May Challenge Winners

And the winners of the May Challenge are:

Winners Voted on by PCAGOE Members

1st Place

Tiffanylit4 by Beth of of CreateMyWorld

 2nd place

Sparkles the Fish and Mermaid Inspired by James Christensen, "Jonah" by Peg of Peggers

3rd place (3-way tie)

Kinkade-Inspired by Jill of jkollmann

Abstract Pendant No. 116 By Susan of 11BOLDstreet

Alice Sculpture by Marie of YoungCreative

Winners Voted on by Non Members

1st Place

Capucci inspired petal necklace by Lisa of HiGirls

2nd Place

Tiffanylit4 by Beth of of CreateMyWorld

3rd Place

In Flight by Tamara of irrysistablejewels

 

Drawing Winners

Congrats to Gail Thompson, Joan Anderson, Carmela Aviv!
They get to pick a prize from one of our lovely participating shop owners.
http://polymerclayartists.blogspot.com/2012/04/look-what-may-challenge-voters-could.html

Congratulations to all the winners, and thank you to everyone who voted and supports our challenges each month.
213 votes were cast this month.


Comments left by the voters:

Wonderful artistic inspirations!

Wow this month was really hard. It took me a long time to decide and then I had some left over. Very very good to everyone who entered.

Amazing entries! I had a really hard time choosing my top 3.

I always love to see what everyone does I like to work with clay I'm not very good but I am learning and they inspire me to want to do more plus their work is lovely.

These are all so wonderful. Your members are amazing artists

I see unlimited talent with some of these projects...

I am totally blown away with this month's entries. Your members are an inspiration to a new polymer clay " artist".

I saw the post on Facebook by Berit Hines & came by to check out all the fabulous work. Very nice job! It was hard to pick! I had 6 picked out & then kept narrowing it down! Very creative work, everyone!

This was a very tough competition to pick winners, as they were all excellent. I really love James Christianson and his quirky humor, and I thought "sparkles" captured that. I loved the Watercolor Trinket Box though I didn't choose it. As I said, they were all quite good. Good luck to all, it will be tough!

Hard choice in these beautiful and inventive entries! Such imagination and quality execution. Bravo to all!

Unbelievably difficult to chose, the members have upped their game a thousand percent. Way to go!!

#14 is exquisite, so creative,and a beautiful usable piece!

Talent!

Best group of artist ever. I wanted to have 10 votes (at least). And even once I narrowed it down to 3, I had real trouble ranking them. I was also impressed by 3, 12 and 17.

I love polyclay and because I am a polymer clay artist myself I am always interested in things other artists made.

All these entries are just beautiful....very difficult to choose my favorites...loved them all!!! WOW such talent!!!

Lisa - that necklace is absolutely gorgeous and So Capucci! I liked it the best before I even looked at the names!

This was one of the hardest competitions to pick three favorites from. Everyone should be VERY proud of the work they did for this month's contest. Great Job Everyone!!

To see stained glass in clay is awesome. Good job.

Fantastic entries - so hard to choose! So many creative interpretation of familiar (and not-so-familiar) artists. Great job!

Great job, Marie!

Love the 'Artist Inspired' challenge theme!

Oh, my! It was sooooo hard to narrow my choices to only 3!!! These are some of the most gorgeous designs I've seen in quite awhile -- although I think this every month! :)

What a difficult decission again! It's hard to choose between all the creations. I've chosen this 3 pieces because I love the artists that have inspired them: Friesen, Mucha and Tiffany

Amazing work. I hope to be well enough to join in the challenge next month.

So much artists inspire us polymer clay artists! I love to see all these creations with their own inspiration story. Beautiful work!

One.
I think the Jackson Pollock inspiration was spot on for a Polymer clay article.
Two.
Loved this Calico horse and could see why it was named as such. Nice work.
Three
A lot of work goes into Faberge Eggs, and the work here mirrored that nice effort.
It is always hard to choose a pick, as such good work is done by all artists involved.

As always, the amazing talent of the PCAGOE artists just blows me away. It is truly incredible how these artists grew to meet the current month's challenge.

Love to see and read what sparks each artist. Extremely difficult to choose from such varied examples. Kudos to all.

really love the panda, and the fish, nice work.

So diverse and beautiful. I now have a lot of artists who have inspired me. Thank you!

the choices are getting harder and harder to make.... but so enjoy looking at all of that beautiful art and all the hard work, creativity and inspiration that went into it.

My 2 favorites hummingbirds and
Morning glories-so pretty

PLEASE make the pictures clickable to bigger photos. ESP with beauties like these, I need to be able to see closeups. Thanks!

This challenge was definitely the most difficult to narrow down to only three choices. There are so many talented artists and this challenge brought out the "big guns". Kudos to all !!

I find the petal necklace design very stunning. It is a simple yet lovely way to use two colours of polymer clay for a playful, yet sophisticated piece of jewelry. Bravo.

All creations this month are extraordinary! Difficult time making a choice.

I loved seeing the fantasy sculptures as that is what I have done since the early 80's Nice work !! I am going on the Clayditarod cruise in Aug. Anybody going ?? It will be my first classes even though I have taught over the years LOL. My first time being around other polymer clay people other than visits here. Great pieces

I love the work by Jill of jkollmann. On the other hand, it's a very heart-warming tribute to the passing of Thomas Kinkade.

