Studio Time: Polymer experiments

I have been monkeying around with polymer and getting my groove back. I'm in the wildly experimental stage. I usually keep my mistakes and ugly pieces, but I'm beginning to edit and toss stuff I don't like. I should probably try harder to keep ugly pieces. But, some of these are still in the ugly enough stage. I would consider them prototypes. Still working through kinks in composition. The big thing I'm missing is professional finish. Cute enough for giving away to friends, but not good enough for selling yet.


Chalk Experiments

Ever since I saw Margit Boehmer's tinted chalk polymer on Polymer Clay Daily, I've been intrigued. I love the beautiful depth and interest you get by including chalks.

This first picture is using chalks on white. It provides a really pretty watercolor-ish type of feel. I want to experiment with this more.

These are custom mixed colors with additional tinting to provide some natural depth. I think I plan to explore this a bit more. I'm really digging the results here.

Free-Form Seed Beading

I'm also a really big fan of Beverly Ash Gilbert's free-form seed beading. I've bought some of her  deep and complex seed bead soups. I'm experimenting with combining them with polymer. I got one toggle done, but I kept breaking the needle on the other one. I'll have to drill some holes to complete this set. I really love the richness of her soups. She includes up to 50 beads of various colors, shapes, and sizes in some of her soups!

Tropical Huts

This year I've seen a a bunch of beach huts as beads. In 2012, I created a small polymer house very similar to the ones below. I can't find it right now, but I've been continuing to experiment in the bright beachy designs. They actually remind me of the simple Dominican Republic wooden houses that were a popular subject of paintings there. I have two gorgeous paintings that have graced my walls (all over the world!) since 2000.

That's it for me for now.