Iconic Shapes
May 31, 2020
Inspirational Art
If there was a shape that could represent state of the world today, what would you say that is? Chances are, you’re thinking of something that works as an icon or symbol rather than something as simple as a circle or octagon. Abstract shapes are something I touched upon only briefly in the article about shape and form at the beginning of the month. They are most commonly created for things that we are already familiar with, many of which are considered universal. Some have been with us for ages such as stars, teardrops, and hearts, but simplified shapes will pop up whenever a quick method of communication that is not language dependent is needed or preferred.
For instance, right now, a square with half circles on the ends, often with a few horizontal lines in the square, represents a medical mask. Such an icon may have meant nothing to you at the start of this year but it’s hard not to recognize it for what it is now.
That is the power of abstract shapes. With minimal characteristics, these shapes represent an object if not an entire concept. For this reason, I suggest you to not use them too frivolously. If you pop a heart shape on something, it should be because your intention necessitates calling on the viewer’s emotions rather than just putting it on to be cute. Now, I’m not saying that using hearts to be cute is a bad thing but realize that people will see it as an emotional expression. And I say emotional, not love, because the heart represents a base positive emotion associated with love, caring, and happiness but if your heart shape has a hole in it, is cracked or torn, or is jet black, the viewer will start thinking of things like loneliness, sadness, or even animosity.
Not all abstract shapes have such a wide range of potential meaning but many can elicit a similar or even stronger reaction, such as the shape of a cross or particular types of star shapes, depending on the context in which it’s used.
If you want to use abstract shapes but do not want to be so obvious or bring up the more common associations, you might find it useful to combine abstract shapes or to use them in unexpected ways. This approach to the use of abstract shapes can make for a much more subtle or complex statement which means your viewer will probably react more viscerally even with a readily recognized shape since its associations won’t be so blunt.
Here are just a few examples of abstract shapes where the association with them has been toned down.
Here, Elsie Smith overlays the impression of leaf forms on heart shapes showing just how perfectly they fit together. Pairing these makes the heart a gentle emotional background to the focus on, and apparent love of, nature’s intricate leaf formations.
This next one is a really good synergy of recognizable abstract shapes. Speaking in terms of the silhouette of the piece below as well as the focal point of the opening image, we could see a sunburst, a starburst, or a flower shape. Since Zuda Gay Pease was primarily creating flowers at the time she created this, we can assume her intention was for it to be a flower, but the energy of all those many pointed tips makes it come across as celestial. So, we get a combined association – the femininity and beauty of the floral shape with the energy and excitement of bursting light. It’s quite an impressive mix.
It’s interesting that practically all types of celestial bodies have a recognizable abstract shape (or variations of them.) There is probably nothing quite so common in abstract celestial shapes as a crescent moon. Our association with it can be fairly wide ranging from simply symbolizing the quiet and dark of night to embodying the ebb and flow of life.
In this example, I found it very curious that the lines on these crescents appear to be sun symbols with all their brilliant energy, and the bright blue ends of the crescent, visually truncating the shape, make us less likely to think crescent moon than simply an angular and curvy shape. The moon and its mysteries therefore become a quiet background to the louder energy of the colors and lines. I really like this contrast of concepts here as the sun and the blue color brings in a liveliness while the unconscious reaction to the moon shape is a quiet but divergent undertow. (Unfortunately, the Etsy shop from which this was saved is no longer available, so I am not sure who created it. If anyone knows, I would be ever so grateful if you would send me their name so I can update it.)
Is this making sense? I don’t think it’s hard to grasp the general idea of how iconic an abstract shape can be so I’m going to keep this short today. It’s also been a busy week getting all your accounts fixed up and so I should get off this computer. I challenge you to look around at the way abstract shapes are used in art work, be it your own or other people’s pieces.
Go Forth and Be Free… to be Inspired, For Free!
If you haven’t heard yet, starting in June (this next weekend) I will be posting the upcoming Virtual Art Box content previously planned for the VAB membership project on this blog so everyone can read it for free. I wanted readers, regardless of budget right now, to have access to these discussions, lessons, and exercises so we can all work on our art and increasing our skills and enjoyment together as well as give me the opportunity to take my work load down a notch or take breaks when necessary without being unfair to paid subscribers.
