Shimmering in the Darkness
August 31, 2018
Inspirational Art
Sometimes it doesn’t take a lot to express emotion, energy, and atmosphere in such a way as to elicit a response. This necklace was just such a piece for me. It grabbed me as it came across my screen while I was rapidly scrolling through Pinterest and I slammed on the virtual brakes.
It may not speak to you quite so insistently but, then, I do have a penchant for things that are torn and worn down because of the sense of story I see behind them. It’s a twinge of curiosity, the same kind you would have if you saw an old torn dress – you would wonder what happened to it and the person that wore it. You just know there’s a story behind the state it is in. Story is fascinating and important to me, so visual echoes of a story will jump out to me. I imagine it does for this artist as well.
The artist here is Allison L Norfleet Bruenger, a metal jewelry artist who works in very organic shapes and applications. Much of her work is far more involved than this piece, with added color and layers but this necklace, with its dramatic torn edges and missing spaces, doesn’t need a lot of embellishment. It comes across as the remnant of some once functional object now elevated to a focused beauty. The sparkling teardrop, roughly wrapped with copper wire at its point relays a desperate but subtle insistence to raise what it is attached to up from a wrecked piece of metal to something precious in the eye of the viewer. And it does do that for me, and apparently many other people since it was shared around Pinterest quite a bit.
If this kind of work speaks to you, then you may want to take a moment to wander through Allison’s website here or follow her on Instagram.
Small Circles of Joy
August 29, 2018
Inspirational Art
Something else that really speaks to me is an expression of simple joy. Think about some of the favorite moments in your life. They aren’t always—maybe are not even usually—the big elaborate parties or exotic trips. They tend to be little things like that morning your granddaughter snuck out of her bed to come curl up next to you because she was so excited that you were visiting. It’s the time you and your sister laughed so hard at something the dog did that you literally fell out of your chair. It’s the wonder you feel that day in spring when the first flowers show themselves. Simple little joys are such disproportionately delightful and treasured things.
I can’t say for sure that the emotion of simple joy is what Denada Palla intended when she created these sweet little earrings but I can’t imagine, if it’s not, that it’s not something related. The stems the flowers stand on are not straight but wiggle just a little bit like they are starting to dance. The red poppies float to the top of their little canvas like they’re ready to fly off. The movement created by the imperfection of the lines and the proximity of the edge contributes greatly to that sense of joyfulness, as does the not-quite-alike pair. The uncomplicated design keeps that joy front and center.
Denada hails from Greece where she creates simple, floral-inspired jewelry which she sells on Etsy. Her sense of fun and, that which I interpret as joy, comes across on her Facebook page as well.
Eliciting a Response
August 27, 2018
Inspirational Art
I decided this week I would like to talk about work that speaks to me. Well, I don’t mean that I want to talk about me so much as use pieces that do speak to me as examples of what it means when a piece of artwork elicits a response from the viewer.
For various reasons, I ended up thinking and talking a lot about how we define art this past week. I have long felt that art should be defined as work that is made with expression and intention, with a goal of eliciting an intellectual or emotional response. Yes, I know a lot of people will say that it is the individual who should determine what art is to them but I would like to suggest that such a statement is not quite the right phrase. Each of us can determine what is good art or what is bad art—to that I absolutely agree. But shouldn’t a label such as “art” have a more specific definition than just whatever someone thinks is art, or just something that is made by hand, as the definition would seem to be nowadays?
I am guilty of this broad use as well so I’m not pointing fingers, I’m just a big proponent of using language to effectively communicate and I think it would be great if the English language had a well-defined use of the word “art” that allowed us to talk about work born of self-expression versus craftwork or artisan work created from skilled hands.
My definition also brings up the question of what does it mean to elicit a response? It is not as confined a concept as it might sound like so I thought I’d try to define that a little this week.
