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:
Naturally Formed Color Palettes
May 8, 2013
Inspirational Art
I have always found that one of the most fascinating and astonishing places to study color and find inspiration for combinations is in natural elements. Not just in the outdoors, mind you, but all things naturally formed. This may not seem like news but have you ever stopped and studied the actual combinations of color not just inherent in any single thing but even the combinations that occur naturally. Have you ever seen a rock including the tag-a-long bits like lichen, moss, rust, etc. that had clashing colors? Did you ever look at the shade of green in the leaves surrounding a colorful flower and think “That color green so doesn’t go with those flowers”?
Maybe I’m just a little odd but for years I would go on hikes or to zoos and actually try to find poor natural color combinations. I have seen a few that weren’t to my taste but by all I know of color theory, they always work. How does Mother Nature do that?
Drawing inspiration from natural color combinations is just another way to bring fresh ideas into your studio but that is also the trick … keeping it fresh. The thing is, you don’t have to be literal. You may love the autumn colors of the changing trees but that doesn’t mean you can only use those colors with leaf and tree motifs. Take the colors where they’ve never been before.
Peacock colors are extremely popular but so many of the applications are replicating the feathers as well. No need for that. Do something completely feather free. Here Chris Kapono goes wild with the peacock colors but with a very unfeathery pebble-like appearance in her Little Peacock Book Box.
Take nature’s challenge and find some natural color combinations that strike you and see what you come up with in your studio. Keep your camera at the ready … you never know when nature will bring you the perfect palette.
The Arrangement of Color
May 7, 2013
Inspirational Art
The arrangement of your color schemes can be as important as the color choices themselves. Here is an example of using two kinds of color schemes but arranging them for the most impact.
In this brilliantly colored necklace by Kristie Foss, the color scheme moves from the analogous colors purple and red to complementary colors as the deep red bleeds into its opposing color on the color wheel, a bright green. The contrast is not just in the the choice of base color but the red is also darker and leaning towards purple while the green is lighter and leaning towards purple’s opposite, yellow.
This same dramatic impact can be accomplished even when the complementary colors are not right next to each other in the piece. In this flower brooch of Kristie’s she has purple changing to a dark then light blue and then we’re hit by a contrasting yellow which takes over the center of the flow. With the broadest swathes of pure color being the yellow in the center and the purple covering the edges, the impact from the complementary colors still works and it doesn’t hurt that blue and yellow are tertiary (colors a third of the color wheel away from each other) which adds touch more impact as well.
Krisite really does love her color and creates lovely combinations. You can check out more of her work and yummy colors on her blog here.
Color Studies
May 6, 2013
Inspirational Art
I thought this week, we’d just look at color. Because who here doesn’t like that? For most of us it’s such a primary part of working with polymer. How can we resist with all those gorgeous colorful blocks enticing us to create something that honors our fascination with them?
And then we condition and roll, cut and punch, form and wrestle, combine and rearrange and eventually we have this finished piece that, somehow, doesn’t quite reflect what we were after. When it comes to color, even for those of us who can often combine them intuitively, study and practice is what will bring about success in taking the designs from inside our head onto our studio tables.
There are a number of ways to study color and that, I promise, are not at all dull times. What you learn can be immediately turned into beautiful creations. These pendants by Austria’s Carina are studies in complementary and tertiary colors. Now, tell me you would have not enjoyed creating something like these?
Your own personal exploration and study of color can begin (or continue) through a number of options we have available. For polymer specific color studies, there is nothing that comes close to the depth of Lindly Huanani and Maggie Maggio’s book Polymer Clay Color Inspirations. Honestly, if there was one book I’d expect to see on every serious polymer artist’s shelf, it’s this book. It doesn’t matter where you are in your journey as a polymer artist, you will learn something new and maybe even game changing for you.
If you want a quick brush up on terms and why these concepts are important (since we’ll be talking about them all week, it might be good to refamiliarize yourself with them) you can do so on websites like this one: http://www.colormatters.com/color-and-design/basic-color-theory
I’ll also share one of my favorite color pages on all the web … this is a kind of shortcut to figuring out color combinations and it’s also a little addictive. You click on a color on the color wheel and then you can run through a range of possible color combination types. I get lost in the possibilities: http://colorschemedesigner.com/
So go play with color today, online at least if not in the studio. Getting lost in color sounds like a great way to start a week.
On Speaking and Listening
May 5, 2013
Ponderings
I don’t think this needs explaining but most days, it needs remembering. It even applies to showing and viewing art, critiquing art and supporting our community.
I hope you all have a lovely Spring Sunday.
Outside Inspiration: Silk and Pearls
May 4, 2013
Inspirational Art
Going to stop being so serious and just enjoy some beautiful work today.
These bangles are the work of Alyson Goldberg (goes by just Alyson G.) They are hand painted and gathered silks with peridot, garnet, aquamarine and pearls tucked into the folds.