Its always a treat to view the entries. Thank you for letting us general public types to participate in the voting.

I loved seeing all the different interpretations translated into clay - especially since the different inspirations were both 2D and 3D.
This was a tough choice - everyone did top notch work!!

Very original challenge!All works are very interesting!I pleased to see Hundertwasser ispiration here.

The entries are all so different and how wonderful to see what inspires each of the artists and their amazing interpretations.

Tough competition this month... So very difficult to choose just 3, my top 3 could change any minute, but at this particular minute they are Susan's Pollock inspired pendant, Jill's Kincade inspired art and Angela's Fabrege egg. Excellent work everyone!

Thank you all for being here.

I love the soft colors of the Kincaid inspired piece. Beautifully done! I am a huge fan of Fabrege and Jackson Pollock and am inspired by these creations. Good luck to Jill, Angela and Susan. Love your works. All of the pieces were great.

This was not easy. They are all excellent. My selections were based not only on my personal funnest of the pieces but also the degree of difficulty in producing the pieces to mimic the work of Artists whose work is of a different medium. I'm a Polymer Artist and know how challenging this can be. The Kincaid replica(and I don't particularly care for Kincaid's work)at that or any scale in Polymer was definitely a challenge to say the least. The end result is amazing.

Saw the Kincade in person at our guild meeting. Jill does fabulous work!

Everything is amazing! But that necklace is calling out to me!

This was the most difficult voting in a long time!

Great job on the necklace HiGirl. it is so unique and I love the colors.

I am absolutely in love with #4. Once I read how they found the inspiration and noticed, in amazement, on how well the necklace itself coordinates with the inspiration, I was floored! Beautiful work!

Best challenge yet!!

This month's pieces are just beautiful, jaw-dropping to see the variety and the workmanship. Great job everyone!

Everyone outdid themselves this time. I have never had such a hard time choosing. Wow.

I love Linda Clay's work.

We say this over and over but it was SO HARD TO CHOOSE! This surely had to be one of the most, if not THE most difficult month to choose three (and only three!!) favorites. Fantastic work and creativity here.

I love all the works posted here and they provide inspiration to all other artists.

The Nature of the Beast

Thanks to everyone who voted in our challenge! We'll post the voting results and the winners of our prize drawing soon. In the meantime enjoy this fab treasury, "It's the Nature of the Beasts!" by Linda of NKDesigns.

May Challenge: Artist Inspired

Scroll to the bottom of the post to vote for your favorites!

We all seek inspiration in the world around us. We are particularly inspired by great artist of all mediums. For this challenge, PCAGOE members sought out those who inspire us from painters, to fashion designers, to other clay artists--and then we each created a piece with our own flair. As always entries had to be at least 50% polymer clay.

Vote at the bottom of the page and you might win!
Vote May 1-7 and you could win. Three lucky winners will be selected in a drawing of all non-member voters and will be able to choose a prize offered by our member shops sponsoring this month's challenge. See the list of participating sponsors and prizes.  

And the entries are:

View slide show below to see larger photos. 

To vote: scroll to bottom of post.

1. Rainy Day at the Circus by Deb of RenGalSA
It's hard sometimes to put into words where your inspiration comes from. As long as I can remember I've been creative - drawing and cutting out my own paper dolls from the moment I could hold a scissors. Every creative moment molds you and one of my pivotal ones was getting a paint by number set with two clowns - one happy, one sad. It was complex and I was very young, but my mom knew I needed the challenge. I was fascinated with the face painting, the expressions, and it began a love affair with the human face and capturing emotions with concepts and design. In starting this latest line of polymer art, I wanted to get back to those ideas that inspired me in my youth. These earrings are called "Rainy Day at the Circus." They have a translucent sad clown face on a black, gray & white pixeled background. I wanted the gray back drop to represent the gray of the rain in contrast to the bright colors in the clown's nose, hair, and flower. This will be my entry in the May PCAGOE challenge - "Artist Inspired." And it's not what you may think, I wasn't inspired by the artist who painted the original painting that paint-by-number from my youth was based upon. When I thought about it, the artists that inspired me were the clowns or more specifically the clown that most of the sad, tramp clowns were based upon - Emmett Kelly or "Weary Willie."

2.  "JOB" by Alphonse Mucha - Image Transfer by Linda of NKdesigns
Alphonse Mucha is an amazing Art Nouveau artist and a definite favorite of mine. He lived from 1860-1939. JOB by Alphonse Mucha was created early in his career when he was establishing himself as a major contemporary artist who was to help develop a new movement called Art Nouveau, from which JOB is one of it's best paintings. He was commissioned to create a poster by a cigarette paper company. You can see the swirls of smoke around the beautiful woman. This is a transfer onto pearlized white clay and then finished with resin for a lasting shine.

3. Abstract Pendant No. 116 By Susan of 11BOLDstreet
For the May PCAGOE Challenge, I chose the work of American abstract impressionist artist Jackson Pollock. I used tinted liquid polymer to mimic his "drip" technique for this reversible pendant.

