What is this blog about?

I am about to start a project I wanted to do for a long time. The idea is simple – I want to blog about polymer clay artists on Etsy.com. One artist a day.

Why polymer clay? Well, it is the material I love working with. I already have a blog where I show my own polymer clay creations (both finished and in-process), share my tutorials and tips for working with polymer clay, and talk about my business, Eugena's Creations. It is not enough, however. The potential of this material can only be appreciated through works of an entire community of devoted polymer clay artists.

Polymer clay is called “a chameleon material”. I am not sure who coined this phrase first. There is a book called “Polymer: The Chameleon Clay' by Victoria Hughes, but it was published in 2002, and the phrase had probably existed by then. I like this name. To me, calling this material “a chameleon” means not only that it can imitate almost any other medium available to artists, but also that it is capable of adapting to many environments it is brought in. Jewelry, home décor, furniture, outside sculpture – polymer clay is good for all of this and many more tasks. I want to show all these various sides of polymer clay through this blog.

The reasons I want to write about Etsy artists in particular are a little more difficult to explain. I appreciate many kinds of creativity, and know many creative people who do not necessarily attempt to sell their works. However, I have a special respect for people who are both entrepreneurial and like to make things with their own hands. I think in our tough economical times they deserve even more recognition. Of course, Etsy is not the only way to sell your hand-crafted goods; there are many other venues – both on line and in person. Works of many well-recognized polymer clay artists can be found in the most prestigious galleries and boutiques. These works may have been a better illustration of the capabilities of polymer clay as an artistic material. However, I insist on limiting my list of featured artists to only those who sell on Etsy.com for two main reasons: I cherish the community spirit on this web site and want to make my contribution into nourishing it, and I also hope that even such a modest publicity may be helpful for the emerging artists. Being a scientist by education, I have to be exact and say that not all polymer clay artists on Etsy can be called emerging or new. There are many, who are well-known in their field and worked with this medium for a good number of years.

Anyway, before this post becomes too long and boring to read, I want to say that I will try writing about one polymer clay artist from Etsy.com a day and hope it will do some good for the artists, their material of choice, and Etsy itself.