September's theme is the "little black ball"
challenge. Everyone had to started with a 1-inch black ball of clay that remained recognizable in the final piece. As an added twist, members were asked to choose a technique or something discussed in The Polymer Arts magazine or blog published by fellow member Sage Bray who is the feature artist on the PCAGOE Facebook page right now.
Vote for your favorites. Three lucky voters will be chosen in a drawing to win a gift certificate from one of our sponsor shops.
1. Chopped Metallic Polymer Pen with Black Ball No. 142
by Susan of 11BOLDstreet
This
pen with stand expands upon an idea that I floated past Sage Bray and
which was included in The Polymer Arts, Spring '12 issue. Instead of
only chopped translucent polymer, this piece utilized metallics and leaf
to adorn the black ball starting point. Happy Anniversary, TPA! See more about this piece at http://www.11boldstreet.com/2014/08/pcagoe-little-black-ball-challenge.html
2.Black and White Swirls Polymer Clay Boxby Angela of polymerclaycreationsThis is a collectible box handmade from 100% polymer clay, covered with a technique I like to call faux silkscreen mokume gane. 3. Black Pearlby Line of PlaySculptLive The seashell is a mokume gane cane made of pearl green, pearl blue, purple and
black. I covered the black pearl with iridescent mica powders and sanded
a bit off of the top to show the black through. The sea foam is from a
neat trick I learned from a fellow sculptor. Read more:http://playsculptlive.blogspot.ca/2014/08/a-little-black-pearl.html 4. Fan Pullby Jill of JKollmann Fan Pull for the September Little Black Ball Challenge and inspired by TPA articles on repetition, flow, caning and contrast.
5. Black and White Impressions by Lisa of HiGirls
I chose to slice up my little
black ball, as well as add natural texture. The Polymer Arts issue I
was inspired by was Fall 2013 "Plein Air Polymer". Using impressions of
leaves on white polymer followed by a wash of black tinted liquid clay,
I achieved a ceramic look for the white disks. The little black ball
has been textured using the very spiky center of a purple cone flower. For more views: www.flickr.com/photos/39493796@N08/14983816372/
6. Filigree Swirls Decanter and Bottle Stopperby Arlene of Ashpaints The
Little Black Ball required for this challenge is actually the ball on
the bottle stopper. But it was lonely by itself, so I created a
decanter covered with filigree swirls inspired by Sage Bray's blog post
on May 21: Monochromatic Intricacy (http://www.thepolymerarts.com/blog/monochromatic-intricacy/)
7. Black Ball Challenge Mandala Ornamentby Beth of CreateMyWorldDesigns A 1" black polymer ball is the
center base for this mandala ornament. The mandala is constructed of
polymer, dowel supports, and liquid polymer coated cotton thread. This
piece was inspired by two blog posts from The Polymer Arts Daily Blog,
one on mandalas and another on repetition. For better photos and to read
more about the creation of this piece, visit my blog here: http://createmyworlddesigns.blogspot.com/2014/08/11th-hour-work-sessions-and-other.html
She's been the featured artist on our PCAGOE Facebook page for the past two weeks.
Lorraine lives in Delray Beach, FL. Living in South Florida lends
inspiration to this artist's creations with the execution of playful,
colorful pendant and beads which she
then incorporates into jewelry pieces. With a graphic artist background,
Lorraine's jewelry designs are clean and bold with a tropical flair.
About her polymer journey, Lorraine says this: "6 years ago I decided I
needed to find something to do creatively that wasn't like my day job as
a graphic artist. I needed time away from the computer. So, I took a
local wire-wrapping class...and fell in love. Soon after, I was browsing
in the book store for jewelry making instructional books and picked up a
book on polymer clay. I fell in love again. I bought a few blocks
of clay and some cheap tools and got to work. I'll never forget the
first time I created a design using the mokume gane technique. I could
hardly wait to try other colors and stamps."
Lorraine opened a
two other etsy shops in recent years, one called
MySchoolJewels…dedicated to fun jewelry for the avid college or school
fan. And the second called LOVOBeads dedicated to handcrafted beads and jewelry components.
Muy buenos trabajos, difícil decisión elegir solo 3. Suerte a las participantes. Saludos cordiales
Such beautiful work to all but I can only choose three,:)
All the work you do is amazing wow!!
