A Wine Break … to go with your new Spring Issue
February 28, 2015
Inspirational Art
Okay … I’m not really drinking here (but you go ahead!), but I did want to change gears from repetition to just show you these versions of wine colors that Syndee Holt put together for Polyform. They are just so juicy. Pantone declared the color of 2015 would be ‘Marsala’, so last month, Syndee whipped up some color recipe options to match the Pantone swatch. This is just one of them.
I guess I had my head down getting the spring issue out and missed them. They’re just gorgeous though, so I thought I’d halt with the repetition theme to bring you the recipes to try out this weekend if you haven’t already. That’s if you don’t have your head buried in the spring issue. Because it came out today!
If you have a digital subscription, you should find the access email in your inbox. If you don’t see it, check your junk mail folder or other email accounts that might have been given to us during the purchase process (if you paid by Paypal, the email Paypal has is the one that is given to us).
If you are waiting on your print issue, they started on their journey yesterday and should be with you shortly. If you haven’t ordered or subscribed yet, well you can do just that on The Polymer Arts website.
If you like this blog, support The Polymer Arts projects with a subscription or an issue of The Polymer Arts magazine as well as supporting our advertising partners.
Outside Inspiration: Continuous Curling
February 27, 2015
Inspirational Art
This piece is going to be a bit more complex than what we have been looking at all week, but I wanted to share it because I could see it inspiring repeatable forms in polymer. This is a stitched paper necklace designed and constructed by Luis Acosta who lists his work on his site in English and Spanish but looks to hail from the Netherlands. Makes me curious to hear his story but more curious is his work.
A complex piece like this could take upwards of 60 hours to create. That is dedication. But, the end result is quite mesmerizing. The repetition of that curl layered in the same repeated stack makes for a controlled energy that comes across as beautiful, concise movement. I like that although the paper starts out layered in the same sequence, the curls end up a little mixed on the top. Kind of a controlled confetti party. How fun would this be to wear!
Luis’ work is all about repetition. Take a look at more of his rather extensive collection of forms on his website for more great inspiration.
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A Rainbow of Repetition
February 26, 2015
Inspirational Art
This was such a gorgeous find. Actually, everything this artist has done is just amazing. The thing is, it doesn’t seem to be polymer, but it took quite a bit of research to convince me otherwise. The work is by Raluca Bazura, a Romanian artist working in contemporary jewelry. From what I could tell from the translations on the various little snippets I found about her online, she seems to work primarily in porcelain ceramics. This must be why all the pieces are stitched together. Of course, that may allow for movement and flexibility, but it might not be necessary if it was polymer. Really, this should be polymer. OK … yes, perhaps I am a tad biased sometimes.
But, whether this is made in ceramics or polymer, it is another wonderful example of the dynamic complexity that repetition can bring to a piece. And yes, we’re looking at a gradient of color, but this time only in terms of the collective set of overlapping scales not blended. It still has a similar effect in helping aid the feel of movement as the arrangement fans out. Raluca uses this kind of color effect in a lot of his work, but she’s also done a whole series in just black with the occasional gold or silver additions.
If you find this at all intriguing, you must go take a look at more of her work on her website. You’ll see many other pieces that you’ll swear are polymer, or should be. Go see and tell me what you think.
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Repeating Wave
February 25, 2015
Inspirational Art
Gradient color, as well as repetition, seems to be the theme this week. Carol Blackburn has created lovely examples of both in her interlocked strips designs. You have likely seen at least her earrings in this style which are one dangling bead of these repeated strips wrapping around and overlapping at the ends. She calls them shell earrings. But, they become something different when repeated over and over.
Take that repetition of overlapping strips in the bead element and repeat the bead. Repetition within repetition, aided by gradient color, makes for a wave of movement smoothly running from one end to the other in these pieces. She calls these her Moebius necklaces; no longer a single static object but actually off into the often unfathomable realm of mathematics. The mobius strip (also moebius strip) is said to have one side and one edge, but because it has been twisted in the middle, so that when the ends are attached, what we would have called ‘the back side’ of the strip now meets the front side. Yeah, I know. Its a little mind-boggling even when you see an image of it. How Carol brings all her strips together to wave so smoothly like this is also a mystery. This is what is so wonderful about art. When the ideas behind it start to hurt your brain, you can always just admire the beauty. The beauty here is something we can all understand.
