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:
Woven Vessel
September 9, 2014
Inspirational Art
The popularity of the extruded cane has led to some wonderful experimentation using the reveal options provided by the nature of the cane. Laying these canes sideways gives you a series of layers to dig down into and expose.
This particular vessel created by Germany’s Vera Kleist Thom has these canes laid out in a weave pattern, but the shaving down of the outer layers gives it a kind of worn stone appearance. So, do we have woven stone? Intriguing. The combination makes for a beautiful, calm visual texture. The colors follow this calm theme by being primarily neutral, but there are a few rich reds and brilliant, ocean blues that accent the weave.
Give yourself a treat and look at the other vessels and jewelry she has created using this technique on her Flickr page. Just beautiful, contemporary pieces.
Carving out and revealing layers is nothing new for Vera, and right now, you can get some of her amazing cut-in bead necklaces and loose beads that we featured here in November of 2013 from her Etsy shop.
If you like this blog, support The Polymer Arts projects with a subscription or issue of The Polymer Arts magazine as well as supporting our advertising partners.
Extruded Fun
September 8, 2014
Inspirational Art
There is just too much fun being had out there with extruded clay methods lately, so let’s take a look at a handful of what is being done and see if we can’t entice you into a bit of extruded play this week!
This first piece by Spain’s Maribel Benito looks to be using the very popular cane blocks build from extruded canes. It’s not that the canes or application here are so unusual, but the fun combination of various sized circles, those delicious candy colors, the gradation of the canes and the well-tended finish make for a really beautiful piece that is both playful and sophisticated. It’s just well done.
I thought I’d go for short chatter today after my long Saturday expose. Let’s just enjoy this beauty today while I go dig up more extruded fun. The best place to find more of Maribel’s work would be on her Facebook page and on her blog.
If you like this blog, support The Polymer Arts projects with a subscription or issue of The Polymer Arts magazine as well as supporting our advertising partners.
Innate Creativity
September 6, 2014
Ponderings
Today, I’m going to get a little chatty. And, I hope you’ll have the patience to read this because it has bearing on what you might get out of this blog as well as on the idea of play.
If you read this blog regularly, then you know I will often aim to break down the reasons why a piece works, what I think the artist might have been doing or the intention behind the choices in color, form, line, etc. This kind of analysis intellectualizes or breaks down what is often an innate, instinctual, and/or playful process. Analysis and playing would seem to be on opposite ends of a creative spectrum, but they aren’t. They are actually two aspects of the process that goes into creating successful art.
In art school you have design concepts drilled into you, and you spend what seems like half your time analyzing and critiquing the work of others based largely on these concepts. You are also, however, pushed to play and experiment, to break down boundaries and take chances by putting yourself and your experiences into your work. What I didn’t really realize until years after art school is that I rarely ever thought about the concepts I had learned. I didn’t need to. They were ingrained in me through all the drilling, through the critical discussions and the regular analysis of other work. The insistence to break boundaries and take chances was, on the other hand, something I was quite conscious of. That seemed odd, but it worked. I could push myself to create fairly successfully without really thinking about why I made the choices I made. I just knew.
If you have been working artistically for a while, you have probably experienced at least a bit of this in the skills and techniques you have learned from constant practice; those things you no longer even think about how to do. Maybe its creating Skinner blends or knowing how to neatly reduce a cane. You’ve done it so many times you can do it without thinking, and your mind and fingers are freed up to ponder and create as your inspiration dictates.
This is why I repeat, rehash and reword the concepts of design over and over in these blogs; not because I want to take the fun and mystery out of creating, but because I want you to know it from hearing and seeing it so often that you never have to think about it. I really hope that hearing these ideas until they are ingrained can help you with your design choices, with finding the solutions to unsatisfactory outcomes, and with freeing you up to express yourself in beautiful, well-balanced and very personal ways, all without consciously considering the concepts. My hope is that all this talk of design just lives there in the background as you create, giving your child-side plenty of room to play and be curious.
