Let’s take jade for example. We think of it as green and Asian. So we see tons of faux polymer jade in variations of green in simple beads or Asian motifs. Understandable. But why be limited by what has been done?

Desiree McCrorey has never approached anything in a traditional manner as far as I can tell and that penchant has resulted in some really unusual and beautiful work. I mean, have you ever seen jade like in the necklace here?

I don’t know how difficult if would be to carve real jade into such forms but since its so easy with polymer, why not take advantage of that capability and go beyond what is usually done with the real material?

And why always green? I remember wondering that in the first year I worked with polymer. Nature already makes all these beautiful variations of soft greens in jade. But why not bright blues? Or purples? Or reds? Or all of them together.

Here you get to peek at one of my very early pieces when I was playing with what I called rainbow jade. I just kept pushing the idea of jade–the semi-translucence and inclusions often seen in it–using the basic mixing techniques common for faux jade but with unnatural colors and variation, not just between beads but within them. Because … why not?

So if you’re going to do faux stones and the like and you want to work on variation, why not look at doing what nature and tradition has not? Use different colors, different inclusions, and definitely different forms and motifs. We have the power to create that which never existed before.  Embrace the power!

And … the Summer 2013 issue of The Polymer Arts is out! All print issues are in the mail and on the way and digital access was sent out to all subscribers last night. If you have a print issue coming, it takes 5-10 days so with the last of them mailed off this morning (and with Memorial Day in the midst of mailing time here) most of you should have it by the end of the month/first week of June. If you have a digital issue due to you but haven’t seen it in your inbox, check you spam/junk mail folders as they can get filtered there. Add connect@thepolymerarts.com to your safe sender list or address book to keep TPA mail from getting spam filtered.

And if you don’t have a copy on the way, go get it. This is a very cool, very packed issue. Talk about inspiration for variation … sheesh! Inclusions, hats, wall art, a huge list of covered object ideas, variation through collaboration, new wire findings ideas for polymer, changing up backgrounds for you photos and even variation in your selling technique to get more sales at shows! Much, much more of course. Get it here: www.thepolymerarts.com

I had one client who was debating about how to package an herbal bath mix. This was a very small line so mass produced packaging wasn’t an option and she wanted to be environmentally friendly so I asked her make me a list of 15 ways to package it. She made a list that included hand sewn bags, origami boxes and recycled glass jars among more common things. But because she had to push the idea she ended up online and found a company that made envelopes from recycled papers embedded with wildflower seeds. The buyers could use the herbal mix then plant the packaging in a pot and later would have flowers from it. No waste and it very much represented the harmony and cycle of life philosophy of her business. It was brilliant. But if she hadn’t kept pushing the ideas available, she would never have come up with that.

Working on variation can do the same thing for you. We often discover new ways to do things when we are forced to create an new item for commision or a challenge. But you don’t need to wait for these motivational circumstances to push yourself. Do the same kind of assignment I would give my small business clients only instead of a list, do inchies or beads or cover a dozen little bottles for the Bottles of Hope. Explore just one technique or skill and do it over and over but different every time. You can come up with amazing things you would never have thought of doing or never thought you’d like by pushing yourself this way.

Here’s just a small sample of such a thing you can do in the studio. Here Belén Moreno Alberca created a dozen pendants all a variation on textured and stacked shapes. Very little is repeated–basically shaped combinations recur in the butterflies but I think that is because of the narrower shape in the middle. I do suppose she could have pushed it by allowing the interior shapes to break out beyond the boundary of the base shape but this is still a good example of pushing a basic idea.

Belen actually does a lot of this, making a multitude of items with slight variation.  You can explore her exploratory world on her Flickr page. I’m sure she makes as much as she does for sales but if you are trying to break through and discover just how far you can push a technique, don’t make things thinking they will be items you’ll sell. You might be able to in the end but this is an exercise and you need the freedom to go nuts and not worry about your market. Make a couple dozen of something and see what you come up with. If you worry about the expense, don’t bake it. Toss anything you don’t like in the scrap clay bin for later recycling  Just don’t do anything that will limit your creativity and freedom to explore. Let go and have fun. That’s often when the big discoveries come along!

I thought we’d used crackling as an example of how to start working out variations. Crackling is one of my favorite techniques because of the varied texture it creates as well as the wide possibilities in color, shimmer and ways it can be applied.

