Moody Creatures
June 29, 2018
Inspirational Art
Guest Blog Post by Donna Greenberg
We don’t seem to talk much about emotion or mood in polymer art. We share a lot about color, design, construction, and problem-solving, which are all necessary and practical ideas, but seem to shy away from work that is clearly emotional, thought-provoking or even frightening. Although not a polymer artist, Beth Cavener’s work takes this subject head on with her large-scale animal sculptures and offers us food for thought, especially those of us that love to create human or animal sculptures.
Hares, foxes and other familiar and beloved creatures in folklore are given uncanny human-like facial and bodily expressions, making us look twice at Cavener’s sculptures. Occasionally she will even add a decidedly human body part to the animal, yet manages to do this in such a way as to make it seem quite natural. Her creatures seem to have been frozen in a moment of action, often expressing fear, uncertainty or other primitive human instincts. If we look closely, we can almost see our own human emotions reflected in them. It’s not always comfortable to witness these works, but Cavener’s attention to every detail, exquisite craftsmanship and control of the narrative masterfully lures us into her world nonetheless.
Her sculptures are also technically brilliant. The artist methodically goes through multiple steps during weeks and months of creating thumbnail sketches and numerous small maquettes, and then makes many changes in designing the right armature before she even starts on her final work. Yet as traditional as some of her methods are, she still has no fear of flouting “rules” when it comes to achieving her desired look. Interestingly, Cavener ignores most ceramic glaze-type finishes in exchange for basic household latex paint, an action that is often frowned upon in purist ceramic circles. Keeping a limited color palette helps support the mood as well as shows off her prodigious sculptural handwork. Surprisingly as well, she will sometimes incorporate classical delft porcelain colors with elegant Japanese-style tattoo designs such as those on the snake in “Tangled Up in You” which adds a soft, accepting moodiness to an otherwise disturbing subject. Combining all these disparate artistic goals in any single piece could easily become a messy affair for many of us, but in the hands and mind of a master like Cavener, it all comes together beautifully.
See more of Beth Cavener’s striking work at her website.
Check out the new “BioSystem” wall works from Donna Greenberg on Facebook. This is a brand new series incorporating her love of organic forms such as lichen, fungi, and corals with her interest in painted details in a true wall-hung format. Her self-challenge is in combining multiple intricate complex forms with a limited color palette to create depth and dimension with a strong yet subtle outcome. Visit Donna’s website here.
The Inspiration of Children
June 27, 2018
Inspirational Art
Guest Blog Post b
y Debbie Crothers
When visiting the website of Perth-based porcelain artist Fleur Schell, my immediate reaction is to smile. Fleur’s work has such a whimsical, carefree style and makes me stop and take a breath. There is so much to explore and as I do so, I find myself getting lost in the detail.
Her restrained use of color is just beautiful and being the color junkie I am, I find this surprisingly refreshing and calming. It also helps us really “look” at each piece.
Her children, Harry and Heidi, are a huge inspiration and it appears that Fleur delights in creating whimsical worlds for them, almost like savoring their childhood and celebrating their innocence and differences. This particular artwork title sang to me: “She was beautifully out of place, like the moon during the day.”
Lose yourself in the story of Fleur and her amazing sculptures by visiting her website.
Debbie Crothers shares her love of polymer, color, and craft through her blog here, with tutorials available both free and for purchase here.
Inspiration, Aspiration, and Jon Stuart Anderson
June 25, 2018
Inspirational Art
Guest Blog Post by Teresa Pandora Salgado
Van Gogh admitted to the world, “I am always doing what I cannot do yet, in order to learn how to do it.” Me too, Vincent.
One of the most infuriatingly fabulous things I cannot do is make cane like Jon Stuart Anderson. Jon creates canes in a cunning palette that leans in close and whispers, “Go ahead…take your time…look at me.” And I surely do. And the world does too.
I love the way Jon cruises nimbly past the pedestrian cane crossing. He jaywalks that trodden path without ever touching the ground. Obvious contrast? He doesn’t need it, no matter how much the cane is reduced. Nor does he require new colors. Jon keeps it fresh with precision, composition, and balance. Neat trick.
