BOUNTIFUL — Loving one art form doesn’t mean that a girl can’t have fun with another.
After the economy caused pottery sales to slow down considerably, local potter Tara Robertson started creating whimsical animal and flower jewelry with polymer clay. Those birds, bugs and flowers have expanded enough to earn Robertson feature artist status June 5-8 at ArtFire.com, and gives her the chance to explore her flights of fancy.
“Polymer clay comes in these bright, beautiful colors,” she said. “I try to use it to its advantage and make things that are bright and colorful.”
Robertson’s introduction to polymer clay came when she started teaching kids’ classes using the material, and found that it was the perfect thing to take along when the family went on vacation.
“It’s a really good way to keep my hands busy,” she said. “It’s not as if you can take a pottery wheel on vacation with you.”
The speed of polymer clay jewelry also appeals to Robertson, allowing her to see a design come to life much faster than with pottery.
“With the polymer clay you can go from start to finish in about a day, where with pottery it takes about a month,” she said. “It’s kind of instant gratification.”
That immediacy also allows Robertson to fold her work into playtime with her young daughter.
“She’ll just say ‘oh, let’s make birds,’” she said. “She’ll sit down and squish her clay, and I’ll work on my stuff.”
So far, Robertson is planning a future that holds both pottery and polymer clay jewelry. She’s planning on going back to school in the fall for ceramics, and this summer she’ll continue teaching mixed media and polymer clay jewelry classes at her home studio in Bountiful (e-mail trpottery@gmail.com for more info.)
