Outside Inspiration: Ceramic Windows
March 20, 2015
Inspirational Art
The domed disk is, of course, not only a polymer thing but makes regular appearances in materials where a flat surface can be manipulated or molded such as with sheets of metal, glass or ceramics. Vicki Grant created this gorgeous disk from porcelain complete with a peek-a-boo window not unlike the popular forms of this type we see in polymer.
Vicki’s disc has some very enchanting movement in that swirl of the ferns on the outside that is echoed by the tight swirl of the nautilus tucked inside the window, both have cross patterns created from the fern leaves and the shell chambers respectively. Although she titled it Windows to the Earth, the juxtaposition seems to conjure up earth surrounding a window to the ocean; a contrast of lush soil against the clean whites of a small spot of underwater landscape. The contrasts add a bit of intrigue to the design.
Vicki’s work is regularly intriguing and inspiring. See more of her work for that inspirational “shot in the arm” on Vicki’s website, Claytree Fine Art
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A Journey in Organic Domes
March 19, 2015
Inspirational Art
Picking items to feature this week was quite diverting. There is so much out there in this form but no easy way to search for it, so I just meandered the polymer highway; very grateful to find such cool things as this highly-organic ring by Tanja of Flickr’s Fantastisch-Plastisch. I actually found it after spotting the domed beads you see below it. They were created six years apart. If you meander through Tanja’s Flickr photostream you can see the journey and exploration she goes through as she returns to variations of this form over and over.
The interesting thing here is, she created these based on the teachings of other artists. The influence is pretty obvious in the ring–she shares that this and the other recent rings in this series were inspired by projects in Ronna Sarvas Weltman‘s book Ancient Modern: Polymer Clay and Wire Jewelry. The beads below were inspired by Grant Diffendaffer. She has other work in domed disks that are wholly her own, as well, but they all look quite different. The one thing that most all of them encompass is an organic quality. Even the Diffendaffer inspired beads with their high shine have distinctly organic textures. Because of the easy way we can form domes and disks on lightbulbs with cookie cutters, it is nice to see them rough and freeform, as well.
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Variation on a Disk
March 18, 2015
Inspirational Art
A week’s exploration of the domed disk form could not be presented without discussing the variations of hollow lentil beads. Especially not those with peek-a-boo windows. This is a popular and rather classic look that is so easily formed in polymer and has so many possible variations. This form has to be Betsy Baker’s favorite. And she does it so well, with tons of variation, especially in the area of layered domes and layered pieces to create domes.
This piece has a dome with a window, as well as another with a window so large as to make it more like a bezel. The interior objects that initially draw our attention reflect the texture and color of the fabric-like central dome, which then brings us back out and around to the outer textured gray that echos the darker gray interior. We find ourselves doing a lot of visual wandering for just a pendant, but that is what makes it such a nice piece.
If you’ve not explored Betsy’s wide range of domed focal beads and other fabulous pieces, you can do so on her beautiful new website.
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Convex Disks & Beaded Bezels
March 17, 2015
Inspirational Art
The domed disk, used for nesting as in yesterday’s post, is also commonly used to present a surface design with dimension and substance. We do love our domed, hollow, lentil-style beads, don’t we? But, here we have a beautiful example of a domed shape used as a center point and a raised form for some lovely beading.
This is from Katka Václavíková, working as Kat-ja, an artist from the Czech Republic who is an enthusiastic beader but looks to be taking her polymer quite seriously these days as well. The beauty in this piece that really caught my eye, aside from the nice color palette, was the way the polymer design was integrated with the beading. It is not just in the physical joining of the bead bezel, but also the type of polymer cabochon. Look at the design on the polymer surface–it is very much like a beading pattern; the way the stringing crosses back and forth and repeats in a steady, structured rhythm. It made this particular polymer focal piece a completely natural and well-suited pairing for the decorative bead work.
Kat-ja has a shop in two parts on Fler.cz; an Etsy-style site for arts and handicrafts in the Czech and Slovak Republics. She sells supplies for beaders and clayers, as well as handmade beads and cabochons on her supply side under Kat-ja Materials and her finished jewelry under her Kat-ja shop. It’s a well-rounded business model that looks to be keeping her busy!
