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:
Tiny Glitzy Spring
June 8, 2013
Inspirational Art
So, yes, the other day I encouraged the idea of simplifying your color scheme and focusing on the shape of your floral work. Not because simple is better, but because it is an option you might want to consider to express the ideas or beauty you want to convey. Sometimes, you want anything but simple.
There are certainly times when complex and glitzy is exactly what is called for. Peelirohini makes some very showy pieces using polymer embroidery, filigree pieces, and beads with lots of rich colors and contrast.
This is really quite the opposite approach from the beautiful work we saw on Thursday, but it’s equally gorgeous. I would say, for me, the subdued earrings with minimal color are more my style, but there are a few people I would love to see wearing these colorful earrings here. Whether to make a piece subdued or a bit over-the-top comes down to what you want to say, the impression you want to make, or maybe even the person, outfit, or room you would like to pair it with.
Sometimes, what you make just comes down to who you are. As artists, we are always putting a little of ourselves out there, so work that represents us tends to be fulfilling. There is no right or wrong way to approach the work. except maybe closing yourself off from considering a direction you don’t usually take. It’s like pushing yourself to go take dancing lessons when you don’t think you can dance. You won’t know if it’s something you enjoy until you try it. So I say, try a little bit of everything. Go subtle. Go wild. Art is an adventure.
Outside Inspiration: Alternatives to Wall Decals
June 7, 2013
Inspirational Art
This week’s outside inspiration is not really about the “art work,” as what I’m bringing up is mass produced, but it has so much potential for the polymer artist looking to stretch beyond their jewelry or standard decor.
The thing is, these wall decal decorations are kind of a neat idea. but are truly not all that exciting. Its not just the two-dimensionality of them; the color choices and graphics are not at all what they could be, either. However, just think of how gorgeous a wall of polymer flowers would look?
Between the three-dimensional interest it would add, better and bolder color combinations, and the potential surface effects you can add … wow … what a wall that would be! Granted, these won’t be removable/repositionable stickers, but Fun-Tak (mounting putty) or small tacks (or embedded tacks?) should be enough to hold polymer flowers up and allow for rearranging with little or not damage to the wall. Anyone else besides me having ideas running rampant in their head?
Focusing on the Floral Form
June 6, 2013
Inspirational Art
When we think floral, we tend to think of colorful arrangements. But a large part of the beauty of flowers and all types of nature’s decorative plants is the form they take–the slim stems, the folding leaves, the delicate thinness of a flower petal. Even colorless, they would be beautiful.
These lotus flower interpretations by Zuzana Liptáková of the Slovak Republic have such an elegant complexity to them, with a focus almost wholly on form. I think holding back on the colors is exactly what was needed here to show off the carefully crafted, folded, and layered petals.
When it comes to flowers, going a little wild with the color is a natural inclination, and rightly so; but sometimes, pulling back will allow us to further appreciate the beauty in the other characteristics of Mother Nature’s masterpieces.
The Many Shapes of Petals
June 5, 2013
Tips and Tricks
Components of springtime art work often include the pretty petal. There are, of course, many variations in petals, which might make one conclude that many a cane must be made to build a decent collection of possibilities. But this is not necessarily so. This display of both traditional and not so traditional petal forms and patterning is a sample set by Lynne Ann Schwarzenberg. This image was put together for a class in which Lynne put students through what she called “petal mania”.
Her photo note on Facebook says the canes are “reduced, shaped, torqued, and recombined to make a seemingly endless array of elements that can be used to make all sorts of wearable art. Hearts and spirals, complex petals, wisteria and lotus blossoms are all found along the petal path.” Apparently in the class, students also exchanged canes so they could continue working on variations. Just imagine what you could do with just a handful of canes in your own studio!
I couldn’t find word of any upcoming classes Lynne is conducting for this; but if you push yourself, maybe using some of the ideas above, I bet you could come up with a dozen new petal ideas of your own. So go shape and torque away!
Bold and Brilliant Floral
June 4, 2013
Inspirational Art
Working in floral is a license to go all out with color. Springtime flowers are bright, vivid things, competing against all the other bright and vivid colors of the season. You can take a lesson from their boldness: if you are going to get colorful, don’t hold back on just how bold or striking your color combinations are.
This necklace from 2 Good Claymates (Carolyn and Dave Good) has an fairly limited palette, but the saturation and contrast of the color are quite striking, don’t you think?
This is just one example of being bold without having to overdose the viewer with color. Being bright and bold is not about how many colors you use, but how they work together. Think contrast when you are after brilliant color–the darker blue against the bright of the turquoise and the lighter yellow is where this color combination in this piece gets its punch. If you have accents or backgrounds to go along with your bold components, consider toning down those colors so they don’t compete too much. You can see how that works in this necklace, with the leaves here created in more muted greens. They allow the bright flowers to really pop.
I can’t imagine a piece like this not grabbing some serious attention at the next garden party, even amidst nature’s own work!
Jumping into Florals
June 3, 2013
Inspirational Art
I know its technically been Spring for a couple months in the northern hemisphere, but its really just now that the blooms are showing and the lushness of Spring is making its appearance, at least outside my door. Between all the beauty outside and working on the next issue of The Polymer Arts — which is being created under the theme “Organics” — my mind is focused on the outdoors; so I thought we’d indulge in the beauty of flora.
