The Party is in Full Swing. Come join us!

 

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 Influence: Outlines in Metal

August 10, 2012

Todays outside influence comes from metalsmithing: Two Element Pod Pendant by Barbara Bayne

Barbara explored a number of mediums before finding metalsmithing, and jewelry in particular, was the area that she felt allowed her to create the work she envisioned. I like her description of what she does. It reminds me of the approach of a lot of polymer artists and her forms are definitely within reach of polymer as a medium that can reproduce such quiet and stunning work:

“The jewelry designs stem from interests in natural organic forms and geometric shapes that are combined to create unique outlines that I than use as a basis for my work.  Surface texture is also of great interest to me when I am designing.  I attempt to develop new and intriguing patterns and textures to enhance and embellish the basic forms of the jewelry.  It is my hope that by combining different shapes and outlines with various textures and patterns I can create jewelry that is interesting as well as innovative.”

I have quite a number of metalsmithing books on my shelves. I don’t do much metal work but between the construction, colors and forms, there is a tremendous amount of inspiration. Check out my two favorites:

Making Metal Beads by Pauline Warg

The Jeweler’s Directory of Decorative Finishes (Serious texture and color eye candy!) by Jinks McGrath

Have fun exploring metal inspirations!

 

Hats Off to Polymer

August 9, 2012

Adornment is a favored form for polymer but how often do you see it in hats? And we’re not talking hat pins or buttons but where polymer is what the hat is about.

Cynthia Toops and Dan Adams’ Anenome Hat is the kind of thing I’m thinking about. This piece was made from polymer clay with brass, velvet, and aluminum screen. It had quite a life apparently. Cynthia said in regards to the hat showing at the MIPCES Exhibition, “My fondest memories of the hat were all the people at the conference taking pictures of each other wearing the hat. It reminds me that art is best when shared.”

Trying something unusual like a hat can also push you in your other forms. Cynthia Toops wrote: “Dan and I create beads for elaborate jewelry pieces. For this project I wanted to make a full-size hat and imposed one restriction- no beads. We partially encased wire elements in polymer clay in a different way and by forcing myself out of the jewelry mode, it automatically gave me freedom to experiment. What began with the hat will become a starting point for new jewelry ideas.”

This visit to the past was courtesy of the Polymer Art Archive.

 

In Defense of Center

August 8, 2012

I remember in art school being questioned for the use of centered imagery. I never really understood why a centered composition would be criticized. Is it really too easy, too expected, or too boring? I don’t think it matters if something is centered or off center or has not central focus at all, as long as the work is done well.

This is an example of what might seem simple, is definitely centered and yet make you smile to look at them.

The pendants are by Russian polymer artist Tatyana Menshikova. Everything is centered, consistent and evenly spaced. And they are wonderfully done with well chosen colors and simple but interesting textures. The balance and centering of the layers makes for a very stable and calm piece. Art doesn’t always have to challenge or make you say “wow!” Good art makes you want to take it in. And maybe just make you smile.

 

Expanding the Alcohol Ink Horizon

I am an avid user of alcohol inks. I love the range of subtle to bright watercolor textures you can add to polymer. I use both Pinata and Adriondacks just to have a wider range of color options. The problem with buying alchohol inks is that you are just guessing at the colors from what you seen in the bottles or packaging, which is not very helpful.

So I was rather excitedt to find this page all about alcohol inks on Kimberly Crick’s online craft store site.

The page has a great chart of all the Adriondack inks as well as samples of what the 3 pack color sets look like together.

The page also goes over adding alcohol inks to a variety of materials. There is a section for polymer clay that still needs to be filled out. But as usual, it would be fairly easy to adapt some of the techniques such as the ones listed for stamping and mixing inks into sealants.

And while you are on the site, you might want to explore her stamp, mold, jewelry supply and polymer clay offerings.

 

 

Colorful Zippers

August 6, 2012

We’re going for a bright and colorful Monday today.

The very talented Desiree McCrorey is providing our Monday pick-me-up with these these zippered flame pin photos. They have such wonderfully energetic and flowing pod forms combined with brilliant colors and the curious zipper-like stripes.

I imagine anyone wearing this to the office any day of the week would have a hard time not staying chipper and positive. It might even be infectious. Yep, let’s help our co-workers keep a good attitude by wearing cheerful polymer to work. Just doing our part to keep the world smiling!

 

Challenge Yourself

August 5, 2012

Sticking with what is easy – with what we know may be comfortable and safe – isn’t usually very fulfilling. Challenging yourself to be, and do more, than you think you can is not only exciting but gives every day a unique and motivating reason to get up in the morning.

I think this is particularly important for people in retirement or empty nesters – people who no longer have that daily focus of a job or children.We all have our art. But how much do you push yourself? You are never so far down the road that you shouldn’t keep trying to make yourself better. Keep challenging yourself with big goals!

 

 

Suspended Vessels

August 4, 2012

Gera Scott Chandler has lately been working on a concept she calls suspended vessels. They appear more as sculptural pieces than functional decor although they are both.

The central aspect of these pieces is a woven basket suspended between a series of tall thin sculptures that appear, in either an abstract or literal manner, to be figurative totems all facing inward. The impression is that there is a gathering of people with a yet to be filled basket connecting them, giving the open vessel a mysterious importance, as if these people have gathered to either give or receive something very precious.

The photos show rather subdued colors but they are actually quite colorful. Take a closer look here on her blog.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Trending Fall Colors

August 3, 2012

Did you ever wonder who decides what the popular colors are going to be in the coming season? Well, the fashion industry is definitely the primary influence. However, what they are putting out is drawn from and re-interpreted by other industries. Pantone is the company that graphics and print professionals pay attention to. Before each season, they put out a report about what is coming out of the fashion industry and offer specific color palettes based on their finds. It is a fantastic short cut for artists wondering what colors to work in for adornment and home decor items to sell online and at shows in the coming season.

Here, we have the Fall report. On the report page, you will see colors broken down by men and women’s fashions. Read the descriptions in the report as well as take in the colors. The descriptions are just as tasty as the palettes and speak to their origins in the fashion industry.

For more on how to identify trends and to tell the difference between a trend and a fad, check out the Fall 2012 issue of The Polymer Arts magazine for an article on this plus other fun and inspiring pieces and lots and lots of polymer eye candy.

A Light Swirling Mystery

August 2, 2012

We are probably all familiar with the use of a light bulb to create lentil beads but how about a swirl?

This beauty popped up on Pinterest with no credit given. The site it goes to, after translation, looks to be a page of gathered tutorials but there is not credit given for this wonderful work, just a link to the LiveJournal Polymer Clay page, which is posted to by numerous artists. I’ve done some searching but so far no luck. If anyone knows whose this is, please put it in the comment section and I will update when I see it.

In the meantime, enjoy the eye candy and the tips in the tutorial!

Real Texture, Texture Sheets

So Victoria James has decided to forgo the machined texture plates with stylized designs and repeating patterns to create texture sheets that are simply made from real things. Just straight off the tree, so to speak … and, well, literally too. Here are a couple samples of work done with these plates.

A real fern texture which, although the plate has but one fern on it, is pretty cool just because of the detail you can see in it.

The desert sandstone textures that the ends of the cuff bracelet were treated with remind me more of old wood bark. Again, it’s still a pretty nice texture.

 

To see Victoria’s selection of texture plates, head to her texture website here.

 

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