Correction: Katka wrote to let us know that actually the cabochon created was created by Iva Brozova. So it was a collaborative piece with well collaborating materials! Great work ladies.
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A Proliferation of Disks
March 16, 2015
Inspirational Art
There are certain forms or elements that make a regular and popular appearance in various types of art. Sometimes they appear so often because the form is something the material and associated tools are particularly suited for. Sometimes they have simply been a large part of the culture in which the art form originated or grew. In polymer, one of the ones we see so very, very often are disks, especially domed disks. I was looking over my little collection of links and images and noticed that there are just tons of that kind of thing. It looks to be growing in popularity and variation, too. I can’t say why that is true, but I thought we’d look at how this type of element is currently being used in polymer.
We can’t start with the idea that maybe these forms are cultural because we see them in polymer art from all over. This set is from Russian artist, Olga Sypkova. She calls them “Mars Flowers” and uses the basic form of a concave disk to create flower like pieces that do have an other-worldly feel to them. Here, the disks are used as the base of a stylized image. Either the imagery Olga was after determined the need for the disk form or the form suggested the imagery, but either way, the disk form is integral to the look of this set.
Olga works in a similarly rough, organic and yet, very feminine style. Her beautiful pieces can be found for viewing and for sale in her Livemaster shop.
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Outside Inspiration: The Mode of Metal Clay
March 13, 2015
Inspirational Art
Since the spring issue’s theme was Diversity, there is plenty of ‘Outside Inspiration’ in this issue, but it’s focused more on how other materials can be combined with or can inspire polymer works. So, the obvious choice for this Friday was to choose one of the mixed media artists and share work that didn’t make it into the dense articles that make up that section of this issue. That was a hard decision to make since all five artists were my first pick choices for each type of mixed media work (and they all said yes to contributing! How lucky we all were in that!), but the one collection that really struck me as pushing beyond polymer more than any other was probably Celie Fago’s. Her work leans heavily on metal clay as a material but to the point that when combined, it is hard to tell what is polymer and what is metal. Which then leads to a very simple question … does it really matter what is what?
The take away I most hoped people would get from reading that section of this issue is to see that the material is not as important as the outcome. Choosing to work with another material in addition to, or even instead of, polymer is showing great respect for your creativity and self-expression. Some materials will simply deliver your ideas better than others, and if we look only to polymer to do that, we can miss out on wonderful new modes and forms of expression. I think this is where Celie’s work really draws strength; in its focus on the form and texture regardless of the material. Her work has such an ancient feel as if every piece has been through years of existence; that it was precious and valued by its creator and its wearer. The colors, bright or subtle, have some inner light that adds to the spiritual quality of them. The type of material is not a contributing consideration in the admiration of the work. Unless you come to wonder just how she creates the textures she does. Well, I won’t spoil it if you haven’t read the article yet. It’s a beautiful piece with an interesting story of her journey and philosophy behind what drives her work.
The piece here is, I believe, all precious metal clay. I just love how every single surface, edge, form and point of construction was considered and very obviously and consciously designed. There is so much going on here, so take a moment to get a closer look by zooming in or going to her website to look at the original photos. And while there, take some time to wander and check out the many other beauties on the site. Also, take a look at her upcoming classes both at the Bead and Button show in May and at her home studio. What an opportunity that would be!
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The Source of Her Quilling
March 12, 2015
Inspirational Art
The big, information laden and in depth technique tutorial in the spring issue is on polymer quilling. Quilling with paper has gotten quite popular and has gone beyond the realm of basic decoration into some truly museum-quality wall pieces. The art intrigued Beth Petricoin, and she wrote me last year to query about whether our readers would like to see this done in polymer. She had started working on the technique in the summer of 2013 and was needing that push to perfect it. So, with an enthusiastic “Yes!” from me, she worked on it until she streamlined the process and had developed several different approaches in order to provide a great variety of possibilities. The article in the spring 2015 issue includes these with everything from choices of substrate or none at all, closed and open quill work methods, and plenty of tips and tricks to get our readers started on this fun and beautiful technique.
