(Please Read) Ch-ch-changes … And a Chance to Win a Box of New Clays
May 29, 2014
Inspirational Art, The Polymer Arts magazine news
Some of you may have noticed that there have been some odd things going on with the blog posts lately, especially the email notifications. You may be receiving them much later than usual or they are not showing up at all. Yes, we are having technical issues over here … because the blog has just gotten too big! I actually saw this coming and started working on setting up new services for us a couple months ago but its been slow going. However, we are set now. I could just use your help …
Change Over And Win! … This is pretty simple and pretty fantastic for you … help me out as well as get in on a drawing for one of TWO different sampler boxes of New Clays or one of TWO $15 Gift Certificates for The Polymer Arts. All you need to do is sign up to get blog notifications with our new service.
To sign up for email notices and get in the drawing … just click on this link and sign up for email notifications for this blog. Signing up now will help us make a smooth transition for you and ensure your daily dose of inspiration gets to you!
http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=TheDailyPolymerArtsBlog
Avoid Double Notices … If you are presently getting notifications by email, you can take yourself off the old service right now so you don’t get two notifications each day over the next week while we switch it over. Just click the link you see at the top of an old email notice (this one if you are reading this by email) and select ‘Unsubscribe’.
Deadline for Drawing … Sign up for email notifications by Monday, June 2nd, to be entered to win! We’ll draw names on the 3rd and notify you by email and announce the winner on the blog on the 4th.
*The blog mailing list is not shared nor even used by TPA for any other mailings. You will get nothing but the blog notifications by signing up for email. I promise. 🙂
If you would like to switch to a Reader notification or update your RSS feed. You can do so here: http://feeds.feedburner.com/TheDailyPolymerArtsBlog
See You Monday … Because of the problems we’ve been having and to allow time to make the changes and updates needed, there may not be another blog post until Monday. I’m sorry for that. But I promise we will be back to our regularly scheduled postings and pretties next week!
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.
Perfection in Canes
May 27, 2014
Inspirational Art
A lot of people cane. A lot of people cane well. But perfectly undistorted canes applied in such a way that you don’t think canes, but rather just “wow!”. These almost photo realistic sunflowers were created by French artist Magali Chauveau. Such skill and patience makes a huge difference in what this cane could have been had it been rushed. That and the meticulous finish on the beads brings this from a nicely designed bracelet up to a stunning piece of art jewelry.
And this isn’t the only thing she did so well with these flowers. She put her skill and eye for design into a whole line of pieces.
I had to share them all. But she has many more beautiful gems to share with you as well as tutorials on her blog and several books in print. To see more of her work, take a look at her Facebook page or view her books on Amazon.
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.
Beauty in Perfection
May 26, 2014
Inspirational Art
This week, I just want to put up some examples of perfectly executed and finished work, to focus on skill and craftsmanship and look at how that attention to detail and care in handling can be, and often is, at the center of what makes a piece work.
Daniela Klein is not a master artist, not yet, but her efforts point to really excellent potential. Looking through her Flickr photostream, you can see that a good looking finish is important to Daniela but execution has had its challenges at times. But then, in her timeline you see two pendants and the couple of pieces that come after, that show an increased attention to the fine tuning of the pieces final look. The two pendants were created in a class with Dan Cormier’s, one of our community’s absolutely perfection obsessed craftsman. This pendant, although made in Dan’s class, doesn’t look like a Dan Cormier piece but the techniques are recognizable. The color choices and lines follow trends in Daniela’s past pieces making me think she followed her own creative muse in the class but made a great effort to emulate the fine finishing details that are a large part of Dan’s signature look.
As far as I can tell, Daniela’s work is only present on her Flickr pages right now. But take a look at her journey there and then keep an eye out for her in the future!
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.
Intricate Eggs
May 25, 2014
Inspirational Art
I know we already looked at some filigree this week, but I couldn’t resist sharing these detailed filigree eggs by Czech artist Monika Brydova. From looking at these beauties, it probably won’t surprise you to know that Monika also loves quilling. These designs are reminiscent of the technique used in quilling, except here we have coiled polymer instead of paper. She designs the filigree eggs, bakes them, and then enhances the color with her own techniques. She uses a pasty pigment in a beeswax and orange oil base that is applied to the surface of dark colored items to give them a shimmering metallic effect, which changes color according to the incidence of light on the subject. She will also accent with Pearl Ex powders, and if applied after baking, she sets them with a spray fixative…and voilà…you have these intricate eggs with old world charm.
