Cynthia Tinapple, artist, author and a long time leader in the polymer clay community, features a wide range of polymer artists on her Polymer Clay Blog.
Polymer clay is having more than a moment, graduating from being a child’s art material to something that appeals to a wide range of artists creating jewelry, vessels, sculptures and more, and even earning a place in several museums.
The appeal lies in the clay’s unique creative qualities: it’s light weight, moldable, colorful, versatile, and accessible for even the most limited art budgets.
“Polymer clay is color that you mix in your hands,” enthuses artist and author Cynthia Tinapple, who has been a leader in the polymer clay community for more than 20 years and writes the Polymer Clay Daily blog.
“Something about its tactile quality feels powerful. It’s infused with possibility. Mix any color and make anything you want. Add to that its relatively low cost and minimal tool requirements and you have a perfect art material.”
Polymer clay was created in Germany in the 1930s as a child’s art material that was moldable but hardened when baked.
Despite the clay’s versatility, it took decades to overcome its beginnings as a child’s toy and its designation as “plastic” designation. But with a growing number of artists and fans, polymer clay art has grown up.
In the 1960s, Tinapple says, artists began adapting ancient clay and glass bead making techniques – such as millefiori — to create polymer clay beads and artifacts. “This ‘chameleon clay’ could be layered, painted, drilled, sanded, polished, turned, inlaid, and made to look like many other materials.” The art flourished, with new tools, techniques, guilds, new brands and formulas that made the clay safer and less, er, smelly.
“What hooked me on polymer clay was its transformative power,” says Tinapple, whose upcoming book is Starting from Scrap. “Its few barriers to beginners made polymer clay an art form that could be easily shared,” often in therapeutic ways.
The variety of art found in polymer is as varied as the colors you can blend. We chatted with three artists with quite different styles to examine some of the medium’s appeal.
Adriana Allen was looking for a creative outlet when she stumbled on a book about polymer clay. And once she started working with the clay, she was hooked.
A Bold Adventure: Adriana Allen, Texas
Adriana Allen has never shied away from adventure, whether it was moving from her native Bulgaria to Mansfield, Texas, or giving up a journalism career and trying her hand at polymer clay.
Burned out with magazine work, Allen was looking for a creative outlet when she stumbled upon a book about polymer clay. She was intrigued and then enthralled. Creating with clay, she found, was a great stress reliever that became a passion.
“I found happiness and peace of mind in kneading the clay, in mixing colors, in giving life to my ideas,” she says. “It opened my eyes to details of the world around me that I might have never noticed otherwise, filling my existence with new colors and shapes.
“When I started,” she adds, “polymer clay was treated like Play-Doh®. “There were only a handful of techniques, most of them very basic.” She began researching, experimenting, and developing her own techniques, some of which have been published in national magazines.
Distressing clay without actually aging it and transferring images onto clay “became my signature approaches,” and she is constantly refining her transfer technique. She collaborates with graphic designers who create images that run the gamut from colorful, whimsical villages and romantic florals to well-recognized art icons from the masters, such as Van Gogh’s “Starry Night” and Klimt’s “The Kiss.”
Polymer clay, she adds, “is wonderfully permissive. There are no rigid rules; it invites experimentation.
“It has allowed me to stretch its capabilities, rewarding my dedication instead of punishing my intentions. That’s the beauty of this medium: with enough will and persistence, anyone can discover its endless possibilities.”
Whether they are mini florals on earrings or slightly larger on wall hangings, Michelle Butler’s dimensional florals are like tiny sculpted bouquets, made of polymer clay.
Floral Sculptures, Mini Bouquets: Michelle Butler, Colorado.
Michelle Butler’s floral earrings resemble tiny, sculpted bouquets and are so popular that buyers sign up for “product drop alerts” on her Meesh Made website, where they quickly sell out.
Butler, who has been playing with polymer clay since she was a child, is known for dimensional botanical designs, which she calls “wearable floral sculptures,” and her expansive color palettes.
“I have a looser floral style because I like to hand-form most of my petals,” she explains. “As a result, each earring or piece of wall art is a little different, which is part of the handmade magic.”
Butler, who sells only on her website and has a strong Instagram following, makes her polymer pieces in small batches – maybe 60-150 earring sets per drop, depending on her personal schedule, spending “a solid” 75-100 hours of hands-on creating.
