Featured Artist Mary Hargrave

 

 

Introducing Mary Hargrave of MaryClaires 

PCAGOE featured artist for May 28 through June 8
 (View her work featured on our Facebook page throughout this time period.) 

Mary is a jewelry artist who works primarily in polymer. A member of the Northern California Artists, she sells her work in the gift shop of the Sacramento Fine Arts Center. She recently won the SFAC Animal House Show humor award for a polymer piece inspired by Friesen entitled "Elephant in the Living Room". Mary is also a member of the International Polymer Clay Association.

About her artistic journey, Mary says:

"My love of color traces back to kindergarten where, standing in line to wash my hands, I smeared the purple tempra paint remaining on my hands to cover both arms up to the elbow making lovely matching gloves. Favorite crayons included fuchsia and turquoise. I was an acrylic painter of cars (not like Earl Schieb but think rather of portraits of headlights) until 18 months ago when I found Cristi Friesen's book on polymer and steampunk. I started at it and have not stopped. This medium has such endless possibilities, joy and color that it almost self-propelling. I find that I have to work at it daily or my hands twitch.

Jewelry has always been a fun source of inspiration for me and art-sy jewelry, in particular, makes a strong statement of individuality like small sculptures that you can wear. I value creativity, design, color and a sense of humor. I also am a compulsive shopper at Goodwill, Oakland Museum White Elephant Sale, Hospital Guild shops and other such places where I find old jewelry to re-use in new compositions. I take great delight in tearing these "found" pieces apart, never knowing where they might fit into designs of my polymer jewelry. My adventure with polymer has many teachers and mentors who provide inspiration and technical advice on a daily basis, but I find myself in my shop alone with that inspiration trying to do it justice while not copying. Translating that spirit and technique into jewelry for the shop is a never-ending story. If I miss day in the studio, I am a little down and feel I have missed the creative journey for that day. I hope my visitors will also enjoy my constant striving to create more interesting and colorful work."

Mary's primary interests are making art and colorful objects that serve as wearable art and her shop contains many different kinds of unique creations. Find Mary at these online locations:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/MaryClaires
https://www.flickr.com/photos/98395435@N05/
Maryclaires.indiemade.com

Featured Artist Jan Geisen

Introducing Jan Geisen

PCAGOE featured artist for May 12 through May 25
 (View her work featured on our Facebook page throughout this time period.) 

Jan has a BA degree, with original concentration on printmaking and photography. Over 20 years ago she discovered polymer clay and the millefiori technique. About her work, Jan says: "I discovered, after making my very first millefiori cane jewelry, that I am really an 'improv' artist. I spent more time working with the scraps from that first millefiori cane, than with the cane itself. Polymer clay is such an amazing medium that I have still haven’t exhausted its possibilities. No two pieces of jewelry of my jewelry will ever be alike." Jan's work has been featured in several places: on the Polymer Clay Daily blog, on The Polymer Arts blog, in the Helen Breil Shapes book, in The Polymer Arts magazine, Polymer Clay Cafe magazine and From Polymer To Art magazine.

After taking a stained glass class, Jan branched out into making garden art with polymer and glass, but currently she doesn't have any garden pieces for sale on Etsy. Jan was also featured on a episode of HGTV's That's Clever 6/18/2010, making one of her large plant stakes.

Find more of Jan's work at these web locations:
https://www.etsy.com/shop/jangeisen and
http://www.jangeisen.com/ and
http://jangeisen.blogspot.com/ and
https://www.flickr.com/photos/23551801@N03/

Featured Artist Jill Stone

Introducing Jill Stone of Beautified Essentials

PCAGOE featured artist for April 28 through May 11
 (View her work featured on our Facebook page throughout this time period.) 

