Colorful Art Jewelry Magazine…

I just received the  newest issue  of Art Jewelry Magazine  (January 2010)  in the mail today and there are several items of interest to the polymer enthusiast…

A Conversation with Kathleen Dustin

• Go Big with Lightweight Polymer Clay by Seth Savarick
• Announcement of two upcoming Polymer events this February= Synergy2: Exploring Connections and 3rd Annual Cabin Fever Clay Fest Conference

…And a very nice mention of  our book Polymer Clay Color Inspirations. Hope you are having a colorful, peaceful holiday weekend.

Colorful Sneak Peek…

Here is a sneak peek = kalediescoped image – via KrazyDad’s online kaleidoscope tool of the collaborative piece that Leslie Blackford and myself have made for the upcoming Synergy2 exhibit (both online and in Baltimore this February). It was certainly a lot of fun to make.

The excitement about this exhibit is building- you can participate in an online contest to identify the artists who participated in Laurie Mikas collaborative “quilt” here.

Colorful Company…

In 1994 I taught a polymer clay workshop at The Florida Craftsmen’s Guild’s annual conference  in Jacksonville, Florida  and I have fond memories (and several somewhat outrageous stories)  of several aspects of that weekend conference (perhaps more later?)… one thing that really stands out in my mind is that the opening ceremonies were held in the Jacksonvile Museum of Art.  In addition to the Guild’s annual juried show being on display, there were plexiglass pedestals of the instructor’s work on display throughout the museum- and as I chatted with Paul Soldner-  I couldn’t help but notice that my pieces were on display in front of a Rauschenberg painting! I remember pinching myself and thinking  “Pay attention, this may the closest you will  ever get to being in a museum collection as a living artist.”    

Fortunately history (and Elise Winters Polymer Collection Project) has proven me wrong. Today I am delighted/thrilled/honored to say that I am one of ten artists/eleven pieces (Bright Petal Lei)  that have been added to The Museum of Fine Arts Boston’s  permanent collection.  Congratulations are in order to Rachel Carren, Jeffrey Lloyd Dever, Kathleen Dustin,  Victoria Hughes, Nan Roche, Sarah Shriver, Cynthia Toops, Pier Voulkos, Elise Winters (and myself). 

To find out more about how YOU can support the Polymer Collection Project please visit Polymer Art Archive.

Polymer Collection at Racine…

Today brings exciting news from Elise Winters about the Polymer Collection Project..after years of holding true to a vision, relentless attention to detail, assembling a team of volunteers  and lots of hard work-

“As of last week, the Board of Trustees at the Racine Art Museum in Racine, Wisconsin confirmed the museum’s commitment to establish a permanent collection of polymer jewelry, beads and sculptural objects.  As part of this commitment, RAM will not only focus on assembling a world-class collection of exhibition quality works, but they will also preserve study pieces for future research.  A small library will also be established to protect slide, print and catalogs for academic research.”

To  find out how YOU can support this very exciting Project, visit the Polymer Art Archive.

I am thrilled that several of my pieces will be part of the permanent and study collections at the Racine Art Museum.

One of  the selections for the collection is my Sushi Platter – you can read more about it here.

 
 

Colorful Collections…

Do you collect things? Many of us do… for example: for years I collected ceramic food inspired salt and pepper shakers (perhaps I shouldn’t put this in the past tense?). I have no illusion of ever becoming an Ebay “power seller” of collectable salt and pepper shakers   – and sometimes stand in amazement as I visit my collection which includes over  forty sets of corn on the cob salt and pepper shakers… and laugh about the dinner guest who requested salt and pepper- only to be surprised when I handed them an antique salt cellar and a battered Dansk pepper grinder (received as a going off to college gift)- ” yup! the all of the shakers on the shelf are empty” .

I first began collecting polymer in 1989 and over the ensuing years enjoyed watching my collection grow… and with growing excitement – I am watching part of my collection “grow/go” to here-to-fore unimagined venues… (hint NOT ebay or a garage sale in the sky) . You can read more about the Polymer Collection Project here.

Color Inspirations- Upcoming Lecture …

Happy Spring to all! If you live in the Washington DC area, you may be interested in attending my presentation for the Northern Virginia Bead Society – Polymer Clay Color Inspirations at the Vienna Community Center on Thursday April 2nd. More details and directions may be found here.

Colorful Collection…

Last night…deep into the night of intermittent sleeping- I chanced upon a late night info-commercial for a “miracle” face moisturizer. What caught my attention was not the product, rather the actress promoting the product. As I pondered  as to just exactly when she turned completely gray, added bifocal glasses and the focus of the camera had changed… = time passes.

Then, in not a sleep inducing moment, I realized that I had been collecting polymer clay art work for twenty years. More about  that later.

However, I am delighted to say that several of the pieces in Donna Kato’s new book- are indeed part of my collection. If you would like to order an autographed copy of The Art of Polymer Clay: Millefiori Techniques please visit here =  for a very nice addition to any comprehensive library of  polymer clay books.

Wishing YOU a Colorful New Year…

I would like to wish each and everyone of you a happy, generous, healthy, happy and colorful new year.

Looking forward, as usual,  I anticipate seeing many new incredible developments in the world of polymer clay = new artists, new techniques, refinements of “old” techniques and an increasing abundance of resources being available to all of us  via the web. It is with great enthusiasm that I look forward to seeing the new work being done by the artists in our community and revisitng, the albeit short, but colorful history of our medium.

 Looking back, I am continued to be amazed as things have evolved. For example: The first three POLYinforMER’s  (National Polymer Clay Guild newsletter)  that I put together were four pages each. Cut and pasted from Dover clip art, an electric typewriter, more  white out than I ever could have imagined …using  rubber cement, they certainly weren’t high tech! Now the National Polymer Clay Guild has an incredible web site, there are dozens of polymer-centric blogs and thousands of artists’ web sites that include galleries, tutorials, resource links and directly attest to the ongoing fascination that we all share for this incredible medium.

Stroll Down Memory Lane…

Now that the delivery is complete, I can sigh with relief….and delight in the fantastic “stroll through polymer clay history”, Elise and I took as we unpacked Nan Roche’s polymer clay collection in anticipation of photo documentation and cataloguing. Stay tuned for more information on the exciting project that Elise is working on now…

I must admit I was laughing as Nan And I made the transfer from her van to my trunk last week in Maryland. In order to fit the four large boxes jammed packed with Nan’s polymer clay collection, I had to remove eight pasta machines and a full sized convection oven. I also had to restrain myself from looking into the boxes prior to their delivery in NJ, even though I have had the opportunity to view Nan’s vast collection of polymer clay work in the past. Nan’s collection is vast and diverse, spanning over twenty years of collecting and includes seminal works from many of the polymer clay artistic pioneers= Kathleen Dustin,Cynthia Toops, Pier Voulkos, Victorie Hughes, Kathleen Amt, Steven Ford and David Forlano.

Which leads me to wonder, their certainly have been many collectors of polymer clay art over the years… who has the largest collection? the most diverse? the most specialized collection? = perhaps just one artist, just beads, just dolls, just wall hangings? Do you collect polymer clay art?