4. Capucci inspired petal necklace by Lisa of HiGirls

Last year I saw an amazing exhibit of the fashion designs of RobertoCapucci. I was so impressed, I came home with the book, and have paged through it in amazement of his sculptural designs of unexpected color combinations. I always knew I'd make something in clay inspired by these incredible designs. This piece uses the same yellow and dark purple combination he uses in the dress featured on the cover of the show book.

5. Alice Sculpture by Marie of YoungCreative
Obviously my artistic inspiration for this piece is Lewis Carroll with a heavy dose of Tim Burton and a little Victorian Gothic thrown in. The entire piece is hand-sculpted--no molds. The only "cheats" are the gem on her belt and the pocket watch. That is a button that I've been holding onto for 20 years waiting for the right project. The base is artist-inspired, too. Thanks to 11BOLDstreet's Susan for sharing her chopped translucent technique in Polymer Arts.

6.  Panda Hiding in the Jungle by Marcia of marcympc

A polymer clay wall plaque in the style of Christi Friesen, derived from a class at Cabin Fever Clay Fest, 2010.

7. In Flight by Tamara of irrysistablejewels
I was inspired by the awesome sculptures done by Nick Mackman. An award winning wildlife sculptor in the UK. Check out his website and you'll see what I mean.

8.  Calico Horse by Cindy of ArrowdaleArtStudio

My artist of choice is Jon Anderson  With apologies to Mr Anderson - for my work is a long way short of his fantastic work, this is my rendition of a horse decorated with a variety of canes. After it was finished it reminded me of a calico cat, mostly because of the coloring, but also because of the somewhat random effect of the patterns. I built my horse from a cardboard form I made from a cereal box, then covered in junk clay, and then covered that with a brown/orange blend I got from combining all the cane ends. The browns in the mane and tail are from various times along the way of mushing up off-cuts of the canes.

9.  "Faberge" Style Goose Egg by Angela of polymerclaycreations

 I am really inspired by so many artists in so many different genres it was hard to narrow down what I wanted to do. One of my very favorite things to ooh and aah over are Faberge eggs though, so I thought I would give one a try since I will most likely never be able to own one. Peter Carl Faberge was a Russian jeweler commissioned to make gifts for the tzars. He created some of the most beautiful and elaborate eggs using precious metals and gemstones. My egg is a real goose egg first blown out and cleaned. I covered it with a lavender metallic mica shift sheet embellished with sparkly violet, purple and peridot crystals. I hand formed a purple flower and also embellished it with more crystals and added a peridot and crystal butterfly charm. Real Faberge eggs were also known for their surprises inside. Mine has a necklace with a pendant made to match the flower adorning the egg.

10.  Hundertwasser Bowl by Berit of ClayImages
I have always loved the vivid colors and movements of the paintings by Austrian artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser. Here is a humble homage to his work for the PCAGOE May challenge. A polymer clay bowl, about 6 inches in diameter.

11. Chihuly-Inspired by Linda of Claymation3d

My inspiration for this piece is a glass work named Scarlet &Yellow Persian & Feather by world famous glass artist Dale Chihuly. My piece is approx. 13" High x 9" Wide and 22" Diameter. This piece was photographed outdoors suspended from a shepherds’ hook. The component pieces are freeform, almost like forms of life that live upon corals under the sea. All shapes are formed with translucent polymer clay. After the initial baking, I applied colors of liquid polymer clay over the top of many pieces and baked them again to achieve a translucent glassy quality. Some component pieces are painted with Genesis heat set paints or acrylics. Multiple coats of gloss finish were applied over all for a very glassy effect. The long "feathers"on my piece are constructed from Wire Form Med. Brass Rods bent to pleasing shapes. I securely wrapped the rods in certain locations with 28 gauge wire (like a florist pick) leaving wire pieces approx. 3" L hanging from the rod to attach component pieces to later. I covered the rod and wire wrapped around the rod with poly clay, baked and then finished each piece. Each component piece was also securely pre-wired with a loop before baking so I could attach it to other components and/or the feathers. After each component was individually finished they were assembled into this tribute piece. Mr. Chihuly's inspiration piece is a chandelier. My piece is a much smaller scale mobile.

12.  Sparkles the Fish and Mermaid Inspired by James Christensen, "Jonah" by Peg of Peggers

I love and admire the imagination of James Christensen. Inspired by his unique art, I created a fish wall plaque with many different textures. Instead of Jonah inside the fish, I created a mermaid. I used swarovski crystals in many of the scales of this fish, since mermaids love shiny objects.

13. Kinkade-Inspired by Jill of jkollmann

Our "mission" for the May 2012 PCAGOE challenge was to select an artist of our own choosing and create a piece inspired by that artists' work or works. With the recent passing of Thomas Kinkade, I decided to re-visit my own Garden Gate Series and create a piece inspired by his work. This is 2 3/4 inch by 2 3/4 inch, and the gate DOES swing open and closed! Not being a painter (other than paint by number!) this was a challenge on every level, and quite fun to figure out the 'how to' aspects. Hope you enjoy it!

