Painting With Clay

One of the polymer clay artists I'd most like to meet is Mary Lamoray of Florida. Her clay paintings are beautiful beyond words and so rich in color and subtle details that they seem as alive as the subjects they're based on. She uses no paint or inks of any kind in her work. Everything you see is 100% clay. She may not readily admit it, but I think she adds a bit of her heart and soul in each one, too. Her newest painting, the dolphin that you see here, was recently posted on her blog and she talks a bit about how she created it in this post.

Mary has spoken publicly about her life as an artist dealing with an advanced form of MS. I've read some of her essays (which I'm now unable to locate online) in the past and they are every bit as profound and moving as her artwork. I feel such a deep sense of admiration for her and her art that I'm struggling to even find the right words.

If you'd like to read more about Mary's fascinating process, she's written about it here.

Perseverance, optimism, grace, and talent - she's the total package.

Semi-sweet

All of last weeks posts about hearts and flowers sent me into sweetness overload. I've found the perfect artist to help me make the transition back to semi-sweetness. Horriblesweet (after a bit of detective work, I think her name is Lydia) is an artist from the Netherlands who specializes in amazing art dolls, like "Naked", shown above, and unusual headgear.

She has a wonderfully soft and beautiful color palette and when it's combined with her edgy-looking sculpts, I can understand where the name Horriblesweet comes from.

This sculpt belongs to a series she's created called "Birdman".

I'm fascinated by the thought of several of her "Heads" lined up on the mantel in my studio. To see more incredible work by Horriblesweet, visit her Flickr site here.

Cuff Love

Just in time for a Valentine's day delivery, a beautiful bracelet bouquet from Israel's Tami Shvat. See more of Tami's work here. Have a wonderful love-filled weekend!

All You Need is Love

Where does inspiration come from? If you're anything like Leslie Blackford, it comes from everything you see and everything you do. Leslie (along with myself and Judy Belcher) had the good fortune to see Cirque du Soleil's The Beatles LOVE show while we were in Las Vegas last year. What a stunning tribute to the greatest band in the history of music and what a treasure trove of inspiration. The costumes and characters are simply incredible! Leslie's "Walrus and Eggman" is the first in what I hope will be a whole series of sculptures inspired by the show.

It's cold here in West Virginia today so I'm going to pretend I'm sitting in an English garden waiting for the sun to come. If you'd like to join me, click here. Coo coo ca choo!

King of Hearts

Intelligent, generous, kind, dedicated, funny, charming and talented are all adjectives I use to describe my friend, Dr. Ron Lehocky. Unless you've been hiding in a cave recently, you've probably read about this Kentucky pediatrician's great passion for raising money to benefit the Louisville Cerebral Palsy KIDS Center. With one heart pin at a time, Ron has raised nearly $80,000 for this deserving organization over the past few years. That's almost 8000 hearts at 10 bucks a pop. He makes each and every one of them himself in his "spare" time and each and every heart is as wonderful and special as he is. The one shown above is a custom sticks and stone heart that he made just for me. It's truly one of my most favorite pieces and it hangs on the wall of my studio with many other hearts I've collected from him over the past few years. I've given a few away as gifts but I just can't bear to part with most of them so my collection (shown here) continues to grow.

You may have read Ron's excellent article "Skinner Blending My Passions" in the February 2009 issue of Polymer Cafe. It provides a wonderful insight into his passion and includes a great tutorial for making a heart of your own.

If you want to read more about Ron and his hearts, see Cynthia's past posts on Polymer Clay Daily here and here.

To purchase one of these wonderful heart pins (which is what I suggest), contact Ron and let him choose something special for you. It will be one of most rewarding $10 purchases you'll ever make.

Heart Attacks

Hearts are everywhere this time of year. Marcia of Mars Design has made two of my favorites. I love this translucent pendant with the heart accents.

And what could be better than a piece of her rainbow peace heart cane?

David Revonav's elegant earrings are perfect for a romantic Valentine's dinner. You know, the kind you enjoyed before kids and life happened to get in the way.

I love this piece from Janet of Chickie Girl Creations . She has such a unique style.

Germany's Susanne Dingendorf created a liquid clay heart as the focal of this beautiful wire-wrapped ring.


It's refreshing to see so many variations on the cookie cutter hearts from long ago. There's definitely no shortage of creativity in the polymer clay community!

Wes' World

If the terms Warrenator, Reducerator, and Kochanator sound like something from another world to you, you may be right. These are all things found in the world of Canada's Wes Warren, polymer clay adventurer, inventor, and cane-maker extraordinaire.

He's made some recent posts on his blog explaining some of the work involved in building extremely precise canes that weigh in at more than 7 pounds. And, believe it or not, bungee cords ARE involved!

A recent YouTube video offers a glimpse into his reduction methods. Prepare to be amazed! For more incredible photos, check out his Flickr site.