Daily Art Muse » Techniques

merci beaucoup!

Susan Lomuto — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 18:15:30 +0000

Last week I wrote about this interesting technique by Violette Laporte. She was kind enough to translate the instructions for ‘Vio’s Secret’ so that all of her American friends have a full understanding of the steps and Parole de Pate matched that kindness by posting the translation on the French blog. This is a big help to those of us who were studying the pictures and guessing at the instructions. Merci beaucoup!

You can find the translation here.

violette’s polymer clay secret

Susan Lomuto — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 18:30:31 +0000

I’ve always loved this polymer clay piece by Violette LaPorte and I wondered how she did it. Now Violette tells all to Parole de pate – you can read her how-to here. Of course I can’t read one word of it because it is in French, but the pictures are enough to give me a good idea of the process. Perhaps one of our French friends will help us out?

jeanne rhea’s polymer clay

Susan Lomuto — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 17:34:25 +0000

Jeanne Rhea has a FANTASTIC, I said FANTASTIC new tutorial on her website. Rhea’s ‘Line Ladies’ pictured here are all polymer…wait until you see how she does it! You can find out how to make your own right here.

Thanks for your generosity Jeanne – what a great idea!

if you build it they will come

Susan Lomuto — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 17:47:52 +0000

at the end of june i had the pleasure of traveling to philadelphia to attend dan cormier and tracy holmes’ ‘building better beads’ workshop.

they built it and we came: hosted by the philadelphia polymer clay guild, students came from maryland, new jersey, pennsylvania and new york. by the end of the weekend we left with notebooks and heads filled with information to keep us on the learning curve for months.

beneath dan’s laid back, canadian-ease style and dry sense of humor, artist meets engineer meets master of precision. setting the bar higher, first for himself and then again for his students, cormier showed us why attention to detail and an unwavering commitment to be the best craftsman(woman) we can be is the goal to strive towards.

pictured here are student’s beads-in-progress. in this workshop the emphasis was on construction. the design of the bead surface took a back seat to how to make the bead sturdy, lightweight, highly functional and finished to perfection.

cormier and holmes’ partnership is rich and seamless. dan demonstrated and explained the steps, while tracy moved in and out of the picture to clarify a point or further define a technique element. this tag-team approach adds a unique and interesting dimension to the multi-layered educational experience. as they cruised through the information intense agenda, their never-skip-a-beat high fives when one of them hit on an idea was only one indication that the collaboration works. and it works well.

a much larger illustration of this glorious collaborative effort is cormier and holmes’ best work yet: 3 year old griffin. as many of you already know he steals the show. naturals in the parenting department, it was a joy to watch them as mom and dad to the charming, engaging griffin. with an angelic expression on his face, their little helper took great delight in passing out the small boxes that held gifts of clay donated by polymer clay express. watch out dan – griffin might take over sooner than you think!

if cormier ever decides to switch careers he would do well as a comedian. his dry, quick wit elicited more than a few laughs and kept things moving along. in the meantime, i’m happy that he’s teaching – the workshop is brilliant. watch this space for a future post about ‘dan the artist’ and why i think this workshop is critical to the well being of the medium.

a cormier and holmes’ website/blog is coming soon and i am sure it will tantalize us with powerful artwork; amuse us with the stories and anecdotes that have traveled with the couple on this lifejourney and give us a standard to live up to.

thanks again to the the philly guild and to guild member martha aleo for the pictures. thanks also to robin milne, president of the new jersey guild, for photos of the student’s work.

brock lee in the wall

Susan Lomuto — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 17:31:25 +0000

it’s friday. i’m wiped out. i helped my daughter move this week in rainy, humid july heat (as though my own recent move wasn’t enough to tucker me out…and i’m not even fully unpacked yet). i think i’m getting too old for this. but never too old to laugh! and that’s just what i did when i found this tutorial for how to make ‘brock lee in the wall’ get it? brock lee. broccoli. brock lee.

in addition to his music, singer songwriter owen klaas has a whole collection of amusing polymer clay sculptures and framed art online. check out more of his sculptures here.

have a good laugh while i head out the door for the two hour drive home. then i’ll be taking a nap.

the now infamous brock lee…

50/5 beads

Susan Lomuto — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 13:52:55 +0000

ponsawan challenged herself to make 50 different beads using only 5 colors of clay. no two the same. as you can see by the picture below, she was up to the challenge. now she wants to know if you are up to the same challenge. i want to know too – c’mon people – ponsawan has made it easy by providing a how-to on her tutorial blog. check it out and start rolling!

the reducerator

Susan Lomuto — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 13:27:08 +0000

have you seen master caner wes warren’s tool, the reducerator? warren has been using the handcrafted tool for more than a decade to make his now-famous tube beads. he makes a lot of beads. a lot. warren recently began selling the rectangular cane reducer and you can look here for a detailed photo description of how to use the tool (scroll down to the middle of the page).

he also has a new blog and a tutorial that explains his method for wrapping beads on steel rods . i’ll be watching – i think he has plans for a tutorial explaining how to make the cutting tool he uses to mass produce tube beads. great information from one of the best!

click on the cat in the hat to see wes warren’s flickr photos.

marzipan? polymer clay?

Susan Lomuto — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 15:22:17 +0000

marzipan, polymer clay – what’s the difference? ok, ok, i know – you CAN NOT eat polymer clay, but for crafting purposes they sure seem similar. when i saw this tutorial for a marzipan yarn ball and knitted scarf i thought it looked a lot like polymer clay.

and just look at what she did with her ‘knitting’!

knitting is SO big – so, so big – i’m surprised i don’t see more knitting related items made from polymer clay. you know what i’m talking about. who is doing for knitters what jennifer patterson does so beautifully for quilters?

deryn mentock: something sublime

Susan Lomuto — Mon, 28 May 2007 15:10:03 +0000

check out something sublime for a terrific tutorial on how to make ear wires. i’m a newcomer to metal/wire. i just started my first class last week (alison lee is teaching at roca – she’s great!) so this tutorial is a wee bit over my head, but i’ve got it bookmarked.

i particularly like what mentock did with the wires here – love the concept of the text for the earrings.

the tutorial has lots of pictures, clear explanations and for newbies like me, definitions of the tools used to make the ear wires. nicely done!

amy fraser’s work in progress

Susan Lomuto — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 14:36:30 +0000

over the last few months i’ve watched new hampshire’s amy fraser grow her exalted beauty medallion collections. a talented painter, fraser brings her two dimensional art to life with these polymer clay pendants.

in the last year and a half she has made more than 1,600 medallions. each collection has a theme which she uses, along with a color palette, as the starting point for these miniature works of art. i became aware of fraser’s work when she took her blog readers on a wonderful journey, discussing the process for her botanical collection: looking for inspiration, drawing the illustrations, eliminating some of the drawings and finally translating selected drawings into the polymer clay botanical collection. you can find lots of links to that process here.

pictured above are before and after pictures of her floral medallion collection (not to be confused with the previously mentioned botanical collection!) if you want a glimpse of the glazes she used to paint the white, baked medallions, and a peek at her color palette inspiration for this collection, click here.

fraser’s blog and website document much of her creative process, from sketch or painting to completed medallion collection. a good read. you can see the entire series of medallion collections cataloged here and don’t miss the galleries section of her website – it highlights dozens of her paintings and drawings.

more? cindi lavin recently interviewed fraser for bead arts. check out cindi’s conversation with amy. this busy mom, wife and artist is a delightful work in progress and i look forward to seeing more of her process as she brings new collections to life.