Outside Inspiration: Paisley Patterns
August 31, 2012
Inspirational Art
You know if your poor, over-worked brain ever wants to just play and not have to work, following patterns can be fun and lead to unexpected discoveries.
I ran into this embroidery site and was drawn to these abundantly-colorful paisley patterns. Of course, I couldn’ t help but wonder what they would look like ’embrodiered’ on polymer. We already have artists working in a technique often called by the same term using small bits of clay. So roll out a few snakes you can mince up, a few dots of clay in different colors and go wild. Be sure to share with us what you create.
What’s a Zentangle?
August 30, 2012
Inspirational Art
There’s been a lot of chatter about zentangles in the last year or so. I have yet to explore them but they are just popping up everywhere.
Simply explained, zentangles are structured doodles. The copyrighted term, Zentangle, was coined by Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas when Maria was describing the meditative state she experienced while drawing on a manuscript. It has grown into a large creative movement with instructors teaching the process throughout the country. The concepts have inspired artists in many different disciplines, including polymer.
Julie VanDuren explains the components of this piece: “Here is another recent Zentangle-inspired piece. Lots of canework, some component caning and some small loafs or complex canes.” It is one of many on her Flickr page that explores Zentangle-inspired structure.
Liquid Polymer & Scrap Fabric
August 29, 2012
Technique tutorials, Tips and Tricks
Isn’t liquid polymer just wonderful as a finish for polymer? Transluscent, easy to apply, durable … Those same qualities actually allow it to work really well with a few more things beside polymer.
Genevieve Dolosor shows how she uses small bits of fabric to create colorful backgrounds using LPC to seal it and make the bit of fabric more substantial so it can be shown off as a center piece like a semi-precious stone in this tutorial.
So pull out those old ties, scraps of fabric or that dress you’ve been wanting to shorten (from hemline to art!) and snip yourself off some color and pattern to play with.
The Flowery Depths
August 28, 2012
Inspirational Art
Zuda Gay Pease is a grandmother who lives in Illinois and creates these incredible flowers that seem to have so much depth and complexity to them. But if you look closely, they aren’t so much complex as unexpected.
The caned petals aren’t simply sliced but also cut and sculpted. This gives them a depth and tactile surface I don’t think you’d find anywhere in nature but they seem to be perfectly natural regardless.
Edges
August 27, 2012
Inspirational Art
Eva Haskova, from the Czech Republic, has applied what looks to be the edges of stacks into a contemporary design for a simple but eye-catching pendant. She uses just a little repetition of line and color and a simple single accent. Design does not always have to be complex … simplicity is a wonderful approach.
Nothing needs to be wasted with polymer. Not even those edges you trim off. They have such wonderful texture when you turn them on their sides! It’s like getting a bonus project half way done simply by working on another one. Polymer is too cool.
You Know You Are a Creative When …
August 26, 2012
Ponderings
Thanks to Jan Geisen for sending this along.
I can’t say I have problems with item #1 … Maybe it should be that creative people refuse to be bored! Especially crafters. Art materials are everywhere … and we’re not afraid to use them when our hands are otherwise idle!
Beauty Bust
August 25, 2012
Inspirational Art
It’s about time we revisit the Art Doll world. There are so many incredibly talented people in art dolls and Virginie Ropar is among the most amazing of them.
This piece is actually a bust rather than a doll. The detailed components as well as the exploration of texture, color and the injection of a touch of fantasy into a realistic sculpture is just candy for the eyes.
Outside Inspiration: Millefiori in Porcelain
August 24, 2012
Inspirational Art
I was sure when I first saw these that they had to be polymer but they aren’t. The way porcelain is being pushed here is inspiring. If you’ve ever worked with porcelain or any earthen clays, you know that manipulation and embedding color with any crispness is tricky.
In this pendant — a reversible one even — the application of color and pattern matches what we do with polymer … all borrowed from the ancient technique of millefiori.
Here is what the artist Tom Garvin of Blue Bus Studios (http://www.bluebusstudio.com/) says about his work:
“The extreme detail and intense color in our ceramic work results from the use of over 500 different colors of clay to create our carefully designed clay loaves. Next, cross-sections are sliced from the loaves, and these sections are shaped and finished into individual pieces, then glazed and fired twice.”
