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:
Outside Inspiration: Unexpected Movement in Art Jewelry
September 6, 2013
Inspirational Art
Steven Kolodny is one of my favorite jewelry artists, not just because his work is mind-blowing and gorgeous, but because his compositions almost always give me pause. Granted, I analyze composition constantly (thanks in large part to a very persistent art teacher that required 5 compositionally aware quick sketches for EVERY day of the two semesters I had class with him,) but even if you don’t, there is so much going on in his little beauties that you’re bound to spend time with his work if you have any appreciation for jewelry art at all.
This piece is a masterful. Pendants, because they hang at the bottom of a chain or cord, usually give some sense of downward movement. This piece, however, definitely imparts a sense of floating upwards, which seems odd if you look at the individual elements. Can you identify how these components work together to give that sense of upward movement?
Normally, anything that is arrow-like would push the eye and visual movement in the direction the arrow shapes are pointing. We have four dominant arrow shapes–the two stones, the bail, and the V shaped base–as well as a structure that is heavier towards the bottom; but still, the visual movement is up. There are a few reasons for this. First, the curvy lines with the diamond tips are like steam or reaching vines and are also somewhat arrow-like, so they counter the larger arrows a bit. Then the stones, attached to the center line only by a small point or single sidee, do not sit on the bottom of the structure or even touch the base V shape on any side. It’s as if they detached from its confines, and are rising out of the cup like space. Finally, the V shape has opposing arrow shapes in its long,tapered sides, redirecting us upward as well. So even though there is an overall sense of upward movement, the visual cues should have your eye wandering down and up, covering the entire pendant. You see and take in every element in the piece. What a great composition.
There is a ton of eye candy to see on his site today. Be sure you don’t have a lot to do in the very near future, as you might get lost for a while in Steven’s work. However, I could not find my favorite pieces of his online, but they are in print. So if you do not already own the book through which I was first introduced to Steven’s work, put Art Jewelry Today on your wish list. (There are three and they aren’t cheap so if you are going to get just one, go with the first one–lots of Steven Kolodny work in that one!) This book contains stunning work and fantastic discussions about the history of various materials, as well as how they are being used today. And yes, they include polymer!
Orderly Fun
September 5, 2013
Inspirational Art
To say that Céline Charuau’s work is unique seems like an understatement. Her work can look rather threatening in form while other times is has a light ethereal beauty. So this piece I thought was quite different, not just for polymer art but for Céline as well; this reminds me of a child’s toy in color and shape, orderly but a little less serious than I usually associate with her work.
It’s not that Celine doesn’t do fun pieces, but the ‘fun’ pieces are either more contemporary or off-kilter . However, the stylized floral shape and the additions reaching out from the base form are pure Celine.
If you are not familiar with her work, it’s about time you were. I’d say. I think you will be surprised by what you’ll find–here is her website and Flickr page to investigate. And yes, the work you’ll see is all polymer with metal and wire–nothing more that I am aware of. She has a bit of crazy artistic genius if you ask me and I think it’s just wonderful.
Out on the Street
September 4, 2013
Inspirational Art
Every time I visit Cornelia Brockstedt’s website, I just get lost. Her work holds a kind of mysterious curiosity for me. Where did these images come from? Just how does she view the world that she comes up with these unexpected compositions? She has a series called “Street Life” which I find particularly fascinating. There is a mix of organic and man-made in most of it–very much reminiscent of a city street with its asphalt, concrete, and pipes, but among these intentional and planned structures, nature is moving back in to reclaim what once was its territory.
This brooch is easily the most curious of the series. The texture of the emerging vegetation is in all the pieces of this series; but this one, due to the rather aquatic formations, seems more alive and even a little alien. It’s eerie and beautifully fascinating, don’t you think?
And because I can’t resist, here is the other end of the spectrum on her Street Life series. This pendant’s imagery is a bit more easily recognizable–grass growing in between paving stones–which may sound like a rather mundane subject matter; but as you can see, it’s not in the least bit mundane in this presentation.
The other thing about Cornelia’s work is that it shows that she really knows how to take inspiration from other artists and make it her own. She has quite a few pieces listed with credit given to other artists that she learned from; but even though the technique of these other artists is (more or less) apparent, the work is usually quite different from the work of her teachers.
