds of unique polymer related supplies as well. (Keep in mind, this is a Canadian retailer, so the pricing is in Canadian dollars although Wendy does ship via USPS. To estimate what it will be in US dollars, deduct about 25%.)
Got Bezels?
Do you have any great bezels of your own? Or are you aware of any other great tutorials for polymer bezels? Leave links and comments in the comment section below. If you get the this by email click here to leave a comment. Myself and many a reader here would love to see more.
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So it is finally here! The Polymer Art Projects—Organic book ended up being a huge project, wonderfully so, due to all the dedicated and talented contributing artists. Doing them all justice with a beautiful, easy-to-follow layout while getting in all the details they wanted to share was my challenge but with the help of my fabulous and patient team, I have to say I think we have a unique and visually stunning book to share with all of you. All the wonderful art collected in this way was bound to be eye-catching but even the step-by-step photos reveal a surprisingly beautiful look at the bones beneath the work these artists have refined. I absolutely fell in love with the collection and I am hoping you do, too.
The slide pin you see here is one piece from the book that hasn’t made the rounds yet as we promoted this book so I thought I’d let you get a closer look at one more item you could make from these tutorials. It was the very last one to make it to layout because, well, this artist always goes in last … me! I haven’t made a lot this year between all the publications and the injuries and such but I’ve been working on this rippled clay texture for a couple of years now, finding the ruffled wood-like border texture accidentally along the way. So now I am really excited to share these easy-to-accomplish techniques as they have plenty of room in them to play with and perfect to your liking.
So, if you pre-ordered the book, then your copy is either in your inbox (digital editions were released Saturday) or on its way to your mailbox. If you didn’t, you can get a copy now and just for this week get 10% off the book AND shipping. And, heck, take 10% off anything else you throw into the cart including the back issues of Polymer Journeys 2016 (which is already on sale) and back issues of The Polymer Arts.
Use promo code PAP10 to get your 10% discount at this link, good through Sunday November 4th.
No tricks, just treats here!
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In the US today, it is Labor Day. It’s a day to recognize and honor our working citizens. And we do… Most people get the day off as a thank you. Unless you work for yourself and your “boss” is a slave driver. I will join in our tradition of barbecues and games later but I’m working hard and wrapping up the fall issue, finally. It looks fantastic and will be a great send off to The Polymer Arts title. The release date has been set for the 22nd! You can preorder on The Polymer Arts website for the single issue.
In the meantime, whether you are in the US and join the holiday or elsewhere working, I thought I’d share a little something to do when you settle down tonight. I’ve seen these pins by syndee holt before but didn’t realize that Polyform had posted a video tutorial for them. What a fantastic and eye-catching texture this technique creates.
As syndee mentions in the video, this type of work is very relaxing and meditative as well as resulting in a beautiful polymer sheet to cut and use as you please. Her method does require the use of the pearling tool produced by Polyform but if you don’t have the pearling tools, use small hole punchers and seed beads. Click the image to go to the video.
So I’m going to leave you in the capable hands of syndee holt while I go get some more work done before I get a chance to play. Also, you can follow syndee’s experiments and ideas on her blog here. Enjoy your Labor Day or I hope you’ve enjoyed your Monday!
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Thank you all for your patience. The fall issue is coming together now and, as you can see, we have a lovely piece, a brooch by Helen Breil, to grace the cover.
The theme for the fall issue is “Center of Attention” which will include all types of focal, emphasis, and center point type conversations. Here are a few the articles you can look forward to seeing next month:
—The Focused Art of Helen Breil
—Six Different Fresh Faux Stone Technique tutorials
—Organic Sautori Necklace tutorial
—Designing Dynamic Focal Points
—Diversifying with Hair Adornments
—Becoming a Niche Artist
—Inspiringly Unexpected with Christi Friesen
—Creating for Yourself with Debbie Crothers
… and much more.
We hope you’re looking forward to this as much as we are! We should have the release date before the end of the month. It’ll be something to look forward to as we head into the fall (for down the southern hemisphere, spring) season!
We are setting up the website for pre-orders as I write this so if you click through to www.thepolymerarts.com and it is not there yet, it should be by Monday. I’ll remind yon on the Monday’s post. Have a wonderful and creative weekend!
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So, for those of us who like to keep our two-dimensional approach to polymer on the smaller side, I thought I’d nudge you to try your hand at polymer painting, if you haven’t already done so, and maybe combine it with a bit of polymer embroidery. As you see here, you can use polymer painting as a decorative approach to jewelry or small functional objects as well as for wall art.
To get you jump-started on these ideas, why don’t you jump over to Fiona Abel-Smith’s tutorial where she shows you how to create these little tree paintings that can be used for pendants or brooches. You can also peek in on her website where I encourage you to check out her Pietra dura polymer pieces.
Just click the image here to get to the YouTube video tutorial. Hope this kicks off some creative time for you this weekend!
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As of Thursday, I will be out of the country, gallivanting about with my family in Europe for a couple of weeks. Per doctor’s orders, I am trying to completely unplug so I will post something for you Wednesday and then, after that, you’ll have the pleasure of hearing from a number of other well-respected and accomplished artists as they share work by some favorite artists of theirs. It should be a nice, refreshing, change of pace for a couple of weeks, for you and I.
While I am gone, my assistant, Sydney, will be will be working away on our upcoming books we officially announced last week. Her first order of business will be working on the invitation list for the 2018 edition of Polymer Journeys, slated to come out in October. Consideration for inclusion in the book is by invitation only and although we have quite the list going already, we want to make sure we don’t miss anybody because you don’t have the right email or we’re simply not aware of what you’re doing. If you think your work should be included, see the details below.
Sydney will also be orchestrating the continued work on our first Polymer Art Projects tutorial collection – Organics. We’ll share the cover and set you up for pre-sale opportunities soon after I get back in mid-July. But, in the meantime, I’m going to be a terrible person and tease you by sharing a couple of pieces you will be able to make from the upcoming Projects book. Not to get you overly excited too early but I’m excited and dying to share some of this with you.
Here are variations on a pendant necklace that Debbie Crothers will teach you how to make in her tutorial in the book. She shares a number of her lovely surface treatments as well as a creative polymer clasp and other wonderful accents and touches. I asked Debbie to be part of this book because of her colorful, well-designed, but loose-feeling approach to surface design. She shows you how to complete a version of one of these but you’ll be able to easily take from the skills she teaches and create unique pieces of your own.
If you don’t follow Debbie and her blog, you can do so here. She often throws out little freebie tutorials as well as selling her fun and engaging video tutorials on her site here.
Polymer Journeys Invitations: If you were invited to participate in Polymer Journeys last time, you will be in the pool for the initial rounds to choose who gets invitations but please update us with your most recent email if it has changed since then. If you have not been previously invited but would like to be because your work represents some of the best that polymer has to offer and/or are contributing to the polymer community in unique or significantly supportive ways, you can request consideration for an invitation.
To be considered, fill out an invitation request here. Note that making a request does not guarantee an invitation as we are limited to 250 invitations and so we will narrow down the list in the first round before invitations are even sent out. Invitations go out mid-July. Submissions of work completed between 2016 and 2018 will be due in early September. If you have questions while I’m out, you can write Sydney at connect[at]thepolymerarts.com.
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