Contrast of Self
March 14, 2021
Design lessons, Supplies & other fun stuff
Would you call yourself a selfish person? I doubt very many of us would think that way about ourselves. Yet, as artists, we often find ourselves “stealing” time away from others or other things to do what we love, reveling in it when we have it. Is that selfish? I mean, it is more about us than anyone else, isn’t it?
Yes, it is about us, and that is as it should be. In the requested comments for last week’s giveaway (scroll down to see the winner and this week’s giveaway), participants mentioned some version of the “me time” aspect of getting to sit down and create more than anything else. I mean, I know we create because it is something we enjoy, regardless of what anyone else thinks, but I just love that so many people acknowledged and celebrated it. We should!
I strongly believe that everyone should have something of their own, something they can turn to in order to express themselves or at least put something out into the world that would not have existed without their desire to create it. The art we create gives us purpose, exercises a uniquely human part of our brains, and helps us to love ourselves. Not to mention that we deserve the joy we get from it!
But, by definition, that is selfish—doing something because it’s what we want. I wish our society would get over the idea that doing something for ourselves is bad. I think not doing things for yourself is self-negligence. Why is that not a commonly understood thing?
This also highlights the bigger, contradictory world that we inhabit. We live in such strange societies where selflessness and humility are expected or requested, and yet we are also pushed to strive for excellence in what we do. How do we reach excellence without focusing on ourselves? And then there is this silliness where we are not supposed to acknowledge when the work we do is good or that we’re proud of it. If we do, others may think we’re being arrogant or grandiose.
So, do we strive to be great and then pretend that we’re mediocre? We talk about contrast being good in art, but this is so not the right kind of contrast!
I’ve long found the dichotomy of these contradictory but societally prescribed behaviors beyond aggravating as well as having the potential to be debilitating. I think that is why it made me so happy to see so many people acknowledging their creative hours as me-time, self-care, and a time of wonderfully selfish joy. Keep it up, I say!
Now, let’s talk about the good kind of contrast in art.
Design Refresh
Let’s look at the beautiful brooch by Lyne Tilt that opened this post. What do you notice first about this? There’s a lot going on in this little space, isn’t there? What are the three things that jump out at you as far as design elements?
I’m going to say color, shape, and texture. Did you come up with the same three? There is also a lot going on with marks and size. So, any combination of those would be spot on.
How about design principles? What do you think is the number one principal used in this design? Sure, we could refer to scale and proportion considering all the different sizes of the layers, or we could talk about focal point or even just key in on the centered composition. But the one thing this has in spades is contrast.
Obviously, there is color contrast in all the major color characteristics—she has a vibrant trio of warm colors contrasting the cool of the blue and cyan; color values range from the dark blue and deep red to the moderate orange to the light yellow and pale polished silver; and, if you check your CMY color wheels, you’ll see that the color of the bottom layer is a blue-cyan whose complementary AND split complementaries are the yellow, orange, and red that you see in the upper layers.
But doesn’t a color palette have to have at least one common characteristic between all the colors? Well, ideally, yes, and this does. Here it’s saturation. These are not muted colors. The orange may be slightly tinted (has some white in it) but not enough to feel it’s gone off base from the saturated characteristic that ties them all together.
Now, look at the contrast in the textures. The top and bottom layers might have the same texture, but the rest are vastly different. There are even different materials—metal and clay. But they work together pretty well, don’t they? Why?
The textures work together in part because they are all drastically different—the wide variety is part of the charm of this piece. But, like color, they need something to tie them together.
Did you notice that the textures are applied to the entire layer from one edge to another? Thier differences are connected because the application on each layer is the same. That does seem to be enough to allow them to exist in the same piece and not have it feel completely chaotic.
The shapes, on the other hand, are not completely different but they are not the same either, right? They are all some version of a hand cut circle, but some of them are definitely more oval. I think pulling back on the amount of contrast between the shapes also helps to rein in the potential chaos all this dramatic contrast and color and texture could fall into. The centered composition also adds a bit of calm to the piece.