14. Tiffanylit4 by Beth of of CreateMyWorld

Louis Comfort Tiffany is best known for his gorgeous stained glass works, including many cast bronze lamps with stained glass lampshades. Most people are familiar with Tiffany lampshades, to see a few more, either google Louis Comfort Tiffany or go to this link to see 4 that are featured in the book The Lamps of Louis ComfortTiffany  I have been a fan of Tiffany's work for many years, a print of his magnolia and irises hangs in my living room. A few years ago, my mother-in-law, who owns a gift shop, gave me a bunch of metal lamp bases reminiscent of the bronze lamps done by tiffany, which she didn't want to sell because they had no shades. I had always intended to try making a shade with polymer clay for these lamps, but never got around to it. This challenge gave me the push to accomplish a shade for one of the smaller lamp bases. This lamp base features the design of lily pads, so I decided to decorate the shade with lotus flowers and lily pads with a watery background.

15. Friesen Red Dragon by Line of PlaySculptLive

She is inspired by the work of Christi Friesen, my favorite polymer clay artist. I love her fun sculptures and her witty writing style. Studying her reminds me that art is mostly about pleasing yourself. For your enjoyment visit www.cforiginals.net/ My dragon is made entirely of polymer clay except for the rubies in her wings and hands and the amethyst chips as spikes on her back.

16.  Pucci-Inspired Bottle by Nikki of AdornmentsbyEstelle
This is my first attempt at covering a bottle with polymer clay. I did this in honor of earth day. This is a sterilized beer bottle that was covered with a thin layer of translucent polymer clay. I then added 3 different black and white polymer clay cane slices. I was inspired by graphic white and black dresses by Emilio Pucci. Check out some the beautiful graphic prints at their site www.emiliopucci.com.

17.  Abstract Watercolor Trinket Box by Arlene of Ashpaints

One of my favorite artists is Wyatt Waters. He grew up in central Mississippi before expanding his horizons. He uses beautiful intense and vibrant color which brings his paintings to life. I've tried to recreate some of that vibrancy in this mokume gane technique learned from a tutorial by Barbara McGuire. It uses a unique combination of white, black and translucent clay layered with alcohol inks and copper leaf.

 

Vote Here

Choose your top 3 favorites. The same entry may not be counted more than once. Voting is open to the public the 1-7. Read the expanded rules here.

Full Name (required for voter prize notification):
Email Address (Required for voter prize notification):
For current Dues-Paying PCAGOE Members: What is Your Etsy Shop Name?
Please select your 1st choice:	1. Rainy Day at the Circus by Deb of RenGalSA 2. "JOB" by Alphonse Mucha - Image Transfer by Linda of NKdesigns 3. Abstract Pendant No. 116 By Susan of 11BOLDstreet 4. Capucci inspired petal necklace by Lisa of HiGirls 5. Alice Sculpture by Marie of YoungCreative 6. Panda Hiding in the Jungle by by Marcia of marcympc 7. In Flight by Tamara of irrysistablejewels 8. Calico Horse by Cindy of ArrowdaleArtStudio 9. "Faberge" Style Goose Egg by Angela of polymerclaycreations 10. Hundertwasser Bowl by Berit of ClayImages 11. Chihuly-Inspired by Linda of Claymation3d 12. Sparkles the Fish and Mermaid Inspired by James Christensen, "Jonah" by Peg of Peggers 13. Kinkade-Inspired by Jill of jkollmann 14. Tiffanylit4 by Beth of of CreateMyWorld 15. Friesen Red Dragon by Line of PlaySculptLive 16. Pucci-Inspired Bottle by Nikki of AdornmentsbyEstelle 17. Abstract Watercolor Trinket Box by Arlene of Ashpaints
Please select your 2nd choice: (no duplicate selections, please)	1. Rainy Day at the Circus by Deb of RenGalSA 2. "JOB" by Alphonse Mucha - Image Transfer by Linda of NKdesigns 3. Abstract Pendant No. 116 By Susan of 11BOLDstreet 4. Capucci inspired petal necklace by Lisa of HiGirls 5. Alice Sculpture by Marie of YoungCreative 6. Panda Hiding in the Jungle by by Marcia of marcympc 7. In Flight by Tamara of irrysistablejewels 8. Calico Horse by Cindy of ArrowdaleArtStudio 9. "Faberge" Style Goose Egg by Angela of polymerclaycreations 10. Hundertwasser Bowl by Berit of ClayImages 11. Chihuly-Inspired by Linda of Claymation3d 12. Sparkles the Fish and Mermaid Inspired by James Christensen, "Jonah" by Peg of Peggers 13. Kinkade-Inspired by Jill of jkollmann 14. Tiffanylit4 by Beth of of CreateMyWorld 15. Friesen Red Dragon by Line of PlaySculptLive 16. Pucci-Inspired Bottle by Nikki of AdornmentsbyEstelle 17. Abstract Watercolor Trinket Box by Arlene of Ashpaints
Please select your 3rd choice: (no duplicate selections, please)	1. Rainy Day at the Circus by Deb of RenGalSA 2. "JOB" by Alphonse Mucha - Image Transfer by Linda of NKdesigns 3. Abstract Pendant No. 116 By Susan of 11BOLDstreet 4. Capucci inspired petal necklace by Lisa of HiGirls 5. Alice Sculpture by Marie of YoungCreative 6. Panda Hiding in the Jungle by by Marcia of marcympc 7. In Flight by Tamara of irrysistablejewels 8. Calico Horse by Cindy of ArrowdaleArtStudio 9. "Faberge" Style Goose Egg by Angela of polymerclaycreations 10. Hundertwasser Bowl by Berit of ClayImages 11. Chihuly-Inspired by Linda of Claymation3d 12. Sparkles the Fish and Mermaid Inspired by James Christensen, "Jonah" by Peg of Peggers 13. Kinkade-Inspired by Jill of jkollmann 14. Tiffanylit4 by Beth of of CreateMyWorld 15. Friesen Red Dragon by Line of PlaySculptLive 16. Pucci-Inspired Bottle by Nikki of AdornmentsbyEstelle 17. Abstract Watercolor Trinket Box by Arlene of Ashpaints
How did you hear about the PCAGOE challenge?	Please choose one - thanks! I am a PCAGOE member Word of mouth from a PCAGOE member PCAGOE newsletter Etsy A Blog (Please tell us whose blog in the comments) PCAGOE.com website Polymer Clay Central CraftGossip Facebook (Please tell us whose in the comments) Flickr Other (Please tell us where in the comments)
Would you like to receive the monthly PCAGOE e-newsletter?	yes no I already receive it
Our members love comments! Please comment here on the entries and/or the challenge in general.

