As we all know, the polymer clay community is a tight group which was evident at the 2009 ACRE (American Craft Retailers Expo). The three artists selected for last summers show were indeed lucky to have many talented and supportive polymer artists available to them as mentors and friends. Lauren Abrams, Pat Bolgar and Barb Fajardo were guided by Sandra McCaw, Meisha Barbee and Judy Belcher and with their support we took our first wholesale orders!

Left to right: Sandra McCaw (2009 mentor), Barb Fajardo, Judy Belcher (past IPCA president), Judy Dunn (2008 mentor), Joyce Fritz (2009 juror), Muriel Areno (rep for Lauren Abrams) and Pat Bolgar

Again this year, the IPCA is proud to announce the continuation of the program which will host a 10' x 15' booth for three selected IPCA member artists to share at the 2010 show which will return to the Las Vegas Convention Center, June 5^th - 7^th.

This is an amazing opportunity for Canadian and American artists to enter the wholesale marketplace while helping to promote the media of polymer clay.

Applications are now being accepted on-line, through November 15, via CaFÉ Call for Entry . The jurying fee for this opportunity is $35.00. Criteria for judging will include originality, artisanship, and how well the individual pieces represent a unified signature style.

With your application, you'll be asked to submit five photos representative of your work. So now is the time to consider which of your works is best suited for the wholesale market and begin taking photographs. Remember, these photos are the only opportunity the jurors will have to view your selected pieces, so they should be the best quality possible! In the meantime, you can begin to select a group of five photos, representative of your work that you would sell to the wholesale market, to submit with your application.

"Look at your body of work and really key in on a coherent statement" Lindly Haunani.

"Just remember...look at this as a learning experience." Meisha Barbee

On-line resources:

The Arts Business Institute - watch the video!

Artrepreneur - Judy Dunn