“Polymer is highly addictive. For me, it equals happiness,” says Debbie Kronsted, whose teapots, with beautiful colorful designs and eye-catching patterns, are a feast for the eyes. Debbie is a full-time polymer clay artist living in Copenhagen, Denmark.
“When I sit in my workshop, the world disappears completely, and I feel in harmony and balance. It is a state that is so lovely that sometimes it is difficult for me to be pulled out of it and come back to reality,” she says and adds that initially, her polymer work was a counterbalance to work stress and pressure, currently working with polymer clay for fourteen years.
Her education and work experience had nothing to do with art. “I never in my wildest dreams imagined that I could become an artist, work with colors and patterns and dedicate myself so much to it,” Debbie admits. She came across polymer clay by chance on YouTube and became immediately interested. She likes to work in various styles, such as millefiori, geometric, mokume-gane, watercolors technique, or chalk pastels. She loves exploring the possibilities to bring her idea to life and tries techniques that cross her mind, often combining several at once. “For me, there is no such thing as good or bad taste,” she says.
When she starts creating a teapot, she never plans anything other than what color will be the dominant one. “I then find all the canes in my stash that contain that color. I normally use quite a lot, 20 - 30, maybe 40 different canes. Then I start putting slices on the object, starting at a random spot, and then the pattern develops,” Debbie explains the process of how she makes a millefiori teapot with a crazy patchwork technique. She always sands and buffs her work. “I can sand a teapot for 1.5 hours if necessary so that the surface is exactly how I want it. I then treat the surface with Renaissance wax,” adds Debbie.
She matches and combines colors beautifully, thus also emphasizing the patterns and geometric or asymmetric shapes she uses. Color transitions and blending are smoothly done. Debbie creates both harmonious and contrasting combinations, and the motifs and patterns of the individual teapots are very diverse.
Her inspiration comes naturally from the object she chooses to work with. She finds her items at thrift stores and flea markets. “I have always been very impressed and attracted to crazy patchwork, and my inspiration often comes from it as well as fabrics in general.” Debbie is also inspired by other artists creating with polymer and has gained a lot of inspiration from MacKenzie and Child's typical checkered patterns. Having many art books, Debbie often browses their pages, looking for specific color combinations that will one day appear on her colorful teapots.
