Polymer Clay Artists Guild of Etsy

www.jangeisen.etsy.com

She’s a photographer and multimedia artist from Minneapolis, Minnesota. She has a BA degree in Art and originally worked only with photography and silk screen media.  Her work is all about abstract designs and it is so beautifully arranged. About 18 years ago she discovered  polymer clay and  fell in love with its versatility.  She lets the clay tells her what it wants to be!  The first technique she worked with was the millefiori cane making technique and says “millefiori canes always have distorted ends where the cane pattern doesn’t match the rest of the cane.” She discovered from the very first cane that she would rather play with the scraps, than the rest of the cane.  

She ended up with a lot of  clay “scraps” and had to find ways to use them.  In addition to using the canes for jewelry, she uses them to make finials for plant stakes which are copper embellished with glass nuggets.

From her blog comes this great statement “Artists don’t work in a vacuum. We are always getting ideas from others, then putting our own spin on them.

I starting my artistic life with a BA in Art decades ago. Originally I was a photographer and printmaker. I started working with polymer clay in 1990. I don’t remember how I found out about the clay. I do remember that the first clay I found was Cernit. A friend and I tried to recreate the African millefiori trade beads that we both collected. The beads were a good imitation, until they were baked. They didn’t stay hard edged. The contours were soft and the appearance translucent. Eventually I discovered Fimo and got the nice hard edges, and opaque colors, I was looking for.”

From her feedback - ” One of my co-workers called it a “work of art” around my neck. So, true. It is just lovely and the artist was a pleasure to work with. Thank you.”

www.Tejaesart.etsy.com

She is the newly elected President of the Polymer Artists Guild of Etsy.  Hailing from Colorado, Tejae Floyde, is a multi- media artist and a devoted wife and mom. Like a lot of artists, she holds down a regular full time job and creates art in her spare time.

She enjoys creating unique designs that will be enjoyed for years to come. Her pieces are made from either polymer clay, silver or paper.  She says there is a message of  love and finding good in all things within her art.

Tejae is known for her inspirational and beautiful hearts.  She had a tutorial published in Polymer Cafe recently and in addition, taught an online class in the construction of a heart within a heart.  According to her blog, she will be teaching at the Inspired Artist Workshops May 7-9 in Charlotte/Concord, North Carolina.

Her polymer clay work has also been published in “400 Polymer Clay designs. Tejae’s  paper art,  “inchies,”  have been published in Somerset Studio. 

From her feedback on Etsy - Beautiful work from a great teacher and wonderful artisan!

http://spiritmama.etsy.com

From Austin, Texas comes Spiritmama.  She has an unusual first name, Waxéla, pronounced (wa-shay-la) and has been making jewelry and art for as long as she can remember.  She had owned retail shops for 15 years, and two years ago, she gave that up and decided to pursue SpiritMama.com to spend more time with her daughter.

 Among her skills are beading, jewelry and sculpture.  She loves spirituality and is intrigued with the many facets of different religions. She is most aligned with the Native American love of the earth and the Buddhist Zen practice.

Spiritmama is also a certified aroma therapist, an energy healer, a Reiki practitioner, and is studying holistic nutrition through Clayton College of Natural Health.

She says her art is infused with healing energy, particularly the art dolls which she prays with and fills with chi before sending them out. How interesting!

www.laurelsteven.etsy.com

Here’s a polymer clay artist of many talents.  Some of her former  incarnations include: spelling champ, mod, hippie, folk singer, science fiction aficionado, rock singer, actress, tightrope walker, punk rocker, splatterpunk fan, record label geek, full-time crafter, and choir soloist.

Some of her beautiful pendants have two different designs like the one above.  Her photography is spectacular and on one of her newest designs, she shows a card on which the magnificent heart is placed.  The sentiment is lovely and would make such a sweet gift from a man to his woman.  

Laurel molds some of her pendants from vintage jewelry and their look is both romantic and old fashioned.  She hand wire wraps her bails for a distinctly hand crafted look.