Polymeri Online 28.6.13 | Jason's Customs, Mavi's cartooned polymer clay portraits, Ewa's Zoo and white feathers tutorial

Summer is officially announced, but here, in Israel it's hot for more than 2 months.

Heat has a tendency to keep me away from my studio (clay is not behaving nicely during the summer...) but I am working on new projects so the AC is working extra hours...;)

I stumbled upon Jason Simpson's work when I opened an Instagram account few days ago, searching for polymer clay hashtags, then I noticed his bold, unique sculpturing.

Jason says his shop is inhabited by things what comes out of his brain through his fingers and into Sculpey material. He is from Canada and have been sculpting and painting for over 20 years. 

His "customs" (what he calls his ooak creations) are made of polymer clay, acrylic paints, pens, pencils, sculpted, carved and painted. His artwork is remarkable. 

https://www.etsy.com/shop/MongrelLabs

2D polymer clay portraits

Philippines based Mavi crafts are a couple working together creating 2D cartooned style polymer clay portraits, name tags, bag charms and other cute personalized designs. 

Their recent project is magnets for Edgar & Mila's 50th wedding anniversary. So cute!

https://www.facebook.com/mai9380v

Ewa's zoo - polymer clay cow

Sculpturing small animals is pure fun to both children and adults. I remember the day I took a local book teaching adorable animals from Plasticine and tried my skills in creating some. How was I? It was ok, not more :) Even my son did better than me.

Ewa from Poland, on the other hand, is doing a wonderful job in bringing to life scenes from the animals view. Monkey on a tree, cow sitting next to her cow friend, all with her sweet talent and clay balls in all kind of shapes and sizes. How could you not like it? Check out her free videos on YouTube and Facebook -

http://www.youtube.com/user/LetsClayWithEwa?feature=watch

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lets-clay-with-Ewa/525503667502530?fref=ts

white-gold polymer clay feathers

Last link is a simple and easy project I found online. Feathers are very much in fashion lately! If you're looking for a 10 minutes project for earrings, pendant or just a nice charm hanging on a gift, grab some white polymer clay, gold leafing pen/acrylic paints and get busy. Kelli makes it all look so easy!

http://www.100layercake.com/blog/2013/06/07/diy-clay-feathers-by-kelli-murray/

You are welcome to follow me on Instagram, search for "irismishly" and I'd be happy to see you there! I am posting photos from my daily work along with some personal stuff.

B.t.w - This photo is my illustration made by a friend. The great thing is that I got the skin of a 15 yrs old again! no wrinkles or sun spots! ;)

Have a great weekend!

Short summary to a wonderful trip - Switzerland-Liechtenstein Classes, June 2013

Teaching in general (and teaching a group of polymer clay ladies and man in Switzerland in particular) is such a rewarding experience.

When teaching a class, I feel as much of a participant in the learning process as I am responsible for presenting the content effectively. A wonderful feeling.

For me, it is important to make sure the students have a good understanding of the material and technique, supplying them with both a toolkit of ideas and class projects, and also, I want my students to become thinkers, active and use the technique and idea to go to the next "what if" step, researching the possibilities beyond.

My Switzerland teaching trip was another proof that learning is mutual, fun and endless, no matter which language you speak.
It was wonderful.

On a nice sunny day, a group of dozens students gathered in the beautiful Liechtenstein, with landscape taken from fairy tales, both Melanie Muir and myself along with Sabine Backer as the ideal organizer, translator and host, spent wonderful 3 days of rock cuffs, skyscraper, INKredible and of course, perfect venue, clean fresh air and healthy appetite!

Look at those clean plates! :)

 

A visit in Zurich

Liechtenstein's view from the class

With 2 groups, each teacher was teaching two 1.5 days of classes.
I was giving my "INKredible polymer" class as a full day and the Skyscraper technique as a half day.

Students were each taking their own path in creating a design, one chose a round shape, other pointed, third created multi-beads creation - thinkers!

Working!

Some of the final pieces

There was one man in my class (only one! How come there are so few men in polymer clay?), Jean Nordmann, a very special person with a very special life mission. I will post about him and his precious humanitarian work in my next posts. Surrounded with lots of helpers he did a great job as well.

And how can we miss a Swiss tradition?

Sabine's sweetest daughter surprised us with a superb chocolate fondu!
The perfect end to a wonderful trip.

