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:
Identifying Inspiration
July 1, 2014
Inspirational Art
With a single word, we can convey a tremendous amount of meaning including images, emotions, or entire concepts. Names, whether they are given to a person, a place, an event or an idea will often carry all of this. When Sarah Shriver chose to call not just her pieces, but a color palette after a single person, she brought in the full history and all the concepts associated with what each of us know about a woman named Frida. Her Frida palette echos the brilliance often found in the paintings of the renown Mexican artist Frida Kahlo. This also gives us a little bit of insight as to where Sarah finds her color inspirations.
Frida Bracelet
Naming your work after someone or something widely familiar can bring a tremendous amount of character and depth to your work. I have a ceramicist friend who names all his work after people, places and things seen in famous fantasy movies and books even though there isn’t usually any direct imagery on his work from these movies, just a general sense of it. He usually sells out at all the shows he does. It does help that he is a very skilled ceramic artist, and that he knows who he is selling to. Didn’t think naming your work could do much for your sales? I can tell you from my own experience that it can make all the difference.
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.
What’s in a Name?
June 30, 2014
Inspirational Art
As I mentioned briefly last Friday, the name of a piece of art can really add or change the viewer’s perception of the work. It is a peek into the artist’s mind and gives a hint of (or knocks you over the head with) what the artist was aiming to convey. Some titles make obvious sense while others are surprising and make you look more closely at the work in order to try to figure out what the artist was seeing when they named it. This piece here is of the latter types. Desiree McCrorey named this intriguing little piece Diablo’s Cell Phone. Now where did that come from?
I definitely associated this piece with fire and so can see the devil association but I would not have thought cell phone if it weren’t for her naming of it. Now I see it in the elongated form and the ‘antenna’ coming up on the one side. And Diablo now makes me thing of the wire work as horns and the target cane slices down in the fiery lower portion as maybe lost souls in some eternal fire. The name just takes the necklaces from being a great visual piece to having all this depth and possible metaphor. And it’s rather humorous. Who would the devil be calling on his cell phone? His demon minions? I don’t know but it makes me like the piece even more.
If for some reason you aren’t familiar with Desiree’s work and her very generous sharing of techniques and ideas, go on over to her website and take a look around. Besides her wonderful pieces to drool over, there are tons of tutorials, tips and tricks on this website. Desiree’s tutorials and her website were instrumental to me as I advanced in my polymer work back in my early days with this medium. We are very lucky to have someone like her in our community!
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.
Daily Polymer Arts Blog changes & A Rustic Tutorial
June 29, 2014
Inspirational Art, Polymer community news, The Polymer Arts magazine news
First thank you to every one who switched over to the new email post service a few weeks ago. The old service was scheduled to be taken down this week but things are little behind schedule. We are getting back on track and the switch will be done tomorrow. So, if you didn’t switch over and are reading this in an email post that has a long link on the top, click that link and unsubscribe and go here for the new blog emails or you won’t be receiving email notifications any longer as of Monday.
As of this week, the blog will have a few more changes as well. For one, I won’t be posting on Sundays any more. There is a lot going on over here and I need to get a little more time out of my week to get the books going and keep the magazine at the high quality you expect. We will still have a Saturday post which will encompass news, new products, links to great tutorials and anything else that I can find to give you something to look into over the weekend. We’ll continue with polymer and design posts every day during the week.
As part of the “get Sage more time for new and exciting TPA projects” initiative, I am looking for people to guest post and suggest themes. This is a great opportunity for anyone who wants to promote products, books, events and classes on the blog in exchange for helping create great content. If you are interested in learning details about this opportunity, write me at sbray@thepolymerarts.com
In the meantime, if this week’s rustic elegance has piqued your interest, try this neat little, free tutorial by Ginger Davis Allman (who also has a fantastic tutorial using translucent clay in the present Summer issue of The Polymer Arts magazine) to create shimmery rustic leaves in your own choice of elegant palettes. Here are a couple of examples by Ginger.
Thank you for your support of The Polymer Arts projects!
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: Simple Lines of Elegance
June 27, 2014
Inspirational Art
Another word for elegance would be grace. We see that in this ceramic vessel by Vanessa Quintana. The way the clay is shaped suggests change and movement, the edges of the pale clay dancing over the rough brown like wind blown fabric. The grace of this dance comes from the wildly undulating lines and yet it still has a sense of reservedness with it’s limited and subdued colors and minimal surface decoration.
This piece is aptly named “Molt” which usually refers to living creatures rather than plants. The name itself changes how I look at this piece which initially reminded me of trees shedding bark but now I am thinking more insects or reptiles. The name itself enlivens the piece unexpectedly. That is something to ponder … maybe next week we’ll look at pieces with really great names that help inform the work.