For a piece of work to elicit a response all it has to do is make the viewer stop and feel something, or stop and think. It could be something as simple as making them smile or as complex as questioning societal norms. It can be positive such as emitting a sense of peacefulness or negative such as work with a high shock value geared to make you appalled or angry. If the piece is made with intention, part of that intention will, consciously or unconsciously, be to communicate with the viewer, and if the artist is communicating then they are attempting to elicit a response. Good art accomplishes this. Bad art is too distracting in its failings to communicate or illicit anything of value.
This piece here feels like a very personal piece for Shannon Tabor who commented on her Instagram post of this that “I’m back to my roots in design with ‘Compass’. My Back To Basics study is over and I’m anxious to get all these design ideas out of my head and onto my clay!”
I can feel her excitement for this new work in the composition and surface treatment of this necklace. There is a buzzing kind of energy from the scratches and the asymmetrical placement of elements but there’s also a reservedness in the basic geometric shapes and the subdued and shaded palette. I found that I was drawn to the contrast between that reserved feeling and that feeling of excitement. It reminds me of that point in time right before things really take off in some exciting new venture, which I love, and so that must be what made me stop and spend time with this piece.
So, you see, Shannon may have been working on something specific to what she wanted to explore but the intention in her skilled design choices allowed me to connect with her emotion, or at least my sense of what her emotion must’ve been. That’s eliciting a response. And to me, that’s what makes it art.
See what else Shannon is up to by following her on Instagram or hopping over to her website.
The Last Polymer Arts … but announcing The Polymer Studio!
August 24, 2018
Polymer community news, The Polymer Arts magazine news
The End of a Magazine
I regret to announce that the upcoming Fall issue of The Polymer Arts will be the last issue, in its present form. Thanks to all its wonderful contributors, The Polymer Arts had become a highly influential magazine as well as an amazing and humbling journey for me but fate has pushed me towards other plans.
We wanted to give you the news before we shut down the subscription purchases (back issues and pre-orders for the Fall issue will still be available) and people started wondering. But we didn’t want to leave you on a sad note, so here is the good news!
The Birth of a New Magazine
A small group of very persistent people have pushed me to start a new venture (and are joining me in this in a few cases) that we hope will draw new people to the wonderful world of polymer clay. I’m thrilled to be able to announce that we will be publishing a new magazine for the polymer community, The Polymer Studio, with its first issue scheduled for a January 19th release.
This new magazine will continue to encourage readers to improve their skills and think creatively through quality content such as:
- Inspiring project tutorials from all over the globe, for all levels
- Expert instruction for improving skills and learning new techniques
- Tours inside the studios of unique and well-known polymer artists
- Invaluable studio tips and tricks
- Revealing artist interviews
- New product reviews
- A myriad of inspiring ideas and eye candy
- Regular articles by some of your favorite contributors including Christi Friesen, Ginger Davis Allman, and Anke Humpert, as well as myself.
We hope this new magazine will provide the new to intermediate polymer clay crafter with that regular, affordable creative shot in the arm that has been missing recently in periodicals, helping to fulfill your passion for learning and enjoying this fantastic medium.
Be an Early Subscriber for Discounts and a Special Gift
Subscriptions and pre-orders will be available in a couple of weeks. Go here to sign up to be notified when it goes live. Early subscribers will receive:
- An additional 10% off their subscription
- A very special little gift in November to hold you over until January.
- And the immense appreciation of the staff for your enthusiasm and encouragement.
Sign up for the Purchase & News Notifications here.
Would you like to be published in The Polymer Studio? We still have room in the inaugural issue for a few more project tutorials. If you would like to submit, send your tutorial ideas and a photo or two (or link to photos) to submissions[-at-]thepolymerstudio.com. You can also go to our Contributor Guidelines page for more information.
For The Polymer Arts Subscribers and Fans
Subscribers with ongoing subscriptions to The Polymer Arts will be receiving The Polymer Studios as of January 2019 as well as our little special gift in November to thank you for your patience during this transformation. This also means there will be no winter issue but, as most of you know there will be two books that you can look forward to that will be coming out before the end of the year. Wrapping those up is why production of this first issue will take until January.