Much more and less mind boggling art by Carol can be found on her website. And, if it isn’t already, be sure that her classic book Making Polymer Clay Beads (printed in several editions including French, German and Italian) is on your book shelf for regular references. The wealth of techniques and ideas is amazing with beads for beginner to advanced. I think it’s one of the best polymer books out there.
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Another Take on Repeated Folds
February 24, 2015
Inspirational Art
Today, we have the pleasure of looking at a similar form and similar elements as yesterday, but with a different approach and result. Yesterday’s repeated pattern was folded circles of clay arranged in a sunburst type of pattern. Well, today we have beads also created with a folded circle, the formation repeated in bead after bead, but all the beads are slightly different.
In this necklace, polymer artist Judy Dunn uses the repetition of the bead form to connect the otherwise varying elements in this design. The circles used to create the beads have different visual textures on them, as well as being different shades from pearl to deep blue. If the beads had all been slightly different, a more chaotic feeling would have emerged, but between the steady beats of the repeated pattern and the calm colors, we have a shimmery, elegant piece.
You can see other variation of these repeated forms along with a ton of other projects and materials (a Jill of all crafts she seems to be!) on Judy’s Flickr page.
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Repeated Folds
February 23, 2015
Inspirational Art
I have been wanting to talk about the use of repetition for a while, but it is just such a huge subject. So, I’m going to get started on it this week with some really obvious versions, and then maybe next week we’ll get into more complex examples.
Repetition doesn’t sound like it is that big or complex of a subject and in essence, it’s not. But, how it’s used with other elements of design is pretty monumental. First of all, aside from color, repetition can be one of the strongest visual elements in a piece. I think we respond to repeated forms and elements on a fundamental level because it is so abundant in nature, thus familiar and essential in our vision of the world. It represents a visual rhythm. Rhythm being another kind of element we readily recognize and are drawn to since it rules so much of what we do and experience from the cadence of our walk to the beat of our heart, to the beat of city sounds to, of course, all kinds of music.
In art, repetition is a way to integrate a kind of music into your work. You can use that music as a basic background beat or as the one element that carries a very simple piece. A string of pearls, for instance, is about as basic a show of repetition as you can get. In these pendants we see a very basic repeating composition, however, Enkhtsetseg Tserenbadam takes things up a notch with gradient color in the clay. The colors give the simple repetition a bit of liveliness that will keep drawing the eye back to it.
Repetition and color are truly Enkhe’s thing. If you need a good dose of color in beautifully simple, and some not quite so simple patterns, you have to jump on over to her Flickr pages or her beautifully simple and elegant website and have a good long gander.
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Outside Inspiration: Fabulous Fairy Fashions
February 21, 2015
Inspirational Art
Okay … I am apparently beyond tired or something. I thought yesterday was Thursday, and so I didn’t do an Outside Inspiration piece as I usually do at the end of the week. But easily fixed! We’ll make today our look-at-something-outside-polymer day.
I don’t have any idea what category of art this would be under–it’s kind of in its own category. If you haven’t taken a really close look at this little dress, do so now. Do you see what it is made of? Petals, fern fronds and feathers–a bit of fashion made for faeries. I just thought this was genius. What else would a fairy truly dress in but what nature has available to them. The thing is, you don’t realize that it’s not a dress when you first look at it. It’s just a construction of natural elements arranged to illustrate a dress; delicate and pretty, but just an illustration. A fabulous little illustration.
The clever little fashion tailor is UK artist Emily Bazeley. She became obsessed with created these fantastical bits of haute couture after getting a gift of pressed flowers from her artist grandmother, and while looking for something that would honor both the gift and her grandmother, created her first bit of fairy fashion. It was a natural fit for her. As Emily explains, “I have always been captivated by the beauty, subtlety and sheer magic contained within each petal of a flower; each vein of a leaf; not to mention the miracle of seeds, nuts, acorns and fir cones.” It sounds like a perfect artist endeavor for this nature lover.