After experimenting with other ways to sell, she found the planned monthly drop works best for her. “It concentrates the admin required for a specific drop into one week of the month, simplifies my inventory needs, and makes for a more functional work/life balance.”
While florals and botanicals are her main offerings, colorful hoops are also crowd-pleasers. Larger wall décor pieces are relatively new additions and take about three to six hours each to make, depending on the size and complexity of the designs.
For Butler, the clay’s appeal is almost physical.
“I love the tactile experience of conditioning and sculpting clay, turning a block of clay into something recognizable. It feels like a type of 3D puzzle. I love the challenge of articulating an idea in clay, the actual process of sculpting, and the community that I’ve found as a result.”
She feels her art has really blossomed over the years.
“When I look back at some of my earliest work, I have so much gratitude for how far I’ve come. I’ve also become more comfortable with color palettes and mixing clay colors. Things that I used to spend hours trying to figure out, I do now with confidence and without thinking about much. That’s really gratifying.”
Dr. Ronald, a long-time polymer clay artist, made 100 clay hearts as a fundraiser for a Kentucky pediatric center, but the campaign was so successful, he kept making them.
He’s All Heart: Dr. Ron Lehocky, Kentucky
Dr. Ron Lehocky’s heart is certainly in the right place: with the 56,100 polymer clay heart pins he has made (so far) to raise money for the Kids Center for Pediatric Therapies in Kentucky. His pins, which sell for $10, have earned more than a half million dollars for the center.
Lehocky, 81 and still a practicing pediatrician, has been working with polymer clay since, well, it seems forever, making everything from jewelry to vessels. His studio and closets were bulging with boxes of unused clay and canes, plus finished and unfinished projects. “I loved everything about working with this medium, but my hobby had no specific direction.”
When the Kids Center held a fundraising fashion show in 2005, he made and donated 100 heart pins, which sold out before the show. So he made more. And then more. “It was a way to use up old canes and de-stash my studio while giving back to the community.” Intended as a one-time gesture, making these pins soon became a mission and gave his art purpose.
“I still do necklaces and brooches, but the heart project takes the majority of my time in the ‘clay cave’.”
Lehocky’s project also connected him with talented clay artists around the world who now send him their clay remnants (he refuses to call them scraps because they are so gorgeous), including canes, veneers, unused blocks of clay, and “wonderful blends that I upcycle into hearts.” Many have offered to help make the pins, but Lehocky declines. “I want the hearts to reflect my sense of artistry, and I want to instill my spirit into each one.”
His hearts have three layers: the top veneer with the design, a middle layer of scrap to give the pin a roundness, and a complimentary back layer.
“I do a lot of my own designs and have developed my own techniques, which I teach.” Two techniques are “Ronnie Gane” and the “easy-peasy extruder cane.”
Whether teaching polymer clay classes or making the hearts, “100% goes to the KIDS Center. I do not deduct supply costs or take any tax benefit from the project,” he notes.
“What started as a simple one-time donation has led me on a journey that has changed my life, connected me to people all over the globe, and given my art a direction I never imagined.”
Ironically, he adds, “my studio is still burgeoning with boxes of clay.” (Find more about Dr. Lehocky here and on Instagram.
There are so many exceptional artists now creating stunning polymer clay art. Many have written or been featured in books, and some have work in museums. Here are a few worth checking out:
Silvia Ortiz de la Torre uses bright colors, patterns, texture and shape to create eye-popping accessories; Sarah Shriver creates gorgeous translucent pieces; Dan Cormier has a way with patterns and veneers; Kathleen Dustin, whose work is in museums, makes not just jewelry, but also polymer clay purses; Debbie Jackson draws from African and other ethnic inspirations; Dawn Stubitsch makes mind-blowing cake toppers and jewelry that looks like modern art; Phyllis Cahill combines clay with metal for elegant pieces; Lindly Haunani is called an industry pioneer for her color blends, while her vegetable and sushi pieces look good enough to eat (and be in the Racine Art Museum); and Jon Stuart Anderson makes fantastical polymer creatures.
Roberta G. Wax
contributor
Roberta Wax is an award-winning journalist and imperfect crafter. A former news reporter, her freelance articles and projects have appeared in a variety of newspapers and magazines, from the Los Angeles Times and Emmy magazine to Cloth Paper Scissors, Somerset Studio, Craftideas, Belle Armoire, etc. She has also designed for craft companies. Although she has no art background she was a crafty Girl Scout leader. www.creativeunblock.com