If you have any questions about your subscription or the changeover, please write us at connect@ThePolymerArts.com
For those of you who enjoyed The Polymer Arts and all the conceptual articles and discussions, I’m not setting those aside completely. There is another related project on the drawing board that I will be investigating further after the periodical changeover is taken care of. So stay tuned!
If you’re curious about some of the reasons I had to close The Polymer Arts and, instead, started this new magazine, you can read about it on the About page on www.ThePolymerArts.com.
Mix and Match Stone
August 22, 2018
Inspirational Art
As I’ve said many times, you can have all types of contrast as long as there is some commonality in some aspect that will create a relationship between the disparate parts. Olga Ledneva is quite adept at this as you’re certain to see in this piece here.
What Olga had done to bring all these disparate pieces together was create a variety of faux stone and other natural and inherently solid-looking faux materials, all finished with a smooth surface and in relatively geometric shapes. That tied most of the bead elements together. But then there’s this flower, a delicate object with an uneven shape and a rippling surface. It’s completely different from everything else but it works, doesn’t it? Why would that be?
For one, she’s made this flower element the focal point by making it so completely different. Just its hugely different look actually ties it to the rest with its high contrast. But she sneaks in one subtle characteristic that makes it work with the other beads— she makes it approximately the same size as all the center stone beads. Similarly sized objects will seem to belong together when they are surrounded by a variety of other sized objects. This can be a tricky thing to pull off well but I think Olga did it wonderfully here.
Olga’s work has grown in leaps and bounds since I last posted her work in early 2015, a post that caused little bit of a stir because she was combining elements, forms, and techniques learned in classes from master polymer artists, which I pointed out while noting the original, completely valid and successful way she applied them. Not everyone was comfortable with comments that might be perceived as anything less than glowingly positive but, as I replied in the comments then, I feel that I am a funnel for the community and our thoughts and concerns. So, I wanted to present the piece as a great example of taking what you learn and making it your own.
Some people were actually mad about what I wrote but Olga, to her credit, saw this as supportive and positive. That kind of openness to constructive commentary on one’s work is an important element in an artist’s growth. It shows a sincere desire to better one’s skills and designs and I think we really see that in Olga’s work.
You can watch her growth over time and see more of her beautiful work by looking through her photos on her Facebook page and Flickr photostream.
Piecing It All Together
August 20, 2018
Uncategorized
Happy Monday to you all. Business first… preorders for the fall issue of The Polymer Arts is available online now. We don’t have a precise publication date but looks like mid-September. I’ll let you know here on the blog, in our newsletter, and on the website when we know. Again, thank you for your patience with me while I work on healing my overworked joints.
Okay, one more piece of wall art, this time by the inventive Angela Barenholtz. I know it seems like we’ve been talking about wall art for a couple weeks but this will probably be the last for a bit. I picked this one for a couple reasons having little to do with wall art.
For one, it’s a really fun piece with its variety in color, visual texture, and even the long shapes that make up this “polymer quilt.” Creating with a large variety of primary elements makes for energy-infused and eye-catching work. But, the trick is that everything still needs to work together and have some kind of relationship. In this case, the relationship is in the consistency of the type of pieces inserted into this quilt—long and evenly cut strips of visual texture arranged in a square composition. With this much consistency, you can go nuts with the variety of color, texture, and pattern.
Each one of these could actually sit on its own—like it could be a pendant or brooch if small enough, or even a pair of earrings. Giving yourself a canvas of a certain size and shape releases you from having to be overly concerned about the bounds of individual elements and construction of the work, particularly if you’re creating jewelry, and you get to play with what you place on that canvas. I imagine a lot of you might find that attractive, being we are so in love with our surface treatments, canes, and textures. How many times have you fallen in love with just the sheet of clay you were working on before it became anything? Creating a simple surface to work with can allow you to present those fantastic results in a fun and easy manner.
