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Lifelong Learning: "Back to School" Isn't Just for Kids
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September is the traditional "back to school" month, so this issue of Polymergence focuses on the many ways we can learn our craft and refine our techniques. Last month we looked at events--workshops, retreats, conferences, which are among the most popular means of expanding our artistic horizons. This month, we'll look at other learning opportunities:
- The opening of the Racine Art Museum's permanent collection of polymer art
- Idea-sharing with other guilds across the country or across the world
- Members-only learning resources on the IPCA website
We also have information for our readers who want to share their knowledge and experience with others. This includes:
- An exciting announcement regarding a search for the "Staedtler Design Team"
- Free clay and tools for guilds who want to sponsor a once-a-year polymer event for kids
We're also pleased to share with our readers a thought-provoking article by acclaimed author and artist Sue Heaser. She shares what it was like to learn polymer techniques before the Internet and today's wealth of books, magazines, and workshops. She encourages us to experiment and stretch ourselves beyond what we learn from others.
Finally, I'd like to relay to you an anecdote about a class that Penni Jo Couch once took. She recalls, "All of us were bent over tiny stems cutting bunches of itty-bitty flowers to press onto a ball on the end of the stem one at a time to make hydrangeas." Her neighbor turned to her and said, "I hate making flowers!" Penni Jo, being curious, politely asked why she had taken the class. To which her neighbor replied, "I didn't know I hated it until I took the workshop!"
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Learning by Interguild Sharing
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by Kathi Briefer-Gose
When I was elected as US Guild Liaison, my main short-term goal was to facilitate more interaction among the guilds in the United States. I would dearly love to get some interguild swaps going, sharing information, and getting to know other clayers.
Along with International Guild Liaison, Frances Bauer, I'd like to institute a program similar to the "Sister Cities" programs that many towns participate in across national borders. "Sister Guilds" would be a wonderful way for guilds inside and outside the U.S. to share techniques and ideas around the world. Sister Guilds might organize swaps and challenges with each other. The opportunities are endless!
Now that I've shared a few of the ideas Frances and I have discussed, we need to hear your ideas for increasing interaction among guilds within the growing international polymer community. We can be such a great educational resource to each other!
Please send your suggestions to me at this e-mail address: kathi@dragonsglass.com
Let's learn together and keep our community growing!
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Members-Only Resources
For Teachers and Those Who Want to Learn
The IPCA events calendar is an under-used resource for IPCA members only! Please post your events and check the calendar often for upcoming events in your area. Next month's Polymergence will include a tutorial on how to post your events to the website.
Free Tutorials for IPCA Members Only
Be sure to watch the Members Only area of the IPCA website for new free polymer tutorials. We have some exciting artists who have agreed to post original project tutorials in the near future. And if you'd like to share a tutorial with all of our members, please e-mail Suzanne Ivester, Polymergence editor, at sivester @bellsouth.net or Alaina Ackley, Web Content Editor, at arosea@att.net.
Coming Soon: How to Build a Website
Watch the Members Only area for an article by Charlene "Cat" Therien on how to build a website.
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STAEDTLER Design Team:
A Special Call for Entry
STAEDTLER-Mars Limited is looking for a team of five designers to inspire and create unique projects using STAEDTLER products for the Canada and US markets. This call is for a one-year term beginning in November 2011.
Team members will receive STAEDTLER products and compensation for published projects. We are looking for designers with creative expertise in the categories of FIMO clay as well as traditional art products like watercolor/colored/sketching pencils, markers, chalks and oil pastels. Projects can range from mixed media, jewelry, scrapbooking and home decor items. Each team member should have a blog and be familiar and active with other social media websites.
This call is open only to residents of the U.S. and Canada. For requirements, application details and contact information, visit the IPCA website.
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Online Resources
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Calls for Entry
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Volume 4, Issue 9
September 2011
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Progress & Possibilities 2011 Is Now Open for Entries at CaFÉ:CallForEntry™!
