Cupcake Pendant Speckled by Carolyn Tillie

I have recently returned from Baltimore, where I had been invited to speak at this year’s "Synergy 2" conference, a conference dedicated to artists who work in polymer clay. What’s polymer clay? You might know of it as "Fimo" or "Sculpey", a medium which has the incredible qualities of intense color possibilities, tremendous plasticity, and ease of curing. Because of its association with children’s art, it is a medium that is not always taken with the degree of seriousness it deserves, as I saw well at this conference. I was exposed to the work of dozens of artists, from fantastic to surreal, elegant to playful.

We are fortunate at Artful Home to represent artists who show off the wide range of possibilities in polymer, from the tiniest, most intricate work to large scale pieces. The most common application of the medium is jewelry, because of the ability to create exceptionally tiny details in color and form. Carolyn Tillie’s"Speckled Cupcake Pendant" shows off the artist’s ability to create a perfect miniature object.

Sun and Shade Wall Hung Cabinet
by J.M. Syron & Bonnie Bishoff

Far less common is the use of polymer clay in the furniture by J.M. Syron and Bonnie Bischoff. The "Sun and Shade Wall Hung Cabinet" has veneered doors covered in patternwork created in polymer clay. Pattern is created using a combination millefiore and marquetry techniques, techniques borrowed from glassblowing and furniture making! The pearlescent, opaque and translucent claysare combined with the mastery of a painter.

One of the newest polymer clay artists on our site is Sue Savage, whose use of the material shows yet another approach. In her "Sue Earrings", Savage uses an almost freeform painterly style, showing a looseness and abstraction uncommon to the medium.

As with all newer materials, polymer clay is going to continue to take time for people to appreciate it, as it does not have the same name recognition as porcelain, gold or glass. However, the beauty that artists have shown they can create with it makes it worthy of your consideration. I know it has mine!

Large Blossom Necklace by Deborrah Daher

Because proper care for jewelry depends on the materials used to create it, who better to ask for tips on cleaning and care than jewelry artists? Seven artists share their best advice.

Bimetal
There are many commercial cleaning products for jewelry made exclusively of silver, but what if a piece is made of bimetal (two different types of metal that have been fused and rolled together into a double-sided sheet)?

“Because I use a dark patina on my bimetal pieces, I make sure to tell customers NOT to use silver polish products, because they will remove the patina,” says Deborrah Daher. “The best way to clean a bimetal piece is in room temperature water with a very mild clean-rinsing liquid soap (if needed), and an old, soft toothbrush, followed with a soft cloth to dry the piece. If you put your jewelry on after you apply makeup and hair products, it’s likely you never will need to use more than a soft cloth.”

Christine MacKellar recommends a similar method for preventive care of bimetal, silver, and gold jewelry, but suggests cleaning in sudsy ammonia before rinsing the pieces thoroughly with warm water and drying with a soft cloth. “Ammonia is a degreaser and will remove the build up of oils and acids from human hands that can accelerate the tarnishing process,” she reports.

Pangolin Bracelet
by Samantha Freeman

Sterling Silver
For silver jewelry with a lot of intricate details that are hard to reach with a soft toothbrush, Carla Dillman, former Director of Sourcing for “Line a glass baking dish with a layer of aluminum foil, then coat the bottom with a layer of sea salt, and fill the dish with hot water. This creates a sea salt bath in which you can submerge your silver pieces to remove tarnish. Rinse thoroughly with fresh warm water, and dry with a soft cloth.” She uses this method to clean her Samantha Freeman Pangolin Bracelet, as well as her silverware!

“If your silver piece has a pearl, you can use a commercial silver dip, but you have to apply the dip to the piece with a Q-Tip to keep it away from the pearl, and rinse it really thoroughly before drying,” Christine MacKellar advises. “Make sure no cleaner remains on the jewelry because there is an ingredient in silver dips that actually acts as an oxidizer as well as a cleaner.”

To help prevent silver jewelry from getting tarnished in the first place, she recommends storing it in a closed container such as a jewelry box, a plastic bag, or an anti-tarnish pouch to minimize exposure to air when it’s not being worn.