So, you can look forward to some in-depth article length discussions and ideas with a bit more juice to it than the blog usually has along with ideas on how to work with and apply the concepts if you so desire. Take it like a free class or just let the ideas sink in and enjoy the art. It’ll be here for you, starting next weekend.
Supporting Free Content
I am glad to have your support, in anyway you can provide it, to help me produce this content for free. Your supportive emails are always appreciated but if you want to help me keep the lights on, making purchases on the website is one of the best ways to do so since it gets you (or a lucky giftee) something to enjoy as well giving the contributing artists further exposure all while helping to keep me in busines.
If you have everything you want from the website at the moment, I have provided a donation option here for those who have asked and can afford to toss me a little something to help me, in particular, pay my tech guy and allow me much needed doses of dark chocolate!
So … until next weekend!
A Voice Inside (Big Sale Inside too!)
March 15, 2020
Inspirational Art, Polymer community news, The Polymer Arts magazine news
How often have you heard that you need to hone your artistic voice? It’s a bit of a catch phrase in the art world, a nebulous goal that sounds like it will herald your arrival into the art world as a “real artist”. Well, although I am one of those who talks about artistic voice a lot, I thought I’d put the record straight and just say … you don’t need to develop a unique artistic voice to create meaningful work.
It’s true. The need to develop a creative voice isn’t for everyone as it rather depends on why you create. Some people simply enjoy the process of creating or have an intense passion to acquire new and better skills. If that’s you, then fabulous! Go at it and don’t worry about a unique voice. Just create what you like but don’t copy (or don’t sell or teach those pieces if you do.) Do hone your skills so the work goes more smoothly and so you can enjoy your creative time that much more.
If however, you are one of those who have something to say or something they need to pull from inside themselves and put out into the world, then having a particular voice, versus just muddling around with the styles and inspiration of artists you admire, is rather important. Your particular voice is a pathway to self-expression and sharing your vision with the world. Even so, I don’t think you should put undue pressure on yourself to find that voice. I know… I sound rather contradictory, but the fact is, if you put in the work, learn the skills, follow your true passions, and work with a particular intention always in mind, your voice will come out of its own accord.
I don’t know why people go on about the need to be unique so much. We all are unique already! There is no one else in the world quite like you so there is no reason to try to be, or create, something that will make you more unique than you already are. If anything, we need to lose those crippling preconceptions of ourselves and how we need to be or act in order to find a more authentic sense of self. (That would be a discussion for another time, though!)
So, keep in mind, a discussion of creating a unique voice has nothing to do with becoming a unique person. Rather, it is about determining what, if any, mode of expression you want to explore in order to share yourself, your passion, and your vision with the world.
Voices Calling
Who do you know of that seems to create with that kind of authentic voice? Think on that for a second. Then ask, why does their work come across as unique and personal or as a passionate mode of self-expression?
Asking myself those questions, I just have dozens and dozens of artists that come to mind and probably as many reasons why. I really believe that polymer clay draws some very unique people due to its broad range of possibilities which leaves so much room for expression as well as room to reach into the realm of other materials and approaches.
For instance, is there anyone else that you’ve seen that does the range of work that Wendy Wallin Malinow does? It’s really different, a bit macabre (or sometimes more than a bit), and utterly fascinating. What I personally really love about her work is that she creates in absolutely whatever medium fits her purpose. Polymer clay is one she returns to time and again, but really, no material is off limits to Wendy.
Here is a collection of nests of by Wendy that I got a photo of at the Racine Museum in 2017. The upper left one is cut from copper, the one on the right (if memory serves me well) is created from polymer and paint, and the third is a detailed pencil drawing. Wendy seems to explore ideas and materials simultaneously, but lets the project determine the possible material, not the other way around. That distinction can be so necessary when feeding your own voice as, ideally, you don’t want to restrict your options simply because you identify with one material more than others.
Wiwat Kamolpornwijit also comes to mind as a really authentic voice, primarily because his artwork developed out of pure exploration while learning the material for a purely charitable reason. He had not set out to be a jewelry artist but was merely looking for a way to raise money for a cause he deeply believed in. But then the need to raise money continued and so the creating never stopped. His distinctive look came out of a natural progression in his process as he picked up skills and developed ideas out of a self-imposed necessity. As I understand it, he never aimed to create a distinctive voice, it just manifested itself from all the work he put into his craft and from letting his curiosity lead his designs. The result is that his award winning work is always easily recognizable. Below is a collection of his pieces from the Smithsonian Craft show in 2018.