So this weekend, I leave you with these thoughts and also encourage you to check out one of our communities consummate players, Deb Crothers who has been going nuts lately with these grunge beads of hers. You can see them develop through the photos on her Flickr site. You may also want to read some of her recent blog posts on why she doesn’t sell her work any more and her thoughts on the importance of play, which is where I saw these luscious square beads you see here. I think you will enjoy her sentiments.
Now its time for me to try and get some creative playtime in. I wish you lots of successful playing this weekend!
If you like this blog, support The Polymer Arts projects with a subscription or issue of The Polymer Arts magazine as well as supporting our advertising partners.
Outside Inspiration: From Quilts to Canes
September 5, 2014
Inspirational Art
Within the 2014 fall issue of The Polymer Arts, in our regular feature, “Color Spotlight” created by Maggie Maggio, we have the amazing work of Switzerland’s Sandra Traschel. The patterning and illusions she creates in polymer canes come in large part from the inspiration and even the templates of various quilters. Although this is covered in the article, Sandra (as well as Maggie and I), thought it would be great to actually see which artists inspired what pieces, so you could really see how the work of other art forms can so beautifully inspire polymer art.
This quilt is an example of color illusion, which Sandra explores at length in her jewelry pieces. You can see the translation to polymer in the pendants below. I would not have thought to use quilting templates for canes, but it’s obvious how beautifully they work out behind a skilled and patient hand.
So, if you have your Fall 2014 issue at hand, go ahead and open to the “Color Spotlight” article and click through to all these great quilters. Can you spot which quilter inspired which piece of Sandra’s jewelry just by looking at the websites? If you don’t have your issue in hand yet, you can just hop over to Sandra’s Flickr pages to make the comparisons. And, of course, spend some time in the galleries of these amazing quilters by clicking their names to link through to their websites.
1. Bracelet Convergence Pattern: inspired by a quilting template by Ricky Tims.
2. Bracelet Hollow Cubes: For this piece, I don’t know who was the original artist. I was inspired by the book: ABC 3-D Tumbling blocks and more by Marci Baker
3. Bracelet Triangle Illusion: Pattern inspired by a quilting template of Carol Bryer Fallert (quilt: illusion)
4. Necklace Diamond Illusion: Pattern inspired by Carol Bryer Fallert (quilt: illusion)
5. Pendant Autumn Flower: Pattern inspired by Jinny Beyer (quilt: Mayflowers pattern)
6. Pendant Op-Art checkerboard: Pattern inspired by Jinny Beyer (quilt: Da Vinci Pattern)
If you like this blog, support The Polymer Arts projects with a subscription or issue of The Polymer Arts magazine as well as supporting our advertising partners.
Extruding Beyond the Expected
September 4, 2014
Inspirational Art
Another multi-artist article in the new Fall 2014 issue tracks the growth and experience of six artists that went through the Voila! creativity classes. We were given the opportunity to see what six emerging or accomplished artists developed as they went through an intensive, nearly year-long course that focused solely on developing creativity and personal voice rather than learning techniques and particular skills. The outcomes were quite remarkable. The growth those artists have continued to have is just as, or maybe even more so, remarkable.
Angela Garrod has been making leaps and bounds in her work the last couple years, but until the article came to me, I had not realized where much of this inspiration and push came from. Many of her designs have explored what can be done with extruding, but I have to say some of the pieces she experimented with earlier this year is pushing extruding far beyond what we’ve seen from the rest of the community. I would not have thought the patterning on this neck piece had anything to do with extruding, but now my mind is working furiously to try to surmise how it might have been accomplished. Angela’s creative exploration of technique, as well as design, seems to have been buoyed by her natural instinct to experiment. All with wonderful results.
Take a look at the other recent pieces Angela has been working on her Flickr page where you can see the chronological journey of her work. Be sure to read the article as well and follow the links to each of the artists to see what else they have been up to since their classes. It’s a fascinating story told through the artwork itself.