Let’s take this week to consider the design principle of contrast. Would your pieces benefit from more contrast, or do you need to rein some of that in? Remember, it all depends on your intention. There are no wrong levels of contrast, at least not in art.
Last Week’s Giveaway
Drum roll please…
This last week’s randomly chosen winner is Eloise B! I’ve spoken to her and her clay is already on the way. Congrats Eloise!
This Week’s Giveaway
Thank you to everyone who participated in last week’s giveaway through comments on the post. As mentioned above, it really made me happy to see all the fantastic, positive and self-caring observations. I also hope it gave you a moment to focus on and appreciate what you love so much about creating.
So, let’s do this again.
The Goodies:
- This week I have a selection of Sculpey clays in 2 new Soufflé colors, 3 new Premo colors, and 2 big 8 oz. blocks of clay stash basics—Sculpey III in Pearl and Silver. That’s 26 ounces of fresh clay along with a three-piece set of Sculpey silkscreens.
- Or if outside the US, I have a $25 Tenth Muse certificate, since it would be such a gamble to ship clay outside the US.
How to Win:
- Put a comment in the blog comments* (below), telling me what type of contrast you enjoy creating most in your own work, or the type of contrast you wish you used more of. And, yes, if you want to share pictures, you can do so by including a link. Just don’t put more than one link in or it may spam filter the comment.
- Note: It can take some time for the comment to appear if you’ve not commented before since, due to annoying spamming, I have to approve it .
- Giveaway winners will be chosen by random—it will NOT be based on your answers. I do hope you’ll give it some thought anyway. The answers could be helpful to you as well as interesting for the rest of us.
- And let’s say you can only win once this month so we can spread the love around.
- Get your comments posted by Wednesday March 17th at midnight Pacific time to get in for the raffle.
- I’ll announce the winner here on the blog next weekend!
I’ll put together yet another pack of goodies for a giveaway in next weekend’s post, so stay tuned here!
You can support this blog by buying yourself a little something at Tenth Muse Arts or, if you like…
Balancing Color & Contrast
November 26, 2018
Inspirational Art
We are going to be dropping in on some big names this week and next to see what they are up to and what they have to inspire us with.
First up: Bonnie Bishoff. Her focus on jewelry these last couple years has been a journey through a variety of styles as she moves from working primarily in veneers on furniture with her partner J.M. Syron to smaller and more intimate work. But regardless of the style, her quietly strong and confident sense of color and pattern mark each piece like a signature. These lovely earrings are paired almost solely by color scheme although they do work within a limited set of variations in composition, visual texture and shapes. Each variation relays a slightly different mood, adjusted through the level of contrast in value and hue. The subtlety of this communication is what really brings home how masterful her color work is.
You can see what I mean by looking at the body of her work. You can do so by jumping onto her Instagram page and the website she shares with J.M. Syron.
A Serving of Fruits and Veggies
October 15, 2018
Inspirational Art
Happy Monday, fellow polymer enthusiasts. I’m not sure how this week is going to turn out as I have not had time to put together a full-fledged theme so we’re gonna go with “things that caught my eye” for now.
I’m sure you can understand why this piece by Marion Le Coq aka Fancy Puppet, might have caught my eye. They are fun and refreshing pieces, wonderfully finished and composed. She connects all her elements with repetition of motifs, colors, or other things. For example, the leaf off the apple is reflected in the leaf addition on the back and hanging leaves. The carrot’s colors are reflected in its layered pieces behind it, and its crisscross of lines reflect the crisscross of the plaid.
I’m guessing the plaids and dots are silkscreen but the secret is probably available on her YouTube page where she has dozens of tutorials and review items. She’s also quite busy elsewhere online. You can find her on Instagram, Facebook, Canal blog, and Etsy.
Elevating the Squiggle
September 17, 2018
Inspirational Art
I recently realized that I don’t think I’ve ever talked about the lowly squiggle. But who doesn’t like a well-done squiggle? I guess it’s hard to take it seriously with such a silly-sounding name but the sound of the word itself describes it so well.
I myself am very fond of squiggles and apply them throughout my work, primarily as accents, but some people take the squiggle to wonderfully elevated levels as the central theme of their piece.