Meredith Dittmar is another artist that is definitely on her own path. She too moves between materials, largely polymer and paper, in order to fulfill the needs of her projects and vision. It’s interesting to see though how polymer is sometimes treated like paper in a very flat manner, while other times, paper is rolled and folded to become more dimensional. The piece opening this post is listed as mixed media although I think it is primarily polymer. You can see how some pieces of it could be (and may be) paper. And below, she had to be working with some construction materials as well as paper and polymer, for this huge installation piece at the KAABOO Del Mar 2018 festival in southern California.
These are just a few of the people that have intrigued me over the years with their unique expression and sense of authenticity. By the way, the reason I can make rather certain statements about these artists is because they were all interviewed for articles in The Polymer Arts at some point. You can read more about Wiwat’s intriguing path to art in the Spring 2017 issue, about Wendy’s color approach in the Winter 2013 issue, and get a peek at Meredith’s process and studio in the Summer 2018 issue of The Polymer Arts.
Coaxing Your Authentic Voice
Okay, so I have an idea to help you bring out your authentic voice but it’s going to sound like a sales pitch because, well, it is although that’s not my primary motive. I want to help people find a place of joy, solace, and accomplishment in their personal creative endeavors. That’s my passion! My publications and projects happen to both help you in your creative pursuits and helps me pay few bills so I can keep doing this.
But let’s talk about you now. If the subject of your artistic voice and identifying your passions or the direction of your artwork is important to you, then you really should join us for the March Virtual Art Box. The VAB is not just another publication–it’s a community and virtual classroom with group creativity coaching that focuses on design education and exploration to help you cultivate the creativity and skills that lead to joy and fulfillment in your creative endeavors. The content applies to all professional and aspiring artists who, like the artists above, want to follow an authentic and fulfilling creative path.
So, come join your kindred spirits (from novices to some really well known and accomplished artists) already enthusiastically digging into their Boxes by snapping up the March box, or both boxes for February and March, available without a subscription if you just want to get a taste. Or jump in feet first while getting significant savings on recurring subscriptions. It’s a minor investment in your art and your creative self – less than a couple cups of coffee and it’ll warm you from the inside for longer, too!
As it does look like most of us will be spending a lot of time at home these next few weeks, it seems like a perfect time to put your spare energy into your creative endeavors. If you join VAB, you will also have access to a deep store-wide discount on all publications on the Tenth Muse website (much bigger than the one below even) and on Christi Friesen PDF tutorials as well!
But if you just want good old magazines and books, well, I want to help you out too. So, here …
“Make Your Own Package” Sale: 25% off $29 or more!
The discount is good on whatever collection of single publications, print or digital, that you put together in your cart when they total $29 or more.
Use coupon code: MYOP2529
Offer good through March 31, 2020. Discount doesn’t apply to sale items, packages, or the Virtual Art Box.
Okay, my dears, I am off to clean the studio so, hopefully, I can get some creative time in this week. I hope everyone is staying safe, staying sane, and keeping in touch with loved ones, especially those that can’t get visitors or go out during this crazy period. This too will pass. We got this!
Variation on Time
December 1, 2017
Inspirational Art
I spent a lot of time looking for differently constructed clocks in polymer and couldn’t find much that really illustrated the point I was hoping to make. What I wanted was to show that a clock does not have to be on a flat surface. It can be made of many parts, attached or not, and fully dimensional. As long as you have something that can house or hide the clock mechanism while holding out the hands, the rest is wide open. You can have the hour markers designated by any form and attach them with sticks or wire or be free floating–whatever suits the piece and your inclination.
These two examples are commercial designs rather than polymer art but I think they give you the basics of this idea of moving beyond the flat clock face. Not only do these kinds of clocks make for really interesting wall pieces, they give you the freedom to use pieces you may already have such as large hollow beads, faux stones, unhung pendants, small figurines, flowers, etc.
As a gift, giving a clock that has separate pieces might be best attached to something that can be hung as one piece, like a backing of Plexiglas or painted plywood. Or include instructions for a template to mark on the wall where each piece goes. There is little to no construction to deal with but you will have to make concessions in the design for how the individual pieces will be hung. Alternately, go for a design where the elements are attached like the flowers you see here.