In The Polymer Arts, I decided from the start to focus on technique rather than project tutorials or how-to type articles. These are supposed to give readers new skills and techniques that they can then take to the studio and morph or blend into their own original pieces. Sometimes it is hard to separate the technique from the design when what you learn is taught as a specific project. Well, if you want some excellent examples of how that is done, take a good long look through Cornelia’s website. Some transformations of techniques are more detached from the master artist’s usual designs than others, but they all look to be developed in a way that still reflects something of Cornelia’s aesthetic. And that is precisely what should be done with skills learned in any workshop or from any book.
Exploring Texture Variation
September 3, 2013
Inspirational Art
Did you see yesterday’s post? I mentioned that you could possibly take some of that artist’s textures and apply them to other kinds of work. Well, here is a bracelet that has a couple of those textures, using crowded polyp-like pieces and point-impressed dots of clay, along with (I think) canes. It’s quite an inviting undulation of texture moving organically across the cuff bracelet, don’t you think?
This is the work of Ukraine’s Asya Kuzahmetova. Quite a different piece for her, but I think it’s a great direction that she started exploring late last year. Asya does a lot of exploring, taking classes with master polymer artists and continuously working on different forms and applications with varying degrees of success; but the important thing is, she does explore, and lets herself go to see what comes of it. In the process, she hones her skills and her finishing work. I think she’s definitely someone to keep an eye on. See more of her work on her Flickr page and her online shop.
A Week of Curiosities
September 2, 2013
Inspirational Art
As I research for the themed blog weeks we have each week, I quite regularly run into pieces that I would like to feature at some point because I find them surprising and unexpected, but which haven’t yet fit into any themes. So this week, I’d like to show you some of these curious and spectacular polymer pieces. These will not be typical work and may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but they are all a testament to the creative and wide-ranging aesthetic that polymer draws.
Pernille Moesgaard only recently graduated from the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, but she is already doing gallery-level fine art in polymer. Her sculptural pieces are a little wild, and are much more symbolic and conceptual than representational, but you can still see the influences of actual natural forms in her work.
This piece seemed the most accessible, which is why I am featuring it first. This is all polymer clay. The detail and amount of work that must have gone into creating the texture and features is quite incredible (this piece is about 35cm/14″ to give you an idea of scale). Believe it or not, it’s one of her more simplistic pieces, if you can even use that word.
The consistent elements in Pernille’s pieces are texture, repetition, and a gradation of color. She seems to have worked these out quite well. Her forms I have had a harder time with, being that they are often uncomfortably balanced, although I do get the sense that the discomfort was intentional. Nonetheless, they are forms that I want to keep investigating, meaning that they work on a level of curiosity, which speaks to them having some success as a whole.
Here is a collection of her work at a show earlier this year at Gallery Pi in Denmark. are some truly unexpected forms here.
What do you think of this kind of work? Does it speak to you? Would you consider doing something so out of the ordinary? It certainly shows some of the potential for polymer, and the many textures could be used on any other kind of work, even if sculpture isn’t your thing.
Moving Beyond Imagination
September 1, 2013
Ponderings
In other words, imagination is the source of creativity, but creativity doesn’t exist until you act upon the fruit of your imagination. We’ve looked at color ideas for the coming season this week; did they get you thinking? Did they bring up any ideas for new pieces to include in upcoming shows and in your online shop, or maybe gifts to make for friends and family? If they did, great. But now it’s time to make those ideas a reality. Create, bring more beauty into the world, and make yourself a happier person for having done so.
Pantone Color Everywhere
August 31, 2013
Inspirational Art, Technique tutorials, Tips and Tricks
So apparently, this has been quite the week for Pantone in the craft blogs.
Besides the posts here, Art Bead Scene chatted about the new Fall colors, showing off some lovely bracelets in the palette colors and throwing in a nice little tutorial for a hidden clasp beaded bracelet.
Then over at the 2 Good Claymates’ blog, Carolyn and Dave spent the last week breaking down the Pantone colors and giving away polymer clay color recipes for the majority of the Fall 2013 palette. Here is a collection of their trademark flowers, using their recipe for the rich orange that Pantone calls “Koi“.
The Goods also have recipes for Samba, Mykonos Blue, Deep Lichen Green, Linden Green, Turbulence and Carafe as well. (click on the color name to get to their post on each of the colors.) If you like the Good’s recipes, you might want to get Carolyn’s Color System tutorial for some more color exploration.
