The Party is in Full Swing. Come join us!
May 31, 2023
Polymer community news, The Polymer Arts magazine news
What party is this? The latest project from little ol’ me, Sage. The Sage Arts podcast is more than up and running… I have 25 episodes up as of this posting, ready on your favorite podcast player (New to Podcasts? Click here to find out how easy it is to enjoy them!) and a new one coming out every week.
What’s This Podcast All About?
This podcast is all about feeding and exciting your muse. By enlightening or reminding you about important and maybe unconsidered aspects of creating and living as an artist, I hope to help you find more joy and satisfaction in what you do, sharing ways to create with authenticity and fearlessness, while supporting your uniquely defined version of success.
Now what the heck does that all mean? Well, let’s look at what this is and what this is not…
It IS…
… a way to consistently feed your muse
… all about you. Myself, my guests, and my guest co-hosts speak to the issues, curiousity, and hurdles that you as a creative deal with on a regular basis.
… focused on creating a more fulfilling, joyful, and meaningful artistic journey.
… a conversation that goes both ways with lots of opportunities for you to be heard.
It is NOT…
… all about polymer clay or any one medium, as it’s important stuff for all artistic folks.
… focused on “how-to” or the latest tools and materials.
… just interviewing successful artists and talking at you. Rather it is like a coffee house chat or other friendly gather and I include you, the listener, in every way I can.
I created this podcast to supercharge your creativity, motivation, and artistic style through novelty, story, conversation, and community. Everyone has how-tos and ways to increase your sales – valiant and necessary stuff, of course! But what does your muse need? What does your work and your love of your art need to thrive? That’s where I want to help.
I aim to give artists ways to further hone their unique voice, increase their joy and productivity, and create a version of artistic success that is meaningful, satisfying, and anything but ordinary.
Come Join the Conversation
If you have something to share, would like to be a guest (for a chatty interview), or be a guest co-host (you and I banter on a particular subject) drop me an email me via my contact page on the show website: https://thesagearts.com/contact/ or send a voice mail (use the red button on that same site, bottom right corner of any page.)
And join me on social media!
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/thesageartspodcast/
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/TheSageArtsPodcast
And don’t forget to click “FOLLOW” or that little arrow on your favorite Podcast player so you get notices of new episodes. New Episodes come out weekly on Friday evenings, barring natural disasters or other bits of interference, of course. I hope you’ll join me there, on The Sage Arts podcast!
There are new artists and creatives joining every day with tons of great things to say…
“Just what I needed!”
“I just binged-listened … and I can’t wait for more!”
“There is so much validity in your presentation…”
“Looking forward to all the thinking and creating that they prompt.”
Taste test on my RSS website: https://rss.com/podcasts/thesagearts/
Or on the podcast home website: https://thesagearts.com/
Or start with this episode:
Christmas Cute
December 25, 2013
Inspirational Art
As many of you reader’s have seen, we introduced a new section in The Polymer Arts magazine called Polymer Jeweler’s Workbench this past Summer. We created this section to focus on these very popular forms in polymer. Shortly after the first of these articles came out in the Summer issue, Julie Cleveland, owner of Blue Morning Expressions polymer supply and bead shop, as well as being a polymer artist and freelance writer, contacted me about helping with this section. She is now the on-going editor and writer for the PJW section as well as taking on article assignments. She has been amazing to work with, getting in article materials far ahead of the deadline, not just on time. It kind of throws me but in a good way!
One of Julie’s favorite polymer artists is Judy Pollard. Julie says “Her amazing attention to detail, from the tiny fingers and toes to the dash of freckles across the nose, makes her artist dolls unique pieces of art that are created to treasure for a lifetime. They are irresistible in their cuteness. Judy has such a wonderful imagination, and it shows in how she dresses and poses her creations. I can sit and look at her dolls for hours and still find all new details. A wonderful sense of color and a delightful sense of humor can be found in the sweet faces she sculpts.
You can find more of Judy’s adorable creations on her Flickr pages.
Regardless of what you celebrate or believe in, I hope you all spend time with the people you love the most today. A very Merry Christmas to you all.
If you like this blog, support The Polymer Arts projects with a subscription or issue of The Polymer Arts magazine as well as supporting our advertising partners.