Create a web form here

Art is Messy: Challenge Behind the Scenes

The theme for our May Challenge is "Artist Inspired" and on May 1 we will have 17 EXCEPTIONAL entries to share with you.  In the meantime you can visit the blogs of a few of our members to read about how they took on this special challenge.

Pollack Inspired

Susan of 11BOLDstreet shares some insights into her technique for her challenge piece. http://www.11boldstreet.com/2012/04/my-pollock-tribute.html

 

Waiting for Alice

Marie of YoungCreative shares the early stages of her Alice in Wonderland inspired sculpture.

http://creativesprinkle.blogspot.com/2012/04/in-studio-waiting-for-alice.html

Something Girly for Mom

Something Girly for Mom

Here are some great Mother's Day gift ideas brought to you by the shops of PCAGOE team. Check them out in this Etsy treasury: Something Girly for Mom. Thanks to Lisa of HiGirls for putting this collection together.

Look what May Challenge voters could win

Public voting opens for our May Challenge on May 1. Here is a sneak peek at the prizes up for grabs for three lucky voters! If you win the drawing YOU GET TO CHOOSE YOUR PRIZE(see below).

Winners will be notified by email and given instructions on how to select and claim a prize.  Before or after you vote, we invite you to visit the shops and start thinking about what you will choose if you win the drawing.  Have fun browsing!

AshPaints
$20 on anything in my shop, must be used within 60 days, no cash remuneration.
http://ashpaints.etsy.com/


PolymerClayCreations
$20 gift certificate to be used within 60 days
http://www.polymerclaycreations.etsy.com/

CreateMyWorld
any item(s) worth up to $20 in my shop (no cash refund on balance); valid for 60 days
http://www.createmyworld.etsy.com/

Young Creative
any item worth up to $20 in my shop (no cash refund on balance); valid for 60 days http://www.youngcreative.etsy.com/

marcymPC
Any one item of your choice up to $20 value; no cash balance
http://www.marcympc.etsy.com

JKollmann
Any one item of your choice up to $20 value; no cash balance; good any time
http://www.jkollmann.etsy.com/

ClayImages
In stock items under $20, no made to order items
http://www.clayimages.etsy.com/

Peggers
$20 gift certificate (no cash refund on balance); valid for 60 days
http://www.peggers.etsy.com/

NKdesigns
$20 Gift Certificate
http://www.nkdesigns.etsy.com/

HiGirls
Gift certificate up to $20 to be used within 60 days of date of announced winner
http://www.etsy.com/shop/higirls

ArrowdaleArtStudio
$20 gift certificate, up to 60 days unless by private arrangement with me
http://www.arrowdaleartstudio.etsy.com/

AdornmentsByEstelle
$20 dollar gift certificate to be used within 60 days
http://www.adornmentsbyestelle.etsy.com/

MarciaPalmer
$20 gift certificate towards any item good for 60 days
http://www.marciapalmer.etsy.com/

BeckySueCreations
Any one item of your choice up to $20 value; no cash balance.
http://www.etsy.com/shop/beckysuecreations

11BOLDstreet
$25 gift certificate towards total purchase amount, good for 60 days
http://11boldstreet.etsy.com/

Small Ideas
Free map pins: cookies and crackers
http://www.etsy.com/listing/85883111/map-pins-cookies-and-crackers

Elemental Dragons
Custom made dragon (value of 24.99)
http://www.etsy.com/shop/ElementalDragons

PlaySculptLive

Gift certificate of $20 to be used within 60 days of date of announced winner

http://playsculptlive.etsy.com/   

April Challenge Winners

And the winners of the April Challenge are:

Winners Voted on by PCAGOE Members

1st Place

Lost Goddess Wall Art by Line of PlaySculptLive

2nd Place

Ring Bowl by Berit of ClayImages

3rd Place

Layered Faux Dichroic Pendant Necklace N12-01 by Jan of JanGeisen

Winners Voted on by Non-members

1st Place

Filigree Pendant by Angeli of BeadLadyManila

2nd Place

Ring Bowl by Berit of ClayImages

3rd Place

Layered Faux Dichroic Pendant Necklace N12-01 by Jan of JanGeisen

Drawing Winners

Congrats to Ronda Wounderly, Melody KirkWagner, and Aline Bard!
They get to pick a prize from one of our lovely participating shop owners.
http://polymerclayartists.blogspot.com/2012/03/look-what-april-challenge-voters-could.html

Congratulations to all the winners, and thank you to everyone who voted and supports our challenges each month.
173 votes were cast this month.