I
like the idea of this challenge and the really useful items caught my
eye. Decorative is nice, but not really what I think of as "for the
home", which I took to mean something you would USE. They are all
beautiful.
Very creative and beautiful entries.
Great work done by all
Beautiful, beautiful and y'all are very talented!
Love the colors on the teapot !
Love the creative artwork.
This time it was a real challenge to choose my favorites... They're all so wonderful.
This one was especially hard to choose, I love them all!
Great.
All these creations are wonderful! Well done everyone!
Great work ladies.
The Revolving Bottle Stopper Art Display is a perfect gift for a collector.
Great work to all.
Incredible
work as always. Everyone has put an amazing amount of thought and
effort into each piece and it is obvious. Thank you for your
contributions during the summer months. I enjoy voting during this time
as well as during the winter.
This
challenge brought a nice verity of projects !! I loved that #5 was
artistic, useful, and recycled items into the design. Great Job.
These were beautiful, creative and stimulating. Makes me want to get into the studio for about 10 hours.
It was very hard to pick just three items. All entries are winners.
I look forward to the monthly challenges and how each participating member interprets the theme selected for the month.
Very beautiful works.
Very diverse selection!
I'm
in love with those songbirds, they're so delicate. If only I think of
using eggshells I would be afraid I'd break them. The colors of this
soap dish are magnificent, thanks for showing! and last, but not least, I
do love precious teapots. This Balinese one would suit my collection
;-)
Sometimes I am just left speechless by all the beautiful claying. Thanx.
I could just see my co-worker's daughter's picture in the frame #7.
All
of the items are so beautiful. As usual, it is difficult to choose.
Each of you has a unique style. I do love the bright colors!!!
Such talent! Love seeing all the creative ways of using clay!
This was a hard choice to make - you all do such beautiful work.
There are some very fine entries here, it's hard to choose.
So many great ideas this month!
As usual, very hard to choose just three!
Incredible creativity and design!
I am amazed to see all the different items that can be made from polymer clay! All the entries are such wonderful pieces of art!
Love the variety! Tough choices once again, everything is so well done!
PCAGOE featured artist for the weeks of August 4th
through August 17th.
(View her work featured on our Facebook page throughout this time period.)
Linda has lived in New York all of her life,
calling Smithtown (on the North shore of Long Island) home. She is
proud of both her state and the big city
of Manhattan. Linda has been working with polymer for many years,
since retiring from work at Stony Brook Hospital. Linda is well known
for her impeccable image transfers, gorgeous floral cane work and
flawless finishing. Linda says this about her polymer clay pursuits:
"About ten years ago a friend invited me to a craft session. She was
using polymer clay. I was so intrigued, I went and purchased some that
very day. Since that time, I have been claying, teaching and loving
every minute of my new found passion."
Find more of Linda's work at these online locations:
For August our members focused on decorative items for the home. They could
create anything inspired by the theme as long as the
entries contained 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.
1. Tea Pot for Oneby Berit of ClayImages A little tea pot for your tea party for one! This is my entry
into the PCAGOE August challenge "Home Decor". Spiral canes make this
tea pot fun and special. It's decorative as well as usable.
2. Balinese Silver Inspired Tea Pot by Lisa of HiGirls
This teapot was created with
lots of black and burgundy clay and silver mica powders. The faux
stones have a crackle of gold leaf.
To see more views: www.flickr.com/photos/39493796@N08/
3. Black & Purple Stone Prism Sculpture No. 143 by Susan of 11BOLDstreet Purely for display, this faux
stone polymer sculpture serves no useful purpose, except as luxurious
eye-candy in your home decor scheme. Oh, and you will want to pick it up
and handle it, too - it's silky-smooth to the touch!
4. Pink Double Switchplate with Ribbon Patternby Marcia of marcymPC A single switch plate in an abstract pattern with lilac and pale
orange or beige and black inclusions, giving the impression of ribbons
and bows. A randomized cane was sliced and laid out in a kaleidoscopic
pattern on backing clay to create the design.
5. Summertime by Brenda of BeeJWilson .. and the living is easy. I
brighten up the bath in the summertime, and try to bring some outdoor
beauty indoors. This soap dish and lotion dispenser are the perfect fix
to do just that. The soap dish is made from the center section of a
bright green wine bottle, cut in strips, then fused together in a grid
pattern. I then slumped that over a bowl mold. I laid polymer clay
inside the bowl and trimmed it all with butterscotch to accent the edge
pattern. The lotion dispenser was once a salsa jar, covered with
polymer clay to coordinate with the soap dish.
