For our November challenge we
are featuring mandala designs. 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. Mandala Bowl by Berit of ClayImages A little fall/holiday spirit. Made with my polymer clay canes, this bowl is about 5 inches in diameter.
2. Good or Evil Cat Figurine by Marie Young of YoungCreative
This kitty has a lot to contemplate with an angel mouse whispering in one ear and a devil mouse whispering in the other. She is seated on a mandala made of polymer mosaic tiles sealed with a glassy liquid polymer finish.Approximately 3 1/2 inches tall.
3. Mandala Wall Plaque by Lisa of HiGirls
This wall plaque is created completely of polymer and is 7 inches diameter.
Cut
outs were placed on a flat background, fired, then back filled with
tinted liquid polymer. The entire thing was sanded and buffed for a
great shine.
4. Geometry Class Reduxby Jill of JKollmann Challenge piece is totally pieced! Took me back to geometry classes, to get (and maintain) 12 sections throughout. This was a fun challenge.
5. Snowflake Mandala Christmas Ornamentby Angela of polymerclaycreations The
theme for the month is "Mandalas". I chose to do an ornament because
of the upcoming season. I love the timeless simplicity of blue and
white together. This was made with scraps cut from cane ends and put on a
background of pearl clay.
6. Mandala Challenge Ornamentsby Arlene of Ashpaints I was pretty much stumped on this
challenge until someone mentioned repeating elements and someone else
sent a link with many pictures. My mind immediately hit upon using a
kaleidoscope cane to create the central element and repeat single
elements from that. It may not be a traditional mandala but it makes
me smile!
8. Colors of Thailand Mandalaby Betsy of PolyClayCafe When
I first started thinking of what to create for PCAGOE's Mandala
challenge, I thought of the colors of the mandalas I saw in the temples
of Thailand. Often you could see stunning stain glass mandalas behind
statues of Buddhas. In addition to the beautiful patterns, I was struck
by all the bright colors. I decided I wanted to use bright colors;
those that reminded me of Thailand. Orange for the monks was a given,
teal for the lush jungle vegetation, yellow for the marigold wreaths you
see everywhere, purple for the color of Saturday, wasabi for the
cuisine and just a touch of silver. Read more on my blog: http://polyclaycafe.blogspot.com/2014/10/mandala-inspired-by-colors-of-thailand.html
Randee works as both polymer artist and teacher in Austin, the capital
city of Texas. She has been featured on both Polymer Clay Daily and The Daily
Polymer Arts blog. Her work has been published in several magazines and
featured in museum shops. Randee is also a member of the International
Polymer Clay Guild and the Austin and Houston Polymer Clay Guilds.
Randee has co-authored (with Kim Schlinke) a wonderful book entitled
Polymer Clay Gemstones and the Art of Deception.
Randee says
this about her journey to polymer: "I always suspected that art would be
my life--and luckily, I was right. I studied Byzantine Art and
Archaeology in Florida before being irresistibly drawn into the world of
metalwork as one of the youngest women jewelers in the Southeast during
the early eighties. Eventually, impending motherhood demanded that I
bid metals goodbye, and I experimented with a variety of less-toxic
media before discovering--and being discovered by--polymer clay. This
incredible stuff has become muse and mantra, and I eagerly await each
new day's adventure in it."
Find more of Randee's work at these online locations:
What
a high standard of entries. It was very difficult to choose. I always
seem to manage to take some form of inspiration from these challenges.
Thank you.
Lovely work!
Wow, these entries are fabulous, all of them!! You guys are getting better and better.
Ladies
I had a very hard time having to select a 1-2-3 this month. All works
were so outstanding. I read about the history of the drinking vessel.
What a great idea. Dream catcher - faux leather, faux wood faux feather
that look like the real thing. The "skull" is so colorful, detailed and
unique. SW colors stained glass, covered tins and case, tiles and mosaic
and earrings. WOW! I feel like I have taken a trip out West this
morning. Congrats to all for the great works! Very enjoyable to see.