It’s just kind of cool to know that others are working in similar ways to us and that, well, we have a pretty easy material to work with. But kudos to all artists that push their medium to create more beauty in the world!
Cane, Cut, Repeat
August 23, 2012
Inspirational Art
If you read the in-depth design articles in this latest issue, here is an opportunity to practice your new analytical skills for identifying types of repetition and rhythm. And to see just how much beauty these design concepts can add to a piece.
Look at the piece below. Draws you in immediatly doesn’t it? But why? Seems straight-forward, maybe even rather basic at first glance. However, this is anything but simple and is a sterling example of what makes good art great — it makes you keep looking at it. After a minute or two of surveying this mosaic wall piece — and especially if you have an appreciation for the roles that repetition and rhythm play in art — you’ll really begin to appreciate the complexity of the design choices.
Ponsawan Sila created this piece with mosaic polymer pieces 1cmx1cm — nothing more representative of repetition than a shape repeated over and over but … the visual textures in each shape are all different or rarely repeated, incorporating random (textures) and regular (shape) repetition. She uses progressive rhythm in the color changes that occur in each waving layer as it moves horizontially across. There is also repetition of line in the waves, which consistently create the space for each color palette, creating soft slow rhythm established in the reserved undulations of those lines.
All on a 6″x12″ tile. That’s pretty impressive.
Polymer is highly versatile but working small can be tricky for even the most talented among us. Eva Margriet Thissen from Herne, Germany seems to have the art of teeny-tiny polymer bits down beautifully.
The quality and crispness of the details on this 1″ wide pendant is amazing — and adorable at that. The stance of Little Red Riding Hood perfectly captures how a little girl would go skipping off through the forest. The whimsical shapes of the trees, even with a subdued color palette, is cheerful and fun. The pendant has playful overtones and yet is incredibly intricate. I can’t imagine just how many people would come up to you wanting a closer look at this intriguing pendant.
Read MoreI’ve been drawn to stripes a lot lately … we have a cool striping tutorial in the latest issue — a simple, fun technique from Donna Greenberg that you can add to your approach to any practice in rhythm and repetition you might be inspired to try from the articles focused on those design concepts — as well as a lot of sample art in the Fall 2012 issue that uses lines as a primary design elements.
So a set of striped nails attracted me like a magnet. Polymer nail art has so much potential and not just the cane accents that have become so popular.
Claire Wallis’ Facebook tutorial with the steps on how to make your own fake nails with polymer is terrific. After you have looked at the tutorial, buzz over to her site to check out more hyponotizing stripes in her work, especially her beautiful bangles.
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Stacking is such an excellent way to create rhythm and depth in your work. Here we have a collection of stacks by Mathilde Colas that will be attached to ring blanks.
The repetition of shapes — the rounded-off triangles — accented by buttons, dots, and other round elements give the pieces a kind of swaying-in-place dance. Fun but a little reserved, the alternating colors in a limited palette keep the irregular stacks looking well-composed.
The Fall 2012 edition of The Polymer Arts, which was just released over the weekend, features lots of articles about creating rhythm and repetition in your work. If you haven’t had a chance to get yours, order a digital or print copy right now from our website.
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Anonymous note from one crafter to the world of crafters.
I don’t think there’s anything I need to add except … Amen to that!
Read MoreOkay so I usually do the Outside Inspiration posts on Fridays but we’ve been thrown off this week with the launch of The Polymer Arts latest issue. We know polymer can be manipulated very much like other clays. So …. who wants to try this?
This is porcelain created by the very talented Jennifer McCurdy. It is altered and carved, pushing the limits of porcelain’s ability to hold up structurally. But wow, is it gorgeous. She also gilds it on the inside … not the outside … inviting the viewer to consider the interior and allowing it to contrast with the white exterior. Very intriguing look.
I’m thinking that in polymer, it might work best if baked first. Or carved and smoothed while on a form. In any case, it’d be some serious work but with some serious rewards.
If this inspires anyone to try this kind of thing, send me images.
You can see a video on her technique on the Ceramic Arts Daily website. Also check out the wonderful photos of her work embedded into natural settings like the beach on her home page (it’s a slide show so wait for the change over in images) and rivers on her collection page. She has some really beautiful photos that are works of art themselves. So do take a moment to check them out.