Winters Luminescence
December 24, 2013
Inspirational Art
Nan Josephson came to The Polymer Arts through a freelance job board where I occasionally post calls for freelance writers to help put together articles or edit completed pieces. I was surprised and so delighted to find this precious metal clay artist who recently found polymer and has been drawn in by all its possibilities the way so many of us have. She wrote the article on Contrast in the last issue and has since come aboard to assist in editing and writing the blog posts as well as taking on article assignments for the magazine. Getting her on board this past month was like an early Christmas present for busy, little ol’ me.
One of Nan’s favorite artists is Elise Winters. Nan says “I love the blown glass art of Dale Chihuly, and her work reminds me of his. Chihuly’s glass objects are only isolated movements in a creative continuum. Elise’s ruffles collection, like Dale’s work, has an exaggeration of form and design that creates a sense of wonder and amusement. The flow and luminescence of her work, as well as the liquid feel of the pieces, create an illusion of glass blown objects, which I find exciting.”
It’s hard to find a piece of Elise’s that hasn’t made it thorough the rounds on the Internet but here is one necklace that isn’t usually chosen to represent her work and yet it is such a breathtaking piece.
If you haven’t had a chance to explore Elise’s work before, you can find more of her work on her website and Flickr photostream.
To those of you who celebrate, I hope you have a very happy Christmas Eve tonight with your favorite people.
If you like this blog, support The Polymer Arts projects with a subscription or issue of The Polymer Arts magazine as well as supporting our advertising partners.
A Few of My Favorite Things …
December 23, 2013
Inspirational Art
We’re going to be kind of lax this week with a theme. I am soliciting help from my various staff to bring some of my and their favorite pieces that we have set aside in hopes of posting but have yet to fit into a theme. It is a week of wish lists and the hope for pretty things so it seems appropriate.
My first offering this week is a piece I saw last October by an artist only identified as Krissobe. I wasn’t even sure it was polymer. I thought it could have been dyed wood or bone. It’s the composition that really fascinated me. I can’t even really explain why I find it so alluring but I wasn’t the only one. The piece won first place in what the translator says was a poetry contest. Not sure what that means but we can appreciate why it won, regardless.
My search for more work or places to admire this artist’s work was in vain. We have the artist’s French language blog to peruse for now but if any of you dear readers have more information on this talent, please post in the comment section at the end of this post. (If you get this by email, click on the post’s heading to get to the page where you can leave a comment.) Thanks!
If you like this blog, support The Polymer Arts projects with a subscription or issue of The Polymer Arts magazine as well as supporting our advertising partners.
Making Friends with Failure
December 22, 2013
Ponderings
This is a bit longer installment than I usually have on Sunday but I think this strip by Stephen McCranie explains so well how silly it is for us to be so hard on ourselves, to expect perfection in every piece we create, and to miss out on the lessons we can learn from our imperfect creations. It is well worth the read. Click on the image here to see the entire strip. Enjoy.
If you like this blog, support The Polymer Arts projects with a subscription or issue of The Polymer Arts magazine as well as supporting our advertising partners.
Quick and Colorful Geometry
December 21, 2013
Inspirational Art
This piece and the accompanying tutorial don’t really lean organic except maybe in the color choices but they are certainly geometric and it looks like such a fun and easy technique that I just had to share it.
Magali Chauveau is a French artist who uses a cookie cutter or punch to cut out shapes and apply them to a base sheet in order to create the surface design for beads like the ones on the necklace pictured here.
Magali generously shares tutorials on her blog as well as having several books available. To see more of her work, take a look at her Facebook page or view her books on Amazon.
If you like this blog, support The Polymer Arts projects with a subscription or issue of The Polymer Arts magazine as well as supporting our advertising partners.
Outside Inspiration: Organic Order
December 20, 2013
Inspirational Art
When searching for artists in other mediums to work into this week’s theme, I was rather surprised to find polymer came up more often than any other medium when searching for organic and geometric in the same search. Ceramics was the next most common. Not that we are the only mediums that mix in both but it would seem clays are more commonly used to express this dichotomy or is it that artists that work with clay feel drawn to both?