This pin by Petra Nemravová is an excellent example of the squiggle stealing the show. The organization of these wonderfully unruly squiggles brings a regular rhythm to their organic movement. It reins in the rambling energy that this kind of squiggle contains. The bright array of colors, which could also get out of hand, is held in check by a regular graduation from one color to the next, helping to create an energetic but contained feeling.
Petra is such an advocate of bright colors and cheerful compositions. Enjoy a stroll through her colorful world on her Flickr photostream. She is also the genius mind behind the wonderful selections found in the online polymer shop Nemravka, serving the European polymer and craft communities and beyond.
Eliciting a Response
August 27, 2018
Inspirational Art
I decided this week I would like to talk about work that speaks to me. Well, I don’t mean that I want to talk about me so much as use pieces that do speak to me as examples of what it means when a piece of artwork elicits a response from the viewer.
For various reasons, I ended up thinking and talking a lot about how we define art this past week. I have long felt that art should be defined as work that is made with expression and intention, with a goal of eliciting an intellectual or emotional response. Yes, I know a lot of people will say that it is the individual who should determine what art is to them but I would like to suggest that such a statement is not quite the right phrase. Each of us can determine what is good art or what is bad art—to that I absolutely agree. But shouldn’t a label such as “art” have a more specific definition than just whatever someone thinks is art, or just something that is made by hand, as the definition would seem to be nowadays?
I am guilty of this broad use as well so I’m not pointing fingers, I’m just a big proponent of using language to effectively communicate and I think it would be great if the English language had a well-defined use of the word “art” that allowed us to talk about work born of self-expression versus craftwork or artisan work created from skilled hands.
My definition also brings up the question of what does it mean to elicit a response? It is not as confined a concept as it might sound like so I thought I’d try to define that a little this week.
For a piece of work to elicit a response all it has to do is make the viewer stop and feel something, or stop and think. It could be something as simple as making them smile or as complex as questioning societal norms. It can be positive such as emitting a sense of peacefulness or negative such as work with a high shock value geared to make you appalled or angry. If the piece is made with intention, part of that intention will, consciously or unconsciously, be to communicate with the viewer, and if the artist is communicating then they are attempting to elicit a response. Good art accomplishes this. Bad art is too distracting in its failings to communicate or illicit anything of value.
This piece here feels like a very personal piece for Shannon Tabor who commented on her Instagram post of this that “I’m back to my roots in design with ‘Compass’. My Back To Basics study is over and I’m anxious to get all these design ideas out of my head and onto my clay!”
I can feel her excitement for this new work in the composition and surface treatment of this necklace. There is a buzzing kind of energy from the scratches and the asymmetrical placement of elements but there’s also a reservedness in the basic geometric shapes and the subdued and shaded palette. I found that I was drawn to the contrast between that reserved feeling and that feeling of excitement. It reminds me of that point in time right before things really take off in some exciting new venture, which I love, and so that must be what made me stop and spend time with this piece.
So, you see, Shannon may have been working on something specific to what she wanted to explore but the intention in her skilled design choices allowed me to connect with her emotion, or at least my sense of what her emotion must’ve been. That’s eliciting a response. And to me, that’s what makes it art.
See what else Shannon is up to by following her on Instagram or hopping over to her website.
Piecing It All Together
August 20, 2018
Uncategorized
Happy Monday to you all. Business first… preorders for the fall issue of The Polymer Arts is available online now. We don’t have a precise publication date but looks like mid-September. I’ll let you know here on the blog, in our newsletter, and on the website when we know. Again, thank you for your patience with me while I work on healing my overworked joints.
Okay, one more piece of wall art, this time by the inventive Angela Barenholtz. I know it seems like we’ve been talking about wall art for a couple weeks but this will probably be the last for a bit. I picked this one for a couple reasons having little to do with wall art.