I wish to thank Sabine and to all my new and old friends for this wonderful opportunity to see the world, meet new friends I would have never met if it wasn't for polymer clay.
I cherish these moments and think of how small the world is and how happy I am that polymer clay brings us all closer together.

You are welcome to see more pictures from this event on my Facebook,

My next stop is Czech Republic at the end of August.
Only 4 last spots left! Grab your spot if you are close by -
Press here for all the details.
Till next time - Tschüss!!
:) 

Polymeri Online 15.6.13 | Spanish guitar, Miss Piggy and friends, Smiley polymer clay gnomes, Italian Harry Potter and Altoid-Mania!

Back from my Switzerland-Leichtenstein trip and it was wonderful and un-forgettable. It was my first time in Switzerland and will definitely not my last.
Perfect Tick-Tick Swiss clock organization by Sabine Backer, wonderful people, great food, clean fresh Swiss air, beautiful landscape and I can only wait for my next visit there. Such a peaceful and wonderful country. More photos and stories will be posted soon or if you cannot wait, you can see them on my FB page.


But first things first - Polymer clay inspiration from around the world -

Spanish MomentOComplementO is a multi-technique polymer clay artist - from Millefiori to stamping, beading, jewelry making, leather stringing, miniature food and the list goes on.
Her recent creations is a guitar collection made of polymer clay. This is a personal project of hers and it is a humble tribute to each and every one who loves music.
Not sure what they will become but I can see cool brooches in this electrifying shape!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/momentocomplementos/9005673644/
https://www.facebook.com/momentocomplemento
http://www.momentocomplemento.com/

And another tribute, this time to "The Muppets Show" by Sandra Zurita. I couldn't find more details about Sandra but my nostalgic love to the Muppets and especially to Miss Piggy & Kermit the frog brought such a big smile on my face, I had to share these super cute polymer clay beads.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=367934356652833&set=a.367933696652899.1073741826.100003088160381&type=1&relevant_count=1

Tina from The Spotted Tree creates US handmade figurines in the classic style of vintage folk art: Clowns, gnomes, smiley Easter eggs, all with her special signature design and characteristics. Her pieces first come to life with a paper sketch or a layout, then hand sculpted (by her) out of polymer clay. Next they are oven baked, painted, sealed and signed.
https://www.etsy.com/shop/TheSpottedTree

Nicolò (Finally a man!) is Italian, from Padova, a 22-year-old student who studies Economics and Management in Venice.
Like many of us when he was a child he used to play with polymer clay, and in 2011 he took his passion one step forward and began to create and sell his creations - miniatures of manga characters, cartoon characters and many more. Harry Potter, Freddy Mercury and the the monster from the Alien movie are only few of his wonderful miniatures.
https://www.etsy.com/shop/QuareNick

Ruth Karp, one of my dear students, send me a picture of her beautiful Altoid tin boxes. Her expertise is obvious, when creating so many one can do it with her eyes closed :)
I covered a tin box only once, probably need to do that again, they look like fun!
Ruth doesn't have a website at the moment but in addition to her tin boxes creations she also cover and create masks, lotion bottles, boxes & frames.
If your fingers are tickling, here is a good resource for various tin boxes shapes -
https://www.etsy.com/shop/florestanissupplies/search?search_query=tin&order=date_desc&view_type=list&ref=shop_search

Have a great day! See you soon :)

Final samples for my Liechtenstein trip | When INKredible meets Cosmic Ceramic

That's it, I am almost packed for my 6 days trip to Liechtenstein, hosted by Sabine Backer and joining with Melanie Muir.
Eager students are waiting to find out more about marvelous polymer clay techniques, tips and tricks, I am sure we will have a wonderful time, weather is on our side as well!

I've played with more samples for my classes - Skyscraper and INKredible, combining them with new designs. In these necklaces I took the Olympic Rings design from the Cosmic Ceramic tutorial and created an INKredible sample (too confusing, ha?)

It's always fun to go back to a technique you already master and play with it's variations.
This necklace design is so simple yet so impressive when worn.

INKredible Tutorial Samples

And a set matching earrings.

This necklace is a variation on the Garden Walkway only using metal findings. When using these findings the final result is very elegant.

 

Now I should be getting back to my suitcases, I hope this week finds you in good mood, will be back for updates and photos from the workshop next week.