polymer – Ornamento

Ugly Cane School and Some Inspiration

By: ornamento.blog January 23, 2020January 20, 2020

Art, polymer, Polymer Clay, Ugly CanesArt, polymer, Ugly Cane Experiments3 Comments

I must confess that I have been singularly uninspired these past few weeks. This hardly ever happens to me. I’m back in the pottery studio and even threw a few pots last week which is great considering that I had CMC joint reconstruction surgery in October.

I have amassed a collection of canes over the years that I haven’t used and that have become crumbly with age. A few years ago, I played with a bunch of them to see what I could come up with. Today, I dug up a few of the components I made and they’re not bad. I think I’ll take a few to Clayathon and see if I can combine them with wire work to make some necklaces. In the meantime, I am going to dig through my old canes to see if I can do anything with them. More on that next week.

Anyway, here are some results from my first ugly cane experiment. I made veneers by passing sliced canes through the pasta machine and laminating them on sheets of clay. I kept rolling and laminating until I came up with something interesting. I set some of the pieces in metal, mostly heavy-gauge copper wire which I squared in my rolling mill. I limited my color palate, something I did not do with the ugly cane experiments you will see next week. Let’s see where these ugly canes take me.

unfinished — Unfinished piece. I was still trying things out.

Pendant

I made some pendants using jump rings to attach the lentil-shaped front component to a back component. While most lentil beads are attached at the edges, the parts of these swing freely.

I attached the polymer piece to this pendant by drilling holes in the polymer and threading 30 gauge wire to wrap around the metal frame.

pendant1 — I attached the polymer here with tabs I soldered onto the frame and bent around the polymer. Read this post for more information on tab setting.

Earrings — Simple earrings with grommets and silver wire. They are very light.

More examples of uses for ugly canes next week.

Elise

By: ornamento.blog January 10, 2019January 11, 2019

Art, polymer, Polymer Art Archive, Polymer Clay GuildsArt, Elise Winters, polymer1 Comment

I wanted to write a more comprehensive post on Elise Winters who died earlier this year, but I find myself too sad to write much of anything. So let me say that if I remember Elise for anything, it is not for her artistic ability, and her innovative spirit (which would have been more than enough). And not for her advocating for the acceptance of polymer as a serious art medium. Not only did Elise start the Polymer Art Archive Blog, she persuaded the Racine Art Museum to establish a permanent polymer collection. This was a huge accomplishment. Finding a museum to take a collection is a more difficult and expensive proposition than most people realize. But this is not why I will remember her.

The pictures that follow are from a trip Elise made to Philadelphia in 2005 to give the Philadelphia Guild a slide show on her development as an artist. She showed us some of her first attempts at making art that were far less accomplished than the work she was known for. She told us that most artists have day jobs, or a parent or spouse with a credit card. She told us not to be discouraged and to keep on making art.

I will remember Elise for her great generosity of spirit. And that will keep on living long after everything made of clay crumbles.

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Update: I received a more complete obituary from Bruce W. Pepich, Executive Director and Curator of Collections, Racine Art Museum. To read it, press here. The Museum also supplied two images of Elise’s work.

winters red ruffle cascade neckpiece

Red Ruffle Cascade Neckpiece, 2009 Polymer and acrylic paint 9 1/4 x 5 1/2 x 3 5/8 inches. Racine Art Museum, Gift of Elise Winters and Sherwood Rudin

winters woodland ruffle cuff

Woodland Ruffle Cuff, 2008 Polymer and acrylic paint 3 x 4 x 4 1/8 inches. Racine Art Museum, Gift of Elise Winters and Sherwood Rudin

Photo credit: Penina Meisels

What I’m Working On

By: ornamento.blog July 12, 2018July 11, 2018

Art, Cats, jewelry, polymer, potteryArt, Color Wheels, jewelry, polymer, pottery, The Clay StudioLeave a Comment

I’ve been participating in the #100DayProject on Instagram
trying to create something every day and post a picture. I’ve been working on projects, like making a set of mugs, rings for friends, painting my house, helping Boris write stories for the Step Potato and the Step Banana and numerous other things. I’m mixing batches of colored porcelain in my basement to add to thrown pieces and to make jewelry. I’m still puzzling out hollow polymer beads and strong magnetic closures. And doing some volunteer work with the Color Wheels project at Fleisher Art Memorial. Here are some pictures