For one, it’s a really fun piece with its variety in color, visual texture, and even the long shapes that make up this “polymer quilt.” Creating with a large variety of primary elements makes for energy-infused and eye-catching work. But, the trick is that everything still needs to work together and have some kind of relationship. In this case, the relationship is in the consistency of the type of pieces inserted into this quilt—long and evenly cut strips of visual texture arranged in a square composition. With this much consistency, you can go nuts with the variety of color, texture, and pattern.
Each one of these could actually sit on its own—like it could be a pendant or brooch if small enough, or even a pair of earrings. Giving yourself a canvas of a certain size and shape releases you from having to be overly concerned about the bounds of individual elements and construction of the work, particularly if you’re creating jewelry, and you get to play with what you place on that canvas. I imagine a lot of you might find that attractive, being we are so in love with our surface treatments, canes, and textures. How many times have you fallen in love with just the sheet of clay you were working on before it became anything? Creating a simple surface to work with can allow you to present those fantastic results in a fun and easy manner.
Angela is all about surface design and variety. You can see that by looking at her Flickr photostream. She also generously shares her techniques in her published tutorials which you can find on Etsy.
Inspiration, Aspiration, and Jon Stuart Anderson
June 25, 2018
Inspirational Art
Guest Blog Post by Teresa Pandora Salgado
Van Gogh admitted to the world, “I am always doing what I cannot do yet, in order to learn how to do it.” Me too, Vincent.
One of the most infuriatingly fabulous things I cannot do is make cane like Jon Stuart Anderson. Jon creates canes in a cunning palette that leans in close and whispers, “Go ahead…take your time…look at me.” And I surely do. And the world does too.
I love the way Jon cruises nimbly past the pedestrian cane crossing. He jaywalks that trodden path without ever touching the ground. Obvious contrast? He doesn’t need it, no matter how much the cane is reduced. Nor does he require new colors. Jon keeps it fresh with precision, composition, and balance. Neat trick.
Jon Anderson is known for his millefiori animals: elephants, turtles, bulls, and birds. You’ll notice the creatures have a flesh and blood sense about them, a beating heart beneath their rich robes. So you look and you look and then, just when you think you know him, Jon takes you to another fork in the road. To the left, skulls, vessels, lights. And to the right, guitars. Ohhh, the guitars.
So, go ahead. Look. Be inspired. Aspire.
See Jon’s work at his website here.
Teresa Pandora Salgado is a polymer clay artist, designer & instructor from Los Angeles, California. She has made 87 YouTube tutorials which have garnered over 2 million hits from viewers in 151 countries. In addition to teaching live workshops on millefiori complex caning across the U.S., Teresa helms the online store, Tiny Pandora Crafting Boutique, which featuresMilll her specialized tools and kits.
Muted Veneer
April 16, 2018
Inspirational Art
In perusing #the100dayproject on Instagram these past couple weeks, I’ve noticed that veneers are quite the thing to be experimenting with right now. Whether you call polymer sheets you work with surface design, surface treatments, or polymer veneers, it does feel like the clay surface is having a renaissance of exploration.
One of the first of these explorations that I’ve noticed in recent weeks was this piece by Lindly Haunani, which she posted on Facebook. Of course, the queen of color is going to have a showstopper based on her color choices alone, but the subtle texture and the composition of the layout of the veneers, for all the energy of the color and lines, has such a satisfying sense of calm and rightness. There is that obvious sense of intention and deftness of skill that brings refinement to such unquestionably masterful work, even in a piece the artist claims is exploration.
Explore more of Lindly’s work on her website and Facebook page.
Creative Composition
March 7, 2018
Inspirational Art
Another great contribution to the Spring issue was in our artists’ gallery. All of our artists are unique in their approach but it is Isabelle, known online as Bellou, whose designs are really standing out.
Isabelle creates bold, contemporary adornments that are polished to a glass-like shine. Her work often has a centered focal point but the balance of the components are set in asymmetric arrangements or are all shaped differently with different treatments. However, in all the disparity there is a common element that brings it together.
This is one of the pieces she sent us that we couldn’t work into the gallery pages. On the one side, there are wide, solid pieces, dense with texture, but on the other side, the space is opened with a series of cut-out shapes that have the same mica shift texture as the other side. The rest of the center piece brings in a grounding energy to the movement of lines and shapes that play across the necklace.
