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:
Letting in Light with Translucent Tubes
March 9, 2013
Inspirational Art
Translucent clays are not so much about color or texture as most of our clays are – translucents are really about light. Creating pieces with translucents means making accommodations for allowing light to play through. When you are creating jewelry, the way the piece sits on the body can easily block or reduce the space needed for light to play through the transparency. Rebecca Roberts came up with a great way to give her thin layers the space needed, by rolling them in tubes so the layers can be easily seen.
With the tubes, each one of the pieces sit on the body along a thin point, which will allow light to come bouncing through from any angle. The round ‘bubbles’ help define the variety of layers as well. A fairly simple but fun and effective way to play with light.
Outside Inspiration: Paper Mokume
March 8, 2013
Inspirational Art
In polymer, we borrow from the many long standing craft and art traditions, adapting the treatments, designs and processes to our material. However, we are not the only ones doing this kind of appropriating of methods and looks.
Although they could easily be polymer, these mokume bracelets are actually made from paper. How cool is that?
Liz Hamman makes all of her jewelry from paper – not plain paper, but printed matter like books, maps, and sheet music. The text and printed images become part of the design, as in part of the patterning, and are not always recognizable as text or map markings. These bracelets are from Ladybird books, a series of British children’s books popular in the 1970’s. So besides having a delicate, intricate visual texture, there is a literal story buried in the layers of the piece. On the inside of the bangles, you can see actual illustrations from the books. The color and pattern on the top side come from images like these.
The idea of layers in a piece actually having more to them than just the visual elements from the material’s treatment intrigued me. It might seem like a lot of unnecessary work to add layers of images or text transfers to clay, much which will not be visible. But the history of a piece – for instance, something that has been in the family for years – adds value even though the piece may not have changed in appearance over time, simply because its history has imbued it with a little something extra. An unseen element such as a story or an object in something we own can make a even a simple piece extraordinary for the one who knows its secret. I was just thinking that would also be a little something else to help sell a piece … embedding text, objects with stories, or images into your work that you can tell a buyer about. Wouldn’t that make a person more curious and interested? Don’t we all like a secret?
The Many Sides of Pixelated Retro Canes
March 7, 2013
Inspirational Art
The intricacy and gradation of color is as interesting in the long lines of the side view slicing as it is in the cross section. Having them both in the same piece gives variety to the visual texture of the ring’s surface, a contrast of patterning that changes depending on the view. Check out her LiveJournal page to see what I mean. Fun stuff!
Considering All Sides of a Box
March 6, 2013
Inspirational Art
Here is another take on considering the sides of the work other than just the front or primary side. Janis Holler is constantly aware of all sides of her work. Everything she lists on her site includes images of the back side – or in the case of the box below – the top, bottom, and undersides as well.
Top side of White Heron box lid and front of box
Backside of box
Underside of lid
Every side of this White Heron box is not only nicely finished but each side is treated so that it can stand on its own compositionally. Even the underside of the lid has a beautiful little surprise. It would be hard to imagine a potential customer not being captivated by all that is going on with this beautiful tiny box. I know I am.
More on considering ‘Backsides” in the present Spring issue of The Polymer Arts!
Should there be a Central Polymer Educational Resource?
March 5, 2013
Inspirational Art, Polymer community news
The polymer community has a wealth of information available through numerous channels but what we don’t have is a definitive source for the many skills, techniques, and terms that a polymer artist would want to become familiar with in order to grow and succeed in their art. With much of the information available being based on individual experiences it can be confusing to newer artists looking for a ‘right way’. Because of this the question has arisen, “Do we need a central resource with definitive information for our medium?”
At the upcoming Synergy 3 conference Maggie Maggio and I will lead a discussion on this topic to find out what the community would like to see and how viable the idea is. We’ll plan to discuss the possible goals for a central Polymer Art resource that focuses on the education of artists, confirming best approaches & practices, and centralizing information. We’ll also try to determine how such a resource could be built, maintained and funded.
Since many of you will not be able to attend Synergy or the workshop even if there, we wanted to get your opinion and give you a voice that we can take to the discussion. To this end we’ve created a short survey. Take just a moment to add your voice to the conversation: Central Polymer Resource Survey
And since I can’t leave you without something to potentially oh and ah over, here is one of Maggie’s newer pieces.
Maggie is exploring the structural capabilities of polymer, which considering her architectural materials background, would seem a natural direction for her. In her words: “I am searching for ways to take advantage of the inherent strengths of polymer clay — its malleability, flexibility, lightness, and unlimited color palette. I am currently exploring forms inspired by the structural skeletons of plants and animals and playing with pieces that wrap the neck and arms. I am using polymer alone.” She’ll be presenting her structural polymer ideas at Synergy next week as well.