Ancient Steps
by Lisa Ceccorulli

Oxidized Silver
With most commercial jewelry cleaners designed to remove oxidation, oxidized metal (metal that has been deliberately darkened or colored through contact with oxygen) presents a cleaning dilemma. Fortunately, however, the solution is easy.

“You can just rinse the pieces off with soap and water,” Lisa Ceccorulli says. “If you wear a piece of oxidized jewelry like a bracelet or a cuff all the time, and it gets bumped, it will start to burnish. You can have the piece re-oxidized in those cases, but basically the care of oxidized pieces is easy.” Just be sure to rinse the piece thoroughly with fresh water and dry it with a soft cloth to prevent water spots from forming.

Earth Elements Ring Set I
by Susan Barth

Matte-Finish Gold
A matte finish is often applied to a piece when the jewelry artist wants subtle textures or fine details to be more visible. Highly reflective surfaces, such as those seen in high-polished jewelry, can obscure such details.

Over time, if a matte-finish ring is worn often, a soft sheen starts to develop simply from friction against the fingers or physical contact with things being held or gripped. Susan Barth says there’s a simple technique to bring back a matte finish if that occurs. “A small piece of the green coarse kitchen sponge, ScotchBrite, held between the thumb and forefinger and rubbed over the surface of the metal will soften the sheen and bring back a matte finish. It might have a slightly different appearance then when the piece was first bought, but overall, the look will be very similar.” (Please note: ScotchBrite can be damaging to softer stones, so it is advisable to protect the stones by covering them with cellophane tape prior to buffing.)

Sliding Flower Pendant #1
by Jamie Cassavoy

Intricate Jewelry
For intricate pieces of jewelry, Jamie Cassavoy recommends this cleaning method: “Put some dry baking soda in the palm of your hand and rub the piece gently to remove tarnish.” She has found this method to work well on every type of jewelry she has tried so far, even a piece with pearls. “You just have to make sure to get all the baking soda off when you’re done cleaning,” she adds. To do so, she generally rinses the piece under warm water and dries it with a soft cloth.

Hobnob Bracelet
by LuLu Smith

Resin
“Resin jewelry is very resistant to water, but extended submersion is not recommended,” according to LuLu Smith. It should definitely not be soaked in liquid jewelry cleaners. Instead, Smith recommends cleaning the jewelry using a soft toothbrush with lots of soap, or with a silver polishing cloth, followed by a thorough rinsing and drying. “Also, exposure to extended amounts of strong sunlight isn*’t great for resin jewelry,” reports Smith. “The pigments in the pieces can be affected by light, so they should be kept out of the sun when they’re not on your body.”

Each artist will know best how to care for the particular pieces she or he creates, so when purchasing a piece made from unfamiliar materials or a unique combination of materials, always be sure to ask for cleaning and care instructions.

Constellations Necklace by Estyn Hulbert

My first encounter with working with small beads was as a child in summer camp, and I find that that first encounter (think tiny beads spilling everywhere) can color my desire to even consider looking at works using beads and small stones as the primary medium. Nonetheless, I was absolutely stopped in my tracks when I was introduced to Estyn Hulbert and her breathtaking pieces at the Philadelphia Buyers Market show in February.

While she is an established professional in her field, Hulbert is a new artist with Artful Home. She works with tiny freshwater pearls and turquoise, the size of tiny glass beads but far more precious, steel wire and gold chain, taking the most delicate of elements and fashioning them into dramatic and elegant jewelry.

When building a piece of jewelry from pearls and wire, Estyn Hulbert describes the process as working with single units, adding and subtracting them to create shapes, the materials providing a palette of textures and contrasts. She thinks in terms of the architecture of a piece, striving for structural integrity and a seamlessness between the material and the form.

I was fortunate enough to see her pieces again at our recent photo shoot for the Fall Artful Home catalogs. The on-model photo above gives you a sense of the scale and refined drama of both the Constellation Necklace.

Constellations Necklace by Estyn Hulbert