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This is my day … pack, peel, and stick… repeat. This is the day I get to do all the international mailing and distribution packs for the newest issue Fall 2012: Rhythm and Flow. It involves packing envelopes and clear mailers, sealing them, sticking on the labels and doing this over and over again. The repetition gets one into a nice rhythm well-accompanied by some good sing-a-long music.
Which of course brings us to this issue’s theme and the desire to find something to counter the regular rhythm of my work. Here is a just amazing wall piece by those great innovators Ford and Forlano called “Pebbles Galaxy”.
There is definitely repetition of all kinds here — color, form, motif and texture. But the rhythm is utterly random, quite child-like in its placement yet reminiscent of rocks at the bottom of a river eddy — reminding us that there is an underlying reason for every arrangement in nature and created by a child’s hand. The caption says it has a removable pin. It is 13″ high so I’m thinking there could have been multiple pins, a pendant, a pair of earrings and a belt buckle if they worked it right. I really do like the idea of wall art that you can take pieces of to wear and share outside the place it is housed.
Well, for now, I have but another issue to share with you, to send off beyond TPA headquarters. I do hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed putting it together for you!
This above inspiring image is brought to you by the Ganoksin project, a jeweler’s resource site. The link takes you to their archive of an article by Marjorie Simon for Metalsmith Magazine (Winter 2003) about Ford and Forlano.
Read MoreThe print version of the latest issue of The Polymer Arts should be landing on my door step tomorrow. The final mailings will get packed up and readied for the post office over the weekend. Most of you who have a print subscription already have issues in the mail and on their way. The digital issue will go live tomorrow night — just in time for Saturday morning coffee.
Here’s another pretty piece from our cover artist and Emerging Gallery artist Chris Kapono. I believe this fish is as big as her face since it looks to be the piece she is hiding behind in her galley headshot photo. That’s a pretty large piece. (No, I’m not commenting on the size of Chris’ head! It’s just large for polymer!) I love her tendrils and dots. There’s so much going on but it all fits so well on this fanciful aquatic being.
If you haven’t subscribed, renewed or pre-ordered the latest issue of The Polymer Arts magazine, head to our website for easy ordering so you don’t miss out on all the in-depth information on Rhythm and Flow, repetition in design, a fun striping technique by Donna Greenberg, simple tips for improving your art photography and more in this great new issue.
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I restrained myself from presenting any crackling techniques lately (cracked textures being a weakness of mine!) but I figure enough time has passed to share this beauty and mention a couple of polymer friends along with it.
This if the work of Tonja Lenderman. She developed this technique which is posted on Polka Dot Creation’s page for free viewing. It looks like the full-detail tutorial is being published in the upcoming issue (Pink) of From Polymer to Art, due out in less than a month. Although Polka Dot Creations is phasing out their retail shop, Lisa will still continue to distribute the next couple print issues of From Polymer to Art in the US. So do get your copy reserved through them here.
In the meantime, if you are in a crackling mood, take a crack at this technique (I had to say it!) then you can review the full tutorial to improve upon what you’ve learned.
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I wear a lot of black. No, it’s not out of some morbid aesthetic. I just find it to be a fantastic background for anything I add to my attire. And being the klutz with an insatiable curiosity, I know that I am less likely to end up with noticeable stains if I detour through the studio on the way out of the house for dinner after being struck by a random idea or find myself tromping into a field enticed by some color or texture — my wardrobe is determined primarily by the rule that what I wear should not stop me from exploring as situations arise.
But black has a purpose beyond being a background. It can also be a the focus of your ensemble. This stunning lentil bead by Judy Belcher is one such example. Simple, understated but enticing, this piece’s impact comes from the starkness of the predominant black with only the quiet interruption of the lines of brown and the two pearly accents to break it up. In work like this where color is minimal, form and texture take precedence.
It is a piece like this that would get me to pull out one of my few white outfits to give it the simple ‘background’ the piece deserves.
In a medium dominated by tons of color, it is easily forgotten how well polymer can present a limited palette and the non-colors of black and white. We have many, many color options with our material and the ability to create sophisticated and stunning work in a way other jewelry material cannot. But it doesn’t mean we always need to use color. Try working with a piece in all black or all white and see just where form and surface texture can take you.
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