In the meantime, there is not a lot of information on Vanessa out on the internet. She has an Etsy store which is empty at the moment but a Facebook page with plenty of photos if you want to look further into her work.
Tomorrow we have an announcement to make about changes coming to the blog in July. They aren’t too major but you might want to be sure to give it a read so you are “in the know”.
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.
Elegant Reading
June 26, 2014
Inspirational Art
More than just jewelry can be created with an elegant and rough or rustic look. This book, created by Samantha Braud, has a gorgeous faux antiqued surface filled with texture and imagery. The elegance comes from a sense of age and the neutral palette as well as finely applied forms. I find the juxtaposition of the ocean images and the handwriting rather curious–just makes me want to open it up and see what secrets or stories are hidden inside.
We featured Samantha’s art several months ago on an Outside Inspiration post for her metal work. Her metal and wire work is just as intricate and fantastical as her polymer pieces. Check out more of her art and her fantastical style on her website and 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.
Keeping Elegance Simple
June 25, 2014
Inspirational Art
One of the common hallmarks of elegant art is understated design choices. In the case of this necklace by Elizabeth Kosterich we have a single predominant and austere blue color as well as simple long rectangular shapes accented by nothing more than a stop bead on the end and the shine of polished silver. It’s such a simple composition but the symmetry and simplicity contrast against the organic texture of the polymer creating all the interest it needs to draw the eye and dress up the wearer.
Elizabeth creates art jewelry in polymer clay, sterling silver, and other mediums as well. Her work is sometimes simple, sometimes visually complex but always contemporary and understated in some aspect. You can take a look at more of her approach on her website.
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.
Age and Austerity
June 24, 2014
Inspirational Art
Kathryn Doll gives her art jewelry a feel of age and austerity with layered visual texture and classic forms. She uses liquid polymer clay with paint, metal leaf, and glitter to achieve the depth you see here. That slight shimmer and the cool brilliance of the stones brings a quiet elegance to the pendant’s antique look.
Kathryn’s work has shown up on actors in a number of shows as well as being gifted to numerous celebrities. See who wears her work as well as seeing what else she creates on her website and on her blog.
Rough Elegance
June 23, 2014
Inspirational Art
When you think of elegance, you probably think of clean lines, understated brilliance and a certain level of delicacy. But elegance can manifest in a number of ways. It can be found in any number of graceful and dignified elements and compositions even those whose other elements are on the rough side. I’ve found this to be true in a number of pieces I’ve seen in the past few weeks. So let’s look at that this week and ask, how can elegance be juxtaposed with a rough, rustic, or less refined approach?
Here is a piece I think embodies that idea wonderfully. There is certainly a lot of the less refined here in the texture of the cracked foil and rough edges. But the centered swirl and skillful application of the overlapping layers along with the limited navy palette gives it a calm and dignified air. This could easily be worn with an evening gown or a dressy business suit or be used to add a touch of elegance to a more casual outfit. That versatility is part of the advantage for a piece that works with two seemingly disparate concepts.
Belarus’ Evgeniya Andreeva is the creator of this lovely necklace. Most of her work tends towards the rough and rustic in a tasteful and well-considered way. Look through her LiveJournal entries and Facebook page for more pretties of hers.
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.
A List for Creativity
June 22, 2014
Inspirational Art
Here is a short and sweet list for great creativity. This is from the book Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon. It’s a rather unexpected list–who thought kindness was necessary for creativity? Well, if you aren’t kind to yourself when things don’t work, it would be hard to keep working at it. And stamina, because you’ll need to keep trying until you get it right. The last one on this list is my favorite though. Not only does it mean you will be taking chances and will likely discover something new and unexpected but there’s those laugh out loud funny moments when you’re just playing and letting go. And laughing at oneself is so cathartic.
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.
Adorable Surprise
June 21, 2014
Inspirational Art
I have seen fantasy snails and, of course, fantastic fairies in polymer but I think this is the first fantasy snail fairy I’ve seen. It’s make you stop and ponder the idea. The logical side of my brain says that’s just silly–poor fairy would be just dragging that shell around behind her all the time–but then you look at that sweet little face and decide it doesn’t matter.
This little sculpture is by Celia Harris. It’s an example of how the element of surprise can take a nice piece to an even more interesting level. In this case, it is combining things you don’t usually think of together. This can be tricky–the two elements do have to have some kind of connection. In this case, these are nature’s creatures, part of one that exists, part of one that may or may not exist–who’s to say for certain! I like to think anything is possible.
Enjoy a fantastical stroll through Celia’s galleries on her website today and maybe start thinking of your own wonderful surprising combinations.
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.