The sky is the limit with these kinds of designs. For more ideas, try searching “DIY clocks,” which was the keyword set that brought me to these two pieces. I hope these sparks some ideas and I look forward to seeing inventive clock designs this month!
The Complexity of Time
November 29, 2017
Inspirational Art
In my search for clock inspiration, I veered a bit off the polymer path, but then again, I kept running into pieces that I thought were polymer but were not. Of course, pieces like this splendid celestial clock by Natalya Polekh could be created in a very similar fashion with polymer. Large textured sheets and fun with alcohol inks and mica powders could produce similarly stunning results so I took a closer look.
Natalya looks to be a well-known mixed media artist in Eastern Europe and Russia and when I say mixed, I mean all kinds of things. Her primary materials look to be various types of acrylic paint, dimensional and pearling paints, 3D gel, embossing paste, and glass and metal accents of different types. She works in texture, mosaics and layered media that is applied in such a way that knowing the materials is rather superfluous. She creates a beautiful complexity of texture and motif with shine and shimmer applied in abundance but always in a tasteful and often intriguing manner.
She does much more than clocks although she has done quite few of them. Take a look at her shop for more clock and textural ideas as well as very well priced tutorials on how she creates this work. Her VK.com page has more images.
Covering Time
November 27, 2017
Inspirational Art
Well, it’s that season again. While everyone else is shopping, crafters and artisans like yourself are working madly away on the stock that your audience demands to make their gift giving season the best one to date. For some of us, that audience is a retail account but for many more of us, it’s the far more intimidating circle of friends and family that we fret over. What do we do this year for gifts and surprises that we haven’t already done? Asking myself this question, I came up with a couple of ideas and in researching, clocks really hit a note for me. Any clayer of any level and any specialized set of techniques can create a clock that is both personal and expressive and everyone of every age can appreciate a lovingly created handmade clock.
Cane-covered clock faces are an easy project for clayers of any skill level. You can buy old clocks at the thrift store, or inexpensive ones at the big box store, or just a clock kit from a craft or hobby store that you put into your cane-covered clay sheets. Here is a fun and colorful, slightly off from the norm, cane-covered clock face for some initial inspiration. Mira Pinki Krispil is quite fond of cane covered decor but she always takes it one step beyond.
I like this piece because of the slight off-centeredness and the imagery in the center. It is more than decorated. The image in its center is intriguing with energetic lines bouncing back and forth through intertwined imagery. It’s just a great visual piece to start with. The fact that it’s a functional clock is a bonus.
Mira creates her colorful piece in south Israel and sells her work on Etsy. You can also see more of her designs by checking in on her Flickr photostream.
Quality of Line
November 24, 2017
Inspirational Art
I thought I’d continue to keep it simple this week and still talk a little about line, the theme of the latest issue of The Polymer Arts that came out last weekend.
This simple pendant by Yuliya Zharova uses two elements to tell a story—line and dots. The form of the people here is nothing more thank tall lines with a variation in thick and thin. The dots on the top of this line make up the heads, and the small dots and large gold one somehow become stars and a moon. It’s quite amazing how much can be shown with so little detail. But lines, in particular, can do that. It is a nice reminder of how little we really have to put down to get our viewers to see what we have to convey.
It is also a nice reminder that line has characteristics and qualities of its own. They do not always have to be even. The way the line is formed can convey imagery, as we see here, or emotion. The articles on design and the technique tutorials on using lines and dots and soutache to create emotion and texture will help fill in more on those ideas when you get to reading our latest issue.
Yuliya’s compositions are almost all some variation online and dots and are all lovely in their understated design. See more of her work in her Etsy shop, Wild Onion Art.
Following the Lines
November 22, 2017
Inspirational Art
I know this week will be a particularly busy one for many of us, especially in the US where we are kicking off the holiday season with our family-oriented Thanksgiving festivities involving way too much food and way too much shopping to follow it up the next day.
So for today, I thought I would harken to the theme of the just-released issue of The Polymer Arts, our Winter 2017 – Line, with a simple piece that represents a quality of line that I discuss in the article in this issue, “The Language of Line.” The simple circling forms, in the signature wavering organic forms of Anarina Anar, keep the composition centered and focused with a soft energy that continuously winds around in these soft but warm colors. Although the pendant is three-dimensional, it is the line the forms follow that gives the piece its balance and verve.