I’ll be reporting on our activities from Synergy next week, but in the meantime I hope you fill out the survey and have your voice heard.
Carving Hollow Polymer
March 4, 2013
Inspirational Art
I thought you all would really like the gourd art I posted on Friday’s but wow … I’ve never received so many emails about how blown away you were by any single thing we’ve posted. (By the way, if you really like a post and you get this by email, instead of replying to the email, click the title link to leave a message on the blog post so you can share your thoughts with everyone, not just me. Much more fun that way!) The idea of carving polymer in such a fashion has grabbed more than a few people’s imagination.
I don’t want you all to let the idea drop by the wayside either. It can and has been done in intricate detail. Perhaps you saw some of Daniel Torres’ hollow bracelets year before last as images made the rounds due to his appearance at the 2011 Clay Carnival. If you missed them, here is one of his more ‘hole’y pieces.
Now, Daniel uses a very cool but specific technique to make these. You would really need to take a class with him to do this kind of hollow form work (He is a fountain of information and a really intelligent and funny guy to boot so if you have the chance to take a class with him, don’t hesitate!) But similar work could be done by using half round forms or something else dimensional but not requiring tricky hollow form processes.
My mind is still spinning with ideas although I’m so occupied with getting ready for Synergy 3 and all the usual magazine business that I won’t be able to try anything out until later this month. I hope those of you who have expressed trying a bit of carving won’t have to wait. Go to it and please do share with me what you do.
Speaking of sharing, there are just two more days to get in work to be considered for the polymer clay show at the Flow Arts Gallery this Spring. The Polymer Clay Guild of Minnesota has organized the national show for polymer clay artists. It’s a juried exhibition with over $500 in awards. Here is the link to submit: http://www.flowartspace.com/submit-work.html Go forth and share! (And win some bucks if you can!)
Lost and Found
March 3, 2013
Ponderings
Never thought about it this way but oh, how so true. I hope you’ve had time to lose yourself in your studio this weekend long enough to find yourself as well.
Quote by Thomas Merton.
Steampunk Flash Drive
March 2, 2013
Inspirational Art
Just a fun piece to share with you today. We’ve been working on the next issue which is themed “Mixed Media” so covering objects has, of course, come up and is the focus on one of the feature articles. This fun and detailed flash drive created by Lynn Reno is one the items I came across while researching possibilities.
Pretty nifty, huh? We have so many very ordinary objects around us but they don’t need to stay ordinary. What can you add to something you use or see regularly to bring a little more art and beauty to your day?
Outside Inspiration: Unbelievable Gourds
March 1, 2013
Inspirational Art
Trying to figure out which of Mark Doolittle’s gourds to share with you was a serious exercise in restraint. I was inclined to post a dozen of them for he creates such a variety and this is no ordinary gourd art. Not that I even need to tell you that. You can see it from this one image:
Mark carves the gourds and his wife Kathy creates the paper appliques that add the color to the pieces. I wondered as I looked through his gorgeous online gallery if he ever tried combining polymer with these. How wonderful would that be?
This has me seriously considering trying out gourd carving just so I can see first hand the possibilities with polymer. Of course, we could even make our own polymer vessels to carve and add to. The idea machine in my head has just been going full bore since finding these. You really must take a moment to go to his site and see the huge variety of stunning pieces. He does similar work in wood as well so there is a just a ton of eye candy on this site. Get a cup of something warm and explore!
Dynamic, Dancing Sculpture
February 28, 2013
Inspirational Art
As you know, polymer is particularly popular among figurine and art doll sculptors. And so is the passive stance of the figures. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this … a figure posed standing still and looking off into the distance is often the best way to show the character and emotive facial expressions of the subject. When sculptures convey actual movement though, the effect can be almost mesmerizing.
Mark A Dennis is an accomplished doll sculptor with a tendency towards dynamic, movement based compositions. This piece below, “Sky Dancers” is a gorgeous example of instilling a kinetic feel to stationary figures.
Movement in sculpture is all about the lines. The lines in this case are in the bend and flow of the figures’ torsos and limbs with emphasis and focus brought to this through the the swirl of the fabric. Establishing single or connected flowing lines gives us the sense that the single moment portrayed keeps going, off the composition into the surrounding space and off into that next moment of time we easily imagine follows this frozen one.
If you want to learn more about using lines to convey movement and direction, see the Fall 2012 issue of The Polymer Arts where both flow and repetition are discussed at length. You can also check out more of Mark’s work on his website here.
