Riding the polymer clay color wave

Recently, my husband and I drove up to Brockton, Massachusetts for the opening reception of the polymer clay exhibit “Sculpting Color” curated by Kathleen Dustin at the Fuller Craft Museum.  Here are a few of my impressions along with links to other blogs with much better pictures than I’ve got.  Polymer Clay Daily has a nice write up of the exhibit.

Suffice it to say, the exhibit is well worth a visit.  The museum is a gem in and of itself.  (It’s bigger than I expected) The exhibit is wonderful, and more varied than it first appears when you glance down the relatively small gallery space it occupies.  With sculptural pieces, furniture with polymer clay veneers, jewelry, teapots, wall art and more, the exhibit really showcases the versatility of the medium.

Jeff Dever’s “Edensong Reverie” is an amazing piece.  I couldn’t get a good picture of it, but click the link for a very cool video of the installation.

Along with the opening reception, the museum hosted a panel discussion with several of the contributing artists.  There’s an excellent article about the discussion on Polymer Art Archive.  Listening to the artists, I was especially struck with the impressive progress Elise Winters has made in getting important polymer pieces placed at museums around the country.

It was a lovely afternoon.  In addition to the exhibit and panel discussion, I really enjoyed catching up with friends.  It was fun to introduce my husband to several friends he’s heard about over the years, but never had an opportunity to meet. And it’s always fun to spend time immersing myself in the colorful possibilities of polymer clay.

In the same vein, Lindly Haunani and Maggie Maggio’s new book Polymer Clay Color Inspirations just arrived on my doorstop.

I’ve been anxiously awaiting this book and it didn’t disappoint.  It’s a wonderful book.  The gallery sections, called “Artist Spotlights” are wonderful and showcase stunning polymer work you’ve haven’t necessarily seen in all the other books.  But it’s the real content of the book, the color approaches, the exercises and the projects that are the true value of the book.

I have taken classes from both Lindly and Maggie and I find the book feels like the perfect workbook.  I am really looking forward to playing around with it.

Tagged as: craft books, exhibits, polymer clay