For more of Anarina’s colorful and energetic compositions, take a look at her Flickr site or her Etsy store. And to learn more about line, get a hold of your copy of this wonderful issue through our website if you have not seen it already or have it on its way to you.
Walking Through the Forest
November 20, 2017
Inspirational Art
First of all, my apologies for my unsuccessful attempts to post while traveling. My original plan was to have posts all set before I left but technical issues and the need for a last-minute change of service threw that plan out the window. And getting decent internet at hotels is nothing one can depend on! But I will make it up to you this month, I promise.
Now that almost all of you have seen the myriad of photos from the Into the Forest installation that attendees to the opening and talk posted this past week, I invite you to spend some time virtually walking through it. This is a walkthrough of the gallery and installation, from stepping through the front door to wandering from tree to tree, wall to wall, and corner to corner. I apologize that I am no expert videographer and trying to fluidly skirt around the artwork and step unobtrusively through the attendees created a few moments of spinning and diving that might leave some sensitive individuals momentarily dizzy. But all in all, I am thrilled to have captured some of the feel of walking through our polymer forest that night.
In other news … the latest issue of The Polymer Arts, Winter 2017 – Line, has arrived! Digital issues were sent in the wee hours (3 am EST) on Saturday so if you are expecting a digital copy and haven’t seen it, check your spam/junk folder as that is where the errant access emails often land. If you need help, write my assistant Sydney at connect(at)thepolymerarts.com or, if you get this by email, just respond to this email.
Print editions were at the post office as of Thursday so if you are expecting one in print, depending on how far you are from northern Idaho, you will be seeing the new issue in your mailbox in 5-15 business days from then.
If you need to start or renew a subscription or buy the single issue, you can do so at www.thepolymerarts.com/Subscribe.html
Bags Bedecked
November 10, 2017
Inspirational Art
So far this week, we’ve looked at clutches covered in sheets of colored and patterned polymer but that is not, by far, the only way to create a dazzling handbag with polymer. Not all of us are caners and many of us lean toward sculptural elements and tactile texture and a handbag is a great place to lay down such touchable techniques.
You may have seen this handbag in our Spring 2015 – Diversity issue of The Polymer Arts, where Lisa Pavelka shared some of her thoughts and ideas on embellishing with polymer and crystals. This very tactile bag, with a limited cool palette of greens and blues, effortlessly rides that sometimes difficult balance of being both fun and sophisticated. The crystals make it appropriate for a dressy evening but the roiling mix of paisley shapes and abstracted leaves adds that touch of whimsy that makes it work with a pair of jeans when one is just out and about in the afternoon.
This is just one more way you can create an accessory that your customer (or yourself) can use and cherish all throughout the year. If you want more idea on purses a la Lisa Pavelka, take a look at her Pinterest pages as well as shopping on her website where you can get the materials you need to create your own great handbag.
Here is a post with some food for thought as you go through your weekend. This post was one of my most active. The discussion in the comments revolved around whether to consider this polymer art because although it is mostly polymer, the focus and all the color is painted on. I found it very interesting to hear people’s thoughts on defining polymer art and the idea of polymer purity. You can return to the original post here. There was also a follow-up post a little later that revived the conversation a bit, which you can read here.
If you want to put in your two cents, just comment at the bottom of this post at the post’s page (click the header above to be sure you are on the page) or look for the most recent post on our Facebook page.
The original post was from February 17, 2012:
I fell for the colors when I saw this brooch, then I looked at the bezel. Then at her gallery and all her really creative bezels … and the pretty colors. Artist is Susan Waddington of Polydogz.
You can find more of her work on Flickr and Etsy.
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Here is another post that was very popular when I was posting art just on my Facebook page. It is from March 1st, 2012:
After a long day of car shopping (ended up with a ‘wasabi’ colored Subie–I’ve been calling car colors by their Premo equivalent! Such a polymer nerd!) I got on the ‘net looking for something light and fun–found it! The colors in this are fantastic and the shape of the necklace is inspired!
The piece is by Olimpia Corvino. Find more of her work on Facebook.