Angela is all about surface design and variety. You can see that by looking at her Flickr photostream. She also generously shares her techniques in her published tutorials which you can find on Etsy.
Finally Focused: The Fall Cover
August 17, 2018
Inspirational Art
Thank you all for your patience. The fall issue is coming together now and, as you can see, we have a lovely piece, a brooch by Helen Breil, to grace the cover.
The theme for the fall issue is “Center of Attention” which will include all types of focal, emphasis, and center point type conversations. Here are a few the articles you can look forward to seeing next month:
—The Focused Art of Helen Breil
—Six Different Fresh Faux Stone Technique tutorials
—Organic Sautori Necklace tutorial
—Designing Dynamic Focal Points
—Diversifying with Hair Adornments
—Becoming a Niche Artist
—Inspiringly Unexpected with Christi Friesen
—Creating for Yourself with Debbie Crothers
… and much more.
We hope you’re looking forward to this as much as we are! We should have the release date before the end of the month. It’ll be something to look forward to as we head into the fall (for down the southern hemisphere, spring) season!
We are setting up the website for pre-orders as I write this so if you click through to www.thepolymerarts.com and it is not there yet, it should be by Monday. I’ll remind yon on the Monday’s post. Have a wonderful and creative weekend!
BioSystem Impact
August 15, 2018
Inspirational Art
We can’t talk about wall art right now without bringing up Donna Greenberg’s newest series—BioSystems. She’s creating these amazing conglomerations of organic shapes, bursts of color, and all kinds of variation of texture in these wall pieces.
Like Pavla’s piece on Monday, there is no particular focal point in these wall pieces. However, there is a flow-through from one set of shapes and forms into another through the use of repetition and a gathering of color that defines multiple paths from which one can explore this visual adventure.
This series was an adventure for Donna herself as she wanted to work on something that she was inspired by without concern for the selling of the artwork. Ironically, these pieces have resulted in numerous commission requests. I love that because I have long believed, since my days of being a full-time artist trying to read the market, that if you put yourself into your work it will speak to people and the sales will come.
So, I say, create what pleases you, that which is drawn from your passion, and your vision will come through in a more original and meaningful way, creating work that will please both you and many a customer.
Do set aside some time to explore the other pieces in the series as well as the photos that show the different views of the work. You can do so on Donna’s Facebook page and Instagram.
Moving to the Wall
August 13, 2018
Inspirational Art
I know I just featured Pavla Cepelikova two months ago but that was for a brooch and I couldn’t help but share this fabulous wall piece. Wall pieces created with polymer seem to be a growing trend. And why not? We love our jewelry but if you really want to spend some time with a technique without worrying about construction and wearability, wall art is definitely something to try out.
Wall art may seem a bit of a daunting project, especially after working small as we commonly do with polymer jewelry, but really, wall art is just doing more of what you already do. The real difference is that your compositional space is bigger and the shape of the outside border is not going to be as important in many cases. You can just pick a size of space to cover in the shape of a square, rectangle, circle, or oval and start laying out your pieces. You may need to consider your substrate but there is a large array of options. You can use just one sheet of polymer clay itself for something like what Pavla has done. If there is more dimension and concern about how to attach it, you’d want something more solid like a wood or melamine board and some serious glue.
We actually did a whole series on creating wall art, including choosing substrates, in 2013 in the spring, summer, and fall issues of The Polymer Arts. So if wall art is piquing your curiosity, pull out those issues or order them on our website in digital or print.
And if you didn’t get a chance to look at Pavla’s art when we featured her work early in the summer, jump over to her Flickr photostream, her Etsy shop, or her Instagram page.
So, for those of us who like to keep our two-dimensional approach to polymer on the smaller side, I thought I’d nudge you to try your hand at polymer painting, if you haven’t already done so, and maybe combine it with a bit of polymer embroidery. As you see here, you can use polymer painting as a decorative approach to jewelry or small functional objects as well as for wall art.
