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:
A Sense of Fall Leaves
September 20, 2012
Technique tutorials
Here is a straight forward tutorial that results in a subtle Fall leaf effect. With this technique, it is more about the colors and the shifting mica lending the sense of a forest floor in the midst of Autumn than it is about defining the actual leaves.
White_Fluffy is Nata Nei, a polymer artist from Israel. See more of her work on her Flickr site as well.
Artist on Fire
September 19, 2012
Inspirational Art
Impact. It’s pieces like this, not overly complicated but with an intensity of color and dynamic patterning that add definite and strong movement to the work, that really define the word eye-catching. But that isn’t even the most impactful thing about this piece.
The artist Adriana Allen has suffered from debilitating arthritis since childhood. But it has never stopped her. “Every item I create is a victory over an unforgiving disease … when it hit, it hit hard. I never gave into it. Every piece I create reminds me of this fact … the disease cannot stop me from doing what I love.”
Such courage and from it, such beauty.
Rough Around the Edges
September 18, 2012
Inspirational Art
We can all be a little rough on ourselves at times, trying to be perfect, or struggling to make our work smooth, seamless, and precise. But sometimes letting go IS the way to go.
Anna Anpilogova let loose here plus some with these beaten and battered looking beads. The frames are roughly cut out and the surface of the interior ‘stones’ scratched and dinged. And it’s just lovely. The key to making rough right is consistency and obvious intent to create that effect. This piece definitely has that all here.
See her blog post here in English. There is a link to a tutorial from which she got the idea for these beads. The tutorial is in French I believe but is not translatable since the text is all within images. Still, you can get the gist.
Tied in with Fall
September 17, 2012
Inspirational Art
There is a crispness in the air today that has put me in a mood for Autumn and all those luscious colors it brings. It will still be a couple weeks before we see the trees changing out here but it’s definitely time to put together some color palettes for the season.
This piece by Galina Grebennikova caught my eye for it’s richness in color as well as the nice use of a couple of old ties to complete the necklace construction. (We’ve seen this before in the Summer issue of The Polymer Arts magazine themed “Recycle and Reuse”)
Have you started dreaming up your Fall color schemes?
Business as Art
September 16, 2012
Ponderings
Just something to consider when you think your business is getting in the way of your art. When you create something that did not exist before, it has the potential to be artistic, even when its just the part of your business that allows you the time to create your true art. Business is just problem solving. So is art.
Polymer Inlay for Autumn
September 15, 2012
Inspirational Art
Just back home and off the road so I’m a little brain dead. My apologies. But thought I’d share this beautifully done inlay in polymer bracelet.
I’ve had my mind on Fall as the temperatures have started to drop and so this “Autumn in Scottish Mountains” bracelet created by Katerina Tumova really jumped out at me. Katerina explores a lot of different polymer methods and forms but thus far, this i my favorite of her approaches. You can see more on her Flickr site.
Outside Inspiration: Pierced Creamware
September 14, 2012
Inspirational Art, Tips and Tricks
A couple weeks ago I posted a photo and links to porcelain carved in stunning open lace-like forms. A lot of you readers really took ot the idea so when I ran across some 18th century pierced ‘creamware’ I thought I’d investigate as it looks like porcelain that may have inspired our prior Outside Inspiration artist, Jennifer McCurdy. I found some really exciting ideas including a short tutorial on how to easily reproduce this look yourself.
Here are some modern examples of pierced creamware from a retail site called Mermaid Hut. These are plates turned into ornaments but the idea is to consider the possibilities of piercing the clay to make lacy designs. The shapes of the piercings and the patterning possibilities are endless.
In my search for more images, I happened upon this page about a really simple way to do this in polymer. Just a quick and fun possibility to play with your clay this weekend!
Polymer Clay Mummy Beads
September 13, 2012
Technique tutorials
Emma Ralph of EJR Beads posts some really lovely tutorials on her retail site. If you are interested in textile looks in polymer clay, you probably will want to try your hand at these woven ‘mummy beads’ as she calls them.
By the way, EJR is in the UK and carries print copies of The Polymer Arts magazine as well as a nice selection of polymer clay supplies and gorgeous beads … among other things. Check out her shop.
Dolls As Wall Art
September 12, 2012
Inspirational Art
At Riverdog Studios creations are often a mix not only of materials but of forms as well–art dolls as wall art.
Deborah Banyas and T.P. Speer create mixed media wall pieces made from polymer clay, carved wood, stuffed cotton fabric, tooled metal and acrylic. In this collaborative work, Deborah works primarily on the sewn/stuffed aspects while T.P. creates the pieces in clay, wood and metal. The aesthetics are the result of well over 30 year of building a life together both as artists and as husband and wife.
They have a beautiful gallery with many more fantastical pieces to delight you on their studio’s website.
Encouraging Words
September 11, 2012
Inspirational Art
A kind word can go a long way on a difficult day. If you had on one of these pendants by Jana Lehmann of Germany you could get that sort of encouragement by just looking in the mirror.
All of Jana’s work is skillfully constructed and meticulously finished. She works in a wide range of forms dominated by a colorful and fun style. Take some time to wander through her Flickr photostream for more eye candy.
