Artist on Fire (September 2012 Archive)

November 12, 2018

Tenth Muse Central (AKA my house) is under mandatory evacuation orders so we are quite out of sorts and have been since the wee hours of Friday morning because of the Woolsey fire in California. I am staying with family an hour north and all people and furries are safe and sound but needless to say, it has been hard getting work done both because I am very distracted, hoping my home will be spared, and because my setup that allows me to dictate much of my work while my arms are still healing doesn’t work so well in a crowded house. So, this week, I am resurrecting a few older blog posts to lighten the workload and, with fire on my mind, we will make that the theme. Fire is frightening but also awesome and beautiful. I like the idea of celebrating its beauty while we wait to see if Mother Nature will be kind to us. So enjoy these fire-themed posts from past years. Our first is from September 2012.

 

Impact. It’s pieces like this, not overly complicated but with an intensity of color and dynamic patterning that add definite and strong movement to the work, that really define the word eye-catching. But that isn’t even the most impactful thing about this piece.

The artist Adriana Allen has suffered from debilitating arthritis since childhood. But it has never stopped her. “Every item I create is a victory over an unforgiving disease … when it hit, it hit hard. I never gave into it. Every piece I create reminds me of this fact …  the disease cannot stop me from doing what I love.”

Such courage and from it, such beauty.

New book! Polymer Art Projects—Coming October 20th

This week is going to be a series of announcements but I promise, they will all be very exciting, they will all be polymer, and they will all give you something you can look forward to as we move into fall and winter (or spring and summer if you’re down under.)

First up… I can finally announce and show off the cover of the first in an upcoming series of books, Polymer Art Projects. This series arose from your consistent request for more projects and a desire to support and promote our great artists, so, after many conversations, I came up with this cooperative book project. All contributing artists in the book will be part of a promotion and profit sharing team. That means they are highly motivated to provide you with some truly fantastic material on top of looking forward to sharing their love of polymer art.

For less than a couple of dollars each, you get 16 tutorials that will expand your abilities under the guidance of some of the polymer community’s best instructors. The skill level of these tutorials range from the experienced novice to the intermediate artisan, with tips and ideas for polymer crafters of all levels. The tutorials are very detailed, each showing off a variety of techniques, expert construction, and lists of ideas for variation so you can create your own unique pieces from what you learn.

The first in the series, Polymer Art Projects—Organic, includes tutorials by Donna Greenberg, Christi Friesen, Eva Haskova, Anke Humpert, Debbie Crothers, Kim Cavender, Stephanie Kilgast, Chris Kapono, Stacy Louise Smith, Nevenka Sabo, Adriana Allen, Dani Rapinett, Fabiola Ajates, Rebecca Thickbroom, Klavdija Kurent, and little ol’ me. Projects include a variety of jewelry as well as home decor, all inspired by mother nature.

Check out the cover for a sampling of what you can look forward to. The cover price for the print edition of this book will be $23.95 but for the next month, you can preorder for $16.75 – that’s 30% off the cover price. Or maybe you’d like a digital edition which will list for $15.95 – you can preorder the digital edition for just $11.95. These preorder prices are good through October 10th.

Don’t forget the last issue of The Polymer Arts comes out September 22. Preorder this last historic copy on The Polymer Arts website.

The Look of Burning Embers

January 8, 2015

il_570xN.660979065_2xvsDon’t you love embers? Those lively, sparking, crawling fires inside a burning log that move in a seemingly choreographed dance? They are mesmerizing and calming and one of the neatest things about sitting in front of a fire and relaxing. I have tried emulating them in polymer. You can even see one of my modest attempts in an article on faux organics in the Fall 2013 issue of The Polymer Arts. But this particular photo of a copper inlaid bracelet created by Adriana Allen really seems to capture the light and liveliness of them.

It doesn’t seem that Adriana intended to create an ember-like appearance with the rubbed-in foil, but it sure gives one an idea about how to go about creating something like this. The way the copper is more rubbed off in the more open indentations and denser in the thinner lines does emulate that variation in the ember of a burning coal. It is lovely, as is the blue clay contrasting the orange of the copper.

Adriana creates beautiful cuff bracelets with a lot of texture, leaning heavily on faux antiquing and patina to get her signature look. Take a look through her Etsy shop for more beauties and ideas, while I go give my lively 8 month old German Shepard some much needed attention. Her name, by the way, is Ember.

 

If you like this blog, support The Polymer Arts projects with a subscription or an issue of The Polymer Arts magazine as well as supporting our advertising partners.

businesscard-3.5inx2in-h-front    PolymerArts Kaleidoscope     lpedit

Artist on Fire

September 19, 2012

Impact. It’s pieces like this, not overly complicated but with an intensity of color and dynamic patterning that add definite and strong movement to the work, that really define the word eye-catching. But that isn’t even the most impactful thing about this piece.

The artist Adriana Allen has suffered from debilitating arthritis since childhood. But it has never stopped her. “Every item I create is a victory over an unforgiving disease … when it hit, it hit hard. I never gave into it. Every piece I create reminds me of this fact …  the disease cannot stop me from doing what I love.”

Such courage and from it, such beauty.