Monika has many examples, tutorials, videos, and materials and supplies for sale on her website. She explains this technique in detail and even has a video clip illustrating the process. You might want to give it a try on some of your own work.
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.
Density Vase
May 24, 2014
Inspirational Art
Intricacy in construction can be achieved in a variety of ways. The simple repetition of a single type of element can create rich texture but like everything we talked about this week, takes a bit of patience. Ukraine artist, Iryna Osinchuk-Chajka, created this intriguing vase in this manner, applying small petal shapes over and over, for rows and rows, to complete the design. This piece is part of her home decor line. She take vases, office organizers, soda cans, and any other shape that interests her and then applies these repeated shapes to the surface, to create the enticing texture.
When you look at Iryna’s Flickr Photostream, her Etsy shop, and her live journal, you can see how much she is influenced by nature, particularly florals. Have you ever tried one of these layering techniques in your work? It is time consuming, but the results can be well worth the effort.
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.
Outside Inspiration: Patience in Black
May 23, 2014
Inspirational Art
I am a sucker for nice recycled work. Reducing the impact on the environment and creating amazing art in the process is, well, a beautiful thing.
This bit of work you see here is amazing. I thought it looked like an intricately carved tire. Upon close inspection I saw that, yes, it actually was an intricately carved tire! And so beautiful. I can’t imagine how long it took to do this but when seeing things like this, I feel like a bit of a wimp. Polymer is so immediately responsive–we can make highly intricate looking pieces quite quickly with stamps and textures. Even our work with hand tools is relatively easy. What if we just took a little more time, a touch more care; what if we spent days and weeks creating the most beautiful thing we could imagine instead of finding the shortcuts? What would we end up with?
The amazing artist with what must be an endless supply of patience is Belgium’s Wim Delvoye. Wim works in a wide variety of rather random materials, not just tires. If you like the intricacy and detail here, you need to see his stainless steel carvings–they are similar to the tire but with dozens of layers. His front page is cartoony and fun but the work underneath is quite sophisticated. Enjoy!
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.
Spot on Gems
May 22, 2014
Inspirational Art
If you would like to add more three-dimensional and intricate surface designs to your work but coil and filigree don’t appeal to you, how about dots and spots and needing nothing more than a ball ended hand tool?
These goldfish designed by Kseniya Dolgopolova were stylized after the 1993 Avon brooch inspired by actress Elizabeth Taylor. Kseniya’s pin design was fashioned from polymer clay, rhinestones, glass pearls, glass contours, and bronzer. The limited color palette is charming with all those sparkling accents. A lot of sparkle can cheapen the look of a piece but here, it looks quite elegant. Exceptional craftsmanship, certainly involving a lot of patient work, as well as the limited palette play a major role in this piece being so successful.
You can see more of Kseniya’s very detailed and perfectly finished work in her Etsy store and on her Live Journal pages.
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.
Monochromatic Intricacy
May 21, 2014
Inspirational Art
Today, let’s dial it down to something more attainable for us mere mortals. We don’t all have quite the level of patience to accomplish what we saw the last couple days but perhaps we could approach that with techniques where intricate work can be accomplished on a smaller scale.
If you’ve been following this blog for long, then you have probably noticed my admiration for filigree style work. Even when monochromatic, the lines and textures of dense polymer filigree can be so mesmerizing. Luana Sgammeglia uses this coiled filigree technique to decorate necklaces, bracelets, earrings, and even handbags. Even though this technique looks intricate, it can be made relatively quickly once you get into the rhythm of it. You just need to be patient and steady. Doing this kind of work can be quite zen like actually!
Have you ever tried incorporating coils into the surface design of your clay? You can either roll the ropes by hand or use a handy-dandy extruder. If you have never worked with coil filigree, there are some good video tutorials on YouTube and a number of free image tutorials floating around the web as well. You can enjoy more of Luana’s work on her Flickr photostream or on her Pinterest site.
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.
Patience in Contemporary Art
May 20, 2014
Inspirational Art
I met Alev Gozonar in Malta as well, but it wasn’t until after I got home that I really got to see the extensive and painstaking nature of her work. She creates these incredible wall pieces with thousands of extruded cane sections. There is an easily recognized intention in the choices she makes, packing canes with slight but important variations and applying them with varying depths. Her pointillism approach creates stunning images at a distance but she also doesn’t shy away from celebrating the individual cane patterns, applying larger canes to the composition to illustrate the source of her primary elements which also break up the surface patterns. Instead of just seeing the one incredibly created image, your eye gets to wander and enjoy variation and pattern for the sake of pattern as well.
