A Week of Impact

We’re polishing up the next issue of The Polymer Arts, so my brain is hyper-focused on impactful art. With the limitations we have in periodicals, I never feel like we get to say everything I would like to get out to you readers, and I certainly don’t get to share all the great art I have seen that fits the theme. So, this week we’ll get in a few of those pieces that might have been great examples if we had the room, time or opportunity to contact the artist in order to include them. Now, let’s talk impact!

Impact in your art is about the degree to which you visually, conceptually or even tactilely affect the viewer or buyer of your piece. I know when I think  of the term, my mind immediately goes to high contrast and graphic work, which can be quite impactful, but that’s not the only way to strongly affect people when they see your work. If you saw Donna Greenberg’s piece on the cover image we sent out Friday, my guess is it turned your head, not because it has a lot of contrast or is graphically strong, but because the piece is so unusual and maybe also because the composition of the cover is a bit different. The impact here is about the unexpected. Impact is really just all about making people notice.

Although as I go on this week, I will feature techniques and artists that will be in the coming issue, today I just want to show you an example of a piece by Anita Lerner that I thought visually defined impact, mostly because it reminds me of a crash event or something similar. But there’s more to it than that.

There is one simple cane focal point and then a splash of aqua across a crackled gold and black background with beads matching the blue and the gold. If you look at the few elements that make up this piece, its not that complex, but it feels like it is. This is primarily due to a variety of contrasting elements that all have commonalities as well. That blue-green is in the slice, the splash, and the beads. The gold is in the slice, the crackling, and the strung beads. The colors are just blues and golds–but those two colors contrast; the smooth gradation of the cane slice contrasts with the heavy texture of the crackle; the evenly placed squares on the border of the cane contrast with the erratic radiating aqua in the splash of color; and the neatness and regularity of the strung beads contrasts with the off-kilter angles and hanging position of the pendant’s square shape. All this contrast make for a very interesting and visually active piece. That’s why it feels so complex.

Our feature article outlines the various types of contrast and how to use added contrast to increase interest and energy in a piece. We’ll hit on that at least once more this week because contrast is so incredibly important to consider in your work–not just highly varied contrast, but the choice to have only a small amount contrast as well. Your choice in contrast will alter the feel, message, or theme of a piece as much as your choice of imagery or form does.

So stay with us this week for more on these exciting subjects. Get your subscription or pre-order of the Winter issue in so you don’t miss out on getting it first. And if you enjoy Anita’s pendant, take a look at more of her work in her Etsy shop and on her website.