 
Jill received a BS in ecology with an art minor. She has always enjoyed creating art that incorporates our natural environment. She enjoys making art that has a function- such as manicure sets, hair accessories, greeting cards, bottle stoppers, jewelry, light switch plate covers, etc. adorned with her art. Her work is a labor of love: she grows flowers and presses them to make flower cards and artwork. She has studied under the well-known potters Jack Troy, Nancy Utterback, and apprenticed with polymer artists Dan Friedlander and Ann Kruglak. Formerly a science teacher, she is currently a stay at home mom to two little girls. 

In her own words: "I've always enjoyed making art and learning about art. I took one art class every semester in college, and in the end realized I had enough credits to make it a minor. I was fortunate to meet two #polymerclay artists in Boulder, CO who were generous enough to teach me the basics of polymer clay. Through selling my art locally in about a dozen stores in Durango, CO, Santa Fe, NM, and Boulder, CO, I realized that I had my own unique style of art that people wanted to buy. 

I have sold over 3,000 pieces of art since 2012 in stores and craft shows, and am currently selling my #WineBottleStoppers in 9 olive oil stores, 4 Colorado wineries, and 7 additional stores in Colorado. I enjoy the endless possibilities that polymer clay provides. My 3 year old gets a kick out of "helping" me by turning the handle on my clay machine.

My 1 year old likes sitting on my lap while I make art. I'm fulfilling my passions of making art and being a full time mom. I plan to go back to teach high school science in a few years.. or maybe I will become a full time artist."

Her artwork can be found in two dozen stores in Durango, Boulder, Santa Fe and at these locations on the internet:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/BeautifiedEssentials
https://www.flickr.com/photos/83380298@N05/

May Challenge Winners

The winners in the PCAGOE May Challenge "Bowls" are:

Public Vote

Top entries selected by the public:

1.  Asymmetrical Yarn Bowl by Beth of CreateMyWorldDesigns 

2. Purple Mokume Gane Yarn Bowl by Angela of by Angela of polymerclaycreations

 

3. Watercolor Mokume Gane Ring Bowl by Arlene of Ashpaints

Member Vote

Top entries selected by PCAGOE members:
1. Asymmetrical Yarn Bowl by Beth of CreateMyWorldDesigns 

2. 4-WAY TIE: Jade leaves and dragonfly bowl by Lisa of HiGirls , Red Hot Chili Pepper Bowl by Mary of MaryClaires, Footed Pinch Pot by Berit of ClayImages,
Green Brown Sea Glass Valet No. 144 by Susan of 11BOLDstreet

3. TIE: 
 Purple Mokume Gane Yarn Bowl by Angela of by Angela of polymerclaycreations
Watercolor Mokume Gane Ring Bowl by Arlene of Ashpaints 

View all of the entries:
http://polymerclayartists.blogspot.com/2014/04/may-challenge-bowls.html

Congratulations to the drawing winners. They get to pick a prize from one of our lovely participating sponsor shop owners. 
Moyra Riley
Carolsue Elliott 
Barbara Marinoq

Comments from the voters:

They all look great.

They really bowled me over!

Love them all! Hard to choose.

They are all stunning, but I really like No. 10 as the bowl itself has so many techniques combined it's a real challenge.

Beautiful entries. #1 was a close runner-up.

I think this is the best group of entries for a monthly challenge that I have seen.

Hard to choose as always everyone did a great job.

Great work.

These were exquisite! It was hard to choose.

Beautiful work on all.

Such inspiration for inexperienced clayers like me. As always, ALL the items are beautiful, creative and great eye candy.

Always such a tough decision! All of these are just lovely!

Great work!

All the bowls are beautiful. This was one of the most difficult challenges to choose from yet!

Brilliant bowls, really hard to choose.

Great designs, I like the special ones most!

Beautiful work....I would use all of them :)

They are all so beautiful, which makes hard to choose but keep up the great work girls!

Top notch! You all aced it.

Your work, all of you, is just wonderful. You are all winners really!

One of the best challenges yet!

Great work. Love the variety of techniques used and the finish of the pieces.