Comments left by the voters:
Wonderful content this month - SO difficult to choose!

They are all unique designs..Love them all

I am an Interior designer and love the idea of polymer clay as a material to create interest in a space, which is why I chose the switchplate as my pick! I heard about the contest from one of your members on facebook, The Beadlady :)

This was such a fun challenge because so many of our polymer clay techniques are layered and it was great to see so many different interpretations. I love these challenges.

Wow you know Spring is here with all these lovely colors and techniques. Amazing art work.

Lovely entries! All of the creations are absolutely beautiful!

So hard to choose, but Arrowdaleartstudios tiny house is so awesome!! It looks like a lot of work, but so cute!

So many entries to choose from this month- and they are all great!

I really enjoyed looking at all the artists work. They were all beautiful.

Beautiful work from all of the artists!

Awesome participation from the guild this month on entries... as always tough choice deciding favorites. Great work everyone!

everything is so lovely it was so hard to pick. great job everyone. cant wait to join in on the next challenge. hugs, Kimberly Idalski

All beautiful entries! Can I choose them all?


Who knew you could do so many things in layers?? And we've barely scratched the surface of the possibilities with polymer clay - fantastic medium and wonderful creativity!

Once again, you all have put on a spectacular show. What a difficult decision!!!

Gorgeous designs!

abulous artistic creations from everyone!

Wow, ladies, this was hard to do. All the entries are winners! Great work!

It is always such a treat to your wonderful creations.

I love all the entries and it was very hard to choose my favorite. I got this link on facebook but I don't remember who posted it. Great job everyone. One day I would like to make a polymer clay item.

very interesting work.

such a wonderful diversity of entries, it made it very hard to choose just three. The artists entered are all very talented and have created some amazing pieces.

I love the monthly challenge... please keep it going.

interesting pieces..loved the website

Excellent artwork -- as usual!

This is always such a hard decision for me!! I think everyone did such an amazing job. Love everyone's individual style.

It was hard to choose just one, but the brightly colored necklace by Arlene of Ashpaints kept calling my name. I love all the bright colors and the way she used layers in her mosaics, both in the pendant and the beads. Lovely job.

As the challenge was "layers", that was the feature I looked for. My three choices show this best I think. The choice was more difficult this month though!

i belong to the north texas pcg and heard about you there. all of the work above is unique, exceptional and elegant, in my opinion anyway. thanx for sharing your art....

Fantastic pieces, Love them all and very hard to choose.

The new picture format is wonderful---I can really see the entries! Thank you! Chris

Beautiful pieces!! Good luck to all the entrants!

#2 and # 13 have an energy reminiscent (to me, at least) of Van Gogh. Love em! I love #12, too, being born and bred a New Englander. Maine and NH are my favorite states! There are so many beautiful pieces here, it was hard to know whether to go with beauty, sophistication, workmanship, imagination, or the amount of effort it must have taken to make the piece. In the end, I decided to rely simply on "How much do I want it?" lol

I heard about it from Polymer Arts magazine. Looked neat!

These get prettier in every challenge. The best ideas yet!!

Absolutely wonderful entries. Love the accompanying music!

Everyone's work is absolutely beautiful!!everyone deserves to be #1!!

There was such a variety to choose from this month. Very unique designs. Great job everyone.

Very interesting pieces. OOOHHH...to be so talented. Good Luck everyone!

I'm not sure that #13, the salt and pepper shakers, was included in the slide show. I watched the show twice to get a closer look at this one but did not see a slide. Thanks!

Keep up the extra-ordinary work. You all give me inspiration. Thank you!

I love this one!! Layers can be in some many different forms and they are displayed here :)

Very difficult to choose again!!! lots of different combinations to make only with layers. And a lot of inspiration, too. Thank you all, artists

Variety is the spice of life and you surely have it here.

They are all lovely pieces - very close competition.

Who knew layering could take so many forms! : ) Creative techniques and use of varied materials.

I love the use of mixed media .

always enjoy seeing everyone's creations.

How does one choose favorites from a selection like this? All are beautiful and skillfully crafted---my three choices came down to the pieces that grabbed my heart, that very personal "wow' factor that is different for every person.

Oh so hard to choose! I'm inspired!

I particularly like The Lost Goddess. It represents well the layers we need to confront in order to be found.

April Challenge: Layers

Scroll to the bottom of the post to vote for your favorites!

Layers take many forms in polymer work and for our April PCAGOE challenge, we explored lots of layering techniques from mokume gane in which a design is created by manipulated and slicing into the layers, to 3-D designs where the layers are built up from the background, and the sutton slice technique where thin layers of clay are stamped and sliced to reveal the design.

Vote at the bottom of the page and you might win!
Vote April 1-7 and you could win. Three lucky winners will be selected in a drawing of all non-member voters and will be able to choose a prize offered by our member shops sponsoring this month's challenge. See the list of participating sponsors and prizes.  