To see more of Bellou’s work, take a look at her shop pages here.
In all of the comments and emails that I received regarding yesterday’s post, it seems as if we find nature’s masses of similar items most alluring.
Flowers are, of course, an obvious example. Nature packs them in bunches on bushes, in small explosions of colors in meadows and amassed across the canopy of trees in the spring.
So, I went looking for a polymer example, and there are plenty of them, but I particularly like this bracelet due to the likeness of the flowers in shape and size, with just a little change in color. I think this is more nature’s type of design versus the lovely, but very varied designs of the more ornate floral pieces we have seen so much of the last few years.
This was created by a Russian artist who lists her name as Valeria-Maslova in her Livemaster shop. She has a lot of lovely items in her shop, which include more masses of flowers, circles and colonies of shapes that will intrigue you. I am off to keep working on polishing up the next issue, and as you all suggest, I will head off in search of more of these designs to share with you.
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.
There has been an aesthetic concept I have been thinking about ever since I posted Dorothy Siemen’s wall piece, Colony two weeks ago. Why is it that we find beauty, comfort or some kind of attraction to items that have repeated and crowded patterns? They make wonderful, energy-filled compositions, and they are filled with texture and richness by the way they thoroughly fill the space. Let’s contemplate this thoroughness as we enjoy some gorgeous art this week.
This piece, by Greece’s Helen P. of Eleins Kingdom on Etsy, is pretty typical of the look I am talking about. Such an approach can carry a piece with little or no color. It does not need any particular order or structure, and there is no pattern or set of lines to follow. Just the same kind of shapes repeated over and over. Why do we like this?
My initial theory is that it harkens back to very common natural formations like lichen, fungus, barnacles, etc. We recognize something organic and inherently beautiful in the abundance and growth of such formations. Or do we?
Let’s start this week by you telling me what you think. Do you find you have an especially strong attraction to this kind of artwork and/or this kind of thing in the natural world and maybe that is why we are attracted to it? Or do you have another theory? Put your thoughts in the comments at the end of the blog post (if you are getting this by email, click on the header of this post to get to the post page), and I’ll aim to use those thoughts to steer the discussion this week.
See more of this crowded, repeated type of work in Helen’s Etsy shop. This type of approach is her primary thing, so you’ll have a chance to ponder it in quite a few more iterations.
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 lot of great news over here this week. First …
The cover for Fall 2014 is ready for viewing! Yay! Here you see the newest cover for the Fall 2014 issue themed “Time to Play” with a beautiful wall piece by the talented Tammy Durham. Subscribe, Renew, or Pre-order single issues today to be sure you are in the first mailing that goes out. The files and mailing list go to the printer on the 19th, so purchase before then!
The second set of very exciting news is … The Polymer Arts 2015 Themes have been decided!
–Spring 2015: Diversity – We chose this word to encompass all the many mixed media and contrast suggestions. Certificate Winner: Danette Kazala
–Summer 2015: Connecting – Connecting, connected and connections were all direct suggestions from readers and can encompass so much; from visually cohesive design to adhesives, to cold connections to networking and community, etc. Certificate Winner: Beth Petricoin
–Fall 2015: Elements – This was not a suggested theme, but one we devised to include the many suggestions for mosaics (as in the many pieces/elements in one), organic/natural elements as well as ancient and found inspiration (elemental and/or worn by the elements). Certificate Winner: Claire Fairweather
–Winter 2015: Hidden – This was also a way to includes great suggestions like boxes, etching/carving into clay techniques, translucents and business secrets (as in hidden opportunities). Certificate Winner: Sue Hammer
Thank you to everyone who sent in suggestions. Nearly every suggestion brought up some good idea that fed into the creation of these themes or article ideas we have set aside for further exploration.
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.
Searching for brighter fall colors in the suggested colors from Pantone’s 2014 fall collection has been a fruitless effort. It doesn’t seem that this year’s collection of colors is really the in-thing with the crafters. I rather agree. Individually there are some great colors in there, but these are not the color combinations that craft people from any medium seem to be geared towards. So, I’m rebelling, and instead, I am going to show you a very classic autumn palette and imagery. Because aren’t these what we love about the fall?