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Progress and Possibilities is here again! For the second time since the NPCG became the International Polymer Clay Association, clayers from all over the world are invited to join this celebration of art and beauty in the fastest-evolving artistic medium in history.
So how does it work? Easy! IPCA members submit pictures of their work in digital form to CaFE:CallForEntry. You must be a current IPC
 | | 2010 Member's Choice Winner, Julie Sweeeney, Trouble in the Henhouse |
A member to enter. The work will be judged by a group of highly skilled and experienced artists appointed by the P&P Committee. All you have to do is choose up to three pieces you've made during 2011--the ones you are proudest of. Then prepare the best digital images you can for submission. You can show views from two directions (or a complete view and a detail) for each piece. There is a fee of $30 for between 1 and 3 entries, and this will go towards funding the competition and supporting the IPCA. There are three categories--Art Jewelry, Functional Objects and Sculptural Objects; with three levels of expertise--Beginners, Intermediate, and Professional. You must choose the same level for every entry. The Committee reserves the right to change the level selected by the entrant.
The only limitations are that the pieces must be new (made in 2011); they must be made from at least 75% visible polymer clay; and they must not have been entered into previous competitions or published in print materials, online media or websites and blogs, unless the latter two are the artist's own.
The competition will close on the 15th November, and all entries will appear in the Members Only section of the IPCA website shortly after for members to vote for their choices in each category at each level. Winners of the juried competition, including Best in Show, and the Members Choice will be announced early in January 2012.
We are all eager to be wowed by your creativity so please, don't hold back, send in your finest work for us to admire!
2011 Progress & Possibilities Committee:
Alison Gallant, Chair
Suzanne Ivester, CaFE liaison
Alaina Ackley
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Learning by Experimentation:
Has the Pioneering Spirit Died? | |
by Sue Heaser
 | | Sue Heaser |
Once upon a time, in the dim dark ages of polymer clay, a young woman with two small children went into a toy shop and spotted something exciting on the shelf. It was a pack of multi-coloured modelling clay called Fimo, which could be baked hard in a home oven. She blinked hard and thought "I can make stuff with that!" She bought it and went home to play.
It was fun to work with and she made little animals brooches and dolls for her children. Then she noticed that when she squashed up a penguin and cut into the clay, all the colours were still there separately and she saw a butterfly in the slice. Like seaside rock (aka holiday candy). So she made a more careful butterfly and was soon selling her jewellery.
Well, that was me in 1981. But it was a lot of other people too. We found the material pretending to be a child's toy, saw the potential, and pounced.
It was a voyage of discovery. There were no books, no articles, no internet, no teachers and no classes. We made a lot of mistakes and had to find out the hard way. But best of all, there were no rules. So... how do I get an effect that looks more like natural stone? Let's try mixing stuff into the clay to get texture. Sugar did not work and salt went slimy but cornmeal, tea bag dust and coloured sand in translucent clay were fantastic! And nothing actually blew up...
How can I make interesting layers to look like seams of gold in rock? I tried gold powder (it disappeared), string (tangly) and then acry lic paint - Eureka! How to get a more crumbly and random effect? Chopping was tedious... got it: the cheese grater.
Ideas boiled in my head - the material was empowering, I could simulate all sorts of materials that I lacked the expertise or equipment to work in - metal, stone, ceramics, wood - and then the sheer delight of the colours. I could apply my knowledge of colour mixing to this solid paint.
And while I was experimenting away in England, others all over the world were doing the same. The internet was getting into action in 1995 and a wonderful group of people in Seattle organised a Polymer Clay Convergence at Ravensdale. I was invited to teach (my first book was imminently coming out) and there at last, I met others who had been doing the same as me. It was a magical time - a wonderful explosion of like-minded people sharing all they knew - many of us had worked for years in isolation. The number of similar discoveries was as fascinating as the variety - a wonderful case of a material driving the artist.