If you like this blog, support The Polymer Arts projects with a subscription or issue of The Polymer Arts magazine as well as supporting our advertising partners.
Stacking Up Whimsy
September 3, 2014
Inspirational Art
A good portion of the articles in our new issue are, at least in part, interviews with multiple artists so you get a well-rounded view of the ideas our contributors have brought you. One particularly insightful as well as fun article is the one exploring the idea of humor and whimsy in art. Contributor Sherilyn Dunn interviewed four amazing artists for this–Christi Friesen, Layl McDill, Doreen Kassel and Maureen Carlson. Maureen Carlson was one of the first names in polymer that I knew since her book Family and Friends in Polymer Clay was one of the first polymer books I ever bought. Along with being a talented sculptor, she has very inventive, fun and thought-provoking pieces and I wish we’d had more room to show off her playful yet seriously expressive side.
This doll for instance, is a wonderful example of mixing whimsy with a personal message. This piece is made up of stackable and mobile elements of polymer enhanced with paints and powders as well as the words and ideas you see on it. Play is evident in the movable parts and the toy like construction but there’s a bit of the serious instilled in it. I know at one time she taught this as a workshop as a way to explore personal expression. What a fun workshop that must have been.
Don’t miss the insightful comments and observations in the “Art of Humor and Whimsy” article you’ll find in the Fall 2014 issue of The Polymer Arts. And for more fun and thought-provoking pieces, take a look at Maureen’s gallery.
If you like this blog, support The Polymer Arts projects with a subscription or issue of The Polymer Arts magazine as well as supporting our advertising partners.
Pushing Faux Organics
September 2, 2014
Inspirational Art
Another article in the fall issue that could have had a lot more examples in it if we had the room was about playing with faux techniques. The ideas outlined in the article are about emulating something that you find in nature, but adjusting characteristics to create something that doesn’t exist. A number of fantastic artists contributed their versions of this with examples.
Page McNall contributed an example of faux wood. A small faux log to be exact, but that is hardly the end of her beyond-natural faux examples. She is definitely one of those exploratory artists I often talk about, never really settling into one form or style, but does gorgeous work in her variety of approaches. One of her newer explorations that I just love and would have liked to have included are these this faux semi-translucent organics. This is really pushing the idea of natural faux polymer. The pieces look like they could be something in nature, but I’m pretty sure there is nothing quite like the majority of these.
To get a better view of the individual pieces here, as well as her rather fascinating work, visit her Flickr page. And for more ideas on how to play with and push faux techniques, well, see the latest issue of The Polymer Arts!
If you like this blog, support The Polymer Arts projects with a subscription or issue of The Polymer Arts magazine as well as supporting our advertising partners.
Layers and Layers of Slices and Slices
September 1, 2014
Inspirational Art
So, this is that very special week after the latest issue of The Polymer Arts comes out where I share some of the things that we couldn’t squeeze into the packed issue we just sent out. We’ll chat a bit more about some of the contributors and their art work, as well as add some depth to the stories and concepts you’ll be reading about if you bought the issue (and if you don’t have it or don’t have it coming, you can get your copy on our website.)
For this fall 2014 issue, Deb Hart wrote what is probably the most ambitious article we’ve published to date. “Caning by Numbers: Complex Cane Design” has to do with canes and math. It’s rather intense, but we are already receiving some rave reports from readers who are just so excited to have a controllable way to measure and create precise complex canes.
The one thing we couldn’t do in this particular article was include more of Deb’s work so you could see her range beyond the owl cane that was used as the example for the concepts she teaches.
Here is one amazing bracelet Deb created with a variety of brilliant complex cane images embedded in layers of translucent clay. I am not a very accomplished caning clayer, so I won’t pretend I know all that went into this, but what I do know is that the layering gives it an ethereal quality that is rather mesmerizing, not to mention how lost one might get just trying to take in all the detail.
You can check out even more of Deb’s canes and other art work on her Flickr pages, her blog, her Etsy shop and her website. (Does she stay busy, or what?)
