A Wilder Side of Polymer Clay

Dee Wilder must certainly be the class "overachiever" when she takes a workshop! She recently posted some photos of work she made in a week-long workshop taught by Mary Hettmansperger, a multi-media fiber artist, at the John C. Campbell Folk School. Dee's work is just impeccable and beautifully designed. I love how she's combined polymer clay with the waxed linen netting in this piece.

Her faux trilobite pendant makes me want to chuck the one that I've been working on right into the trash. I think she nailed this fabulously! She has a whole series of recursive beads which she learned from Grant Diffendaffer's wonderful book on her Flickr site, as well. She says they're addictive and I can certainly see why.

One of my favorite pieces is this bracelet which she calles a "triple mistake". Dee says, "My first reaction was to toss the beads, but I decided to stain them and give the disaster one more chance. I'm so happy I did. My polymer mistakes nearly always have happy endings."

And since I love a happy ending, this is a good place to stop.

Spilling over with glee . . .

. . . because so many of you had the right answers to the quiz I posted this past Tuesday! And, those of you who didn't have all the right answers only missed one or two. Excellent! Okay, here are the correct answers in order:

1. Leslie Blackford

2. Katherine Dewey

3. Elise Winters

4. Sandra McCaw

5. Cynthia Toops

6. Laurie Mika

7. Sarah Shriver

8. Grant Diffendaffer

9. Lindly Haunani

10. Jeffrey Dever

The name that was drawn as the winner of the Klew bead from all the correct entries was . . .

Donna Stein! And since she forgot to send me her mailing address, she better put on her most comfortable shoes and start walking if she wants to collect her bead!

If you have time to spare this weekend, spend some of it perusing through the websites of these talented artists. There's much to see and appreciate and learn from.

I have one more thing to end the week with. When I decided to start a blog, I knew immediately what I would call it. "Imagine Uncommon Things" is sort of the mantra that runs through my head and helps to keep me inspired. I recently came across a single sentence in Grant Diffendaffer's wonderful new book, Polymer Clay Beads, that I feel strongly compelled to share with everyone I know. It speaks volumes about inspiration, creativity, and the fearlessness to try new things. And, it says much about him as an artist.

From Grant: "Making something you have never imagined will greatly increase your ability to imagine things you have never made, and then go on to make them."

I could write for the next ten years and not come up with anything better than that.