6. Cheery Songbirds Decorative Ornaments by Marie Young of YoungCreative These songbirds began their lives as chicken eggs. They were laid by a well-educated chicken on a farm near me owned by a university dean. I sculpted playful polymer details over the hollowed-out egg shells. The bright color was achieved with polymer clay tinted with alcohol ink. The extra details in the wings and tail-feathers are really precious.
7. Colorful Millefiori Floral Photo Frameby Angela of polymerclaycreations This is a glass photo frame that I have covered with my floral canes.
8. Patriotic 'Scope Pledge of Allegianceby Jill of JKollmann Patriotic
'Scope Pledge of Allegiance with coordinating polymer stand. The
banner has the entire Pledge of Allegiance, stamped one letter at a
time. And spelled correctly!
9. Winged Creature with Beady Eyes Night Lightby Betsy of PolyClayCafe
I've
been on a night light kick lately, having lots of fun with translucent
polymer clay (liquid and solid) and alcohol inks. So I knew I would
make a night light. I made two for the challenge and this was the one I
decided to enter in the challenge. The finished product is a large 5"
tall x 4 1/2" wide by 1 1/2" deep. For how this creature evolved and for more views visit my blog post at http://polyclaycafe.blogspot.com/2014/07/winged-creature-night-light.html
10. Peace Dove Mosaic Crossby Arlene of Ashpaints The
focal tile of this cross mosaic is a Peace Dove. Each tile in this
inspirational piece is handmade and impressed with deeply etched stamps.
After curing, a combination of antiquing mediums, acrylic paints and
metallic wax is used to enhance and highlight the designs. The wooden
form is the only part of this piece that is not handmade of polymer
clay.
13. Soap Dispenser by Freda of FredaK Black and white mokume gane with red accents
14. Revolving Bottle Stopper Art Displayby Jill Stone of Beautified Essentials Some wine connoisseurs collect
bottle stoppers and have them on display in their house. I have had fun
making over 1,500 bottle stoppers over the past 2.5 years and selling
them in olive oil and vinegar stores, wine stores, and wineries across
Colorado and New Mexico. My new stopper designs have different art on
each side of the chrome stopper- there are 30 stoppers on this display.
You can take a closer look at my designs in my other Flickr pictures.
PCAGOE featured
artist for the weeks of July 21st through August 3rd.
(View her work featured on our Facebook page throughout this time period.)
Freda lives in
Northeastern Ohio. Aside from polymer, Freda also dabbles with copper
and wirework. Freda says this about her creative journey,
"I've always loved jewelry and when I started making it, my jewelry box
overflowed. I was getting a lot of compliments on the pieces I made so I
decided other people might like to enjoy them too. That is why I
started my Etsy store. Making the jewelry and other items just keeps
getting better and better. There are so many things to do with polymer
clay that I'll never have time for them all."
PCAGOE feature artist
for the weeks of July 7th through July 20th.
(View her work featured on our Facebook page throughout this time period.)
Becky Sue has been working
with polymer clay for over 20 years. She loves playing with color and
creating whimsical items. One of Becky Sue's specialties
is buttons… she has made buttons for a seamstress who has done work for
celebrities. Steven Tyler (of Aerosmith), actress Virginia Hankins, and
novelist George R. R. Martin, are a few celebs who possess Becky Sue's
work. Regarding her creative journey, here are Becky Sue's own words:
"Being the eighth of twelve children and growing up in a small town, I
learned to be inventive. I made Christmas gifts for my family, which
were always unique. Over the years, I created with paper craft, stained
glass, rubber-stamping, book making and sewing. I would dive whole- hog
into each until I got burnt out and needed to try something else. Years
later, as an adult, I found I was still doing different types of art for
my family, changing to a new medium every two to three years. One day,
I decided I was going to try to make something for myself. I was
familiar with polymer clay but had not used it much. I began by making a
barrette for myself. I made one and then another; I just couldn't stop.
Learning to use the clay has been a journey of pure fun. It has been
the first medium that I have not gotten tired of using nor found the
limits to its usage."
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