It was hard to choose... all are such wonderful works of art.

This was really tough, really tough. I changed my votes several times. Just want to say they are all winners!

Very creative and different.

Very beautiful and inspirational work! Looking at the wonderful things that talented artists can create with clay, helps this newbie (of 3 years!) stay motivated to try new things and hopefully develop some techniques to one day be able to give back to the community! :)

Love them!!!

I love the jade leaves and dragonfly. The two yarn bowls are very uniquely different, they are useable as well as beautiful pieces of art. The three artist should be proud of their work.

I have never had as hard a time as this to pick just 3 !! These are the most gorgeous bowls I have ever seen!!! When I win lotto I am buying all of them!

So creative.

Really great work again this month!

Love the creativity of these bowls!

They're all so unique and beautifully done! Another tough choice this month, they all deserve a prize!

Gallery quality work!

May Challenge Bowls

About the challenge: 

For May our members tackled bowls. They could create one from scratch or cover an existing shape. Yet, as always, the visible part of the entries had to be 50% polymer clay. 

Vote for your favorites. Three lucky voters will be chosen in a drawing to win a gift certificate from one of our sponsor shops.

To see larger images visit:

http://www.flickr.com/groups/1089891@N25/

1. Green Brown Sea Glass Valet No. 144 by Susan of 11BOLDstreet
This polymer clay valet/bowl for the PCAGOE Challenge was inspired by my sea glass collection. It incorporates lots of texture, tinted translucent layers and an underside featuring my "chopped translucent" polymer technique. Approx. 6" x 6" x 2 1/2" high.

2. Jade leaves and dragonfly bowl by Lisa of HiGirls

Created for PCAGOE 's May challenge-Bowls. This piece is created with tinted translucent clay, lots of leaves, some metallic powders and lots of texture. It is a companion piece to my asian inspired teapot: https://www.flickr.com/photos/39493796@N08/13854988464/in/photostream/



3. Purple Mokume Gane Yarn Bowl by Angela of by Angela of polymerclaycreations
This handmade bowl is great for holding your ball of yarn while you knit or crochet. There are 3 different holes plus a spiral to run your yarn through. To see more views please click here: www.flickr.com/photos/polymer_clay_creations/
 

4. Footed Pinch Pot by Berit of ClayImages
My entry into the May PCAGOE challenge, "bowls". This little bowl fits into the palm of my hand. It is completely hand made, no molds were used. I also made the cane work myself. After curing it twice, I sanded it and added a coat of a finishing varnish. Lovely for rings, earrings or other small jewelry! You can see other views of it here: www.flickr.com/photos/21863654@N07/

5. Duality Bowl by Betsy of PolyClayCafe

The design is based on my fasicnation of pattern against solid and unusual shapes. I love the Premo color "jungle" so much I didn't blend it with any other colors, a rarity for me. The colors are jungle, black, ecru ... that's it!

The base was formed around the largest Fat Daddios teardrop cookie cutter, and is 5" long from middle back to the point. It stands a little over 1 1/2" tall. The pattern is mokume gane made with the use of a thick texture sheet - by layering clay, impressing the texture and slicing off the "mountains". The wings of the feet are the three colors extruded using the large multiple hole disc.
For other views see www.flickr.com/photos/98189899@N07/sets/72157644106094346/

6. Leopard Bowl by Line of PlaySculptLive
This bowl was an old silk blouse that I washed and put in the dryer and now would not fit anyone. I used that for the outside of the bowl. The inside of the bowl is my daughter's old corduroy skirt. Both patterns lent themselves well to my purpose.  Read more at:
http://playsculptlive.blogspot.ca/2014/04/a-bowl-for-pcagoe-challenge.html

7. Watercolor Mokume Gane Ring Bowl by Arlene of Ashpaints 
Watercolor Mokume Gane is a technique which uses alcohol inks to give it the soft blend of colors. The addition of gold leaf adds sparkle and makes this a perfect small bowl for rings or paperclips.