Beadsinoven Polymer beads in the oven

BorisandhisMug Boris admires his new mug

ClayStudio Throwing porcelain at The Clay Studio

ColoredClay Mixing colored clay

IMG_20180711_111409 Color Wheels: Gelli prints at the East Passyunk Rec Center

IMG_20180711_111732 MoreBeads More polymer beads

Pendant Colored porcelain pendant with gold embellishment.

What I Learned in Bonnie Bishoff’s Class

By: ornamento.blog May 24, 2018May 23, 2018

Art, polymer, Polymer Clay gatherings, Polymer Clay Guilds, Polymer clay new techniquesArt, Bonnie Bishoff, Design solutions, polymerLeave a Comment

Last week, I took a two-day workshop with Bonnie Bishoff entitled “Polymer Meets Wire,” sponsored by the New England Polymer Artist Guild. Bonnie is probably best known for the extraordinary furniture she made with her husband and artistic partner, J.M. Syron, and her superbly-crafted cane work. But there was no cane making instruction in Polymer Meets Wire. Instead, the class was packed with information on how to construct lightweight and durable open forms, findings, and components by first making cores of epoxy clay and wire and then covering them with polymer veneers. Then she showed us how to assemble them into delicate-looking necklaces, pins, and bracelets that did not rely on soldering to hold them together.

Bonnie

I am really excited about what I learned because now I have the means to address some design and construction problems that have been dogging me for years! I also learned about the properties of various metals and why some are better for building inner cores than others. Good to know.

Class

Bonnie also showed us some clever wire measuring tricks and taught us the ins and outs of working with epoxy clay, Genesis Heat Set Medium and liquid clay.

My head was exploding by the middle of the first day and I still need to process all I learned. Fortunately, Bonnie provided us with detailed written materials and drawings.

Here are some pictures of a cuff bracelet that I started in the class and finished when I got home. Not my favorite cane work, but I have a feeling that I will be making more of these. Thank you, Bonnie!

The class was held in the home of Ann Marie Donovan, who was a gracious, welcoming and friendly hostess. Not only did she open her home up to 14 students, she provided us with a delicious lunch both days, coffee and snacks. Thanks, Ann Marie and thanks to Kathryn Corbin for organizing the class and laughing at my jokes. Well, most of them anyway!

To see more of Bonnie Bishoff and J.M. Syron’s work, check out their Pinterest board.

Into The Forest Opens This Friday

By: ornamento.blog November 9, 2017November 10, 2017

Art, Philadelphia Polymer Clay Guild, polymer, Polymer Clay, Public ArtArt, Emily Squires Levine, IntoTheForest, Julie Eakes, Laura Tabakman, polymer, spinning plates gallery1 Comment

Into The Forest, the long-awaited collaborative polymer installation spearheaded by Laura Tabakman, Julie Eakes and Philadelphia’s own Emily Squires Levine opens this Friday at the Spinning Plate Gallery in Pittsburgh, PA.

I can scarcely believe that it’s been more than a year since Laura announced the project at Eurosynergy and requested contributions from the polymer community. They responded with enthusiasm: polymer artists from 27 countries around the world and 37 States around the US sent an abundance of hand-fabricated floral and faunal elements inspired by their geographically-diverse environments. Into The Forest is more than an art installation; it is a celebration of diversity and unity. A virtual global forest.

A small version of Into The Forest had its first public showing in Philadelphia as part of a larger “Constructing Organics” show which ran at the Park Town Place Gallery from September 2 to December 30, 2016. Emily, Laura and Julie have spent this past year working to make Into the Forest come to life in Pittsburgh.

Here are pictures of contributions from the Philadelphia polymer community that we made under Emily’s instruction at a meeting of the Philadelphia Area Polymer Clay Guild.

See you in Pittsburgh!

