Spring flowers
by Cynthia Tinapple on March 2, 2012 · 4 comments
Romania’s Ana Cerniciuc has a way with polymer spring flowers that heightens our anticipation of the season.
Her snowdrop earrings are simple constructions that capture the essence of these early blooms. Her tulips are similarly simple yet we know that the curl of the petals against that tight bud is accurate.
Ana uses Facebook and Pinterest to show her characters and flowers. These two sites have become increasingly important places to find new work from around the world. Have a pinteresting weekend.
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Polymer in nature
by Cynthia Tinapple on March 1, 2012 · 10 comments
Polymer has never played quite so nicely with nature as it does in Rachel Gourley’s hands. Her new website is a delight.
This Vancouver artist takes polymer rocks back to the seashore where they look completely happy. Her clay fungi and early shoots jump out of the surrounding wintry woodland foliage.
You might think that her alien artworks are complete abstractions but if you examine her gallery of photos, you can see that her keen eye is drawn to nature’s own bright palettes and outlandish patterns as she’s traveled around the world.
PCD has featured her before (check out these polymer sand dollars and 2004 spondylosis) and it’s great that she’s made herself a home on the web where we can visit her more often. Thanks to Lindly Haunani for the link.
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Polymer and ceramic
by Cynthia Tinapple on February 29, 2012 · 2 comments
Some polymer artists aren’t content to just wear polymer, they have to live with it. New York’s Joan Israel and Germany’s Mareike Scharmer are two who surround themselves with color. They revel in bright patterns in quirky flavors.
Joan is partial to bottles and paintings. Give her a shapely bottle and she’ll give you back a masterpiece. This encrusted small ceramic pot is a current example.
Recently Mareike Scharmer has been adding polymer slices to vessels too. She’s added wildly colored canes to a mailbox, her toilet seat, a lampshade and a bunch of ceramic vessels. And she jumped into the granny square craze! Mareike designs interiors aimed at sparking children’s imaginations.
Hang on to your hat as you cruise through Joan and Mareika’s Flickr sites. These artists embrace color and believe that more is better.
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Crocheted polymer
by Cynthia Tinapple on February 28, 2012 · 28 comments
Polymer artists keep telling me how important play is to their art. In interviews for my book and video chats for StudioMojo, the topic surfaces repeatedly. I squirm a bit because I know I don’t often play in the studio. I fixed that today. No deadlines or pressure! Just fun with clay.
The granny squares that keep popping up online (see Lisa Clarke’s post) intrigued me. I bought this sweater to try to get over my new obsession. Rather than invest in yarn and crochet lessons, I decided to try making the squares in polymer.
An inexpensive online tutorial from Meg Newberg headed me in the right direction. My handy, dandy extruder set up made the process easy.
The patterns improved with each cane as I improvised and experimented. While this afghan bead won’t keep me warm at night, it warms my heart to have played today…and to have shared it with you.
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