She constructs and frames her creations and then sells them as wall art. I was thinking about all the beautiful elaborate canes made in our community and wondered if this would inspire our caners to illustrate some simply magical fashions or illustrations of their own. For more inspiration, take a magical stroll through Emily’s website to see more fashions, dwellings, furniture and, my favorite surprise, fairy washing lines with all the little bits a fairy might have to put out to dry. Adorable.
If you like this blog, support The Polymer Arts projects with a subscription or an issue of The Polymer Arts magazine as well as supporting our advertising partners.
A Mix of Fabulous Influence
February 20, 2015
Inspirational Art
Okay … I love this piece, but I hesitated posting it at first. And I bet you can guess why. The beads are beautifully crafted and the combination of contrasts lets each bead stand apart while still feeling like a part of the grand party that this necklace is by using regular jumps to red and and the limited palette. However, there are a couple very obvious bits of ‘borrowing’. I figured that word hits the middle ground on what some people might think about what Olga Ledneva does with work created in the styles and techniques of Dan Cormier and Helen Breil. Through books and classes, these two masterful artists make these techniques available to learn and create from. You can’t just learn these techniques and then not use them, right? However, you do still need to make them your own.
Upon seeing this, I knew neither Dan nor Helen created this piece. The beads echo theirs, but are not theirs for one or two reasons in each case. I think Olga really has applied her own style to the creation of the beads and, more specifically, to the combination and design of the necklace. The question, however, is whether or not you agree. I am definitely for taking something you learn and putting your own spin on it to the point that its original influence is not readily recognized rather than just add your own flair. But at what point does that happen? How far afield do you go before you can feel it really is your own work?
These are the first of this kind of work from Olga. We featured her own very unique constructed elements style about six months ago, and I can’t say I would have thought this was by the same person. Except for the meticulous finishes. That is really what is so fabulous about this. It is just so beautifully crafted. I am very interested in seeing where she goes with this kind of work. She obviously has her own particular voice and is trying to applying what’s she’s learned to her style of work. The outcome down the road could be tremendously exciting!
So what do you think? Do you think she should have taken the look and forms a touch further, or do you like how well she has learned what was taught and how she changed it?
You can see see more of Olga’s insanely meticulous work on her Flickr page.
If you like this blog, support The Polymer Arts projects with a subscription or an issue of The Polymer Arts magazine as well as supporting our advertising partners.
A Fabulous Glow
February 19, 2015
Inspirational Art
This piece is unusual for two reasons–one because, well, look at the way those colors glow! It’s pure color illusion, but they look like glass at first glance. The colors are a kind of candy luscious, and I think the space between the little blocks assists in the illusion that they glow because the little blocks of gradient color are not overly competing with neighboring color sets; our perception of colors changes depending on what other colors are sitting next to them. The second reason this is unusual is that the artist is one of those rare creatures in our community… a guy!
Moïse Vanden Broeck is a dental technician with his own laboratory (you can get quite creative in a dental laboratory!), as well as having a penchant for some really unusual approaches to jewelry. This piece has caught him at just doing something beautiful and fabulous. But, he’s also a pretty funny guy. You have to go read the interview on Parole de Pate where I first found this bracelet. Although, if you are going to read it in English, it will also be humorous due to translation. But it’s both an interesting and entertaining read in any language.
That interview is a few years old, though. To see what Moise has been up to recently visit his website and blog.
If you like this blog, support The Polymer Arts projects with a subscription or an issue of The Polymer Arts magazine as well as supporting our advertising partners.
On this last day of representational imagery, I thought I’d leave it on the light side, as well as take the chance to celebrate my favorite beverage!
Isn’t this pen just too cute? Tama of DetallitoOz does cute so very well. All of her work has such character and style. And cute imagery works best when it has a really great personal style coming through. From the little coffee pot on top to the swollen cups full of rich java, this pen is playful and energetic, so much so it’s making me feel a real need for a cup of joe myself!
See more of Tama’s wonderfully styled pieces on her site here. This little lamb would like you to come visit him.