Inspired by a part of the Arizona desert known as Arcosanti, ceramic artist Chris Gryder started out playing in dirt using silt, clay and concrete as his primary means of expression. Using silt molds, he patterns these tiles and after firing them, colors the surfaces with slip before firing again. As you can see, his organic inspiration in the desert does not limit him to those forms but rather he finds the geometric patterns and connections between what he has found in nature.
As polymer artists, we can take inspiration not only from his process and all this wonderful texture, but also in the composition of his many wall installations. Polymer would lend itself–and has–to multiple smaller pieces assembled into a larger work. Look at his work on Flickr and his website for much more rich texture and some really creative wall compositions.
If you like this blog, support The Polymer Arts projects with a subscription or issue of The Polymer Arts magazine as well as supporting our advertising partners.
A Stylized Organic Scene
December 19, 2013
Inspirational Art
Some pieces can deftly combine both geometric imagery and organic texture but sometimes, it is one representing the other as it is in this touching piece by Tammy Durham. Both the plant growth and the connection to new life are conveyed by many small circles and a stylized but active and flowing composition.
I love Tammy’s bold use of color and texture found in most of her work which she admits is heavily inspired by Gustav Klimt. Tammy, a polymer clay illustrator from Colorado, has no fear of color as can be seen on her Flickr and Pinterest pages. Take a break from shopping and work and enjoy her joyful imagery for a bit.
If you like this blog, support The Polymer Arts projects with a subscription or issue of The Polymer Arts magazine as well as supporting our advertising partners.
Organic texture, Graphic Form
December 18, 2013
Inspirational Art
Black and white is rather a standard when it comes to creating a graphic look. One can assume that was the basic idea behind Debbie Carlton’s little pieces here. I assume they are earrings–created using mokume in black and white, and what looks to be a little red underneath but then this crackling of gold and the imprecision of the square shapes bring a more organic feel to the pieces. The contrasting textures within the colors and the negative space and scale add energy to the small surface area she has to work with here.
Debbie enjoys combining precious metal clay with colorful polymer in her pieces. She has been exploring the compatibility of these two mediums as seen in her work on her Craft Central and Flickr pages.
If you like this blog, support The Polymer Arts projects with a subscription or issue of The Polymer Arts magazine as well as supporting our advertising partners.
Floral as a Geometric Motif
December 17, 2013
Inspirational Art
Here is another approach that uses what is commonly thought of as classic organic imagery but creates a graphic style using repetition.
From a distance, the repeated pattern on this necklace looks like dots, but when you look closely, you will see flowers. Lucy Struncova uses the floral cane slices to add a stylized but soft organic side to a modern, graphic look that is further enhanced by the rounded, smooth edges of the triangular forms.
As you might have noticed on the photo, this is available as a tutorial … for free even! Just go to Lucy’s blog to see this and several other tutorials you might find of interest. (Drop the URL into Google translate to get the Polish translated for you.)
Lucy’s is an amazing young artist–just a teenager!–but she is working on books and polymer products as well as her tutorials and artful pieces. Be sure to check out her work on Flickr and Pinterest as well.
If you like this blog, support The Polymer Arts projects with a subscription or issue of The Polymer Arts magazine as well as supporting our advertising partners.
Merging Graphic and Organic
December 16, 2013
Inspirational Art
Polymer works well for creating almost any look but there are a lot of artists whose work reflects an organic influence while another large portion of the community leans toward more graphic work, heavy into geometric forms and lines. Artists in both camps borrow from the other as well. This week we’ll look at how the two seemingly opposite styles are often combined to create contrast, tension and variation in polymer art.
This is the piece that first got me thinking about this. Jana Lehmann works very heavily in perfectly measured and graphic forms. Her precision can be seen in this necklace but the stylized representation of trees in a kind of spherical landscape brings us back to the idea of a natural scene.
The chosen colors also harken back to the organic in this piece as might the waving hang of the bottom beads. It would be hard to call this geometrically based but there are many concentric circles and the repetition of exact shapes on both sides. It’s a very nicely done reversible piece as well, carrying the same style and sense of precision contrasting organics to both sides.
Jana’s work is quite varied and yet has a signature sense of precision and a flawless finish to all her edges. More of her work can be found on her Flickr photostream and her blog.
If you like this blog, support The Polymer Arts projects with a subscription or issue of The Polymer Arts magazine as well as supporting our advertising partners.
