Polymer Clay Artists Guild of Etsy

www.zudagay.etsy.com

Who inspires you?

The polymer clay community has some amazing artists who create pieces that delight the eye. Some of them are in PCAGOE. It is so wonderful to visit their shops and see their newest work! Everyone inspires me at one time or other.

What inspires you?

This is easy! All of creation!!! Especially flowers and plants.

Where do you create?

I turned our spare bedroom into my studio when our youngest daughter got married a few years ago. My wonderful husband bought me an incredible work bench that has shelves, electricity and even a magnifying light attached. And the coolest hydraulic chair that goes up and down with the touch of the lever. Everything I need at an arm’s length.

How long have you been working with polymer clay?

I worked with salt dough clay in the 70’s and early 80’s. I got so discouraged when people would tell me that the Christmas ornaments they bought from me had become a lump of goo from being stored in their basement. I quit working with it completely and went on to many other mediums to quench my desire to create. I started reading about polymer clay many years before I ever found it in our area. I think I bought my first package around 12 years ago or so…..and have been pretty much addicted ever since.

www.ovenfriedbeads.etsy.com

Who inspires you?

My mom is my biggest inspiration. She has been through some tough times in the past few years, and she has overcome a lot with her positive attitude intact. When I need advice, she knows exactly the right thing to say. She is also my biggest fan. My friend Heather Zimmerman inspires me, as we have wonderful, fun discussions about art and craft, and her own work is very, very beautiful. My beau John is also an artist, and his viewpoints on construction and technique are very valuable to me. I know and work with many creative women and men who all support me and my work. The above three were the first to pop into my head.

What inspires you?

Nature in miniature….snails, flowers, pebbles, bark, tiny mushrooms, veins in leaves, insects, even diatoms, unicellular organisms and slide images of cells and soft tissue…..all of these types of items stir up my creative juices, even if they’re not directly represented in an obvious way. Textile patterns also have a heavy influence, especially when it comes to color combinations. I am also inspired by ‘chance’…..not knowing what will appear when I slice a loaf of scraps, and seeing lots of different pictures emerge.

Where do you create?

My art studio is part of my apartment, which is in downtown Cincinnati. It’s a large room, roughly 15′x17′. It is dedicated only to making art and storing supplies. (Most ‘normal’ people would make it a living room…not me.) The building I live in was built in 1875, and apparently has housed a list of artists and creative people, so the ‘vibe’ is very arty. I am about 50% organized, so it’s always in a state of ‘getting cleaned up’. I have a table that is used for clay and taking photographs, a table for drilling, and a table for assembling jewelry and gluing button shanks to my polymer clay buttons. Most surfaces also collect junk. I’m a packrat for found objects. I also collect a lot of quilt cottons, as I’m an occasional quilter too. Plus I draw, paint, collage, Shrinky-dink, etc, so there are lots more options for creativity than just polymer clay.

How long have you been working with polymer clay?

I created my first polymer clay working surface out of a tv-tray, packing tape and a marble rolling pin in June of 1995, so that would make it almost 13 years. I’ve worked with it consistently the whole time. I live alone and have no children, so I am very very productive and create a lot of work with it.

By Linda Riopel, NK Designs - Smithtown, New York

www.nkdesigns.etsy.com

New Year, New Technique
As the year begins, I am anxious and excited to expand and strengthen my clay techniques and designs. In recent months, the kaleidoscope cane took my attention. How intricate and beautiful! Can’t be that difficult? Right.
Research and Investigation
Very little information exists for kaleidoscope cane tutorials on the internet. There are DVDs for purchase, books and videos, but I am determined to do it today - no, obsessed is more the correct word. Can’t wait for books or videos to come in the mail. I decide to go to the local craft store searching for some directions. Nothing. There is a helpful tutorial on Polymer Clay Central by Kris Richards (http://www.polymerclaycentral.com/kalcane1.html) and I am forever grateful to her for her unselfish posting of that tutorial. I see an advertisement for Jana Roberts Benzon’s Arabesque’s cane DVD. http://www.janarobertsbenzon.com. Her canes are stunning and gorgeous. The ad gives me a starting point and is a great source of inspiration. Maybe I can do this. Back to the net - Glass Attic, (www.glassattic.com) Of course! There’s got to be something there. I peruse the site: canes, kaleidoscope. There’s tons of stuff - all very confusing. Isosceles triangle? Oh right, from my geometry class. Yikes, that was a long time ago.
Getting Started
I take the plunge. I get out my Kato and Premo clay, pasta machine and sit down to create a lovely kaleidoscope cane. The first one is an absolute and total mess. Must have put the triangles together upside down or inside out. Something. The second one is so chock full of lines and spikes I’m dizzy. Onto the third and fourth - too much black, too small a design, colors are not right. What are you doing? Don’t know. Now my hair is standing straight on end from running my fingers through it - like I stuck my finger in a light socket. What are you doing? Ok, breathe deeply, take a break. Think. Get out the Scotch - oh wait, I don’t drink. The pile of scrap clay is accumulating on my table. Oh boy. But like I said, I’m determined. I start again. This time, I manage to get a “sort of” kaleidoscope. It’s very small though, only about ½ inch. Now, my problem is, how do I cover scrap clay (which I have loads of) with it to make a pendant? Putting four slices together yields a smeared, disorderly failure. It reminds me of when I put up wallpaper in my kitchen - find the match, find the match. Turning it into a square doesn’t help either. OK, back to the drawing board, as they say.
Success!

I decide to incorporate Skinner blend logs into my cane. I used a tutorial by Leigh Ross at Polymer Clay Central http://www.polymerclaycentral.com/poleigh/skinner.html. I create Skinner blends, a peach, a purple and a green. To this, I add black and white logs and a bullseye cane stacked into a triangle. Using the thin layer of gold, I place several colored logs and wrap the gold clay over the first set of canes. Then more logs on the sides and top (again in a triangular shape.) Since spikes are not what I was looking for, I exclude the top layer of gold and reduce the triangle (to about 8 inches). I then cut the triangle into two equal parts and place them together to form an isosceles triangle.
When I turn the piece over, the top is now at the bottom (forming the triangle.) I smooth out the sides, turning and smoothing as I continue to reduce the triangle further. When it is again about 6-8 inches, I cut it into three equal parts and place the three sides together to form a half circle. I cut the half circle in half and make a full circle with it.
Now, if all this seems a little too baffling, see the pictures. What’s that saying - A picture is worth a thousand words?

www.humblebeads.etsy.com

Who inspires you?

My peers are a great inspiration.  I’m encouraged each day by the community of beadmakers that I know.  I’m inspired by those who create with a vision that is their own, those who uniquely express themselves are the biggest inspiration.  My favorite polymer clay artist is Cynthia Toops for her incredible use of subtle and sophisticated colors. 

What inspires you?

I’m inspired by two things, nature and art history.  Whether it’s the color combinations of a blossom or the artist palette from my favorite paintings, most of my work stems from these two acts of creation.  I’m particularly attracted to the designers and artists from the arts & crafts movement and the pre-Raphaelites like William Morris and Gustav Klimt.  Probably because they too were so inspired by nature.  You’ll also find Van Gogh and Monet in the my line of beads.

Where do you create?

I have a studio in my home.  It’s filled with tables, shelves and lots of room to work out my latest ideas.
How long have you been using polymer clay?

I discovered polymer clay 15 years ago while in art school.  I was immediately drawn to it’s possibilities with color and the low-tech equipment that allowed me to work from my kitchen table.  It was much safer to make beads from polymer with young children nearby than the lampwork glass I had started with as a beadmaker.