To see the details of this piece as well as the other many wonderful pieces she has created, grab a cup of coffee or tea, and take some time wandering through her website. It’ll be like taking a nice stroll through a fabulous gallery without having to play hookey at work.
Thanks to Randee Ketzel for sending me the link to the great photo above.
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.
Some of you may have noticed that there have been some odd things going on with the blog posts lately, especially the email notifications. You may be receiving them much later than usual or they are not showing up at all. Yes, we are having technical issues over here … because the blog has just gotten too big! I actually saw this coming and started working on setting up new services for us a couple months ago but its been slow going. However, we are set now. I could just use your help …
Change Over And Win! … This is pretty simple and pretty fantastic for you … help me out as well as get in on a drawing for one of TWO different sampler boxes of New Clays or one of TWO $15 Gift Certificates for The Polymer Arts. All you need to do is sign up to get blog notifications with our new service.
To sign up for email notices and get in the drawing … just click on this link and sign up for email notifications for this blog. Signing up now will help us make a smooth transition for you and ensure your daily dose of inspiration gets to you!
http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=TheDailyPolymerArtsBlog
Avoid Double Notices … If you are presently getting notifications by email, you can take yourself off the old service right now so you don’t get two notifications each day over the next week while we switch it over. Just click the link you see at the top of an old email notice (this one if you are reading this by email) and select ‘Unsubscribe’.
Deadline for Drawing … Sign up for email notifications by Monday, June 2nd, to be entered to win! We’ll draw names on the 3rd and notify you by email and announce the winner on the blog on the 4th.
*The blog mailing list is not shared nor even used by TPA for any other mailings. You will get nothing but the blog notifications by signing up for email. I promise. 🙂
If you would like to switch to a Reader notification or update your RSS feed. You can do so here: http://feeds.feedburner.com/TheDailyPolymerArtsBlog
See You Monday … Because of the problems we’ve been having and to allow time to make the changes and updates needed, there may not be another blog post until Monday. I’m sorry for that. But I promise we will be back to our regularly scheduled postings and pretties next week!
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.
A lot of people cane. A lot of people cane well. But perfectly undistorted canes applied in such a way that you don’t think canes, but rather just “wow!”. These almost photo realistic sunflowers were created by French artist Magali Chauveau. Such skill and patience makes a huge difference in what this cane could have been had it been rushed. That and the meticulous finish on the beads brings this from a nicely designed bracelet up to a stunning piece of art jewelry.
And this isn’t the only thing she did so well with these flowers. She put her skill and eye for design into a whole line of pieces.
I had to share them all. But she has many more beautiful gems to share with you as well as tutorials on her blog and several books in print. To see more of her work, take a look at her Facebook page or view her books on Amazon.
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.
This week, I just want to put up some examples of perfectly executed and finished work, to focus on skill and craftsmanship and look at how that attention to detail and care in handling can be, and often is, at the center of what makes a piece work.
Daniela Klein is not a master artist, not yet, but her efforts point to really excellent potential. Looking through her Flickr photostream, you can see that a good looking finish is important to Daniela but execution has had its challenges at times. But then, in her timeline you see two pendants and the couple of pieces that come after, that show an increased attention to the fine tuning of the pieces final look. The two pendants were created in a class with Dan Cormier’s, one of our community’s absolutely perfection obsessed craftsman. This pendant, although made in Dan’s class, doesn’t look like a Dan Cormier piece but the techniques are recognizable. The color choices and lines follow trends in Daniela’s past pieces making me think she followed her own creative muse in the class but made a great effort to emulate the fine finishing details that are a large part of Dan’s signature look.
As far as I can tell, Daniela’s work is only present on her Flickr pages right now. But take a look at her journey there and then keep an eye out for her in the future!
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.
I know we already looked at some filigree this week, but I couldn’t resist sharing these detailed filigree eggs by Czech artist Monika Brydova. From looking at these beauties, it probably won’t surprise you to know that Monika also loves quilling. These designs are reminiscent of the technique used in quilling, except here we have coiled polymer instead of paper. She designs the filigree eggs, bakes them, and then enhances the color with her own techniques. She uses a pasty pigment in a beeswax and orange oil base that is applied to the surface of dark colored items to give them a shimmering metallic effect, which changes color according to the incidence of light on the subject. She will also accent with Pearl Ex powders, and if applied after baking, she sets them with a spray fixative…and voilà…you have these intricate eggs with old world charm.