And do continue to send me your love stories! A free digital copy or equivalent credit for The Polymer Arts print editions for each story I share, not to mention how happy and excited that special someone in your life will be when they see their story with you out there for all the world to sigh over. If you missed it, there are more details on Wednesday’s post about our Valentine’s Day contest.
If you like this blog, support The Polymer Arts projects with a subscription or an issue of The Polymer Arts magazine as well as supporting our advertising partners.
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Looking at all the other craft mediums out there, there is so much in the way of representational imagery. It was hard to decide what to share today. But since we are so many of us jewelry artists, I decided to return to the classic precious metal jewelry craft. This particular piece titled Na Pali Moon by Joan Tenenbaum uses several different classic techniques including reticulation (heating precious metal to cause ripples on the surface), cutting, patina surface treatments and even mokume gane (quick … can you find it?). For an all metal piece, the colors are particularly amazing and well controlled.
Joan described what she was trying to recreate here: “I have long been fascinated by the view of distant hills as they disappear into the mist. I love how they become less and less distinct and fade in color the farther away they are. As one looks along the coast, the rippling texture of the ridges of headlands has always inspired visions of jewelry capturing that movement and that landscape. In Na Pali Moon I have combined this theme with another favorite — that of moonlight on water. There are many beautiful coastlines, but the distinctive northwest coast of the Island of Kauai is one of the most exciting to me.”
I can see this kind of thing being made in polymer too. Polymer would lend itself well to the layers and textures. The hardest part might be mixing the muted colors to keep the serene feeling of such a scene. For more on Joan’s work and process, take a look at her gallery here.
Speaking of precious metal jewelry, our friends over at Metal Clay Artist magazine have had a terrible financial blow fall on them due to another business’s faulty practices. The problem is so bad that they’ve suspended publication on this magazine indefinitely — and it’s the only metal clay focused magazine in print! I am particularly saddened by and empathetic to their situation because MCAM is so much like The Polymer Arts — created by and for artists in a new medium and out of a passion to share with and grow their community. They even publish polymer clay articles, so you know they’re good people! We have been in touch to see how TPA might help, but first the editor, Jeanette LeBlanc, needs to get out from under the overwhelming financial burden caused by unforeseeable circumstances. You can read more on this story and how you can help and even get yourself some goodies or issues of this beautiful magazines at this MCAM FundMe page. Or go to the Metal Clay Artists’ website to buy a back issue or two. Get new inspiration, and help out a fellow artist dedicated to helping fellow crafters.
If you like this blog, support The Polymer Arts projects with a subscription or an issue of The Polymer Arts magazine as well as supporting our advertising partners.
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Today’s image is fantasy, rather than reality, but the images and things we see in our mind are just as valid as representational imagery, probably even more so. We have our own memories and images of the real world, but to peek inside someone else’s mind to see what their imagination is creating is pretty darn amazing.
Pennsylvania’s Kristie Brigham (Kristie-Lou on Etsy) might have been been inspired by the shell as much as her own imagination in this pendant. She commonly combines polymer and colorful shells and stones to create the visage of an underwater or ethereal world. I thought this was one of her best ones, at least that I could find. The colors and ruffling of the texture around the face echoes the layers of color and shimmer in the shell. And this piece had an emotional inspiration. In her own words: “The 2010 tragedy [oil spill] in the Gulf of Mexico originally inspired this design. I envisioned Mother Nature watching over her ocean creatures … looking up at them, protecting them, and guiding as many as she [could] to safety while she works to heal the waters we take for granted.”
So very much a representational image in her mind after all. You can find more of Kristie-Lou’s face-focused work on her Etsy page.
And don’t forget to send me your stories for the ‘Love’ly Contest. Send them to sbray@thepolymerarts.com (or just reply to your blog post email if you get it that way). I love what I’ve been reading so far!
If you like this blog, support The Polymer Arts projects with a subscription or an issue of The Polymer Arts magazine as well as supporting our advertising partners.