Jon Anderson is known for his millefiori animals: elephants, turtles, bulls, and birds. You’ll notice the creatures have a flesh and blood sense about them, a beating heart beneath their rich robes. So you look and you look and then, just when you think you know him, Jon takes you to another fork in the road. To the left, skulls, vessels, lights. And to the right, guitars. Ohhh, the guitars.
So, go ahead. Look. Be inspired. Aspire.
See Jon’s work at his website here.
Teresa Pandora Salgado is a polymer clay artist, designer & instructor from Los Angeles, California. She has made 87 YouTube tutorials which have garnered over 2 million hits from viewers in 151 countries. In addition to teaching live workshops on millefiori complex caning across the U.S., Teresa helms the online store, Tiny Pandora Crafting Boutique, which featuresMilll her specialized tools and kits.
Romancing the Stone
June 22, 2018
Inspirational Art
Guest Blog Post by Christi Friesen
Well, Sage is off on an adventure, and some of us agreed to jump in to keep the blog posts going so she could rest easy, knowing all is well.
Bwahahahahahahaha! If only she had known that I would use her blog for my own nefarious purposes!
Actually, she said I could use it to promote my upcoming new book, “Do You See What I See?” My new book will be out at the end of August. I’ve got all kinds of very tantalizing incentives such as a book bundle (including combos with a limited edition silkscreen with Creative Nudge Cards, with original sketches from the book and more!).
Ok, back to the regularly scheduled informative blog content …
Stones, crystals, and minerals are naturally interesting and often spectacularly beautiful. I always love seeing an artist who uses a beautiful stone in their artwork to make something more amazing than either stone or art would be separately.
I’ve long admired the repoussé work of jewelry artist Linda Kindler Priest, who is a master at this skill, and her work has helped me learn more about how things go together in my own work.
A good example is her “Polar Bear on Ice” brooch. The quartz crystal cluster she chose to combine with her golden bear repoussé piece could actually be ice! Brrrrrrr.
As you know, polymer and stones go together beautifully too. Almost every stone, mineral, or crystal can be worked into your polymer creation and baked together. Just something to think about when you make your next creation.
You can find more of Linda’s work on her website.
A Mosaic Tease
June 20, 2018
Inspirational Art
One more little tease before I go off. This is a brand-new Christi Friesen piece she created just for the new book, Polymer Art Projects—Organics, for which we will have discounted pre-sale opportunities when I get back in a couple of weeks.
Christi has been playing around a lot with mosaics and shares her techniques for creating polymer mosaic pieces and then applying them on variously shaped surfaces. This covered tin box is a textural jungle gym for the fingers. She mixes the busy, hard-edged mosaic pieces with the soft, organic flowing shapes and surface variations. This is all done over a tin box. Her tutorial is wonderfully detailed and allows some room for those people who like to change things up a bit as they go along, making their own unique version. Which, I think, is the end goal of working through tutorials—to learn the skills to make your own unique, self-expressive work. All the tutorials in this book will give you that opportunity if that’s what you want.
I thought it was also apropos to share this particular piece because Christi’s inspiration for this is Gaudi, as in Antoni Gaudí whose work can be found all over Barcelona. And that is exactly where I’m heading to tomorrow! For three days I’m going to take in all the Gaudi and fabulous Spanish food I can manage. So with that, I leave you in the hands of my generous artist friends, starting with Christi guest-blogging on Friday. ¡Hasta luego!
See more of Christi’s mosaics on her website and stay tuned here or get our newsletter, which you can sign up for on our website here, to be one of the first to hear when the new books are ready to order.
A Wave and a Tease
June 18, 2018
Inspirational Art
As of Thursday, I will be out of the country, gallivanting about with my family in Europe for a couple of weeks. Per doctor’s orders, I am trying to completely unplug so I will post something for you Wednesday and then, after that, you’ll have the pleasure of hearing from a number of other well-respected and accomplished artists as they share work by some favorite artists of theirs. It should be a nice, refreshing, change of pace for a couple of weeks, for you and I.
While I am gone, my assistant, Sydney, will be will be working away on our upcoming books we officially announced last week. Her first order of business will be working on the invitation list for the 2018 edition of Polymer Journeys, slated to come out in October. Consideration for inclusion in the book is by invitation only and although we have quite the list going already, we want to make sure we don’t miss anybody because you don’t have the right email or we’re simply not aware of what you’re doing. If you think your work should be included, see the details below.
