Handworked Inros
January 22, 2014
Inspirational Art
When I saw this and several other pieces by jewelry artist Robin Ragsdale, I thought I’d found some quiet polymer artist, busy creating these handcrafted pieces in some cut off region of the world. It may be rather obvious what the alternative material is but it seems like people are having quite a bit of fun this week guessing so I won’t say quite yet. Take a guess what this is but challenge yourself and try to be specific. What do you think?
Robin is a metal artist but not of the sleek contemporary kind. The presence of a set of hands working the metal versus using machines or exacting tools makes the design and texture quite rich and timeless. This piece could be downright ancient. The metal used here is actually bronze and from conversations on Flickr it looks like it’s bronze metal clay. Don’t you love the multi-colored leather strands it hangs from as well? Just a little bit of added color takes it out of the realm of ancient and into the present without feeling out of place.
Robin’s Flickr pages are full of these thoughtfully crafted, could-be-polymer-faux metal pieces. Go enjoy exploring her work!
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Faux or No?
January 21, 2014
Inspirational Art
This one is actually a mix of polymer and non-polymer elements. Before I tell you what is what, can you guess?
This piece was brought to me by Irene Corman who originally chose this as one of her favorite recent finds when I had my freelance staff pick the posts last month. We decided there really wasn’t enough polymer in it to make it represent the medium but, the thing is, it could easily be made from polymer!
The piece was created by Robbin Smith and Warren Moeller of E-Bu Jewelry. They are truly mixed media artists using any medium that suits their needs. They do work heavily in natural materials and recycled forms. So here is what is in this pendant: A found bronze object, sterling silver, ebony, spiny oyster, polymer, and leather. So which part is polymer?
I have had to figure this out by deduction based on what I know of other materials but, truly, I’m guessing a bit myself. I know the top green piece in this pendant is aged bronze, the ‘stone’ in the oblong bezel is spiny oyster sitting on ebony and the bottom is a faux bone polymer piece. Would you all agree?
Check out more of Robbin and Warren’s gorgeous pieces on their Flickr photostream or on their website.
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I Can’t Believe It’s Not Polymer
January 20, 2014
Inspirational Art
Going for something a bit different this week. I have a collection of items that I thought originally were made from polymer, that were often listed on Pinterest boards or other sites as polymer, that were not. But they are beautiful pieces that could definitely be done in polymer. So let’s look at these and determine how we would create it in polymer.
Pictured here is a piece of Plumevine’s Faery Jewellery by Lorianne Jantti. These whimsical pieces are made from hand painted resin clay and embellished with chains, hooks, ribbon, and the like. They could easily be crafted in polymer and similarly embellished with crystals and Pearl Ex powders. If you’re into PMC or Art Clay, you could make part of the piece with metal clay and embellish with polymer accoutrements.
Take a look at some of Lorianne’s work on her Etsy site and deconstruct it to see how you could make similar objects in polymer with other mixed media.
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Planning Your Colors
January 19, 2014
Tips and Tricks
So with this talk of color palettes all week, I thought I ought to stop and add that you don’t need to follow Pantone’s colors for the season. Get to know your market, as well as the colors you prefer to work with, and build your own signature palette for the season.
I know for some people, how to put together a color scheme is a bit of a mystery. But there is help out there! Several sites online have tools that allow you to make your own palettes. This one here is a new favorite of mine because of its relative simplicity and the fact that you can save your color exploration in your own account.
To create a color palette, you choose a color on the wheel in the bottom right then use the sliders on the upper right to adjust hue, tint (addition of white) and/or shade (addition of black). The boxes below the color wheel give you 5 options for types of color schemes that can be created off that first color.
Join the ColourLovers community on this site to save palettes, swatches and images in your account. I haven’t explored everything this site has to offer yet but I sure am having fun checking it all out. Try this palette maker for yourself!
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Greens for Spring
January 18, 2014
Inspirational Art
The one thing I find missing in this year’s Pantone palette is a real green. There’s a pale blue-green they are calling Hemlock but when I think of Spring I think of naturally derived greens–fresh new grass, the first leaves on a tree, and sprouting plants pushing up through the earth. So I thought I’d look for something that added that back into this palette.
This necklace by Kseniya Dolgopolova includes a few shades like Pantone’s Hemlock as well as rich natural greens.
I would have questioned putting these colors because although somewhat analaguous, the hemlock is a pastel while leaf green is muted but with more saturation. However, with this limited palette, it does work decently and the difference adds some significant contrast to a green based palette.
Take a moment or two and wander through the charming imagination of Kseniya’s work in her Etsy shop.