This set is by a Ukrainian artist who lists herself only as Aleksanta. The organic is definitely her thing and in particular, faux looks; leaves, flowers, stone, wood and especially, patinaed metal. The antiqued texture and the richness of those orange petals combined with the blue-green of the patina-look is just lovely. This is classic autumn beauty. I say, we have to have those oranges! All that Pantone suggested this fall was a neutral looking brown; nothing even close to orange. Nope. Give me those copper and rust colors; that eggplant and Bordeaux! Okay, Pantone did suggest a decent Sangria red, and the Cypress green is really nice. But, yes, I think I’ll create from my own fall palette this year. But, that’s just me.
I do like exploring the forecasted colors that Pantone puts out, but I also reserve the right to ignore them. In the end, your work is your expression, and if you have a color combination you prefer for the season, go for it! Your enthusiasm and excitement over personally satisfying color combinations will shine through and make the work far more appealing to your potential customer than a palette you were lukewarm about in the beginning. Create what pleases you, and the customers will follow.
If you would like to investigate more work by Aleksanta, she has plenty of pages to choose from, including her LiveJournal pages, her LiveMaster shop and her VK social network page.
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.
Have you ever tried your hand at art trading cards (ATC)? I am rather partial to them; although, I haven’t had the chance to do one in a while. They are such stress-free types of creations because you know you are trading them with other artists who will appreciate your time and your creativity regardless of trends. You are not making them to sell, so you don’t worry about whether buyers will like them. There is no engineering of them like jewelry and no durability concerns as you would have with functional items. They are purely art and you doing whatever you like.
This whole idea of working without constraints or judgement is part of what the article in the next issue of The Polymer Arts, “Time to Play” will discuss. Allowing yourself the freedom to be creative without restriction or demands. Such playful creation is necessary to keep your creativity fresh and keep the childlike curiosity in you that pushes you to grow and discover, alive and well.
So, if you have a fall palette chosen, why not create a card or ten? That way, you can play with the combinations, the imagery and the textures that you are considering for use in the upcoming autumn season.
Daniela D’Uva of Alkhymeia is the creator of this very fall-esque ATC. All those swirls and the lines of dots running alongside them actually convey movement and a sense of growth in a classic autumn copper and moss green palette. And why not? More than a farewell to summer, fall is about the last push from nature to ripen its bounty while it the hails the impending Winter.
I am a huge fan of Daniela’s polymer and wire combinations, as well as her full consideration regarding the back sides of her pieces. Her wonderful jewelry and other work can be found on Flickr and her own 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.
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There is a bright side to fall colors, at least according to the fashion industry. Deep, dark and rich is not for everyone, even when it’s in season, so designers and fashion magazines put together lighter and brighter palettes as well. Pantone released their Fall color forecast several months ago, but I am not as yet seeing many in our community who are following Pantone’s rather vibrant colors. I had to reach back a way to find this lovely piece by Ronna Sarvas Weltman that displays many of the upcoming forecasted colors; the magenta, reds, lavender and yellows.
There is definitely a feel of fall to this necklace. Although, I don’t think Ronna was thinking of the season when she created it. She was thinking about the various design considerations that would make it a necklace different from all the others.
In her words, “This necklace has a bunch of similar disks at the back portion. Looks a bit boring in a photo, as if I stopped being creative and just put a bunch of disks in to finish it up. But, when it is worn, it works beautifully. I knew designing it that it would look better on than off and maybe wouldn’t even be all that advantageous vis-a-vis marketing. Just thought I’d bring it up as another element in the design process. What a piece looks like on a table surface can be entirely different from the way it behaves around a neck.”
Excellent point. Ideally, necklaces would all be photographed while being worn in order to show how they fall and lay. This would also display which portions of the design are visible and whether they stand out as designed.
Because of Ronna’s organic and often antiqued look, much of her art jewelry would fit in wonderfully all throughout the fall season. For more ideas and other color palettes to ponder, take a look at Ronna’s work on her Facebook page and 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.
