Today we’d like to introduce you to Ann Duncan-Hlavach.
Ann, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I was working for Natural Wonders in the 90s and had to demonstrate a Klutz book about Sculpey polymer clay. After demonstration day the clay was open and couldn’t be sold, so I brought it home and kept playing with it… and playing with it… and playing with it. I was making a lot of little people with crazy colorful clothes. Around 2000 my cousin saw some flowers I had made and asked me to make her wedding bouquets. Since then, I have had a steady stream of requests for flowers. Now, after years of claying, making crazy cool polymer flowers is my full-time thing.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Polymer is a fairly new medium in the art world. It is not widely taught in schools yet. Back in the 90s the internet was not that huge yet. So, I worked basically in a vacuum with a medium that I really knew nothing about, thinking I was essentially alone in my obsession with the colorful clay. Through Yahoo, I found the incredible Chicago Area Polymer Clay Guild (http://www.capcg.org/). And through them I found the International Polymer Clay Association (http://www.theipca.org). My eyes were opened to huge world of artists that also love and obsess over this crazy clay. The possibilities were endless. I attended the very first polymer art exhibit in Racine in 2011. I’ve met and studied with my idols including Nan Roche (the woman who wrote the first book about the medium), Lindly Haunani, Marla Frankenburg, Jana Roberts Benzon and more. I love finding out what others are doing with this stuff and discovering new techniques to apply to my flowers.
I am now a board member with the IPCA and the librarian of the Chicago Area Polymer Clay Guild.
I didn’t necessarily plan on an art career. My degree was in theatre so, of course, I sang in a rock band, had kids and worked as a controller for a marketing agency. But all that time, I kept messing with a polymer. One day, a friend mentioned that I had already put in my 10,000 hours to master something and it was these flowers.
Ann Duncan Designs – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
I hand sculpt one of a kind polymer clay flowers with gemstone centers. My flowers have a Lewis Carroll Alice in Wonderland type twist: Monarch Butterfly Roses, lace, skulls, fire, stone… etc. Most look at the flowers and think they must be painted, but it is the different colors of polymer that creates the effects and patterns in the flowers. I make bespoke wedding bouquets as well as single flowers. I do various art fairs, special orders and I will be at Bristol Renaissance Faire during the 2018 season.
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
I love when a piece resonates with someone. It thrills me when a flower reminds a person of that great time when… or it looks like… or that they just love it. We live in a crazy world, sometimes, you just need to be reminded of something pleasant.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.annduncandesigns.com
- Phone: 312.961.3649
- Email: ann@annduncandesigns.com
- Instagram: ahlavach
- Facebook: Ann Duncan Designs
- Other: Etsy Shop: AnnsRoses
Image Credit:
Ann Duncan Hlavach, Mary Warren Reider and Zach Elliott
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