They are all very nice and it is always hard to choose. Everyone has such creative talent.
Lovely
I really like at least 6 of them; too difficult to choose just 3.
I'm part native American and loved looking at all the items made. I think they are all great.
Well done!
For
the three entries I voted for: beautiful earrings, inspiring Kokopelli
image, and truly amazing looking covered tin. Such wonderful work for
all of them, I hope one of them wins this challenge.
Great entries, I live in the Southwest 28 years and these creations are fantastic. Good luck to all.
All beautiful items.
Wonderful job this month!!!
Nice variety of color and creativity chosen for this month's challenge!!
Hard
choices but the earring are so clean and elegant I had to make it the
top choice. Reminds me of a lot of piedra dura work I saw in Santa FE.
Interesting pieces.
Love seeing new and exciting clayers.
Once again, beautiful art creations! I love southwestern style
#9
for originality and execution. #4 for design and execution, kudos for
your patience. In my mind, #3, #5 and #7 were tied. I went for #5 due to
my personal bias for celestial motifs.
Love to see the different takes on each challenge
So very hard to choose just three, they are all remarkable.
All are really wonderful representations of southwest art. Love them all.
Cool theme!
As
a native of the southwest, this has to be my favorite challenge theme
so far. And what a difficult choice to select my top three.
For our October challenge we are featuring Southwestern designs. 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. Turquoise Coral Earrings No. 126by Susan of 11BOLDstreet
Faux blends of turquoise, coral and a back (not visible) in faux ivory, intermingle as inlays with black. Classic "Southwest"!
2. Coaster Tiles - Southwestern Theme by Marcia of marcymPC
This is a set of 4 polymer clay covered tiles with a Southwestern
theme. The pattern was created using a Jacob's Ladder cane. Adjacent
slices were matched to produce a mirrored kaleidoscope type design.
3. Southwest Native American Kokopelli Faux Stained Glass Suncatcherby Angela of polymerclaycreations
This suncatcher was made using tinted liquid clay. I first made
the outlines on a piece of glass with silver clay then filled in with
the liquid clay.
4. Southwestern Skull Wall Artby Lisa of HiGirls
This faux skull was
created with 100% polymer clay. The base is slightly molded to add
dimension. Faux tiles, rope and Native American inspired "bead work"
made this a fun project for this native Pennsylvanian to experiment
with! It measures 9 inches across the horns and 9 inches tall.
5. Turquoise and Orange Celestial Sun Business Card Caseby Marie Young of YoungCreative
The fiery orange sun is hand-stamped onto translucent clay spiced
up with dried paprika and inks. I sculpted the 3-D elements to lift the
image from the background because I can't leave anything flat!
6. Covered Tinby Berit of ClayImages
To me
Southwestern means bright reds, oranges, terra cotta, green and blue, as
well as geometric patterns. I made this cane in a workshop with Julie
Eakes.
8. Friends with Southwestern Style Heartby Arlene of Ashpaints
This mini-mosaic is one of my "Friends" series and features a
heart with Southwestern designs. The color on the heart is a burnt
orange acrylic glaze and a turquoise glaze was added to the designs.
Each mini-mosaic measures 4 inches square by 3/4 inches thick and comes
with a self-easel.
Ilysa Ginsburg has been working with polymer clay for over 25 years and
creating her whole life. We actually have Ilysa to thank for founding
the online etsy group which is now PCAGOE. Ilysa has traveled around
the USA participating in art shows and fairs and has won numerous awards
for her work including "Best Of Show" category awards. Her work can be
seen in several polymer clay books and national magazines, including
Cloth Paper Scissors. Ilysa has written a book called Polymer Clay Art
Jewelry which is available here: http://tinyurl.com/polymerclayartjewelry
Ilysa has also designed projects for several companies, has produced
instructional DVDs, and co-hosts (with Kira Slye) an online show called
Polymer Clay TV, where they create online courses, downloadable videos
and DVD's.