So What of Today?
We have books galore, an internet crammed with information, guilds and societies, workshops and teachers. But I am becoming increasingly troubled that we have a stifling of the pioneering spirit in many of those who are relatively new to polymer clay. Ours is one of the easiest craft materials to begin with but new users seem to be intimidated by the body of work and the number of established "experts" in the field. Where has the rule come from that says you should take a class before you open a packet? Students today often ask me if it is okay to do a particular thing - they seem to feel permission is needed to experiment, or that it is too risky. Why?
A class is great - it can jump start you, show you a new technique, and help you to avoid mistakes because the teacher has tried it out. But nothing can replace the free experimenting that is vital for your own creative development and for injecting new ideas into the polymer clay world. People new to polymer clay today are its future - they are the ones with a fresh eye and a new, individual approach. Don't teach them to think they have to be taught.
By the way: I made production jewellery for 10 years before I heard about a pasta machine - the material does not always drive the artist!
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Sue Heaser first worked as an archaeological illustrator before turning to a career as a craft writer, designer and teacher, specialising in polymer clay, metal clay, jewellery and sculpture. She is now working on her 13th book and has taught workshops all over the world.
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Symposium to Kick Off Polymer Exhibition:
Polymer: The Journey to New Terrain
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The Racine Art Museum (RAM), in Racine, Wisconsin, will open the long-anticipated polymer exhibition, TERRA NOVA: Polymer Art at the Crossroads, on October 21. RAM has planned a very special weekend to celebrate the exhibition and the accompanying 140-page book published by the museum.
The debut of the exhibition of the finest polymer art will be kicked off with a symposium entitled "Polymer: The Journey to New Terrain," to be held Friday, October 21 through Sunday, October 23 at The Johnson Foundation at Wingspread, a 14,000 square-foot home designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in the 1930s. The Wing spread campus provides a beautiful setting conducive to stimulating discussion and reflection.
The symposium will consist of sessions on the polymer field so far, the arrival of polymer in museums, and the future of polymer. Numerous polymer artists and leaders will be on panels providing in-depth discussions on the medium and the Polymer Collection Project. Session topics include "The Journey So Far: The Arrival of Polymer in Museums," "Collaborations and the Next Leg of the Journey," and "What Is Our Next Act: Where Does the Polymer Field Go from Here?"
Registration is now available to attend the exhibition preview reception at RAM and the Saturday morning and afternoon sessions at Wingspread with snacks and a buffet lunch, for a fee of $115.
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New Kids' Program from Polyform
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 | Young clayer: Alaina Ackley's son and Beth Ackley's grandson, Gabe
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Sharing is a gift that keeps giving . . .
Polyform has announced they would like to partner with your guild to share polymer clay with kids in your area. They'll supply the clay and tools for the kids if you are willing to supply the teaching talent and the location for a once-a-year event.
As many of you have experienced, sharing your talent is a reward unto itself. Over the years we've heard so many positive reports on guild family and kids' events. Syndee Holt of the San Diego Polymer Clay Guild observed, at the San Diego County Fair, "There are 1200 kids per day through this exhibit along with their teachers and parent chaperones. This is the place where they have to reinforce the tables so that the kids don't collapse them as they lean on them and make their projects."
If your guild would like to take advantage of this great opportunity, please e-mail Iris Weiss iweiss@polyformproducts.com.
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Guild Spotlight:
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The Philippine Polymer Clay Guild
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At the mini-exhibit during the "Yabang Pinoy Goes to DeLaSalle University" Event
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We recently formed the first and only polymer clay guild in the Philippines, formally called The Philippine Polymer Clay Guild, informally known as P3 (Polymer People Philippines). We are composed of a select group of local artists who share the same passion, vision, and principles.
Our guild's goals:
1. Build a community. To create a cooperative and caring community of local polymer clay artists who share the same interest and principles, who help each other develop skills through group discussions and meet-ups.