The basic process for working out variations starts with getting a handle on what the core concept is behind the technique, form or approach you want to expand on. In crackle, the core of the technique is based in how crackling works. Polymer is an elastic material that can be moved and stretched without breaking apart. If you adhere something that is not elastic on the clay and then stretch the clay, the non-elastic material has to break to move with it–this is what we call crackling. So any material that is non-elastic, can be laid on and adhered to raw polymer in a continuous sheet and that that will break relatively easily can be used for crackling.

Gold leaf is very common for crackling texture because it meets all the criteria plus its shiny surface contrasting with the non-reflective surface of the clay makes for very pretty effects. Tempura and other non-elastic paints (note: acrylics are quite elastic so they just stretch with the clay) can be laid on raw clay and, once dried, will also meet the non-elastic and easy to break criteria. Paints greatly broaden your options for color and texture as how the paint is applied (thickly, thinly, with gaps, etc.) controls the type and subtlety of the crackling. And additions to the paint including mica powders, alcohol inks, glitter–whatever material can mix into the paint and keep it non-elastic–allows you to change the color and visual impact.

Here are beads by Janice Abarbanel showing several variations on her crackle technique in different shades applied in a variety of ways to lentil beads.  Some of the crackling is very subtle while other variations on it are quite bold. In this case, the biggest variation is in the choice of background clay color.

So with just this idea that you can use anything non-elastic, you have a huge treasure trove of possible variations for crackling. Then add in changing how you use it such as going from stripes to wide swathes of it like in the beads above or applying bits as accents, borders or cut up in shapes to create specific imagery, moving from just using crackled clay in jewelry to using it on home decor or even sculpture … the possibilities are really endless.

This same process–figuring out the basic premise of a technique then pushing yourself to think beyond what you usually do–can be applied to any technique or approach. Try it out–play with crackling or any technique you are into. In the meantime, if you like Janice’s subtle crackle technique, she does sell a tutorial in her Etsy shop for it. That could be a fun way to start experimenting with variations on crackle!

Do you have an unusual way of working with crackling? Drop us a comment below (if you’re getting this by email, click on the post’s header and it will take you to the page where you can leave a comment–it won’t be share-able if you just respond to the email.)  If you have photos up of your crackle work, leave us a link so we can go check it out. Seeing a wide variation can help us all expand our ideas about what to do with crackling!

If you’ve not tried your hand at miniatures in polymer, you really should. First of all, it’s so much fun and anyone, any age and from any walk of life can appreciate a well done miniature. But as an artist, you learn so much about the material in the process of trying to emulate a variety of textures and colors, especially in food. From glossy sauces to fluffy cakes to the matte sheen of pastries to juicy meats … you need to get a handle on a lot of surface textures. And color! It takes skill to find the right colors to give miniatures the realism you are after. You will learn a lot about mixing clay including what colors are strong and only need a pinch, what are weak and need a boost or translucent clay to keep saturation and how to avoid muddy colors. The skills learned creating miniatures will improve your abilities with other techniques.

My favorite miniatures are cakes. Cake art is, itself, just incredible. So take the art of cake making and now make it teeny tiny. How cool! That is the other skill you learn–manipulating polymer on a very small scale. The material can be tricky when you get down to miniature sizes. But once you get it down, you can use the miniature decorative skills to accent other work. Can’t you just see the scroll work or roses on this French wedding cake on a pair of earrings, a bracelet or circling the border of a pendant?

This cake is by Rachel D. of Rachel’s Little Things. She does incredible tiny food, especially cakes. Click her link to see some more amazing miniature work.

If you want to investigate polymer miniatures more, you can just Google it (try using Google images first) but if you want to try your hand with the foods, I highly recommend the book Miniature Food Masterclass. So much fun awaits you!

Marilyn Druin (1941-2001) was an enamel artist of unusual vision, enthusiasm and drive. She constantly pushed her medium, ultimately creating the beautiful but time-consuming and strenuous processes that put her on a level far beyond the majority of her colleagues.  The reason I wanted to share her work is partly to inspire those of you who work with faux enamel to look at possible variations. The other reason is to hopefully inspire you to push your work, challenge yourself and realize the huge rewards that Marilyn’s kind of commitment to her craft can bring you … rewards in finding an unexpected beauty you can truly, uniquely create.

