Polymer Clay Notes is a reference tool for both the new enthusiast and the seasoned artist: Inspiration, Tools, Tips and Techniques from all media.
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the world according to tadworks
today’s flickr find:
I follow Tomoko’s blog to see her latest ‘Po’, but also because I like the honest glimpse she gives us into her life-art-life. You’ve got to love someone who describes herself like this: “I have a decent pair of hands for making small things, a clumsy heart and an appetite of a very hungry wombat.”
And sometimes she posts a photograph that makes me want to whisper…like this almost forgotten dandelion that she found while walking in the rain. Such delicate beauty… shhhhh…I don’t want to break the magic spell.
You can also find this dandelion in a set called the “world around us” on her tadworks’ Flickr site.
First came an obsession with handmade paper. Add an addiction to color. Throw in a commission or two for large-scale sculptures and you have the ingredients for Tia Kramer’s imagination to cook up a line of wire-framed paper jewelry that is simple yet sumptuous.
Tia Kramer, earrings, paper, sterling silver
Kramer produces the vibrant, colorful paper in her studio using fibers from a Philippine banana plant. She then stretches the paper over sterling silver frames, creating semi translucent effects. Don’t you love the way the splash of color deliberately interrupts the original shape of the frame?
The small samples that the artist constructed in 2003 as part of her study for a sculpture commission became the jewelry line that she sells today. It is always a treat when an artist shares the ‘aha’ moment when idea and execution comes together…sometimes with a surprise ending. Sweet.
Samples for original sculpture
In order to see how my translucent paper interacted with these light changes, I created small wire paper samples. I hung these samples in the window of my studio. Everyday, I carefully observed them, meticulously documenting how each color interacted with different types of light. These experiments transformed into my jewelry line as it exists today!
The artist working on the original sculpture in 2003
I met polymer clay/pmc artist Cindy Silas at Synergy – she was told that there was someone else ‘pushing polymer’ through metal and that we should meet. Of course my metal was a store-bought bracelet blank. Silas’ metal was fine silver. Fine silver that she fabricated. Different league. Maybe even a league of its own.
Promenade, Cindy Silas 2008, fine silver, polymer clay
Her work is elegant, refined, warm, welcoming. Back in February her website was just a page – a placeholder for the real thing. I’m delighted that the site is now live – you can have a front row seat and watch as her gallery grows. Congratulations on the new website Cindy!
Circles, Cindy Silas 2008, fine silver, polymer clay
Celie Fago has taken a new material and already elevated it to the professional level. One of the first to experiment with Bronzclay, Fago’s distinctive style is present and accounted for with the oh-so-interesting material. I heard from a reliable source that she will be coming to the New York area soon to teach a Bronzclay workshop. I’ll let you know as soon as the date is set. Guess who will be the first in line for this workshop?
Three Rings, Celie Fago 2008, BronzClay, polymer clay
Fence Bracelet, Celie Fago 2008, BronzClay
Fago’s work is cutting edge while maintaining the look of ancient artifacts. The artist seamlessly incorporates polymer clay inlays into her PMC work and I hope we see the same trend with the Bronzclay. The ring below is a good example of her mixed media work. Here’s the back view of the ring.
Watch as 4,345,027 dominos topple. The Dutch set a world record Friday night with this feat. It took two hours for all of the dominos to fall. Wonder how long it took to set it up?
Dominos are such a big deal in the Netherlands that they gave the little game pieces their own day. For more magic, take a look at the videos on the official Domino Day website.
Karen Caldicott has been busy since we visited her in July. The illustrator’s plasticine heads now grace the pages of Crafts magazine (UK), where two columnist portraits appear in each issue, and her clay rendition of Palin and McCain made the September cover of The Nation (she even crafted a clever winking Palin animation for the magazine).
Last month Caldicott started a blog where she posts “out takes, mistakes, bits and other hopefully interesting bobs that I find along the way”. A recent post included this video of a head in progress (the subject is Grant, an editor for the UK magazine Crafts). Love the time-lapse.
Here is Grant’s finished head:
Next up? A profile of Caldicott is due out soon in the upcoming issue of Crafts and the New York transplant will also be joining the German illustration agency Margarethe Hubauer, with more work to come in Europe. Busy, I tell you, busy.
By the way, her ‘bobs’ are worth exploring…cool links.
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