This beautiful scene came across my screen during the The Polymer Art Challenge on Facebook, and I just fell in love. I’ve been recently pushed and prodded into getting back to doodling and sketching as a way to get a little art out in spare moments. I think we’ve all drawn in our clay with hand tools to make decorative lines, dots, dashes and the like. But how about actually sketching out an image?
This delicate sketch of a landscape was created by Giulia Allasio of Alida monili (Alida Jewelry). She has several other pieces like this, all with a quiet serenity in not only the sketch but the forms, colors and simple framework she chooses. This particular one is titled Paradiso di Luce (“Paradise in Light”). She says it is a view of a small mountain lake. Take a moment to examine the detail, and see how the land and sky beyond the reaching tree has been lightly colored to show a shimmer of light and variation in the sky.
I would suggest dropping by Giula’s Alida monili Facebook page where she has been posting this and other beautiful pieces to share with us all.
By the way, the push I got to get back to sketching came from my dear sweet man who, even though he draws for a living (he’s in animation, drawing hundreds of storyboard images every week; talk about cranking it out!), he sketches randomly while on the phone or to wind down for the day. I bring this up for three reasons … one, if you’re not getting into the clay studio as often as you’d like, quick sketching is a way to be visually creative in short, relaxed moments. Two, sketching randomly will improve your drawing skills and create ideas you can transfer to your clay work. And three, I want to ask for stories of your other halves and the other loves of your life for next week, so I’m using this as a segue. I’ve not done anything like what I’m about to propose before, but let’s see what happens!
A ‘Love’ly Contest
Next week precedes Valentine’s Day, and I thought it would be ‘love’ly if readers would share their own love stories and suggest a piece of art to go with it. It could be any kind of love story, from how you met your spouse or some little thing he or she did that made you love them even more, to a touching relationship with your children or the love of a family member that encouraged your art and expression. I’ll give each reader whose stories we choose to post next week a free digital copy of any issue of The Polymer Arts or an equivalent discount off a print copy or a subscription.
Send your stories to sbray@thepolymerarts.com (or just reply to your blog post email if you get it that way). Try to keep your stories to 300 words or less, and don’t forget to send me a link to another artist’s work or an image of your own work to go with the story. An image of the loved one in the story might be nice too. If you have a website of yours you would like to promote, include that as well.
So come on, make us sigh and cry. I’ll go stock up on tissues.
If you like this blog, support The Polymer Arts projects with a subscription or an issue of The Polymer Arts magazine as well as supporting our advertising partners.
I was really going to try and avoid flowers this week, not because they aren’t wonderful and lovely, but because we already have such a love affair with them in this community. I figured we’ve seen quite a bit, and it would be more useful to find other subjects. But then there were these. I have had these earrings in my little chest of goodies to share for a while, but it took until this theme for me to figure out why I think they are so well done. I think it’s the fact that the creator, Deb Cooper, made the whole earring a flower with stalk included, rather than just adding flowers to a circle of clay. Sometimes it’s just the very simplest of adjustments that takes something from nice to fantastic, from interesting to amazing.
All the choices here were the right choices: the translucent clay to catch the light and show variation in the colors, the colors themselves, leaving the flower with very organically ruffled petals and not spoiling it with any other additions. These actually got me to stop and consider what you could do to make a gauge earring from real flowers. But these would certainly last longer.
You can find Deb’s wide array of cleverly decorated gauge earrings on Etsy and on her Deviant art page.
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While cruising the farthest corners of the internet last week looking for conceptual pieces, I came across a lot of beautiful representational imagery in polymer. Concepts are created in art using imagery; concepts can also be created abstractly, or concepts can be embodied in the function, location or timing of the piece. And, I think, all representational imagery is obviously not conceptual but sometimes simply the artist’s view or translation of something out there in the world or within our imaginations. Sometimes, you just want to sit back and enjoy something well- or cleverly rendered. So that’s what we’re going to do this week.
This first piece feels so much more than visually representational. I imagine that, while wearing this necklace with the segmented feather beads, the wearer’s movement would make the the feathers shift, in a smooth subtle way. I think it could bring to mind flight or the owl gently ruffling its wings. The idea of something that flies combined with a design that moves and floats is just lovely. It represents the bird and an action of the bird. Rather clever.
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