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Over the next several weeks I will be all over the place–traveling, teaching, entertaining foreign (polymer) dignitaries, readying the family home for sale, and making the final move for the business at the end of it all, I needed to pull a few things off my plate during this period. Not doing the blog was an option but I didn’t want to leave you without your regular creative shot in the arm so I am, instead, scheduling out a series of posts that were originally on my Facebook page back before the blog was born. That is actually where the blog started but most of you will never have seen them so I thought this was a good opportunity to share some of the most popular posts from back then while I take care of things in my present day world.
But quickly, before we get to the piece of the day, I wanted to let you all know that all new issues of The Polymer Arts, the Fall 2017–Texture issue, have been emailed and snail mailed out to all the subscribers and pre-order purchasers who had orders in prior to yesterday. If you didn’t get your subscription renewed or want to order the copy of this issue, search Facebook or Instagram or other social media to see all the comments on how much great stuff is in this issue–you can do so on our website now. If you expected a digital copy but didn’t see it in your inbox, check your spam/junk mail folder and if it is still not there, write us at connect(at)thepolymerarts.com and we’ll help you get your copy. Print subscription copies may take up to another three weeks to get to you depending on where you live.
Okay, onto the pretties. Here was my post from February 28, 2012:
Sometimes you just want something simple … here is a black & white pendant from Veronica Jeong. Eliminating color forces the artist to focus on form and texture and can result in wonderful things. Find more of her work on Flickr.
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I know I showed you a bit of the sample “Into the Forest” installation last week, but I didn’t get in this mosaic created by Julie Eakes for the exhibition that will be installed in November. I think Julie gets the prize for the most intense and biggest piece to go into the installation. I uploaded a fairly large image of this so if you click on the photo, it should open up in a browser window and you can zoom in to see all the individual canes that make up the idyllic scene.
I wish you could zoom in on the screens you see here in the main assembly room as Ellen Prophater presented her talk on mokume gane. Oh, the secrets and the great tips and tricks she gave away during this talk! This kind of thing was happening all over and made the price of this event well worth it on that basis alone. The friendships and conversations, however, they make it priceless.
If you didn’t get to make Synergy and haven’t been to any major events lately or ever, keep them in mind. Save up your pennies and plan to get that time off from work for the next big event you can possibly work into your schedule. They are each an experience you’ll keep with you all life long.
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The art jewelry at these events is also a big draw. There is nothing quite like seeing masterful polymer work in person.
Here is a gorgeous piece by Bonnie Bishoff. She wore it to the final gala event and I just could not stop looking at the delicate forms and sunset-like colors. The picture (and the poor lighting in these places) doesn’t quite do it justice.
Another bonus to coming to these events is the local color. In this case, Sherman Oberson, a board member of the IPCA and a local Pennsylvania resident, treated a small handful of us to a tour of his insanely packed and ever-entertaining collection of flea market and thrift store finds. We did this, in part, to honor Nan Roche whose birthday it was. A huge collector of the curious and visually enticing herself, it was a perfect birthday outing for her and an immensely entertaining evening for those of us who got to tag along.
Poke around on Instagram and Facebook for more on Sherman’s place and other Synergy events.
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First of all … the new Fall issue came out over the weekend! Get your texture fix with this issue, in a big way. If you have a digital subscription and have not seen your access email, check your junk mail folder. You should also be able to access it through your account here. If you have a print subscription, those went to the post office in Idaho on Friday so they are on the way too. If you do not have an active subscription or need to get your single issue copy, go to our website at www.thepolymerarts.com.
So this week we are going to have a parade of photos from Synergy 4 to include some beautiful art and some show shots for those who didn’t go but are trying to live vicariously through the community’s representatives that did.
The absolute best thing about going to these events is the people you get to meet and chat it up with. I think I may have said that last week but it’s true! The first picture here is just a sampling of the talent that was sitting behind me at breakfast one morning. How thrilled would you be to have the opportunity to sit down with Jeff Dever and Rachel Carren and listen in on their, no doubt, very insightful conversation? Or pull up a chair and say hello to Nan Roche and Melanie West? Or hang out at the same table with Christi Friesen, Bettina Welker, and Martina Weller? And you can at these things. People here, no matter what the skill level or how long they have been involved, are happy to talk to all the attendees. It is always illuminating what one can learn from others with the same passion.