8. Black & Silver Bowl by Freda of FredaK
Hand formed trinket bowl with silver leaf on black polymer clay

9. Red Hot Chili Pepper Bowl by Mary of MaryClaires
Sort of swirly pattern but little abstracts around it.

10. Asymmetrical Yarn Bowl by Beth of CreateMyWorldDesigns
Asymmetrical bowl made from polymer clay and hammered metal spirals. The dimensions of this piece are approximately 5 1/2" tall by 5 1/2" wide (at widest point). To see more photos of this piece and to read about how it was created, please visit my blog: createmyworlddesigns.blogspot.com/2014/04/labor-of-love.html

11. Hexabowl by Jill of JKollmann
For the bowl challenge I wanted to try not-round, not-smooth.

Read the expanded rules here.

Full Name (required for voter prize notification):
Email Address (Required for voter prize notification, you will not be sent other e-mails unless you sign up for our e-mail list):
For current Dues-Paying PCAGOE Members: What is Your Etsy Shop Name?
Please select your 1st choice: (2nd & 3rd choice must be different from your 1st.)	1. Green Brown Sea Glass Valet No. 144 by Susan of 11BOLDstreet 2. Jade leaves and dragonfly bowl by Lisa of HiGirls 3. Purple Mokume Gane Yarn Bowl by Angela of by Angela of polymerclaycreations 4. Footed Pinch Pot by Berit of ClayImages 5. Duality Bowl by Betsy of PolyClayCafe 6. Leopard Bowl by Line of PlaySculptLive 7. Watercolor Mokume Gane Ring Bowl by Arlene of Ashpaints 8. Black & Silver Bowl by Freda of FredaK 9. Red Hot Chili Pepper Bowl by Mary of MaryClaires 10. Asymmetrical Yarn Bowl by Beth of CreateMyWorldDesigns 11. Hexabowl by Jill of JKollmann
Please select your 2nd choice: (2nd choice must be different from your 1st and 3rd.)	1. Green Brown Sea Glass Valet No. 144 by Susan of 11BOLDstreet 2. Jade leaves and dragonfly bowl by Lisa of HiGirls 3. Purple Mokume Gane Yarn Bowl by Angela of by Angela of polymerclaycreations 4. Footed Pinch Pot by Berit of ClayImages 5. Duality Bowl by Betsy of PolyClayCafe 6. Leopard Bowl by Line of PlaySculptLive 7. Watercolor Mokume Gane Ring Bowl by Arlene of Ashpaints 8. Black & Silver Bowl by Freda of FredaK 9. Red Hot Chili Pepper Bowl by Mary of MaryClaires 10. Asymmetrical Yarn Bowl by Beth of CreateMyWorldDesigns 11. Hexabowl by Jill of JKollmann
Please select your 3rd choice: (3rd choice must be different from your 1st and 2nd.)	1. Green Brown Sea Glass Valet No. 144 by Susan of 11BOLDstreet 2. Jade leaves and dragonfly bowl by Lisa of HiGirls 3. Purple Mokume Gane Yarn Bowl by Angela of by Angela of polymerclaycreations 4. Footed Pinch Pot by Berit of ClayImages 5. Duality Bowl by Betsy of PolyClayCafe 6. Leopard Bowl by Line of PlaySculptLive 7. Watercolor Mokume Gane Ring Bowl by Arlene of Ashpaints 8. Black & Silver Bowl by Freda of FredaK 9. Red Hot Chili Pepper Bowl by Mary of MaryClaires 10. Asymmetrical Yarn Bowl by Beth of CreateMyWorldDesigns 11. Hexabowl by Jill of JKollmann
How did you hear about the PCAGOE challenge?	Please choose one - thanks! I am 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 Word of mouth from a PCAGOE member Other (Please tell us where in the comments)
Would you like to join our email list? (former Newsletter subscribers already included!) monthly reminder to VOTE in our Challenges, along with important Guild announcements. Please add pcagoe@gmail.com and pcagoe.news@gmail.com to your approved senders.	I already signed up yes no
Our members love comments! Please comment here on the entries and/or the challenge in general.