And the entries are:

View slide show below to see larger photos. 

Entries appear in reverse order. Use mosaic at top for entry numbers.

To vote: scroll to bottom of post.

1. Layered Switch Plate by Marcia of marcympc
This pattern was made from scraps of a mokume gane cane created for PCAGOE's February challenge. Those scraps were then layered with thin sheets of black clay to create a Stroppel cane which was sliced and laid out on white clay to create the design you see here.

2. Pear in Layers by Marie of YoungCreative
This plaque is made from 4 layers of clay: green, purple/black, yellow, and white translucent. I stamped the pear onto the translucent layer and colored it with mica powders. I stamped the image again onto green clay and cut out the leaves which I layered over the original stamped image.

3. Playing with Layers by Lisa of HiGirls
Simple layers of clay stacked and cut into large cubes. Pendant was created with a slice of the stacked clay that has been further altered into a fun pattern and stacked on more layers of clay.

4. Ring Bowl by Berit of ClayImages
This little decorative bowl for your rings was created from polymer clay. I used the mokume gane technique and worked with several layers of different colors of clay to achieve this effect. Notice that the outside has a different pattern than the inside.

5. Silver Spot Cuff Bracelet No. 139 By Susan of 11BOLDstreet
This piece illustrates the theme as physical layers, built up for the main support of the bracelet. The revealed layers from slices of mokume gane serve as the decorative sides. The entire piece is hand sanded and highly polished.

6. Layered Faux Dichroic Pendant Necklace N12-01 by Jan of JanGeisen
This pendant is an assemblage of layers of polymer clay scraps. Some of the scraps are gold foil covered with translucent clay, which I think look like dichroic glass. The pendant is strung with multiple strands (layers?) of glass beads that pick up the colors in the pendant.

7. Brown Petroglyphs Serving Set by Norma of NormasClay

This set was made with the Mokume Gane technique in polymer clay. Thin layers of three colors were stacked, stamped and then shaved to reveal the layers underneath. After baking, the pieces have been sanded and polished which enhances the effect of showing the layers.

8. Lost Goddess Wall Art by Line of PlaySculptLive

In life, women are called upon to wear many personeas, many layers. Sometimes unaware of these demands, we sleep through most it. We become another being than the one we were meant to be unless we "find" ourselves. I created this piece using the layers of the sleeping goddess, the monster-dragon she is called upon to become and the "newspapers" announcing that she has been found, to illustrate the struggles we face while trying to be just who we are, ourselves!

9. Native Bracelet Set by Becky of BeckySueCreations

This is made with a layering technique called Mokume Gane. The bracelet is strung on elastic for an easy fit and is hand polished to a shine. The colors remind me of the Native America art that I saw in Alaska.

10. Layered Hair Pin by Jill of jkollmann

This is another variation on my pin design shown in The Polymer Arts magazine, Winter 2011.  It features layers of clay and silver leaf for the base, and layers of hand sculpted applique elements and cane slices for the embellishments.

11. The House on Layers Rock by Cindy of ArrowdaleArtStudio

The title is an obvious (at least to me!) take on Australia's famous Ayers Rock, but the house is truly one of many, many layers. Each of my wee buildings would qualify as I begin with a cardboard form I construct from scrap stuff - often cereal boxes, then I cover that with junk clay and bake. When that cools so that I can handle it, I begin adding doors and windows, then bake again. The next layer is the "siding," in this case, "stone." And finally, comes the "landscaping," or any other finishing touches. Layers - I love 'em!

12. Coastal Maine Scene by Phoebe of happycreations4u
I tried to make a little Maine coast scene. The rocks are made with layers of clay. The entire piece is layered from the blue sky and sparkly blue water to the rocks, trees, sun and seagull. First attempt at
something like this. Hope to try more and get better at it! This piece is just a small 3"square hanging by some fishing line.

13. Magic Swirls Mini Salt & Pepper by Deb of RenGalSA
Another fun experiment! Made from two canes that are variations on Donna Kato's Starry Night Cane, I chopped lots of multi-hued colored leftovers into bits and stacked them together next to each other with bits of black for accent. The resulting block of clay I then used to make various other canes - two of which are used in these fun salt and pepper shakers. The block of clay was put through the pasta machine in different orientations for each of these cane and the results layered into the patterns shown. The swirled rainbow cane was then layered on top of the rainbow zig-zag cane for the final result. 

14. Filigree Pendant by Angeli of BeadLadyManila
This is made of layered cane slices and two layers of filigree. The back is muted purple clay.

15. Layers of Black White and Silver by Beth of CreateMyWorld
This piece has a solid black bottom layer with circle shape cut out negative space, then a layer of window screen with some liquid polymer clay drizzled in some areas of the screen, then a layer of black polymer clay with crackled silver leaf and finally a layer of white polymer clay that has been dyed with fabric.

16.  Spring Fling Shawl Pin  by Linda of NKdesigns
My entry features layers of pearl, blue, teal, white and translucent. Spring is in the air and blues and green abound. Added just a touch of purple for the violets all over the garden. This shawl pin will also be great as an accessory for your hair.