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Outside Inspiration: Sculptural Spring
January 17, 2014
Inspirational Art
Sarah Parker-Eaton, a silver and gold precious metals artist, and Louise Hibbert, a woodworking artist, joined together to create an art form called Plankton Art. Patterns and forms in nature inspire these artists as seen here in this piece that has the feel of an ocean starfish. The bright colors used remind me of the sea life that you see when you dive into the darkest depths of the ocean. Because of the darkness, the sea creatures take on a fluorescent glow in these deep waters.
This starfish shape is part of Louise’s Radiolarian Vessel series. It has a diameter of approximately 150mm and is made from English sycamore, acrylic ink, and acrylic texture paste. These types of shapes and colors could be replicated in polymer clay. Give it a go and let the creatures of the sea inspire you to swim into new realms of creativity.
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A Bowl of Spring Beads
January 16, 2014
Inspirational Art
I kept thinking that the Pantone Spring palette seemed somewhat familiar. Then it occurred to me that Rebecca Watkins often works in similar color combinations and I went back and found this lovely bowl of beads on one of our Pinterest boards. The colors are subdued with low saturation but plenty of contrast to make them festive without being loud or garish.
If you enjoy these types of color palettes’ and the fun approach Rebecca takes with her work, be sure to jump on over to her Blogspot site and her Flickr pages for more wonderful inspiration for Spring and beyond.
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Falling Spring
January 15, 2014
Inspirational Art
Jennifer Morris has a mixed media approach to her polymer clay work. She has a signature embroidery style that uses an ever-changing mixed-media combination of polymer clay infused with gold and silver leaf, and she often incorporates recycled papers and fabric pulp into her designs. These fringed earrings look like heavy stones, but are actually light and airy when worn.
Let Jennifer’s work inspire you to push your materials into unexpected places, using them in fresh new ways. Try a little mixed media by adding different materials to your work or by embellishing your work with embroidery or crochet stitches. Check out this interview with Jennifer on Etsy.
If you like this blog, support The Polymer Arts projects with a subscription or issue of The Polymer Arts magazine as well as supporting our advertising partners.
The Pantone Spring Range
January 14, 2014
Inspirational Art
Carina of Austria designed these colorful beaded necklaces and bracelets made from polymer clay. Although produced lat year, they range this year’s Spring Pantone palette. The latest Pantone palatte and these pieces give a modern twist to the classic spring palette by pairing soft pastels with more saturated colors to create a colorful contrast. These pieces bring to mind a mixture of blooming wild flowers with colors that refresh and defy conventional ideas of Spring.
For artist inspiration, take a look at some of the polymer clay images on Carina’s Flickr pages. Try some of these less conventional springtime colors in your own work. Have fun!
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Framing doesn’t require a frame be used just once. One can use frames as a repeated design element as done in this necklace by Susan Remnant. The forms that structure this piece represent an organic sensibility which is somewhat ironic since it’s rare to see nature frame it’s creations but in this case, I think the many little frames work to emphasize the forms and the randomness common in nature.
I found this bold, contemporary enameled pendant on the website of a fellow polymer enthusiast, Janice Abrabanel, who also prizes the inspiration we get from other mediums. Unfortunately, Susan Remnant does not seem to have a online presence but do enjoy Janice’s blog for inspiration today.
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So yes, we’re having our once a year sale off everything in The Polymer Arts magazine store! See the information at the end of the post here.
But first, let’s talk art …
The type of frames we put photos or artwork in tend to be shallow affairs made to sit out of the way on a shelf or wall. But that tradition shouldn’t determine the depth of frames you make for your adornment, decor, or even wall art for that matter. Your frame can be as deep as makes sense for your piece.
For instance, Tanja of Flickr’s Fantastisch-Plastischcan created a pendant with a deeply concave form to show off layers in a stack of polymer sheets. With this kind of form, leaving it frame-less would have been okay but instead of leaving it there she created a deep silver frame for it. This makes the depression feel more like the a reveal of an underground or celestial space rather than just being a concave form. It also brings in contrast–bright silver against muted greens–and allows her more real estate to expand on the red ball motif.
It seems that all our artists this week, the ones pushing the idea of what a frame might be, are all explorers and experimenters. Tanja has played with a wide variety of forms as well as textures, both visual and tactile. She just seems to be having too much fun to settle down with a particular style or set of techniques. You can see what I’m talking about when you go through her array of work in her Flickr pages.
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A frame doesn’t have to completely surround the focus of the piece or shrink back to be a barely noticed element. The framed piece we have for you today suspends the center stone between the framing elements, using negative space to enhance the design.