Sydney will also be orchestrating the continued work on our first Polymer Art Projects tutorial collection – Organics. We’ll share the cover and set you up for pre-sale opportunities soon after I get back in mid-July. But, in the meantime, I’m going to be a terrible person and tease you by sharing a couple of pieces you will be able to make from the upcoming Projects book. Not to get you overly excited too early but I’m excited and dying to share some of this with you.
Here are variations on a pendant necklace that Debbie Crothers will teach you how to make in her tutorial in the book. She shares a number of her lovely surface treatments as well as a creative polymer clasp and other wonderful accents and touches. I asked Debbie to be part of this book because of her colorful, well-designed, but loose-feeling approach to surface design. She shows you how to complete a version of one of these but you’ll be able to easily take from the skills she teaches and create unique pieces of your own.
If you don’t follow Debbie and her blog, you can do so here. She often throws out little freebie tutorials as well as selling her fun and engaging video tutorials on her site here.
Polymer Journeys Invitations: If you were invited to participate in Polymer Journeys last time, you will be in the pool for the initial rounds to choose who gets invitations but please update us with your most recent email if it has changed since then. If you have not been previously invited but would like to be because your work represents some of the best that polymer has to offer and/or are contributing to the polymer community in unique or significantly supportive ways, you can request consideration for an invitation.
To be considered, fill out an invitation request here. Note that making a request does not guarantee an invitation as we are limited to 250 invitations and so we will narrow down the list in the first round before invitations are even sent out. Invitations go out mid-July. Submissions of work completed between 2016 and 2018 will be due in early September. If you have questions while I’m out, you can write Sydney at connect[at]thepolymerarts.com.
Twisted Color
June 15, 2018
Inspirational Art
Here is another example of using both color and line to create fun and energetic pieces.
Izabela Nowak is well known for her folded polymer but it looks like she has taken it a step further, away from the origami-inspired and into geometry formed from spiraling layers of polymer strips. Her color combinations tend to stay on one side of the color wheel but she doesn’t need a lot of bright or varied colors to give the pieces energy when she has these busy lines twisting back and forth around themselves. The open space in these pieces adds a light and delicate nature to her forms, lending plenty of quiet space between the strands of twisting color.
See what else she has been up to with her new forms by checking out her Flickr photostream, her Facebook page or her Instagram account.
Shaking Color
June 13, 2018
Inspirational Art
Imbuing your pieces with energetic color has a lot to do with contrast. The colors do not necessarily have to be bold and bright, although bright colors have an inherent energy of their own, but rather they need to be a mix of warm and cool, bright and muted, or any combination of color characteristics that make the colors vie for dominance, visually.
The colors in this brooch by Pavla Cepelikova have a fun combination of bright and muted as well as cool and warm colors. By themselves, they would give this piece a moderate amount of energy. Applying the colors in stripes adds to the intensity of energy as variation in color alternates up and down those striped strips.
Her use of lines also adds a tremendous amount of energy. Not unlike the way they use lines in animation to denote when something is moving, she has added energetic lines around the petals as if they are shaking on the surface of the brooch. The combination of energetic color and lines makes for a very lively piece.
This combination of line and color energy seems to be a recent exploration of Pavla’s. You can see what she’s done with it so far on her Flickr photostream and in her Etsy shop.
Detailed Color, 10% off Sale, New Books!
June 11, 2018
Inspirational Art
Things are super busy over here at TPA headquarters polishing up a brand new website. So we thought would make it busier (and because we will need to hold off on doing sales promotions on the new site for little bit) by bringing you a 10% off Everything in Your Cart Sale! The sale is good through June 14. Use the promo code TPASITE on our website.
We also have initial announcements about new books and our upcoming new website! But instead of filling up your blog post here with details, I’ll leave you with a link to our newsletter here to get all the news.
I thought we could look at busy color this week but find examples that keep it contained, manageable, and a real pleasure to view. A broad and varied colored pattern can add a lot of interest and energetic detail to a piece without being overwhelming. You just need a few points of keeping it controlled.
This pendant is by Jana Lehmann, part of a newer series of hers involving lots of color, lines and folded clay. Her patterns are further enhanced by her many little details—dots and spots and patterned borders. It is visually energetic as well as making you want to reach out and touch its very tactile surface. But for all its busyness, it is well contained within its borders and thick pendant form.