Take a look at these two pins below. Marilyn did a lot more than just pins … cups, necklaces, sculpture … but these have some great, easy to see examples of her unusual enamel texture. I have no idea how she did some of this in enamel but I do have some very exciting ideas about how to do it in polymer.

I see combining textured opaque and layered translucent clays with liquid polymer glazes to get effects like some of these. I have not seen a lot of people do things that looks quite like this in polymer but its seems like a rather obvious direction for faux enamel … layering polymer in shimmering, translucent colors with texture underneath or just aiming to emulate enamel with clay instead of liquid.

I think sometimes our influence from all that we see of other people’s polymer art may actually limit our ability to think beyond what is already being done … perhaps that is the reason for the dominance of faux enamel created in single swathes of colored liquid polymer.

When I first started working with polymer, I didn’t see hardly any work. I was self-taught from sites like Glass Attic and a couple books so my exposure was limited. I did some pretty different things back then and would often be asked at shows where my ideas came from.  ”The ether,” I would say. But now I find my designs are often reflective of the kind of work I’ve been looking at … and I look at a ton these days. I’ve been feeling overly influenced by the immersion necessary to do this blog and the magazine. It can’t be helped. But I do find I am not happy with my designs because of it. So recently, I have been consciously forcing myself to break past or even erase/remove portions of my designs that I know are from other polymer artists’ work. I am much happier with the results when I do so. I find my mind starts wandering back into that ignorant, child-like portion of my imagination that lets me create work that feels much more my own. It can be hard to stay there though.

My point is, it can be so very advantageous to push your work beyond what you see other people doing. Combine techniques and approaches. And look at other forms of art. Because we can’t, usually, directly copy art made from other materials, we have to translate and filter it through ourselves. That should influence your work to go in directions that others aren’t going in and bring out your own voice. And that is a wonderful, beautiful thing.

In the meantime, treat yourself to a few minutes (or more!) looking through Marilyn’s gallery of work. Even if you don’t do faux enamel, her textures and colors are just stunning–they could inspire any kind of artist, dont’ you think?

Thank you all for chiming in on the faux versus variation question and taking part in the giveaway. I’m going to line up more giveaways so we can do this regularly. Write me with any suggestions for things you’d like me to try to get for these contests. Or if you’re a retailer of any kind and have something you’d like to giveaway from your shop, let me know. Write me directly at sbray@thepolymerarts.com

So … it would be remiss of me this week not to bring up what may be the faux techniques most widely experimented with when it comes to emulating other art forms–enamel. The common approach usually involves liquid polymer and alcohol inks and/or mica powders. The challenge tends to be in creating a base that has borders and/or channels to hold in and control the faux enamel. And there are a lot of different approaches for this.

At the beginning of the month, we visited Eugena’s artwork … she uses wire as her loose borders. It’s a gorgeous effect. It does take precision and patience, well worth the work, but isn’t for everyone. My favorite is the wax impression technique (See the Winter 2011 issue of The Polymer Arts magazine for the tutorial on this) because carving the wax to create the negative design has endless possibilities and there is nothing I’ve found that allows finer detail. But if you want to try something more straight forward, take a look at these “molds” cut into erasers and clay by Madrid’s Fabi.

She briefly explains the process on her Flickr page (although I think it was sent through a translator as it has some ‘interesting’ terms.) The advantage of erasers is the crispness of the lines although curves have to be more difficult to cut. I think her “gouging” tools must be engraving tools. You can get an inexpensive set at art and craft stores if you want to get into this. They can be used to easily cut into cured clay for other effects as well.

One of the things I wonder is whether we have really pushed faux enamel enough. I think there are possibilities, especially with the translucent clays, that we haven’t really seen. I’ve been playing with an idea myself but it’s not quite ready for prime time. However, tomorrow I am going to show you an artist that I think will knock your socks off, not just because it’s gorgeous work but because of the possibilities it shows us as polymer artists. She worked in real enamel and metal but the way it’s done, it actually reminds me of polymer and could be done in a way that would really push what we do with faux enamel right now. Intrigued? Well, tune in tomorrow …

So, faux came in heavy right off but a call to see more about variation started coming up from behind as the evening went on. The end result is … we are going to start with faux this week then look at how to work out variations next week.