17. Colorful Millefiori Floral Scarf Pin by Angela of polymerclaycreations

This shawl or scarf pin was made first by hand shaping some scrap clay for the base. I then added a layer of more colorful scrap clay for the background. Lastly I added a layer floral cane slices.

18. Spring Fling Necklace by Elizabeth of clarityofpurplesage
This is the focal to a necklace I am working on...Aluminum sheet base, sanded and covered with glittered black polymer clay.then a layer of mokume gane sheets were added. I then stamped a pattern on top and brushed some pearlescent pink ink over the stamping, adding a dimensional shimmer. The focal is finished off with a melange of springlike flower funk. ~thanks for looking!! :)

19. Pink Posy Layered Necklace by Arlene of Ashpaints
The challenge theme is expressed both in the multicolored pattern on the left side of the pendant and by the leaf and flower canes layered on top. The layered technique on the left and on the beads is a "Stroppel cane" developed by Alice Stroppel as a way to use cane end pieces and other bits and pieces. I used ends from both the leaf and flower canes used in this design in the layered stack so it coordinates beautifully.

Vote Here

Choose your top 3 favorites. The same entry may not be counted more than once. Voting is open to the public the 1-7. Read the expanded rules here.

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Please select your 1st choice:	1. Layered Switch Plate by Marcia of marcympc 2. Pear in Layers by Marie of YoungCreative 3. Playing with Layers by Lisa of HiGirls 4. Ring Bowl by Berit of ClayImages 5. Silver Spot Cuff Bracelet No. 139 By Susan of 11BOLDstreet 6. Layered Faux Dichroic Pendant Necklace N12-01 by Jan of JanGeisen 7. Brown Petroglyphs Serving Set by Norma of NormasClay 8. Lost Goddess Wall Art by Line of PlaySculptLive 9. Native Bracelet Set by Becky of BeckySueCreations 10. Layered Hair Pin by Jill of jkollmann 11. The House on Layers Rock by Cindy of ArrowdaleArtStudio 12. Coastal Maine Scene by Phoebe of happycreations4u 13. Magic Swirls Mini Salt & Pepper by Deb of RenGalSA 14. Filigree Pendant by Angeli of BeadLadyManila 15. Layers of Black,White and Silver by Beth of CreateMyWorld 16. Spring Fling Shawl Pin by Linda of NKdesigns 17. Colorful Millefiori Floral Scarf Pin by Angela by polymerclaycreations 18. Spring Fling Necklace by Elizabeth of clarityofpurplesage 19. Pink Posy Layered Necklace by Arlene of Ashpaints
Please select your 2nd choice: (no duplicate selections, please)	1. Layered Switch Plate by Marcia of marcympc 2. Pear in Layers by Marie of YoungCreative 3. Playing with Layers by Lisa of HiGirls 4. Ring Bowl by Berit of ClayImages 5. Silver Spot Cuff Bracelet No. 139 By Susan of 11BOLDstreet 6. Layered Faux Dichroic Pendant Necklace N12-01 by Jan of JanGeisen 7. Brown Petroglyphs Serving Set by Norma of NormasClay 8. Lost Goddess Wall Art by Line of PlaySculptLive 9. Native Bracelet Set by Becky of BeckySueCreations 10. Layered Hair Pin by Jill of jkollmann 11. The House on Layers Rock by Cindy of ArrowdaleArtStudio 12. Coastal Maine Scene by Phoebe of happycreations4u 13. Magic Swirls Mini Salt & Pepper by Deb of RenGalSA 14. Filigree Pendant by Angeli of BeadLadyManila 15. Layers of Black,White and Silver by Beth of CreateMyWorld 16. Spring Fling Shawl Pin by Linda of NKdesigns 17. Colorful Millefiori Floral Scarf Pin by Angela by polymerclaycreations 18. Spring Fling Necklace by Elizabeth of clarityofpurplesage 19. Pink Posy Layered Necklace by Arlene of Ashpaints
Please select your 3rd choice: (no duplicate selections, please)	1. Layered Switch Plate by Marcia of marcympc 2. Pear in Layers by Marie of YoungCreative 3. Playing with Layers by Lisa of HiGirls 4. Ring Bowl by Berit of ClayImages 5. Silver Spot Cuff Bracelet No. 139 By Susan of 11BOLDstreet 6. Layered Faux Dichroic Pendant Necklace N12-01 by Jan of JanGeisen 7. Brown Petroglyphs Serving Set by Norma of NormasClay 8. Lost Goddess Wall Art by Line of PlaySculptLive 9. Native Bracelet Set by Becky of BeckySueCreations 10. Layered Hair Pin by Jill of jkollmann 11. The House on Layers Rock by Cindy of ArrowdaleArtStudio 12. Coastal Maine Scene by Phoebe of happycreations4u 13. Magic Swirls Mini Salt & Pepper by Deb of RenGalSA 14. Filigree Pendant by Angeli of BeadLadyManila 15. Layers of Black,White and Silver by Beth of CreateMyWorld 16. Spring Fling Shawl Pin by Linda of NKdesigns 17. Colorful Millefiori Floral Scarf Pin by Angela by polymerclaycreations 18. Spring Fling Necklace by Elizabeth of clarityofpurplesage 19. Pink Posy Layered Necklace by Arlene of Ashpaints
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