I was going to say its an unexpected combination but then I thought of beaded dresses and such. Maybe we don’t get garnets and peridot on our beaded attire much these days but it’s not unheard of. Pearls on wedding dresses are not at all uncommon. What is unexpected is that it’s beading and fabric as a piece of jewelry. But why not? We add beading to clothing as a means of accenting them and jewelry is worn as a kind of accent on our person. Same idea, right? So why not take those lovely designs off the dress and put them on pieces that can be worn and shown off on more than just one ensemble? Makes so much sense.
Alyson actually works with a lot of chain and beads. These bangles are quite a departure from her other jewelry. But there is nothing wrong with exploring something out of your range. From the press she’s gotten, its pretty obvious that these bracelets are now what she’s known for. Understandably. So, yep, don’t be afraid to step outside your usual line of exploration. You just never know what you might find and where it will take you.
Opportunity to Grow
May 3, 2013
Inspirational Art, Polymer community news
If you have been enjoying the conversation about expanding your artistic voice, you may want to hop on over to Voila! this weekend. As of this Sunday, there is a new class you can join–Ways To Wow … and all you have to do is show up on the site Sunday!
Here’s the deal: Voila! is creating an opportunity for you to spend the next 6 months planning, designing and making a piece to achieve significant creative growth. At the end of the course, you will have a landmark piece in your body of work that exemplifies your creativity. You will also have learned a method that you can use for your future big projects.
Christine Dumont is a force for artistic growth in our community and regularly has classes like this running on Voila!. Look at what Angela Garrod did during the last class, How to Become a Better Artist.
Angela has thoroughly explored this hollow pendant form with a variety of applications. Intense exploration into a technique, form or approach is a great way to explore your artistic voice. You find yourself drawn back to certain aspects of your experiments which gives you a direction to push yourself. This kind of in-depth exploration is what you can expect if you join in on one of Christine’s Voila! classes.
Here are highlights from the class description:
The course will require at least two hours of your time per week. The studio sessions will of course require as much time as it takes to complete the piece. This course is free and available to all but only Voila! members will have access to the forums to discuss the course material and post images in the gallery.
New course material will be posted on the Homepage every Sunday starting May 5th. You don’t have anything to do except wait for May 5th when Christine will be posting course material for the week.
Cool, huh? Head on over to Voila! if you aren’t familiar with the site and then we’ll see you back there on Sunday! http://www.voila.eu.com/
A Recognizable Voice
May 2, 2013
Inspirational Art
Today I would like to ask for your input. I want to talk about creating an unique artistic voice and I think the best way to define it is to have you, the readers, break it down together. Are you up for it?
The primary question is, what does it mean to have an artistic voice? I think the answer is in understanding what sets the well defined and easily recognized style of one artist apart from all others? Sometimes it’s the choice of form or imagery, maybe even a standard set of colors. But what if that artist does a wide range of things. Is their particular voice going to stand out if they jump from one thing to another. I think, if they are following their true selves, that voice inside that directs the inquiry and steers the fascination that motivates the artist to create can be apparent in a wide variety of work from the same person.
Take a look at the piece below. Even if you have never seen this type of work from this artist, you may be able to guess who this is. I did pick a fairly easy person to recognize.
Did you guess? You can click on the image to take you to the artist’s website if you like. But we’re going to chat a bit more about this before answering. So … this piece is not one of the more popular, widely seen pieces from this artist and is not one of her more well-known styles (perhaps … it’s hard to say that any of the phases or styles of this artist aren’t fairly well-known) but how quickly did you come to recognize the artist? I’m guessing for most of you it took almost no time. And why is that? Why, when this artist is known primarily for her translucent techniques, her imagery, her purses, do we still recognize a vegetable sculpture by her so readily?
Some of the reasons are pretty simple but they do matter … like the fact that she’s widely shown. But what else? What is is about her work, no matter what form, technique or imagery she uses, that allows us to recognize her? Are there other artists that come to mind that you know you’ll recognize right away? Why?
I would love to have as many of you chime in as possible. If you are getting this via the email delivery, you can click on the title of the post in the email to go to the blog and comment at the bottom of the post. If you need, you can reply with an email and I can post it for you. But do get in on the conversation if you have anything to add. I can have my say about why I think Kathleen Dustin here is so readily recognizable but its just my view. We are a large community with many, many different views. Let’s hear what you think.
Cloisonne Like No Other
May 1, 2013
Inspirational Art
Faux Cloisonne is not a new technique at all in polymer but there are at least a dozen ways to do it. Even then, within each approach there are very definite choices that become the signature of the artists who have chosen to work extensively with it. Below is a piece by a fairly well-known and, I think easily recognized artist (or maybe I’ve just been admiring this person’s work for ages!). Eugena Topina sells tutorials for this technique as well as having provided the basics in an issue of Polymer Cafe many years ago but as beautiful as this technique is, you don’t really see its likeness anywhere.