If you like this blog, support The Polymer Arts projects with a subscription or issue of The Polymer Arts magazine as well as supporting our advertising partners.
Time to Play–Fall 2014 issue is here!
August 30, 2014
Inspirational Art
Today is the day … The Fall 2014 issue of The Polymer Arts is out! The theme for this issue is “Time to Play” so we have tons of ideas for increasing your play time, drawing out your ability to let go and play, thoughts on the art of whimsy and humor, ideas for pushing faux effects, creating canes by numbers, creatively naming your work, and tons of other good stuff.
Print issues were sent to the post office for sorting and mailing on Thursday, and this morning, the digital issue was released. This collage gives you a peek at some of the articles you’ll find inside and a Flipbook sampler with many of the articles’ first pages is available on the website if you want a more thorough peek before buying.
Print Subscribers & purchases: Expect your copies to arrive anytime between today and mid-September; arrival times depend on where you live, but the closer to the northwestern US you are, where the issues are printed and mailed from, the sooner you’ll probably see them. International shipments take a minimum of a week and up to 3 weeks, again depending upon your location and mailing services.
Digital Subscribers & purchases: The issue was released digitally at 10am GMT (that’s 5am EST), so you should have a copy in your inbox if you purchased or renewed before Aug 28th. If you have this issue coming, but don’t see it in you inbox, check you spam or junk email folder. Keep in mind, issues are mailed to the email address that you gave us when you made your purchase, or if paying by Paypal, to your Paypal email of record (that’s the one you sign into Paypal with), which may not be this email address since the blog and subscription mailing lists are maintained separately.
If you have any questions about your subscription or order, write us at connect@thepolymerarts.com and we’ll be happy to help you out.
In the meantime, get some playtime in this weekend, be it in the studio or outside, and enjoy child like joy and discovery.
If you like this blog, support The Polymer Arts projects with a subscription or issue of The Polymer Arts magazine as well as supporting our advertising partners.
Outside Inspiration: Synergistic Enamel
August 29, 2014
Inspirational Art
Early in the week it occurred to me that I hadn’t encouraged anyone to send me items that were NOT polymer, so I’d have something for our outside inspiration Friday post. However, the lovely Donna Greenberg came to my rescue and introduced me to a rather amazing enamel artist by the name of Liz Schock. This is not your typical enamel work, at all. There are a lot of wild texture and lines, as well as a carnival mix of colors in much of Lisa’s work.
I am bringing you one of her calmer pieces, actually, I just kept going back to it. This Seaweed Necklace has the intense intricacy of her other work, but for all the wild lines and uneven edges, there is a serenity in it. The color green, and this particular shade of it, has much to do with that. In addition, there is minimal contrast even with the one blue bead. It is still a bit of a mystery since it has so much rich texture, yet is such a calming piece. It is reminiscent of seaweed peacefully floating underwater.
I am especially fond of pieces that I can’t figure out, whose elements are not themselves able to reveal their effect. It is a synergy of the elements that brings about the mood or ‘read’ of a piece like this. It is also something that can’t be taught, not in the sense of defining concepts and outlining approaches. This takes intuition, being in touch with your own sense and reaction to your work, being open as you create to the emerging art and if the piece says ‘step back’, then you want to keep from over-complicating it. I don’t know that this is true for Liz with this piece, but I can imagine, with all the color and contrast in the rest of her work, that it might have been just such an experience that had her pull back from some of her more raucous tendencies.
I would really encourage you to see what I mean. She has a website that was working the other day, but seems to be offline at the time I am writing this. Try going to her website and/or her Facebook page to see what she does with her enamel work and art jewelry and let the idea of how the work presents itself. You may love some of it, you may really dislike a few pieces, but the fact is that with work like this, you will have a reaction of some sort. Isn’t that what we all want our work to do in the end?
If you like this blog, support The Polymer Arts projects with a subscription or issue of The Polymer Arts magazine as well as supporting our advertising partners.