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We’re coming up on one of my favorite times of the year soon; the fall! I am a autumnal girl in many ways, but mostly I just love the richness of the colors. I even love the fleeting aspects of nature’s palette; it is so brief and so bold. It is never around long enough that we lose an appreciation for it. Well, no one that I know. If you make a living by creating, it is that time of year in which we must decide what direction to take our fall line. We want to make creative decisions in order to entice our loyal customers at our local fall fairs with all our newest designs and creations. So, we’ll spend this week taking a look at a few classic fall palettes as well as the newer trends.
We’ll start with classic autumn colors, which are my favorites. The classic colors of fall are deep greens, vibrant rusts, lush burgundies, rich, dark purples and glowing yellows; all colors that revel in the flora’s graceful and grand departure with an undeniably majestic beauty that cannot be matched elsewhere in the natural world. Although, we see a lot of leaf imagery during the season, it is really the colors that carry the spirit of the fall.
This gorgeous necklace by Cecilia Botton is like the end of summer tipping into autumn with the greens, some deepening and some fading, contrasted with the coppery orange that we all readily associate with the fall harvest while still maintaining a basic leaf pattern.
Cecilia is no stranger to natural and bold color palettes. Her combinations are always inspiring and energetic. Meander through her her Flickr pages and her blog site for more color palette ideas for the upcoming season and beyond!
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.
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The cool thing about wall sculpture is there are no boundaries in how it is built, how big it is (unless planned for a specific wall, then you have space considerations), or even having all the components on the same substrate or even connected. It does not have to lie flat on the space, and you do not have to have just one angle of viewing. The wall is nothing but the space upon which the art will live. Otherwise, it is sculpture like any other and can take up space in 2- or 3- dimensions in any fashion you’d like.
This piece does follow a rather level plane across a wall and everything is attached, but the components really do live in their own space with the metal bars slightly connecting them to each other. Again, we are looking at individual items brought together to make a single piece. It is a very manageable set of elements that allow for contrast and comparison that take long minutes, if not hours, to take it all in. The use of many components brought together simplified the creation while making it a more complex piece.
I keep trying to imagine this with the metal bars gone. I think they would be implied in the way the individual metal items line up, but there would be this kind of airy chaos, like debris in space. I can see this being created in polymer like this, and it would be fascinating to behold.
The ‘artist’ here, C. Jeré , was a concept rather than a person. Sort of. I found the history of this venture, which was started in 1963, rather fascinating. As stated in Wikipedia: “Curtis Jere is a compound nom-de-plume of artists Curtis Freiler and Jerry Fels. The two founders combined pieces of their own names to create the C. Jeré signature. Freiler was the production chief and Fels was head of design. Their goal was to produce “gallery-quality art for the masses”. Prior to [this], the partners built a costume jewellery business …” So, as you see, the creation of jewelry can inform sculpture, and as I’ve been saying this week, sculpture can inform jewelry as well as any other kind of art.
Just don’t let the wall define what you are doing if it doesn’t make sense. Just as you shouldn’t let a neck, wrist or ear restrict your creations, particularly if self-expression is a primary goal. Let the work wander a bit. It could be surprising.
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A more traditional approach to wall sculpture, but keeping with the use of smaller parts to complete a larger and whole part, would be something like this fantastical piece by Layl McDill. Her wall sculptures are composed of a wide variety of cane slices, beads and sheets of marbled or surface treated clay.
The entrancing thing about Layl’s work is just how wildly playful it is. This work is not about finish, precision or any particular technique. It’s about the story and a child-like ability to let the imagination roam freely.
This piece entitled “Blingo Flamingo Adventureland” has to be my favorite piece of hers to date. Every part of this piece either reaches out or swings back, and used alongside the high-energy of the colors and cane patterns, creates this frenetically kinetic composition. Such fun!
Layl is the co-owner of Clay Squared to Infinity, a shop for handmade ceramic tile as well as Layl’s polymer sculptures, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Layl also posts her work on Flickr for a full, all-at-once visual dose of her child-like abandon.
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.
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