As the artist, Georgia Morgan explains, “Working in polymer allows unlimited space to explore the synergy of color, pattern, and texture. My main artistic influences have been Art Nouveau and Art Deco movements, and the work that resonates the most with me combines organic elements in a geometric framework.”
Whether you’re creating your frame from polymer or some other mixed media, consider breaking away from the enclosed space and straight, balanced lines, unless your piece is about control, symmetry or otherwise needs the expected and calm of a standard frame. In other words, consider what your frame can be to help support the feeling or theme of the piece.
For more on Georgia’s often out of the box work, take a look at her website here.
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One of the primary reasons for using frames is to finish off the edge of a bead or element so it is functional but it doesn’t have to be purely functional. It is going to show, so why not make it a major part of the design?
Ivana Brozova has brought her frame into the design by creating a wave to the edge that comes up onto the bead’s surface. It gives the frame more surface so the analogous colors in the frame become a more substantial part of the bead and the wave in the frame plays off the aquatic theme of the necklace.
Ivana is another explorer in the ways of polymer with some wonderfully different, often edgy but always intriguing work. Take a swim through her artistic world on her Flickr photostream.
If you like this blog, support The Polymer Arts projects with a subscription or issue of The Polymer Arts magazine as well as supporting our advertising partners.
The presentation of a bead or surface treatment is often accompanied by framing or creating some kind of window that puts focus on the focal point. This week I wanted to look at a few more unusual options for “framing” to give you some ideas on how to integrate the frame as part of the design rather than creating it as a more functional aspect used to simply finish of the edges.
First of all, framing doesn’t have to stay on the outside. Bringing the framing into the center and letting it cross the treated surface, is a way to break up the surface design as well as integrate the frame directly into design of the piece. Here Sue Corrie uses the branches and trunk of a tree to create a number of windows for the polymer beneath. The result is the frame becomes foreground for the abstracted scene in the polymer. The treatment of the polymer can be kept minimal here because the bronze frame adds line, contrast in color and depth to this brooch.
Sue is one of our more exploratory polymer artists working in quite a few different styles and approaches, making even other people’s techniques her own by pushing the process and trying new things with them. Take a look through her Flickr pages and her website for more inspiring pieces.
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I couldn’t resist a last little guessing game for this week.
When I was looking through my Pinterest boards, I found this set of beautiful, organically inspired bracelets by Armenian artist Sona Grigoryan, but I couldn’t be sure if they were ceramic or polymer. So what do think these are made of?
Sona is an Armenian living in Barcelona and she is in love with polymer clay. I think it is the antiquing color added to these bracelets that give the polymer that almost translucent porcelain look. Most of her work would not make you think of polymer straight away. Her pieces look more like to be made of bone, wood or other natural materials. Take a few minutes or more to look through her fantastical work on her Flickr pages.
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Have you been having fun guessing the materials this week and thinking of ways to create these beautiful pieces in polymer? Well, here is a whole array of pieces to take a guess at. We are all on our own here as the Live Journal post doesn’t list what is what or how these pieces were created. This whole post is an interesting collection of inspiration for a polymer contest that revolved around art accessories embellished with the use of texture stamps.
According to the Russian translation describing these pieces, they are made from ceramics, polymer, and/or metals. To read more about the competition and artwork submitted, take a look at the translated website. Enjoy!
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We’ve done non-polymer all week so I thought this Friday we’d switch that up with polymer work by an artist that doesn’t always work in polymer and if one didn’t know better, one would think she truly didn’t! Bettina Mertz’s faux polymer stones are amazing. She has a whole series of jewelry designs including bracelets, necklaces, pendants, and earrings using similarly realistic faux stone. This fall set is one of the best designs adding kinetic movement and a randomness that just adds to the organic feel of the piece.
Betinna is also intrigued by intricate bead embroidery. If she can’t find a particular bead that she wants, she makes it out of polymer clay, using this stone and other faux techniques. You can see more of her polymer and bead work on her blogspot, Mertz Bettina Schmuck Design and her Flickr pages.
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If you read our wonderful Fall 2013 issue of The Polymer Arts, you no doubt remember the cover piece by Kathrin Neumaier. That translucent glass look has been quite popular in the polymer community so when I saw these simple but elegant earrings, my first thought was that it was polymer. But no. And it’s not glass either. What’s your guess?
The artist here is Barbara Fernald. These are actually vintage Lucite beads, sometimes referred to as acrylic glass. Perfectly proportioned design transcends mediums. See more of Barbara’s elegant work on her website.
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