Thank you to Francie Owens, who sent me the Art Bead Scene link, and to Jamie Hibbs, who clued me into what the Goods were up to this week. Thanks for keeping me in the loop, ladies!
Outside Inspiration: Bead Embroidery in this Fall’s Colors
August 30, 2013
Inspirational Art
I am off a tad from Pantone’s palette on the colors of this piece, but of all the pieces I looked at, I kept coming back to this. Maybe it’s because I could see this being done in polymer (by a very patient and dedicated artist). The bib style necklace, not to mention the overall texture and stones, could be translated into an incredibly beautiful polymer piece.
Bead embroidery is a type of bead art that uses a needle and thread to stitch beads to an underlying surface, usually fabric or leather. It requires a tremendous amount of planning, precision, and, of course, time.
Guzel Bakeeva is a rather prolific Russian bead artist with some of the most amazing compositions in this type of work that I’ve seen. Mind you, I’m sure I need to investigate even further into this kind of work (what a horrible task to look forward to!), but her work is quite varied and always mouth-droppingly gorgeous. I can’t even say that this is one of her most stunning pieces. Yes, she has much more to rival this piece, but it stuck with me and the colors could work with this Fall’s palette.
Put some time aside today to look at her website. Just remember to occasionally pick your jaw up off the ground. As my dad used to say, “You don’t want to catch flies!”
Graduating Gray
August 29, 2013
Inspirational Art
Grays are not the most popular color choices for jewelry and home decor, and certainly not in polymer. Gray is completely neutral and is actually a shade, not a color. However, people do have gray outfits to coordinate and, honestly, if you’re going for more subdued accent pieces with a black outfit, gray is an excellent choice.
Using a variety of grays in graduating shades, all either cool or warm, is one of the best ways to create strong visual impact. Strong lines and graphical elements also work wonderfully with grays. Here is an assembly by Poland’s Jagna that demonstrates the drama of graduated grays and how well it can highlight a single color, even another rather neutral one. In this piece, Jagna goes from pale silver gray to dark slate, but with a trail of gold peeking out from her mokume pattern. Between the graduated grays, the graphic lines, and the contemporary shape contrast, this whole piece is the kind of adornment that could make a little black outfit really shine.
Here is another piece by Jagna that is just gray. It’s still very dramatic and high impact for a uncomplicated necklace design.
The one thing about working with gray (or any monochromatic palette) is that you are forced to rely heavily on your other design elements, rather than depending on color to carry a piece. In fact, one of the tricks we used in art school to analyze composition, contrast,and overall design was to take a black and white photo of the piece in question. If it didn’t work in gray scale, it was usually pretty weak even in color. Try taking a black and white photo of your work next time you get the feeling it’s not quite right, and see if that doesn’t help you find where the issue is.
Floral in Fall
August 28, 2013
Inspirational Art
Working up a Fall product line doesn’t mean leaving your floral tendencies behind; the fashion designers certainly aren’t this coming year. From all I’ve read about upcoming trends, pattern in general will be a big focus and flowers, especially wispy wildflowers, daisies, and even dandelions, look to be the “in”thing. So how would you change things up from your Spring or Summer collection of blossoms?
Color will be primary in changing up for a Fall look. Although the Pantone palette for Fall has some rather bright colors, they are not pure colors or pastel. The Samba red and the Koi orange are both deeper and a step or two off their color origin, and the lighter colors are neutral more than anything; the Linden Green comes awfully close to being a kahki, and the Deep Lichen Green is more a cool gray than a green. So, can your flowers still be beautifully ornamental if toned down from their summer brilliance or if created in neutral colors? Of course!
Eva Thissen does neutral floral with a very delicate and controlled application of lines, small shapes, and contrast in color. In this case, we have a rich red heavily contrasting a neutral green (pretty much that Samba red and Linden green in the Pantone palette) with subdued blue, cream, pink, and brown flowers accenting the scene. Feminine, fetching, and definitely floral, there is the reserve and the richness associated with Fall, although I would be putting this in my jewelry rotation year round.
Part of Eva’s distinction as a polymer artist is in her color choices. Although she is far from the only one to work heavily in the polymer embroidery technique, I find I easily recognize her work due to her color choices, not to mention the precision of application with those tiny bits of polymer and her penchant for story-like scenes. Enjoy perusing her Flickr pages and her enchanting pieces for a bit today.