Artist on Fire (September 2012 Archive)

November 12, 2018
Posted in

Tenth Muse Central (AKA my house) is under mandatory evacuation orders so we are quite out of sorts and have been since the wee hours of Friday morning because of the Woolsey fire in California. I am staying with family an hour north and all people and furries are safe and sound but needless to say, it has been hard getting work done both because I am very distracted, hoping my home will be spared, and because my setup that allows me to dictate much of my work while my arms are still healing doesn’t work so well in a crowded house. So, this week, I am resurrecting a few older blog posts to lighten the workload and, with fire on my mind, we will make that the theme. Fire is frightening but also awesome and beautiful. I like the idea of celebrating its beauty while we wait to see if Mother Nature will be kind to us. So enjoy these fire-themed posts from past years. Our first is from September 2012.

 

Impact. It’s pieces like this, not overly complicated but with an intensity of color and dynamic patterning that add definite and strong movement to the work, that really define the word eye-catching. But that isn’t even the most impactful thing about this piece.

The artist Adriana Allen has suffered from debilitating arthritis since childhood. But it has never stopped her. “Every item I create is a victory over an unforgiving disease … when it hit, it hit hard. I never gave into it. Every piece I create reminds me of this fact …  the disease cannot stop me from doing what I love.”

Such courage and from it, such beauty.

Read More

New book! Polymer Art Projects—Coming October 20th

September 10, 2018
Posted in , ,

This week is going to be a series of announcements but I promise, they will all be very exciting, they will all be polymer, and they will all give you something you can look forward to as we move into fall and winter (or spring and summer if you’re down under.)

First up… I can finally announce and show off the cover of the first in an upcoming series of books, Polymer Art Projects. This series arose from your consistent request for more projects and a desire to support and promote our great artists, so, after many conversations, I came up with this cooperative book project. All contributing artists in the book will be part of a promotion and profit sharing team. That means they are highly motivated to provide you with some truly fantastic material on top of looking forward to sharing their love of polymer art.

For less than a couple of dollars each, you get 16 tutorials that will expand your abilities under the guidance of some of the polymer community’s best instructors. The skill level of these tutorials range from the experienced novice to the intermediate artisan, with tips and ideas for polymer crafters of all levels. The tutorials are very detailed, each showing off a variety of techniques, expert construction, and lists of ideas for variation so you can create your own unique pieces from what you learn.

The first in the series, Polymer Art Projects—Organic, includes tutorials by Donna Greenberg, Christi Friesen, Eva Haskova, Anke Humpert, Debbie Crothers, Kim Cavender, Stephanie Kilgast, Chris Kapono, Stacy Louise Smith, Nevenka Sabo, Adriana Allen, Dani Rapinett, Fabiola Ajates, Rebecca Thickbroom, Klavdija Kurent, and little ol’ me. Projects include a variety of jewelry as well as home decor, all inspired by mother nature.

Check out the cover for a sampling of what you can look forward to. The cover price for the print edition of this book will be $23.95 but for the next month, you can preorder for $16.75 – that’s 30% off the cover price. Or maybe you’d like a digital edition which will list for $15.95 – you can preorder the digital edition for just $11.95. These preorder prices are good through October 10th.

Don’t forget the last issue of The Polymer Arts comes out September 22. Preorder this last historic copy on The Polymer Arts website.

Read More

The Look of Burning Embers

January 8, 2015
Posted in

il_570xN.660979065_2xvsDon’t you love embers? Those lively, sparking, crawling fires inside a burning log that move in a seemingly choreographed dance? They are mesmerizing and calming and one of the neatest things about sitting in front of a fire and relaxing. I have tried emulating them in polymer. You can even see one of my modest attempts in an article on faux organics in the Fall 2013 issue of The Polymer Arts. But this particular photo of a copper inlaid bracelet created by Adriana Allen really seems to capture the light and liveliness of them.

It doesn’t seem that Adriana intended to create an ember-like appearance with the rubbed-in foil, but it sure gives one an idea about how to go about creating something like this. The way the copper is more rubbed off in the more open indentations and denser in the thinner lines does emulate that variation in the ember of a burning coal. It is lovely, as is the blue clay contrasting the orange of the copper.

Adriana creates beautiful cuff bracelets with a lot of texture, leaning heavily on faux antiquing and patina to get her signature look. Take a look through her Etsy shop for more beauties and ideas, while I go give my lively 8 month old German Shepard some much needed attention. Her name, by the way, is Ember.

 

If you like this blog, support The Polymer Arts projects with a subscription or an issue of The Polymer Arts magazine as well as supporting our advertising partners.

businesscard-3.5inx2in-h-front    PolymerArts Kaleidoscope     lpedit

Read More

Artist on Fire

September 19, 2012
Posted in

Impact. It’s pieces like this, not overly complicated but with an intensity of color and dynamic patterning that add definite and strong movement to the work, that really define the word eye-catching. But that isn’t even the most impactful thing about this piece.

The artist Adriana Allen has suffered from debilitating arthritis since childhood. But it has never stopped her. “Every item I create is a victory over an unforgiving disease … when it hit, it hit hard. I never gave into it. Every piece I create reminds me of this fact …  the disease cannot stop me from doing what I love.”

Such courage and from it, such beauty.

Read More
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