Take a look at her many variations with necklaces, rings, and brooches found on her Facebook page and Flickr photostream.
As much of a focus as Ellen and Sue have on polymer art at Creative Journey Studios, they make plenty of room for other types of beautiful craft mediums.
This work here is by one of the other craft artists they show and sell at the studio, Deb Karash, who works with metal and, surprisingly enough, colored pencil. Her reasons for choosing this combination of mediums sounds much like what many of us say about working with polymer. In her words, “drawing on metal provides a surface that is unique and can’t be achieved any other way. Colored pencil drawing allows me to blend colors and create patterns that are uniquely mine. I draw on metal because it is strong but easily formed. I create jewelry because I appreciate the intimacy of an art form that is worn on the body and that, historically, carries emotional weight.”
Her colors and forms might even impress one as polymer at first glance, making her work a possible source of inspiration for designing in polymer clay. Take a look at more of her pieces, and drink in more of her beautiful color, on her website and her Facebook page.
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If you make it over to Milton, Georgia for the Creative Journey Studios grand reopening, you will get to feast your eyes on some new work by the likes of Barb Fajardo. I don’t know that the pieces shown here will be there but I sure would love to see these in person.
Barb’s lovely mokume slices, with their leaf-like formations and washes of delicate color, are just such a treat for the eyes. The black background and frames really make the subtle colors pop. She keeps the organic look from becoming too stolid and geometric by giving each rectangular shape a slight curve or angle. The otherwise simple shapes allow the mokume to really shine.
Barb has been having a fantastic time playing with mokume lately and has been coming up with delicious color combinations and patterns. You should really check out her other pieces on her website here as well as follow her on Facebook and Flickr.
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At the end of this week, Creative Journey Studios, the ultimate polymer-related destination and a must-have on every polymer enthusiast’s bucket list, is having a grand reopening celebration at their new digs in Milton, Georgia, just north of Atlanta. The move from Buford was a monumental project for our dear Ellen Prophater and Sue Sutherland who are at the core of this fabulous concept and place. I’m sure they are thrilled as well as relieved to finally have a home set up again for the workshops and collection of polymer arts. Creative Journey Studios houses one of the largest collections of historically relevant polymer art in the world. The collection has recently expanded as well, taking up 18 cases just stuffed with amazing artwork.
One of the newest pieces in the collection is this mosaic by Ponsawan Sila, who recently relocated herself and her daughter to Thailand from Indiana, and had to shed many of their belongings in the process. But lucky us, this beautiful piece is permanently housed with our ladies in Milton.
For this coming weekend’s grand opening, held June 5th to the 8th, there will be demos all weekend along with a trunk show for Lindly Haunani on Friday night. The gallery will be showing off new work by quite a number of artists working in both polymer and mixed media. I’ll spend this week and maybe some of next week highlighting recent work by a number of these great artists that the studio supports.
If you’re interested in attending the grand reopening, go to the Creative Journey Studios’ website for further details. If you will have to visit on another day, you may want to look at the workshop schedule and plan to attend one of the amazing workshops they have coming up, conducted by the likes of Donna Greenberg, Jana Roberts Benzon, Julie Picarello and more. Go to this page for the workshop schedule.
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Here’s one last example for this week of these incredible illustrative image canes we are seeing these days. This one uses the more familiar and common imagery of flowers which so many cane makers are inspired by. However, the way Jayne Dwyer creates her flower here makes it look like a painting, with color variation and details that are not very common in polymer clay flower canes.
Jayne employees outlining, which we saw at work in Claire’s piece on Monday, but here it is quite a bit more dramatic with its black and white outlines. The soft gradation of color plays a contrast to the hard black-and-white delineation around the flower. It makes it really pop. She also created a painterly background for the flower within the cane itself. The streaks of color are varied but create radiating lines that give an energized, dimensional feel to the petals.
And then she has these spots of color that pop up within those gradations. It’s very detailed and interesting to look at closely and imagine all the decisions she made to come up with this image. I don’t suppose the decisions are much different than one would make when painting, but in polymer, each decision takes some serious confidence and dedication to the image since how it will look is not going to be wholly apparent until after reduction.
Take a close-up look for yourself at the image in this cane or go to a bigger image on Facebook. You can also see more of the work Jayne does on her website.
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