In this article, we were able to show both simple and very complex pieces using this technique. What we didn’t have room for was the piece that rather started this whole journey for Beth. But, you see it here now. I believe this was her first full-scale attempt with this technique back in 2013, and it’s really quite well done. I love how the sky versus the ocean, both in shades of blue, are delineated by types of forms—round and rolling, accented with bubbles in the ocean while the sky is simple waves and white clouds. Zoom in on the turtle as well to see the whorls in the shell. There’s a lot of detail in this.
You can read about this first piece along with the Native American Indian story that inspired it on Beth’s blog. Take a look through some of her other entries and catch the broad range of her work with a little perusal around her Etsy store.
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Alcohol Primaries
March 11, 2015
Inspirational Art
I think the brightest article we had in the spring 2015 issue had to be Jan Montarsi’s “Expanding Your Color Range with Alcohol Inks”. In this article, Jan not only shows us the best way to use alcohol ink as a colorant for the clay, but also gives us recipes and insights into developing a pearl and translucent clay color range far beyond what is available straight out of the package. Additionally, he offered a great Skinner blend style technique for creating graduated colors with alcohol inks. He has based his newest color expansion on a set of alcohol inks he has been able to determine will work as wonderful primaries for color mixing. It’s an intensely packed article that color junkies really need to get their hands on.
If you have been watching Jan throughout the last four plus years, you’ve seen the intense and gorgeous pearl colors he creates and combines within his various techniques. Because of everything Jan stuffed into this article, we didn’t have room for a show of his work using this coloring approach, so I thought I’d share a bit more of his range today. This necklace was a test using extruded pearl clays. I wish my tests turned out this luscious. This is not even a recent example of where he has gone with his coloring and pearl techniques, but it is a beautiful show of just what can be done by mixing a wider range of pearl colors together.
To see the wider range of Jan’s work, take some time and visit his Flickr photostream. Then be sure to read the article and set aside some exploration time with alcohol inks!
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Of Pencils & Pastels
March 10, 2015
Inspirational Art
One of the key aspects of the spring issue was in introducing readers to materials that currently are not commonly combined with polymer. In our “Color Diversity” section, we were lucky enough to get primers on using two other art materials that artists Margit Bohmer and Penni Jo Couch have been playing with—that being pastels and colored pencils, respectively. They both had so much information to share that we didn’t have room for a gallery of other examples by other artists. We do encourage all our readers who find themselves intrigued by the colors and possibilities of these mediums to investigate them further. I know we did, and there is some beautiful work being done with both materials.
What is even less common than each of these materials being used with polymer is using the two additional colorants together to punch up the color and texture of a polymer piece. In fact, I only found one such piece by an artist local to me, Maria Clark of Sweet Willow Designs in Lakewood, Colorado. This leaf was crafted in polymer and wire, and then colored with pan pastels (see the article for more on this artist-quality type of pastel.) Then it was cured and further enhanced with Prismacolor colored pencils. The colors are so juicy and intense; the subtle changes in texture just add to this richness. This is not a look or gradation in color you could get with colored clay alone.
Maria explains her process briefly in a post on her blog. She has other work to show on her Flickr pages and tutorials on her YouTube channel. Although, there does not seem to be any colored pencil or pastel work there … yet. But, if you want even more ideas about the broad possibilities of both colored pencil on polymer and/or pastel on polymer, I first highly suggest you read the very informative articles with technique steps that Margit and Penni generously wrote for us in the Spring 2015 issue of The Polymer Arts, and then hit up Pinterest, Flickr and Google for additional work using polymer + pastels +/or colored pencil for keywords. Then, be ready to get lost in the images you’ll find.
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Isn’t one of the most breathtaking things in spring really just the blossoming of color after long months of a barely-there tint to the world? It’s a simple and even expected occurrence, the return of brilliant color, but when starved of something for a while, we become so much more appreciative and even excited by it, as if it was our first glimpse all over again.
Simple, but perfectly bright and cheery, is what I thought of this hair slide by Kathy of Flowertown Originals on Etsy. It’s really those jelly roll canes, going from light in the middle to bright color on the outside that makes the composition seem to glow. (See our Summer 2014 article in The Polymer Arts on creating the illusion of light for more on these techniques.) Between the blossoming flowers, the greening of the grasses and the lengthening days, this is just the kind of work that will be very well appreciated this time of year!
