An Original Image All the Way

September 18, 2015

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

You know what I’d love to see more of in image transfers? Your own 2D imagery displayed and framed in a beautiful polymer setting. How wonderful to see your own doodles, zentangles, photographs, collages, digital art or even just your do-over of some other images. I just love to see people’s individual expression in every aspect of what they create. It really tells you something intimate and revealing about the individual behind the work. Yes, the choice of images bought, borrowed with permission or used under Creative Commons copyright and the like does say something about the artist too, but there is nothing like original imagery. It’s like the difference between reading a typed letter and one that is handwritten. There is simply so much more of that person in what you see before you.

So of all the ways to use image transfer, this approach is by far my favorite. This pendant here by Lauren Abrams uses the image of a painting she herself did. I find it fascinating that she chose this dark and empty chair to use as a focal piece in a pendant that, in contrast, is so celebratory and bright in its choice of colors and form. It actually changes the way you would see the painting, going from lonely and quiet to hopeful or reminiscent of joyful days gone by. And, Lauren really shows us just how much fun and creativity can go into creating the framework for our image transfers. In any case, all the choices made here were made by Lauren and no one else. That makes for a very interesting piece.

Even if you don’t draw or paint, you can add your own imagery. From photographs of people or textures to colored pencil on a simple line drawing to collage work done digitally or by hand and photographed, you have a way to show people what you see through your own eyes. Isn’t that so very cool? So next time you consider doing an image transfer, maybe you can use imagery of your own or alter someone else’s that you have the right to reproduce. We really do want to see what you have to express!

I couldn’t find any recent websites or work for Lauren, but you can visit her Flickr page for a few more pieces like this plus just some wonderfully well finished and whimsical pieces Lauren created a few years back.

 

Like this blog? Lend your support with a purchase of The Polymer Arts magazine and visit our partners:

     

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Image Transfer as Pure Surface Design

September 16, 2015

il_fullxfull.688326151_dofsHere is another thought about the use of image transfer. Instead of making the image transfer the focal point of a piece, why not integrate it into the design so that it reflects, and is reflected in, the other elements that surround it. Using image transfers with the attitude that it is simply another form of surface design to be cut, formed, or otherwise manipulated may open up a much wider variety of possibilities in the way you might use them.

This whimsically formed bracelet by Connie Castle is such a wonderful example of this. You don’t think about this being an image transfer at first, if at all. The lines in the transfers are mirrored in the lines of the wire work around it, and the curved and free form shapes those lines create extend to the way each panel is shaped. It all works together so well that you could easily just sit back and admire the piece without a thought as to how it was created. Okay, well, many of us would eventually ask ourselves how the images were made, but that question is secondary to simply enjoying the look of it. And don’t you love the interruption of the panel set with that open work focal bead section? It’s like a bridge in a song after several stanzas, giving us a moment to pause as well as being a way to add dramatic contrast in the composition of the piece.

Connie doesn’t stop with simply working to integrate her transfers into her designs, she also enhances the images transfers with paint which is a great way to take paler images or black and white laser prints  and create your own color palette to make them so much more your own thing.

This is one of Connie’s two favorite methods for creating her art jewelry. She also works heavily in calico fabrics, which may give us a good hint as to why she followed this particular approach. You can find her work and more ideas for expanding on the possibilities of image transfers gracing the pages of her Etsy shop.

 

Like this blog? Lend your support with a purchase of The Polymer Arts magazine and visit our partners:

     

   TPA_McGuire_blog ad  Print

 

An Original Image All the Way

September 18, 2015
Posted in

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

You know what I’d love to see more of in image transfers? Your own 2D imagery displayed and framed in a beautiful polymer setting. How wonderful to see your own doodles, zentangles, photographs, collages, digital art or even just your do-over of some other images. I just love to see people’s individual expression in every aspect of what they create. It really tells you something intimate and revealing about the individual behind the work. Yes, the choice of images bought, borrowed with permission or used under Creative Commons copyright and the like does say something about the artist too, but there is nothing like original imagery. It’s like the difference between reading a typed letter and one that is handwritten. There is simply so much more of that person in what you see before you.

So of all the ways to use image transfer, this approach is by far my favorite. This pendant here by Lauren Abrams uses the image of a painting she herself did. I find it fascinating that she chose this dark and empty chair to use as a focal piece in a pendant that, in contrast, is so celebratory and bright in its choice of colors and form. It actually changes the way you would see the painting, going from lonely and quiet to hopeful or reminiscent of joyful days gone by. And, Lauren really shows us just how much fun and creativity can go into creating the framework for our image transfers. In any case, all the choices made here were made by Lauren and no one else. That makes for a very interesting piece.

Even if you don’t draw or paint, you can add your own imagery. From photographs of people or textures to colored pencil on a simple line drawing to collage work done digitally or by hand and photographed, you have a way to show people what you see through your own eyes. Isn’t that so very cool? So next time you consider doing an image transfer, maybe you can use imagery of your own or alter someone else’s that you have the right to reproduce. We really do want to see what you have to express!

I couldn’t find any recent websites or work for Lauren, but you can visit her Flickr page for a few more pieces like this plus just some wonderfully well finished and whimsical pieces Lauren created a few years back.

 

Like this blog? Lend your support with a purchase of The Polymer Arts magazine and visit our partners:

     

   TPA_McGuire_blog ad  Print

Read More

Image Transfer as Pure Surface Design

September 16, 2015
Posted in

il_fullxfull.688326151_dofsHere is another thought about the use of image transfer. Instead of making the image transfer the focal point of a piece, why not integrate it into the design so that it reflects, and is reflected in, the other elements that surround it. Using image transfers with the attitude that it is simply another form of surface design to be cut, formed, or otherwise manipulated may open up a much wider variety of possibilities in the way you might use them.

This whimsically formed bracelet by Connie Castle is such a wonderful example of this. You don’t think about this being an image transfer at first, if at all. The lines in the transfers are mirrored in the lines of the wire work around it, and the curved and free form shapes those lines create extend to the way each panel is shaped. It all works together so well that you could easily just sit back and admire the piece without a thought as to how it was created. Okay, well, many of us would eventually ask ourselves how the images were made, but that question is secondary to simply enjoying the look of it. And don’t you love the interruption of the panel set with that open work focal bead section? It’s like a bridge in a song after several stanzas, giving us a moment to pause as well as being a way to add dramatic contrast in the composition of the piece.

Connie doesn’t stop with simply working to integrate her transfers into her designs, she also enhances the images transfers with paint which is a great way to take paler images or black and white laser prints  and create your own color palette to make them so much more your own thing.

This is one of Connie’s two favorite methods for creating her art jewelry. She also works heavily in calico fabrics, which may give us a good hint as to why she followed this particular approach. You can find her work and more ideas for expanding on the possibilities of image transfers gracing the pages of her Etsy shop.

 

Like this blog? Lend your support with a purchase of The Polymer Arts magazine and visit our partners:

     

   TPA_McGuire_blog ad  Print

 

Read More
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