I wanted to move away a bit from jewelry this week, but if we’re focusing on flowers, that might be a bit difficult since floral adornment is so prevalent and popular. But how about something that’s not quite jewelry, along with great ideas for some possible new products?
The season for weddings is upon us up here, so that’s another reason to think floral; it’s a rare wedding that doesn’t feature a few — or a ton — of flowers. This bouquet with matching wine glass charms is all polymer. The idea of going floral without the fragility of fresh blooms is the subject of an interesting idea blog for weddings I came across. Tatiana Belikov from Lipetsk, Russia is the creator of the realistic looking bouquet and accessories in the post.
There is also mention of making matching hair adornments for the bride (and bridesmaids!,) and accent pieces for candles, napkin rings, etc. Such polymer decorations at a wedding could be an easy sell; they can be gifts for the guests (and those bridesmaids!) that will last so they can be treasured and used again in the same capacity. And just think, with polymer florals … the bride would always have that bouquet, one that can decorate a table or shelf for many, many years, and be another gorgeous memory to keep and remember that special day by. Beautiful idea.
Train the Mind to Create
June 2, 2013
Ponderings
Or, for the artist, your education is not the learning of skills, but the training of the mind to create.
When learning from a tutorial or class, getting down the skills being taught is important to your future success with the central techniques; but the most valuable take away will come when you ask why the technique is done the way it is done, and how you can integrate it into your present work or work you would like to explore more. It is the asking of questions, not just the absorption of steps that will bring you to create artwork, not just recreate craft.
Polymer Covered Clasps
June 1, 2013
Inspirational Art
A very easy way to make your findings fit into the design of your jewelry is to cover the findings with polymer. Magnetic, barrel screw, or even box clasps can be covered using the same design or colors in clay. But not only that, you can create a clasp that blends into the design by hiding the clasps in two halves of a bead or component that matches others in the piece.
A nice big round bead makes a great concealer of clasps, especially the magnetic and barrel screw types. You create two half round base beads, burying the clasps in the clay (or, since there is evidence that baking magnets can reduce their strength, bury a spacer in the clay same size as the clasp ends and glue them in after baking), then treat the half rounds with the same surface design as other round beads on your piece. Ford and Forlano have been integrating their clasps into their necklace designs for years. Here is one of their timeless big bead necklaces from 1997, with a clasp hidden in a back bead.
I do like that they didn’t even make the two halves the same, but simply versions of the same texture. It isn’t written anywhere that the halves have to match, is it? If you take some time to look through their body of work, you’ll see other finding integration solutions that might spark some ideas for you as well.
Keep in mind the beads don’t have to be round or even bead-like, as long as the clasps can be buried in the clay. For example, Cynthia Tinapple did this with faux river rock, as she demonstrates in this video tutorial. Her approach and tips can be expanded to include any kind of necklace component you would like to hide two-sided clasps in.
Outside Inspiration: The Humble Button Clasp
May 31, 2013
Inspirational Art
Today we’re just going to take a quick look and a well-deserved bow to a humble finding used regularly in seed bead pieces – the button style clasp. This is simply a bead or button that slips through a loop to secure it. It’s quite the popular clasp among seed bead artists for both necklaces and bracelets.
This bracelet showing a pretty typical button clasp is by Rachel of Balanced Crafts in Dublin, Ireland. This shows a button clasp that is really the central focus of the piece, one that contrasts with the even pattern of the beading, adding that focal point to bring it all together.
Here’s one more by bead artist Smadar Grossman. Looks somewhat like a toggle clasp, doesn’t it? The toggle and button clasp are essentially the same concept, only the entry point with a button clasp is a loop, and the back-up piece is the larger part of the pair.
Do these give you any good ideas? You can make the button from polymer, although you will need a cord, ribbon, or beaded loop of some sort to accomplish create this kind of clasp; but the cool thing is, the loop can be made basically invisible if the button half of the clasp is big enough. That way the button can become a focal point or a major component, without even drawing attention to its necessary function. Neat, huh?
Decorative Polymer Bails
May 30, 2013
Technique tutorials, Tips and Tricks
If there is any pre-made finding that polymer versions replace as well as, if not better, I think it would be the bail. Of course, many of us integrate polymer bails into our pendants and focal beads almost without thinking. But you can also create a stock of decorative polymer bails that can be used in combination with jump rings, or embedded in the clay as needed.
My most basic polymer bail stock had always been extruded hollow tubes in scrap clay. I would make them fairly thin-walled and bake them so I had sturdy base tubes to cover in my choice of raw clay, which I could then press onto newly created pendant pieces. Easy, quick, and made to match the pieces.
However, I have to say I was very intrigued when I found these polymer and wire combination bails created by Марина Горячих (translates as Marina Hot which may or may not be the best English translation).
Of course, I have a thing for the filigree work, but most any kind of decorative clay work would make for some interesting bails. She goes through the steps for making these bails on her LiveJournal page here – just replace or adjust the decorative filigree with your type of work. Definitely worth trying out!