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I have to say up front that I am not a particularly floral kind of girl. I am far more likely to be found in the plumbing department than the gardening department at the local hardware store, but I still have a sincere appreciation for nature’s creative show during this time of year. Those of us in the northern hemisphere who are lucky enough to be in a climate that has benefited from some of the beautiful weather these past couple weeks are seeing the first of the spring flowers covering the hillsides and sprouting up alongside the country lanes. It makes one just ache to jump about and sing a few lines from “The Sound of Music” … doesn’t it? Okay, maybe that’s just me, but truly, the signs of spring are showing, and we can get excited about the prospects of warmer weather and colorful scenery or be bidding the summer’s bounty a fond farewell if we are south of the equator, so it seems about time that we honor nature’s most lovely creations.
If you will be participating in any upcoming spring shows, a good selection of floral motifs would certainly be welcome displays. I’ve picked out a lovely bunch to share this week. This first set is a bow to the rose and to floral abundance. Not only does Vera Veselova have lovely bunches of blossoms here to share with us, she has a tutorial for it as well! Click the image to get to it.
Now, what could you do with these rosy flowers? Well, I was thinking you could envelope the upper or half dome of a lentil shape, run blooms down the outside edge of a rectangular pendant or, for the truly ambitious, ring the center line of a vase or bowl. Abundance is itself a legitimate element of design. The key is to tone down or control the variety of other elements so the viewer is not overwhelmed. I mean go look at a freshly sprung field of wildflowers … we must admit that Mother Nature knows a thing or two about design!
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I saved these beads for last because for all the color, texture and wow factor we saw in the other beads this week, these are the ones that I find most impressive. The care and precision shown here make them some of my favorite polymer beads to date.
The creator of these amazing pieces is Cody Craynor. He has many sets with similar motifs and forms, but this set shows a wider example of possibilities when using his bead making techniques. He has the ability to create variety and movement within his designs. How he does this, I’m not completely certain; although, he gives some first hints on this post on his website from 2012. He has some interesting things to say concerning his approach, too:
“By its nature, polymer clay lends itself to organic fluidity and sculptural forms. But through mechanical intervention I coax the clay to comply with my own mathematical rigidity. Unpredictable chaos makes up much of my life. The clay allows me to create forms, symmetry and rhythm, which are personally therapeutic and welcomingly familiar to my instincts.”
Well, I do like his instincts! You can view more of these visual marvels on Cody’s website.
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A collection of elements doesn’t always get the best photo set ups, but when they shine so beautifully regardless of the makeshift backdrop, you have to admire and take time to get a really good look at the beauty of each piece.
These gorgeous glass beads are the work of Kimberly Affleck. Although the seahorses kind of draw you in first, it’s what she calls her dragon feather beads that have me entranced. There is so much going on with them–that feathery texture wrapping around in soft swirls among the delicate colors, accented and accentuated by the raised dots that follow the swirling, and then there is the focal point of one clear dot that somehow pulls it all together. I would love to hold one of these in my hands and get a really close look at the work.
However, Kimberly had to cut back on her glass work when her day job became more demanding back in 2011. Her last posts on Facebook in early 2013 were the last public postings I could find, so it seems the job didn’t ease up so very much. If anyone knows of more recent work hidden on some other websites, do let us know. Otherwise, you can find the greatest collection of her beautiful glass beads on her Facebook fan page.
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Tube beads–they are round straight lines. Yeah, I know … sounds a little simplified and obvious but think about it. Round and straight don’t usually go together, but here we are, able to put the two together. My mother says I have never lost my childlike wonder of the world, and I guess she must be right since something as simple as a tube bead can still rather fascinate me.
Not only do tube beads have two seemingly disparate characteristics, they easily embody both the softness of their round aspect and the directionality of their straight lines. They can also be staccato by lining up short versions or hold long notes by being thin and lengthy. They can, like most beads, hold a tremendous amount of detail in a small space, such as the tube beads you see here by Annerose Doerling. The many colors and visual textures are just so yummy.
