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:PMC & Enameling
November 9, 2012
Inspirational Art
Even though it may feel like it at times, we aren’t the only craft material that struggles with it being new in the art world. Precious metal clay and polymer are like cousins in that sense. They’re both part of a family of craft materials that still has to prove itself and is still being heavily experimented with.
Joy Funnell is extremely passionate about precious metal clay. Like polymer, there is still much to learn about how PMC can be worked and many persevering ideas about what you can and can’t do with it. Joy took on the myth that enamel was incompatible with PMC by creating pieces entirely made of silver clay with enamel. One of her signature techniques is Enameled Accents which creates jewel-like colors in fine silver wire outlines like in these beautiful masks below.
Of course, I saw this and thought, easy to translate to polymer! Using extruded polymer and colored liquid polymer, you could have the same colorful and delicate look. Or if into PMC but not sure you want to expand into enameling, LPC is an alternative to using enamel on PMC. Because some of us just do not need to add another art material to our repertoire!
Pluffy Idea
November 8, 2012
Inspirational Art, Tips and Tricks
I’m going to be brief today. Not that there is much to say about this intriguing idea. Many of us are already quite fond of extruding out polymer but why limit it to our extruding guns?
I think Elena Aleshina must have had way too much fun creating this flower like polymer puffs with Pluffy Sculpey, lightweight bakeable clay. According to her Flickr page, she is just using nylon netting and tulle. How fun!
I do wonder if well conditioned polymer would go through a heavier duty kind of screen with similar effects. Something else to add to my list of experiments. If any of you try this, or have tried this idea before, send me photos!
Subtlety
November 7, 2012
Inspirational Art
I am really enjoying Lorraine Vogel’s understated botanic imagery I found on Flickr. The tendency for literal and clear translations of flora can be beautiful but also lessens the chance that the owner or viewer will connect to it on a more personal level. Leaving out clearly defined lines and color that is barely there allows us to fill in the rest with our own experiences and memories.
For me, these subtle images remind me of those very sunny days when I’ve been outside on a walk or hike and the sun is so bright I can hardly see anything clearly, getting more of an impression of the world around me than clear and certain memories. These are pleasant, warm memories that are now associated with the images of Lorraine’s pieces. Of course, my having a hard time adjusting my eyes to daylight might just be a sign that I need to get out of the house more often!
Pastels and Polymer
November 6, 2012
Inspirational Art, Technique tutorials
One of the coolest things about polymer is that you can use virtually any art material with it in some fashion. On some trips to art and craft stores, I will wander every aisle and think of ways to use what I find.
So it really is no surprise to see someone using pastels on polymer. In a way it’s just a matte version of mica powders but unlike the standard matte powder option I have in my studio–cosmetic grade iron oxides–pastels come in dozens of colors. Hélène Jeanclaude shows just how to prepare and use pastels on her blog here in order to make items like this beautiful rust and patina look necklace.
Another cool thing about pastels is that they are not created equal … the pigment saturation from one brand to the next can be drastically different but that just means you have more options. If you want lighter more diffused color, the inexpensive kid’s sets should work just fine. The more expensive pastels sold by the stick at fine art supply stores can be so wonderfully saturated that the colors just glow. And there is everything in between. Just more color to play with!
Switching Structure Between Forms
November 5, 2012
Inspirational Art
If you make a particularly beautiful bead, the inclination is to make it the focus of a new piece. Focal beads are commonly worked into necklaces, sometimes bracelets. Either way the usual construction is a focal bead plus a series of complimentary beads to string with it. One could try stringing it solo but that usually doesn’t do much to frame and showcase the prized bead.
I like that Maryanne Loveless has created a bracelet structure that can showcase a bead in such a lovely manner. These bracelets are kept relatively simple but given just enough pizzazz on the ends of the encircling polymer to frame the bead and make it look that much more elegant.
Often times I think, with beaded pieces a very pretty but subtle bead will get lost in the business of the piece. This solution is good food for thought. If a focal bead can stand on its own regardless of what it’s matched with then it’s not an issue. But if the bead needs to be supported by the rest of the piece in order to shine, a simple, understated structure might be just the ticket.
Remembering to Breathe
November 4, 2012
Ponderings
Here I have my mantras for today but unfortunately, not my complete to-do list. With the Winter 2012 issue of The Polymer Arts magazine going to the printer’s in just a couple days, the last one about breathing becomes very important to remember!
Spicing it Up
November 3, 2012
Supplies & other fun stuff, Technique tutorials, Tips and Tricks
Outside Inspiration: Appreciating our Polishing
November 2, 2012
Inspirational Art
Jill Kollmann, a talented polymer artist and contributor to The Polymer Arts magazine, was at the Bowers Museum this past week for an exhibit and sale. In addition two artists were giving demonstration of their technique for polishing the surface of their pots. Their technique gave her pause.
“What they called “polishing” or “buffing” was actually burnishing with a highly polished very small smooth rock. After the plain pot is cured, they coat it with their favorite oil and let it soak in, then began the burnishing process. I watched one of them working and figured that it would take at least 3 hours to burnish the entire ‘average’ sized pot. It creates a high shine, even glassy. I will never complain again about sanding! The painting is done by hand with brushes made of a few strands of human hair, and no template or stencil.”
Below is a piece by Pabla Quezada using the techniques Jill saw at the museum. The sheen is amazing and the painted matte lines seem impossibly precise. A definite testament to perfecting skills and working patiently.
Such results aren’t impossible with polymer. In actuality, buffing with denim or using a buffing wheel does the same basic thing as rubbing the surface down with a smooth object. Both approaches use friction to reform the surface, essentially smearing the materials by force and heat until the material lies smooth. You can burnish polymer with any smooth hard tool. This approach can be used in areas that the buffing material can’t reach such as in a recess formed from stamping or the sides of a raised area. It will take time and patience to rub these small areas down but if these potters can do it, so can we.
Just Stunning
November 1, 2012
Inspirational Art
What is there to say about a piece like the one below? The highly skilled craftsmanship is striking, the arrangement of elements is wonderfully composed, the posture and gestures are quite emotive and knowing that it is polymer clay … well … it’s just stunning.
Forest Rogers creates sculpture primarily of myth and fantasy. Take a moment to peruse her website and her blog where she often shows her works in progress, which, even though incomplete, are often as beautiful as her finished work. Look at this Octopoid sculpture she posted about in August.
Okay, I’ll shush up now so you can enjoy.
Obsessed with Day of the Dead
October 31, 2012
Inspirational Art
Of course, I had to look for something in theme with my favorite holiday today. I find Halloween, the Day of the Dead and similar observances so very intriguing. Our passing is as much a part of life as our living and an acceptance and even celebration of it can so very much help be at peace with it as well as helps us appreciate each day we have to live, love, create and share.
I am not, however, a year round observer but I think Tamra Kohl of Sacramento, California may be. She has the most varied presentations of the Day of the Dead theme I think I’ve ever seen. With a well honed sense of humor about it, she has been making dolls, dioramas and cake toppers with the well known skeletons and flowers motifs of the holiday. Only she doesn’t stick with just the famous Fall holiday. Her skeletons can also be found lounging in a bubbly tub for Valentines and in Santa suits. Others are out getting tattoos, having acupuncture, flirting with a playboy bunny while seated at a slot machine and even skeletons dogs can be found surfing as you can see here.
There seems to be no boundaries for these Day of the Dead spirits. And why should there be?
You can enjoy Tamra’s many renditions of the Day of the Dead motifs on her Flickr page and website.
