4Ps - Paper, Paint, Polymer, Pencil

In 2023, I was invited to create a 90 minute video for the Polymer Art Summit, an international, online event showcasing innovative work with polymer clay. As a mixed media artist, I love combining polymer with traditional art media, especially paper collage, to create work that reaches out to the viewer.

My inspiration was one of Arizona's iconic saguaros in bloom. Here's how the piece developed.

I started by painting a variety of papers--mulberry paper, tissue paper, and heavy mixed media paper--in the colors I needed. Click the arrow to see some of them.

These were collaged onto a 16 x 20" gessoed board. You can see several steps by clicking the arrow.

The arm of the cactus closest to the viewer is made of polymer. The first step was to create a subtly patterned veneer to match the paper elements.

The arm was made in three layers and was baked after each one. Wire was added to the first layer so the large piece could be securely attached to the board.

The clay flower stems and buds were made with a different process, partially blending colors with a pasta machine.

The pattern is quite subtle but a completely solid color looks too artificial. I think it matches the paper quite nicely!

The flowers were made in low relief by combining paper and liquid polymer clay. I drew the petals and the center shapes with gray colored pencils on mulberry paper and cut them out with an X-acto knife.

The arrows you see in the drawings indicate the direction of light hitting each flower. For the collaged part of the piece, light is coming from the upper left and I added corresponding shading to the flower petals. Where the centers are visible, the petals were done in two parts to add to the dimensionality.

White liquid clay was applied to the backs of the petals, they were baked, and excess clay was trimmed off with sharp scissors. I collaged the flowers onto the paper saguaro arm. On the clay arm, they were added to the still unbaked stems with liquid clay.

I added the last details with colored pencil. It adheres nicely to the matte medium used in collaging and to the exposed mulberry paper of the flower centers. To get it to stick to smooth clay of the stems and buds, I coated them with pastel ground before baking. See some of the steps by clicking the arrow.

It was a lot of work, but I enjoyed the process and I love the result!