I’ve been sitting here trying to figure out how to say what I want to say next in a sensitive manner but I’m not sure there is a way. I brought up Eugena’s work because I wanted to address the worry that some artists have of being copied. My first thought on this subject is always about why one would worry about being copied. If it directly impacts your ability to gain income from your art, that is somewhat understandable but the fact is, you will put your art out there to be seen at some point and if it is well received, others will try their hand at it. There’s no way around that. My second thought is, if you have developed your own unique voice as an artist, there is no way anyone will be able to copy you so that what they do will be mistaken for yours. The third thought … do what you do so well, no one else can copy you, not in any direct manner.
Eugena’s approach to cloisonne is very precise, her colors are bold and bright and her finish looks flawless. She also tends towards flora and fauna in her imagery. This combination of approach, skill and imagery marks her work and makes her pieces easily recognizable. Even with all her information out there on how to do what she does, you don’t see work like hers by other artists. I think she’s simply done it so well, no one can touch her. So if you have a technique, design approach or form that you want to really push as your own, perfect it. Invest time in developing it to its full potential so when you do put it out there, you are setting a very high bar for those who want to emulate what you do. This will give you a solid position and the kind of recognition that does give you income making opportunities in being able to teach it as well as sell it.
Your other option for keeping people from copying you … develop your original, very individual artistic voice. We’ll touch on ideas about how to do that in tomorrow’s post along with a stunning example to draw from.
The other thing about people copying your work … if they do, it’s not only a compliment but an opportunity. Christi Friesen lives off the fact that so many people try and emulate her work.
Covering the Original Artistic Voice
April 30, 2013
Inspirational Art
Since there seems to be a lot of conversation about originality lately, I thought we’d focus on that idea for a bit this week (which is a great excuse to just bring the most stunning work I can find to post for you!) Finding your own original voice versus copying or following trends has been a point of discussion since Synergy 3 with the widely shared talk, The Good, The Bad & The Ugly in the Age of the Internet given by Harriete Berman, to comments and links here, to other articles and posts making the rounds like this one regarding copying posted by Ronna Sarvas Weltman on her Facebook page over the weekend. Originality is a very hard thing to teach. But awareness of what it is may be the first step in finding your own original artistic voice.
Covering objects with cane slices is in no way an original idea. But if someone did it for the first time today and for weeks after other people started doing it, would they be copying this innovative artist? Not necessarily. It is not the process or the skill that makes a piece unoriginal but the ability for a person to make what they see or learn their own personal expression (see Sunday’s post for the more in depth philosophical discussion on this). There are techniques, concepts and approaches to making art with your material of choice. Learned well, they become a skill. This will not make one an artist. It is what you do with it, how you make it your own, let it express what you see and care about. So … how can covering with cane slices be wholly original?
This frog is a Jon Anderson piece (see the Spring 2012 issue of The Polymer Arts for a gallery of his work and bio based on the only interview he has ever given.) It is completely covered with cane slices. However, every slice has been placed with purpose and as a way to express what Jon wants to portray about this creature and the colors and patterns he has been inspired by throughout his life.
Jon chooses the patterns on his slices, the colors and the way he lays them out to emphasize the form of the frog as well to embody his sense of what is beautiful. He also embeds symbols such as the moth on the frog’s head that give you reason to pause and wonder what else this is about besides the frog. There are a few other artists that use the same patterned approach to covering forms with cane slices but I have never seen any of their pieces that could be mistaken for Jon Anderson’s. His approach is a reflection of himself, the individual, the original person that his life and experience has formed.
Who would you consider the most original artist that works in the forms, techniques and/or approaches that you do? (And it’s okay if you think it’s you. It may very well be!)
Mixing it Up … The Polymer Arts Summer 2013 Cover
April 29, 2013
The Polymer Arts magazine news
This is always so fun for me. Putting out the cover of the upcoming issue. It means we’re almost ready to go to print! Plus it’s still just really cool to share it with you all.
The art on this cover is a collaborative piece by our prolific Christi Friesen and glass artist Sharon Peters. The two are featured in the “Mixing up Talent” article of the Summer 2013 issue.
This issue is full of ideas for mixing things up in the studio, be it through mixing materials, experimenting with new inclusions, trying new types of objects to cover, making your own wire findings or, yes, merging your talents with someone else’s by collaborating. I can tell you, collaborating is such an eye-opening and energizing experience. Every issue of the magazine is one huge collaboration between all the great artists that contribute, my little helpers and myself. It has its moments–I won’t say that collaboration is always easy–but the rewards are tremendous and the results are thrilling.
The Summer issue print copies are scheduled to all be mailed out by May 18th, with the digital being released by May 20th. If you haven’t renewed, would like to pre-order the issue or are ready to start a subscription, you can do so on our website at www.thepolymerarts.com/Subscribe.html.
And if you are as excited as we are about the next issue, we’d love to have you share the cover. There are links at the end of this post to share through all kinds of networks. (If you are getting this by email, just click on the post’s title and it will take you to the post page for sharing and comments!) Thanks!