To get you jump-started on these ideas, why don’t you jump over to Fiona Abel-Smith’s tutorial where she shows you how to create these little tree paintings that can be used for pendants or brooches. You can also peek in on her website where I encourage you to check out her Pietra dura polymer pieces.
Just click the image here to get to the YouTube video tutorial. Hope this kicks off some creative time for you this weekend!
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Since we started out the week talking about two-dimensional polymer, I went looking for more polymer wall art for you. There are quite a few people who do polymer “painting” and collage work with polymer and I was having a hard time choosing but then I ran into this fascinating little piece.
Our artist here, Reuven Eliazar, a gentleman in Israel with no particular medium affiliation, created this some 10 years ago. Once I read his statement that, “The colours and the materials are the ‘subject’. My ‘stories’ are only the excuse for them to speak out,” I saw what he seems to be trying to do here and it made more sense. The butterfly is wonderful on its own, but putting it in this little scene creates context for the work and starts the idea of a story upon which Reuven can display his exploration of the clay.
Although Reuven seems to be focused on photography more than anything these days, he does have a collection of his polymer work in this album on Flickr so you can get a better idea of what he was exploring. And, of course, perhaps this example has given you some ideas about putting a scene together with your own pieces so you can tell some little stories of your own.
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Even though polymer is generally considered a three-dimensional art form, this does not preclude it from being an exceptional two-dimensional art material. It allows for some very unique applications of imagery.
Would you have thought of this painting as being polymer clay when you first looked at it? The application of polymer doesn’t get much more two-dimensional than this but the energy of the colors and visual texture on what is obviously a very flat surface shows off some of the advantages of working with polymer as a “painting” medium.
This work is by the splendidly harmonious duo of Debo Groover and Tina Torrance, known as Debortina Studio. Their story is an interesting one. Pulled from their About page: “In 2008, after a long sabbatical from working as a professional artist, Debo created a new technique using polymer clay as a painting and collage material. This technique was formulated and fine-tuned for several years until it was perfected. The public response was so unexpected and overwhelmingly positive, that they joined forces and formed Debortina Studio.”
Their use of polymer with this curious combination of imagery is fascinating and enthralling. And so is the rest of their story. Why not hop on over to their website to read about it here and then take a look through their gallery at all the wonderfully patterned collage paintings.
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Here’s another image dug up from my Pinterest board, a piece done by a jewelry artist who was a real game changer.
What you see here is not polymer, although it so easily could be. This is a piece by Marjorie Schick, who passed away in late 2017. This bit of unique sculpture, titled Henri’s Garden, is painted paper, wood, canvas, plastic laminate, and bronze. Quite a mix of materials. Its wide-ranging pallet of saturated color and busy repetition is anchored by the symmetry of a common radiating form. Classic and yet, with the range of materials to use, quite unique.
Emerging during the time when many jewelers are rejecting traditional materials and techniques, Schick really formed a unique and, as she put it, “quietly rebellious” style.
The article on the Craft Council’s website that was posted after her passing does a beautiful job of giving you a picture of this woman and the how and why of her creations. Take a moment to jump over there and read about this highly influential jeweler, or you might enjoy this enlightening interview with her back in 2016. See if her work and words don’t influence you.
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Here is another unusual and fantastic use of polymer that Susan Lomuto, the blogger behind the Daily Art Muse blog, dug up back in 2014.
Talk about mixing media … Joe Fig’s very detailed miniature studios are created from polymer clay and myriad other materials and portray the work of a variety of artists. Not only do these works show the versatility of polymer but they show off the artwork of painters, printers and other artists using this medium that we love so much.
There is not much more to say, since his work says so much already, so I’m going to leave you to jump over to the blog post for this or to go see what Joe is up to these days by going to his website. You might also be interested in his books, where he interviews artists about their studio and how they work as artists. The 2009 book, Inside the Painters Studio, includes all these dioramas he made. Enjoy!
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