Now, here is the cool part. Annerose’s tube beads have been blogged about before, and it was revealed back then (some seven or so years ago) that she was working with a technique created by Dominique Franceschi that she found on another blog a couple years before that. The wonder of the Internet has preserved the links and the corresponding posts, so … tada … you can go back in time and see how old, very dry and crumbly clay can be turned into such gorgeous elements as these beads here. You can go to the Parole de Pate post here to see the super easy technique, but then you might want to bounce on over to Annerose’s Flickr pages to see how she perfected the technique and the finish for them. I’m sorry to say I couldn’t find any recent work by either the creator of the technique or her apt pupil, but I hope they are both out there still creating with childlike wonder and abandon.
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This fun little set of beads is actually an example of the beads you can make from a kit that Barbara Briggs ingenuously put together. Not that kits are anything new, but this one for beginning polymer beads is pretty clever. She offers wooden bead centers as a jumping off point for shapes and adds mica powders and pre-mixed clays in particular color palettes as designated by the buyer. Along with other basic necessities, she offers plenty of instruction.
I thought this sampler of what her buyers could make was quite lovely on its own. The colors are slightly muted, and the textures are organic and rounded, so they could easily be paired up on a single necklace string. I’d wear that! And, how exciting for beginners to see the versatility and the ease with which polymer can create lovely components. The hard part is getting away from a kit and making your own color, form, texture and other design choices. But, that is when your own voice comes into play.
If you are unfamiliar with Barbara’s work, she is an insane beader who works in all kinds of beading material. If you are on here because you find polymer fascinating but maybe haven’t tried doing much with it yet, here is a great opportunity. Or if you’re one of our experienced readers, take a look at Barbara’s other beading kits and add some complex beading to your repertoire. These kits and patterns can all be found in her Etsy shop.
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The classic, shiny, smooth cabochon has been a favorite shape for semi-precious stones for ages. It’s not surprising that with our vast array of techniques and our ability to add liquid polymer and resins, the polymer community has embraced and rather run wildly with many possibilities that recreate these popular focal pieces. I remember that they were the first truly exciting polymer elements I ever made, and I am still madly drawn to them. They are hard to resist.
This collection was created some years ago by Sharon Solly, but still feels fresh and alluring today. According to the description on her Flickr page, these are polymer clay painted with Lumiere paints and mica powders and then sealed with Kato liquid clay. They are reminiscent of dichroic glass, and the veins in them give them a more nature-made look.
Sharon had a lot of fun with cabs back around 2008. If you hit up her Flickr photostream around pages 3 & 4, you’ll see more cab variations like this, as well as caned cabs and those embedded with fantasy fibers and the like. She also is quite the multi-talented craftsperson with glass and bead work to show off as well; many of them are also collections of components that we can admire today.
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Although finished work is the usual focus here, I am often just as fascinated by the elements that make up a piece of jewelry, a sculpture, or a wonderfully decorated container. Well-developed faux stones, layered cabochons, complex canes and intricately designed beads can be such little worlds of wonder unto themselves. I guess part of me has held back on sharing images of components because the quiet little unimposing collections may not look so impressive as a tiny photo on the blog or on Facebook. But this week … we are going to show them anyway. I’d highly encourage you click on the images in the posts to find the larger views, so you can really soak up the details.
This is one I found yesterday that kind of sparked the whole idea. It popped up somewhere on my Pinterest feed, and I was just so excited to see microbeads being used in such a controlled manner. I have been working out ways to use these a bit more myself and just fell in love with Maria Belkomor’s lovely application. These beads look like individual little planets, well seeded and covered in beautiful lush lands and waters.
She has a number of these microbead bead sets on LiveJournal including a bracelet with strips using this application. Get yourself a closer look on the post here.
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Concave, convex, flat, nested, or peek-a-boo … domed disks hold numerous possibilities for polymer designs. Like this necklace of flat disks plus a focal concave disk accent on each that have been created by Polymeramoi who actually started this because of a momentary obsession with blended ikat patterns. The concept of disks show off the patterned polymer, and the solid, concave disks create a simple focal point that echos the flat disks in shape but with more volume.
If you want some ideas for playing with disks this weekend, there are numerous tutorials to check out online for free. Here are just a few I found fascinating. This first one is actually done with ceramic clay but lay down a little liquid polymer between the halves and it could be done with polymer.
Have a happy weekend claying, relaxing or otherwise enjoying the first day of Spring!
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