Since Iris and Hilla brought to our attention another art form emulated in polymer, why don’t we stick with other craft arts that we can create in polymer? Try to keep in mind as we look at these techniques that the objective is not to find other arts to emualte but to see new directions that polymer can be pushed in your studio. For instance, I thought we’d start with an artist who’s faux lampwork has fascinated me since I stumbled on it a few years back. I love experimenting with liquid polymer and I was fascinated by how high Sharon Solly makes her glass like dots and how well controlled they are.

Sharon may have an bit of an advantage over the rest of us as she actually does lampwork. I am really curious as to how similar the work is. I know I experimented for a while trying to get the dot not to spread. My solution was to either add just a smidge at a time, hitting it with a heat gun between dabs or preheating the base clay so the dot of liquid polymer would start to solidify immediately. The pre-heat worked well on flat items as I could lay the base clay on a hot plate/mug warmer and work on that but the round beads  … I just couldn’t get the same effect that Sharon is getting. But if you can work on building up liquid polymer like this, you could add a bit of the faux lampwork look to many things you couldn’t add glass to in the first place. There are tremendous possibilities for decorative dotting!

If you are in the least bit interested, do look through Sharon’s Flicker pages. This one image is a bare tip of the iceberg … she has a broad body of work showing her on-going experimentation with this process. Actually, Sharon looks to be a major faux experimentator with a large variety of stones and dichroic-like pieces done in polymer.

So go explore some faux! Tomorrow we’ll announce the winner of the Cosmic Ceramic giveway as well. See you then!

So, let’s check out what Iris has for us. She just put these tutorials up just last week. They do have an amazingly realistic ceramic look. These ladies got so creative with her beads too. Look at this strangely beautiful “Moon beads”, both otherworldly and organic in style.

And if you like making home decor, they’ve created quite a few unique items like these tea caddies–they’re adorable and so much more appealing than stacking those boxes of tea on the counter.

Here is what Iris says about her new tutorials:

“The tutorials are covering 10 different beads designs and 8 final projects, each is examining the different faces of faux ceramic – textures, surface treatments etc. In general, the projects are demonstrating the various ways we came up with to imitate ceramic glazed products; some are dimensional, some flat, some created with chalks, pastels, gilders paste and some with alcohol inks. Each project is accompanied by a separate video and screen shots in a PDF file. The videos are for the ones who want to see the complete process from start to finish, and the pdf is for those in a hurry and want to go briefly over the photos.”

So if you’ve been looking for something new to explore, these look to be all too much fun. And Iris’ tutorials are beautifully created with lots of tips and carefully thought out steps. You can see the full array of possibilities (not that there is a limit to what you can do here!) on the PolyPedia Online website.  Iris and Hilla are also giving away sample beads to the kit purchasers who buy the best set. 

WIN A FREE SAMPLE PROJECT!

Iris and Hilla have been kind enough to offer a free *sample* project from the complete “Cosmic Ceramic” tutorials to one lucky reader commenting on this post. Just tell me whether we should cover faux techniques or the subject of technique variation the rest of this week … or post a comment about whatever this post brings to mind! The winner will be announced in Thursday’s post!

The Summer issue is at the printers and rolling down the machines as I write this. It’s so exciting … can’t wait to get my copies here! But the first copies get sent out to the readers directly from the printer. I send them the list of readers to mail tomorrow so if you haven’t pre-ordered your copy or need to subscribe or renew your print subscription, today is the day to do so! Just go here to do so: http://www.thepolymerarts.com/Subscribe.html

This issue is packed!! Tons of fun to be had between learning about collaborative art work, being inspired by combining other materials with polymer, ideas for adhering polymer to all kinds of  objects, exploring inclusions, ideas for great photo backgrounds, making wire findings for polymer and so much eye candy and inspiration you can take straight to the studio. Don’t miss it!

Because this issue was so packed, we couldn’t include everything sent to us or that I wanted to show you. Like this garden pendant from Nikolina Otrzan …

Nikolina has such a unique, fun and quirky style. Her pieces just make you smile. She is a featured gallery artist in this upcoming issue and I hope will continue to share with us in the future. She is also a CraftArtEdu instructor with one her coolest techniques–her Colori pieces–up as a tutorial now. Take a look at what she has to offer and keep your eye out as she has more coming soon!