This form powered by Freedback

Featured Artist Angela Hickey

Introducing Angela Hickey of Polymer Clay Creations

PCAGOE featured artist for April 14 through April 27
 (Her work is be featured on our Facebook page throughout this time period.) 

 
Angela became addicted to working with #polymerclay about 9 years ago. And now she can't get enough of it! Angela is well known for decorating items with her beautiful flower canes in all the colors of the #rainbow. About her entry into the polymer world, Angela says this, "One day about 10 years ago I went into work to find I was no longer a "fit" for their company. So after a week of being devastated and feeling worthless, I had to find things to do to take up the 60 hours a week I used to work. At first I enjoyed my free time, but there are only so many jigsaw puzzles to do and weeds to pull. Being artistic runs in my family. I had painted and done cross stitch before. So I was looking for something creative to do with my time. I'm not really sure what drew me to polymer clay, but as the saying goes it was love at first sight. I became instantly addicted. Then after a few months I was starting to build up quite a few finished projects. Thinking maybe I could try selling some of them to "feed my addiction" I started Polymer Clay Creations. Now I'm doing what I love and love what I'm doing. Making money is just a perk Looking back I guess I'm grateful to those corporate morons for handing me the keys to finding my happiness."
Angela has been featured in the fall 2009 edition of Interweave magazine, the June 2009 edition of Polymer Cafe magazine, and on the Polyform website.
Find more of Angela's work in these web locations:
www.polymerclaycreations.etsy.com and www.flickr.com/photos/polymer_clay_creations/ and http://www.facebook.com/pages/Polymer-Clay-Creations/162634387125?ref=mf and http://www.polymerclaycreations.blogspot.com/

April Challenge Winners

The winners in the PCAGOE April Challenge "Containers" are:

Top entries selected by the public:

1. Put a bird on it! by Lisa of HiGirls

2. Baubles and Swirls Trinket Jar by Arlene of Ashpaints

3. Diamond Box by Beth of CreateMyWorldDesigns 

Top entries selected by PCAGOE members:
1. Diamond Box by Beth of CreateMyWorldDesigns
2. Put a bird on it! by Lisa of HiGirls
3. Sliding Turtle Box by Jackie of ThePleasantPheasant 

Congratulations to the drawing winners. They get to pick a prize from one of our lovely participating sponsor shop owners. 
Laura Spivey

Corrine Tripamer

Sharon Wittmann 

Comments from the voters:

- As always, so many creative pieces!

- It was difficult to choose - they are all very accomplished

- Beautiful! I'm sorry I didn't enter!

- Ladies you all out did yourselves this month. Wonderful entries!

- I'll be honest, I don't know much about polymer clay. Thanks to Facebook posts by Lisa Rapp, I've become interested. What a versatile medium!

- Great collection of creative items... hard to choose!

- Really hard decision.

- It is apparent that everybody really put their "all" into this theme, and the results are fabulous. Wish - I could vote for all of them.

- So hard to choose!!! Stunning work all around!

- Tough choices between all of them.

- Wow, this was truly a difficult choice. Such impressive, high level artistry!

- Love that turtle Jackie, you are so talented. Keep up the good work.

- This one was very hard to choose! All winners in my book.

- Very difficult choice - you should all win!!

- Wow, was it hart to choose just three! If I could have voted for #2 and #11 as well, I would have!

As usual, stunning entries.

- You have all exercised your imagination to the nth degree - Congratulations all.

- I really enjoyed the originality of the base containers, the variety of blended colors and the delivery of quality and interesting creations! Well done all!

- This time it was so hard to choose just 3!

- Wonderful !

- Difficult choice they are all so beautiful!!