Find more of Ilysa and her work at these online locations:
Linda is a native of West Michigan. She has always loved doing arts
and crafts including: beading, embroidery and painting on
many surfaces. Linda has attended silversmithing and creative painting
classes, and has studied floral design. Linda's work shows a love for
creating mixed media sculpts where she cleverly combines polymer clay
with gemstones, shells, rhinestones, polished rocks, beads and other
finds.
Linda shares her story of her polymer clay journey as
follows: "While working with glass paints and ornaments one day, I
picked up an issue of 'Expression' magazine. The issue featured a
polymer clay item that was three dimensional, colorful and had lots of
beads. The trifecta! After a trip to the store for polymer clay I was
hooked. That was about eight years ago and I have been creating with
polymer clay ever since. My Etsy store reflects my love of polymer clay
and mixed media. "
She's been the featured artist on our PCAGOE Facebook page for the past two weeks.
Please go check out her work!
For the weeks of September 1st through
September 14th, we had a special PCAGOE artist feature: Sage Bray,
polymer artist at The Sage Arts and Publisher/Editor of The Polymer Arts
magazine! Whether wielding the pen or manipulating polymer
to shape her ideas, Sage has been blessed with creativity and vision.
Sage balances her two passions of art and writing and merges the two in
The Polymer Arts magazine. The magazine publication continues to be a
great source of inspiration and information for the polymer community,
not only through the quarterly periodical, but also through The Daily
Polymer Arts Blog.
Sage says this about her passion for
polymer and the balancing act of publishing a magazine: "I had never
been as obsessed with an art material as I was, and still am, with
polymer clay. Four months after picking it up, I entered my first art
show and sold out the handful of pieces I brought. Two months later I
was juried into the country's biggest genre art show, DragonCon, selling
all but one piece at that show. I then gave up my job, transformed my
attached garage into a studio, and took on a life as a full time artist
and freelance writer. That was almost 7 years ago and I'm happy to say,
I'm still at it.
I now combine my love of this art form and my
writing in the polymer centric magazine, The Polymer Arts and The Daily
Polymer Arts Blog and will continue to do so in upcoming polymer and
craft related books. I am also committed to returning to the studio this
year to get back to creating my own pieces rather than simply
developing techniques which has usually been in support of articles for
the magazine these past couple years I am returning to teaching with my
first hands-on class in two years at the new Great Create in Denver, CO
on the 11th and 13th of this month. Yes, I stay busy (maybe a bit too
much!) but I love the life I have and hope I can do this until I take my
last breath."
The Polymer
Arts magazine celebrated its 3rd anniversary this August! PCAGOE brings
you this feature as a celebration of the magazine and the woman who
continues to inspire us.
Find more about Sage and The Polymer Arts magazine at these online locations:
Another great challenge! One of these months I'll get my act together and make something. Nice work, ladies. :)
All so beautiful! It was a difficult decision. Congratulations to all…you are all winners!
This
one was a challenge in its true sense...stretching our members to
create within their style while maintaining that little black ball.
Nice job from everyone! Talented group!
So many great items.
Very nice job on this, ladies! Not an easy challenge theme!
What
a difficult challenge with such varied entries - very impressive. I
loved the humor of the cut ball in Black and White impressions.
Seems
whenever I look over the pieces to vote Hi Girls' work always jumps out
at me. Like her style. This time when I saw the split ball I just knew
that had to be her work!! Love it.
This was a tough one I thought but everyone came through once more with interesting ideas.
Beautifully done everyone!
Absolutely wonderful works of art. Was really a challenge to pick.
What a different challenge.
Very interesting pieces for what I consider a rather difficult challenge!
While
I would have expected this to be an "unusual" challenge, the artists,
as always, rose to the occasion & produced some really cool
projects. Thank you PCAGOE for continuing these challenges!
Amazing what can be started from one little black ball! Great work.
Interesting challenge. I love seeing how different people interpret the same directions. We'll done ladies!