Monika has many examples, tutorials, videos, and materials and supplies for sale on her website. She explains this technique in detail and even has a video clip illustrating the process. You might want to give it a try on some of your own work.
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.
Intricacy in construction can be achieved in a variety of ways. The simple repetition of a single type of element can create rich texture but like everything we talked about this week, takes a bit of patience. Ukraine artist, Iryna Osinchuk-Chajka, created this intriguing vase in this manner, applying small petal shapes over and over, for rows and rows, to complete the design. This piece is part of her home decor line. She take vases, office organizers, soda cans, and any other shape that interests her and then applies these repeated shapes to the surface, to create the enticing texture.
When you look at Iryna’s Flickr Photostream, her Etsy shop, and her live journal, you can see how much she is influenced by nature, particularly florals. Have you ever tried one of these layering techniques in your work? It is time consuming, but the results can be well worth the effort.
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.
I am a sucker for nice recycled work. Reducing the impact on the environment and creating amazing art in the process is, well, a beautiful thing.
This bit of work you see here is amazing. I thought it looked like an intricately carved tire. Upon close inspection I saw that, yes, it actually was an intricately carved tire! And so beautiful. I can’t imagine how long it took to do this but when seeing things like this, I feel like a bit of a wimp. Polymer is so immediately responsive–we can make highly intricate looking pieces quite quickly with stamps and textures. Even our work with hand tools is relatively easy. What if we just took a little more time, a touch more care; what if we spent days and weeks creating the most beautiful thing we could imagine instead of finding the shortcuts? What would we end up with?
The amazing artist with what must be an endless supply of patience is Belgium’s Wim Delvoye. Wim works in a wide variety of rather random materials, not just tires. If you like the intricacy and detail here, you need to see his stainless steel carvings–they are similar to the tire but with dozens of layers. His front page is cartoony and fun but the work underneath is quite sophisticated. Enjoy!
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.
If you would like to add more three-dimensional and intricate surface designs to your work but coil and filigree don’t appeal to you, how about dots and spots and needing nothing more than a ball ended hand tool?
These goldfish designed by Kseniya Dolgopolova were stylized after the 1993 Avon brooch inspired by actress Elizabeth Taylor. Kseniya’s pin design was fashioned from polymer clay, rhinestones, glass pearls, glass contours, and bronzer. The limited color palette is charming with all those sparkling accents. A lot of sparkle can cheapen the look of a piece but here, it looks quite elegant. Exceptional craftsmanship, certainly involving a lot of patient work, as well as the limited palette play a major role in this piece being so successful.
You can see more of Kseniya’s very detailed and perfectly finished work in her Etsy store and on her Live Journal pages.
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.
Today, let’s dial it down to something more attainable for us mere mortals. We don’t all have quite the level of patience to accomplish what we saw the last couple days but perhaps we could approach that with techniques where intricate work can be accomplished on a smaller scale.
If you’ve been following this blog for long, then you have probably noticed my admiration for filigree style work. Even when monochromatic, the lines and textures of dense polymer filigree can be so mesmerizing. Luana Sgammeglia uses this coiled filigree technique to decorate necklaces, bracelets, earrings, and even handbags. Even though this technique looks intricate, it can be made relatively quickly once you get into the rhythm of it. You just need to be patient and steady. Doing this kind of work can be quite zen like actually!
Have you ever tried incorporating coils into the surface design of your clay? You can either roll the ropes by hand or use a handy-dandy extruder. If you have never worked with coil filigree, there are some good video tutorials on YouTube and a number of free image tutorials floating around the web as well. You can enjoy more of Luana’s work on her Flickr photostream or on her Pinterest site.
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.
I met Alev Gozonar in Malta as well, but it wasn’t until after I got home that I really got to see the extensive and painstaking nature of her work. She creates these incredible wall pieces with thousands of extruded cane sections. There is an easily recognized intention in the choices she makes, packing canes with slight but important variations and applying them with varying depths. Her pointillism approach creates stunning images at a distance but she also doesn’t shy away from celebrating the individual cane patterns, applying larger canes to the composition to illustrate the source of her primary elements which also break up the surface patterns. Instead of just seeing the one incredibly created image, your eye gets to wander and enjoy variation and pattern for the sake of pattern as well.
To see the details of this piece as well as the other many wonderful pieces she has created, grab a cup of coffee or tea, and take some time wandering through her website. It’ll be like taking a nice stroll through a fabulous gallery without having to play hookey at work.
Thanks to Randee Ketzel for sending me the link to the great photo above.
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.