- All three of my choices should be ranked #1. I really shouldn't put a 2 and 3 to any of them. Wow!!!

- This month really blows me away. There is no way possible to pick the top three. Really awesome work everyone! I'm so proud to be part of this talented group.

- #8 My first pick is because it really is beautiful and a truly polymer clay piece. #4 Just love this and the Alice Stroppel take, and the colors are my favs too.  #1 Beautifully done. All are amazing and inspirational.

beautiful!

- 3 is fabulous, especially for a beginner! 10 has awesome coloring, almost looks real!

- This was awesome! You've outdone yourselves, ladies!

- Every single entry is just gorgeous. Very difficult to choose.

- The quality of all the entries has really gone up.

- I am always amazed at the incredible amount of beautiful and thoughtful work that goes into these challenges. It is so hard to choose as each one of these is a winner! You girls have no idea how much pressure you put on us each month to pick the first three out each time! Arghhhh! :0)

- My first choice is a very sophisticated bowl. A real piece of art in my opinion. My number two and three are so detailed and pieces of hard work with great results.

- I wanted the artists to know that it was very difficult to choose because they were all such great works of art. Thank you for your work and inspiration.

- All containers are beautifully executed!

- Such talent and attention to detail. A great challenge this month.

- All the submissions were great and such a hard choice!

- Beautiful choices as always. Very hard to choose.

- I am astonished and inspired by all of these vessels - what a good choice for a challenge.

- Had the hardest time narrowing the list down to 3. Very interesting and beautiful pieces. Great job everyone.

- I look forward to the challenge and love seeing the new entries.

- Unbelievable talent. Amazing entries. Thanks for sharing all these beauties with us.

- Awesome stuff, really. Talent is abounding....As always it was so hard to choose just three.

- WOW such a beautiful bunch of boxes.

- I think this is one of the strongest selection of challenge entries that we have had since I joined. Amazing work!

- All fabulous submissions. And such a diversity of styles showcasing the versatility of polymer clay.

- Wow! Great entries everyone!

 

Featured Artist Arlene Harrison

Introducing Arlene Harrison of Ashpaints and Harrison Hollow Designs

PCAGOE featured artist for March 31 through April 13 
 (Her work is be featured on our Facebook page throughout this time period.) 

 

Arlene is a retired legal secretary who now concentrates her energy, full time, on her artistic pursuits. Her new focus is to grow her business online and locally, learn new techniques to grow as an #artist, and to generally enjoy her retirement; even though in retirement she is working now more than she ever did, but loving what she does and doing it on her own time schedule!

Arlene's polymer passion began with canework and creating intricate cane designs. Due to some problems with her eyesight that make canework too difficult to manage on a regular basis; she has been moving more toward the direction of #custom #mosaics, which she creates with wood bases and #polymerclay tiles that are embellished with a wide range of media. As you will see throughout this feature, Arlene doesn't let her vision problems stop her, and you'll find that even with her focus on mosaics, she pushes her talents to provide a wide variety of items to her customers.

Here's a bit, in Arlene's own words, about her artistic journey:
"From the time that I learned to embroider at my grandmother's knee, I've felt the need to create -- to put a part of myself into everything I do. I've been involved in various artistic pursuits for over 30 years with my primary focus on decorative painting until I was introduced to polymer clay! I've found a new passion for design. Now my collection of paints has taken a back seat to polymer clay and beads!

In addition to my artistic pursuits, I love books -- although after a less than successful lasik surgery experience, most of my "reading" these days is done by audio books. I am a mother, a grandmother, and a lover of most animals. I have two dogs who are both rescues and have helped to fill my life since my husband passed away. I live in the country and, other than having to go without power for 5 weeks after Katrina hit the Gulf coast, love it!"

Find more of Arlene's work at these locations:
http://ashpaints.etsy.com/ andhttp://harrisonhollowdesigns.blogspot.com/ andhttp://www.artfire.com/users/HarrisonHollowDesigns