I absolutely LOVE mixing different materials in my polymer clay designs, and am so delighted that our theme this year is ‘Polymer Plus!’
Recently, I took a journey through my photo library and found over 100 pictures of my work that included mixed media since 2005!
My nephew gave me a book for Christmas back then called, Jean Dunand – His Life and Works. One of his lacquered panels was designed with inlaid broken eggshells, and I loved the loved the way it looked! Why not try it on polymer clay? I loved working with them so much that I included an Eggshell Mosaic Brooch and matching earrings in my book, Polymer Clay Jewelry. I still work with eggshells to this day.
Here’s a sample of some of the pieces from the time when I started to use use eggshells in my work. Other materials I used in these samples are cowrie shells, seed beads, ostrich shell disks, raffia, feathers, seeds, and African indigo fabric.
I’ll be showing more samples of my mixed media works throughout this month.
I took a journey through my extensive library of polymer clay books with Mixed Media on my mind. There were several that stood out that covered this topic written by authors in our community that I’d like to share with you.
Note: some of these links go to our Amazon store, from which we earn a small commission. Starred items indicate a Kindle version of the book.
Polymer Clay Mixed Media Jewelry by Shirley Rufener
Shirley incorporates metal clay, pastel chalks, transfers, embossing powders, metallic leaf, crystals, seed beads and more into her designs. There’s a gallery at the end featuring a beautiful collection of mixed media works featuring commonly known artists.
*Ancient Modern – Polymer Clay & Wire Jewelry by Ronna Sarvas-Weltman
Ronna masterfully incorporates wire into her designs achieving an aesthetic counterplay within each piece. The entire 135-page book consists solely of her incredible primitive, imaginative and whimsy creations which I truly admire.
Polymer Clay – Exploring New Techniques & New Materials by Georgia Sergeant, Livia McRee, and Celie Fago
This delightful book includes an intriguing Storyteller Doll with a hidden matchbox compartment that reveals an accordion-folded book! This duo-team includes other materials in their pieces such as beads, charms, coiled wire, aluminum tooling foil, art papers, and PMC. The back of this book features a well-known group of contributing artists.
Polymer Journeys – The Art & Craft of Polymer 2016 by Sage Bray
This is an entire book featuring works by outstanding artists in our community, many including mixed media in a variety of their designs. It’s nothing but eye candy from cover to cover and highly recommended to add to your library!
Perfectly Paired – Designing Jewelry with Polymer & Metal Clays by Patricia Kimle
Patricia had been working with polymer clay for a few decades before discovering metal clay and decided to add it to her repertoire. Throughout her entire book, she creatively combines metal clay with polymer step-by-step, resulting in appealing designs.
*Wire in Design – Modern Wire Art & Mixed Media by Barbara A. McGuire
I’m so glad that I pulled this book off of my shelf to revisit. Having known Barbara for many years, I’d been familiar with her lovely paints and polymer work, but never realized that she knew so much about working with wire! After perusing through it, I immediately picked up the phone and gave her a congratulatory call with a huge applause! Barbara put so much research and work into this book that I was totally blown away by the mass amount of content that she shared! If you have a desire to improve your skills and enhance your designs using wire, check out this incredible book!
*Mixed Media Mosaics by Laurie Mika
Laurie found her way to creating mixed media mosaics by starting with a simple button. Her creative evolution moves throughout her book making artworks with mosaic tiles using polymer clay and other materials. Laurie loves the ability to literally push the clay to the limit as she plays with pushing paper, fabric and metal into it. She also mixes commercial glass tiles with her polymer tiles to add interest to her designs along with tassels, charms, metal keys, milagro parts, jewelry pieces, watches, doll parts and more. Her gallery at the end of the book is filled with her colorful creations.
This collection of books is just a small sample of my library. What books do you have that inspire you with mixed media? Let us know in the comments.
Warmly,
Debbie
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