2. Promote respect. To foster respect among fellow polymer clay artists, and make a stand against photo theft, copying, and disregard for another artist's rights.
3. Educate. To hold continuous discussions and trainings that advance our craftsmanship, so we may produce local talent that can compete in an international level.
4. Produce high-quality work. To elevate polymer clay into a medium of art, and not simply a craft material, by creating exceptional pieces that are of high quality.
5. Uphold local Filipino talent. To promote our craft against the threats of cheap, imported, mass-produced products, by educating people about the difference of our original handmade work from cheap, imported merchandise.
We are only a few months old, but we've done quite a few fun activities! We have done one Meet and Greet, a black-and-white bead swap, and joined a craft fair. We recently did a Trash to Treasure Challenge where we asked members to recycle junk and incorporate these with polymer clay. A gallery of the entries is posted on our Facebook page. Just recently, we displayed the entries in a mini-exhibit held at one of the local universities.
Read More
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Polymer in Print: What's New? | |
New Books
- Diffendaffer, Grant, Polymer Clay Beads: Techniques, Projects, Inspiration, Mar. 1, 2011
- Duncan-Aimone, Katherine, The Art of Jewelry: Polymer Clay, paperback ed., March 1, 2011.
- Editors of Art Jewelry and Bead & Button magazines, Polymer Pizzazz 2, April 1, 2011.
- Hemachandra, Ray, and Rachel Carren. Masters: Polymer Clay, paperback ed., March 1, 2011.
- Picarello, Julie. Patterns in Polymer: Imprint and Accent Bead Techniques, June 7, 2011.
- Stein, Jeannine, Adventures in Bookbinding: Handcrafting Mixed-Media Books, June 1, 2011
Books Coming Soon
Nagumo, Rie. Enlightened Polymer Clay: Artisan Jewelry Designs Inspired by Nature, May 2012
Magazines
Polymer Cafe, October 2011: "Kathy Davis: From Bears to Bells," Trina Williams; "Steampunk Bronze & Polymer Pendant," Kathy Davis; "Pin-Up Ghoul," Kellie Mowat; "Mini Jack-O-Lanterns," Jodi Mowat and Kellie Mowat; "Earth Crystal Pendants," Wendy Orlowski; "Rolled Leaf Beads," Ginny Ford; "Mummy Head Brooch," Lynette Fisk; "Scrappy Stone Bowl," Alene Sirott-Cope; "Cocooned Vampire Halloween
Ornament," Pat Benedict.
The Polymer Arts, Fall 2011, Premier issue.
From Polymer to Art, Fall 2011, Orange issue
Art Jewelry Magazine, September 2011, "A Conversation with Bruce Pepich." As the Racine Art Museum in Racine, WI, gears up for the first serious exhibition of polymer, its executive director speaks about the way museums respond to their communities and vice versa. Free project download: Ronna Sarvas Weltman "Making Waves" Bracelet
Belle Armoire Jewelry,Autumn 2011, Rice Freeman-Zachary, "Designer Collection: Christine Damm," Laurie Prophater, "The Muse Returns"
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Upcoming Events
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Lindly Haunani, Mokume Gane x Five, Damascus, MD, Sept. 17-18 Jill Erickson, Mosaic and Inlay Techniques with Polymer, Racine, WI, Sept. 24 Tory Hughes, Workshops with the Masters Series, Holy Polymer, Batman!, RAM, Racine, WI, Oct. 20-21 Opening: "Terra Nova: Polymer Art at the Crossroads," Racine Art Museum, Racine, WI, Oct. 21 Polymer Clay and Creative Arts Fest, Weston, WI, Oct. 21-25
Lindly Haunani, Exploring the Rainbow, Buford, GA, Nov. 5-6 Mona Kissel, Reversible Polymer Clay Cuff Bracelet, McDonald, PA, Nov. 12-13 Carol Blackburn, Extrusions Galore, London, UK, Nov. 20 |
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