I was grateful to get to talk to so many people but I was particularly happy to have a little time to sit down with our longtime polymer master, Marie Segal. She gave a talk about the new Cernit formulation–there has been improved strength, flexibility, and clarity that looks to rival the other better-known brands which got me quite excited to try it. If you like sampling clays to see what works best in what application, jump over to her shop and get yourself some new goodies at The Clay Factory.
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To wrap up this period of bold color, I just had to draw upon my next favorite medium, fiber. Oh, the things people are doing with quilts and mixed media textiles these days are mind-blowing! The textures, colors, and energy in modern textile art rival the best paintings of our time.
This intensely colorful and richly textured piece is by one of the true masters of the medium, Ruth Issett. Ruth’s work, although it can be elegantly simple, is always vibrant and emotional. It is, however, her intensely intricate pieces that are likely to stop any admirer of the arts in their tracks. I can only imagine the time I would lose standing in front of one of her pieces like you see here.
Not only is Ruth an accomplished artist in her field, she is a well-known and prolific writer and teacher. I know of a half-dozen books she’s published on textiles and color over the last couple decades and they are so beautiful, you don’t even need to be interested in the techniques she teaches to enjoy them, but as polymer artists, I think there is quite a bit of inspiration in those pages.
I could not find an actual website for Ruth but she’s all over the web. Here is one link with an interview, lots of images and a list of her books so you can investigate further.
Weekly Inspiration Challenge: Go bold with color! That will mean different things for each of you. Perhaps you stick with the same half dozen colors … work with colors quite opposite of those. Perhaps you work in mostly neutrals or earth tones … try something bright and heavily saturated. Just push yourself with color when you get into the studio and see where it takes you.
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Although there isn’t a full rainbow of color in each individual piece here, I just had to share the work of Carolyn and Dave Good who recently posted these lovely mokume components for their fall (as in draped or like a waterfall) necklaces. These pieces use a similarly high saturation of color among them all and a lot of contrast within each piece. It makes for a great looking collection that I’d be happy to have just hanging on the wall together. Well, I might be inclined to wear them too, I’ll have to admit.
These pieces were made with some new CaBezel molds by Wendy Orlowski of our long time supporter, Shades of Clay. This series is actually called Holy CaBezels, due to the hole, of course. But maybe they can also be a bit of divine inspiration for the right person. It would be hard to say unless you bought a set and tried it out. Just saying.
The Goods always have something yummy to share on their blog so if you like having great eye candy dropped in your inbox, sign up for the 2GoodClaymates blog. And to get your set of molds, go to Shades of Clay.
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First of all, my sincere apologies for the wonky email situation with posts going out last week. Took a while to resolve as it turned out to be the collision of two different services throwing our smooth-running world into chaos. (Just kidding … our world is often not running as smoothly as we’d like!) We are still trying to work out how to prevent it from happening again so if it gets silly again on any level this week, chalk it up to repairs, but I am told it really should all be fine.
Since so many of you weren’t seeing the rainbow-focused posts last week, I do urge you to jump over to the blog and read up on work by Christine Damm, Cecilia Leonini, and Heather Moore. In the meantime, I’m just going to keep at it this week with wonderful work that just isn’t afraid to use all, or nearly all, the colors in the rainbow.
This vessel is by Arieta Stavridou who a lot of people first got to know in the pages of The Polymer Arts last summer. The difference between her work then, which was absolutely stunning and dominated by intricately patterned plates created with cane slices, is amazing. She seems to be getting more and more bold with her colors and, apparently, no decor item or vessel is bound to be safe from being adorned by her hand if in reach. This image is actually from a brief video that shows it from a few different angles. It still can’t possibly do it justice and must be awe-inspiring in person.
Just take a look at what she’s been up to since she was last in our pages and on our blog by visiting Arieta on her Facebook page.
And a little aside … come join me and my fellow trouble makers for a some crazy fun, September 2nd in Los Angeles–The Triple Trouble Creative Play Day. If you are in the area for Labor Day Weekend, join Christi Friesen, Anke Humpert and myself (a very rare appearance for Sage this year! ) for 6 hours of non-stop creativity. We’ll each be teaching several of our signature techniques as well as divulging many a tip and trick. And, yes, there will be chocolate. (Sign up by August 9th and get a free Christi Friesen book and a signed copy of Polymer Journeys!)
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