New Leaves and Old Friends at Synergy 4

By: ornamento.blog August 17, 2017August 16, 2017

Art, polymer, Polymer Clay conferences, SynergyArt, polymer, Polymer Clay conferences, Synergy 4Leave a Comment

I attended the Synergy4: A New Leaf » IPCA North American Conference this year, although other commitments limited me to the opening reception and first day’s programs. Fortunately for me, the conference was in nearby King of Prussia and I was able to get a ride with a friend from Philadelphia who decided to commute to the conference.

I attended workshops (how to unbox my creativity with Anke Humpert and environment as inspiration with Beth Wegener), drank lots of coffee, rekindled old polymer friendships and made new polymer friends. The attendees were a very friendly and lively bunch!

The Monday sessions opened with Emily Squires Levine, Laura Tabakman and Julie Eakes talking about their global polymer installation, Into The Forest scheduled to open the weekend of November 10-11 at the Spinning Plate Gallery in Pittsburgh.

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They brought a little bit of the forest with them as a preview:

Something new at Synergy this rear was Retreat Plus, an option that allowed people to have a polymer workspace and see polymer demos along with attending some of the conference programs.

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Karen Woods and Alison Galant share screen printing techniques in the polymer workroom

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No one ever gets out of the Synergy Gallery without spending something, but this year there were even better reasons to part with your cash. I bought the beautiful flower pin above to support Into The Forest. And Ron Lehockey was there with a pile of hearts in support of his Heart Pin Project. Who could resist temptation like that?

Tesla Necklace with a Nod to Cynthia

By: ornamento.blog March 16, 2017March 11, 2017

Art, Beads, inspiration, Nikola Tesla, polymerArt, Cynthia Tinapple, inspiration, polymer, teslaLeave a Comment

I love big beads. Big hollow beads. Doesn’t matter whether they’re made of glass, metal or polymer. Maybe because it’s a challenge to figure out how to make them and probably because people are always surprised at how light they are. And I have made a boatload of hollow beads over the years.

Which brings me to last week when I brought a strand of big polymer beads into the pottery studio and someone was interested in buying it which was a problem because it was only temporarily strung and I had not figured out an appropriate clasp. But it got me thinking.

I have always admired the perfectly integrated polymer covered barrel bead clasps on Ford and Forlano’s big bead necklaces. I wanted to make an integrated clasp myself but I did not want to use barrel bead – I wanted to use a hidden magnetic clasp. Which brought up two problems. First, it would have to be a very strong magnet. Big hollow bead necklaces still have some heft after all. And you cannot bake a magnet without diminishing its magnetic properties. People used to bake their magnet clasps all time time. But we have learned that baking weakens the magnets.

So I had to find a strong magnet and a way to integrate it into polymer bead halves without baking. I was surprised to learn that there was a paucity of information on using magnets and polymer clasps. I mean there are some old tutorials that instruct you to bake the magnet into the clay but as we have discovered, that’s a no-no.

Then I discovered Mag-Lok magnets and found this video from Cynthia Tinapple. I put my own twist on Cynthia’s technique and made a necklace with the Tesla beads and a magnetic clasp. How very appropriate.

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I will share how I make hollow polymer beads and magnet clasps at the next meeting of the Philadelphia Area Polymer Clay Guild. Thank you Nikola Tesla and Cynthia Tinapple!

Clayathon This Weekend

By: ornamento.blog February 16, 2017February 15, 2017

Art, ClayathonArt, clayathon, polymer4 Comments

This weekend, I will be at Clayathon 2017 with 80 of my closest friends. Lindy Haunani will be the guest artist, but several other well-known polymer experts will be on hand to demonstrate the newest techniques and products. Organizer Arlene Groch has done it again.

Here are some pictures from past Clayathons. To see all the Clayathon posts, press here.

Trinkets and Some Bowls to Hold Them

By: ornamento.blog October 20, 2016October 9, 2016

Art, beads, Beads, Ceramics, earthenware clay, Polymer Clay, potteryArt, Beads, Clay, inspiration, polymerLeave a Comment

It’s not like I don’t already have enough beads, but having access to a pottery studio, glazes and a bead tree has made new beads magically appear in my workshop. The items you see below are pendants and a couple of bead comes.

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