A Riot of Color and Emotion
April 22, 2017 Inspirational Art
I am going to leave you with this colorful piece today. It is a type of mosaic, one could say so it fits the theme but I chose it primarily because the colors felt right, matching the riot of emotion that this day holds for my family and I as we lay my father to rest. We celebrate life today though, rather than mourn it. That’s just how we roll.
Amy Eisenfeld Genser, on the other hand rolls paper. That is what you see here–the cross sections of many rolled piece of colored paper. It could easily be a polymer cane application though, don’t you think? Well, here are some questions to ponder over. Leave your thoughts in the comment section if you have a moment.
What emotions or reactions do you have to this piece? Are you drawn to the texture and composition as much or even more than to the color, which likely grabs you first? What design element or design related terms comes to mind first when you ask yourself why this works so well or why it doesn’t if you don’t think much of it?
If you enjoy this piece, you will probably enjoy getting lost in Amy’s website where she has work in her gallery from the last dozen or so years.
Weekly Inspiration Challenge: This week, take a critical but very forgiving eye into your studio or to the photos of your work and look at some older pieces of yours. Find the ones you think were really good and ask yourself why the pieces work so well? Just focus on the good stuff today, your successes and the work that makes you happy. Then create or enjoy your weekend as you need to.
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Like this blog? Lend your support with a purchase of The Polymer Arts magazine and visit our partners.
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Outside Inspiration: Paper Imitating Aquatic Nature
August 9, 2013 Inspirational Art
Paper is actually a wonderful sculptural art medium. It is inexpensive and accessible, and much of your material can be gleaned from the recycle bin. But it does have its limitations–for instance, you don’t want to get it wet!
I don’t know that Amy Eisenfeld Genser uses recycled paper in her stunning sculptural wall pieces, although it looks like it would be possible. These pieces are rolled colored paper, adhered to acrylic painted canvases. The very organic way the paper components are laid out is reflective of coral reefs with the colors of the sea behind them–an exotic ocean landscape made from, of all things, paper.
I think using a material to represent a natural scene the material itself couldn’t exist in is delightfully ironic–or maybe it’s just me. In our chosen art, polymer clayers constantly experience the irony of working in a material that is considered the antithesis of organic, yet can so accurately and beautifully recreate the organic; so maybe I just enjoy these kinds of ironic connections.
Aside from the ironic beauty of Amy’s work here, I thought the textures were something that might inspire any number of you who work in extruded canes or enjoy sculptural texture. The variety of color and size in the components as well as their application–crowded and overlapping in some areas, scattered in others–is an approach that could be emulated quite easily in polymer, giving you yet another textural option for playing and designing with little bits of clay and bringing the inspiration of nature to your work.
I am going to leave you with this colorful piece today. It is a type of mosaic, one could say so it fits the theme but I chose it primarily because the colors felt right, matching the riot of emotion that this day holds for my family and I as we lay my father to rest. We celebrate life today though, rather than mourn it. That’s just how we roll.
Amy Eisenfeld Genser, on the other hand rolls paper. That is what you see here–the cross sections of many rolled piece of colored paper. It could easily be a polymer cane application though, don’t you think? Well, here are some questions to ponder over. Leave your thoughts in the comment section if you have a moment.
What emotions or reactions do you have to this piece? Are you drawn to the texture and composition as much or even more than to the color, which likely grabs you first? What design element or design related terms comes to mind first when you ask yourself why this works so well or why it doesn’t if you don’t think much of it?
If you enjoy this piece, you will probably enjoy getting lost in Amy’s website where she has work in her gallery from the last dozen or so years.
Weekly Inspiration Challenge: This week, take a critical but very forgiving eye into your studio or to the photos of your work and look at some older pieces of yours. Find the ones you think were really good and ask yourself why the pieces work so well? Just focus on the good stuff today, your successes and the work that makes you happy. Then create or enjoy your weekend as you need to.
_________________________________________
Like this blog? Lend your support with a purchase of The Polymer Arts magazine and visit our partners.
_________________________________________
Read MorePaper is actually a wonderful sculptural art medium. It is inexpensive and accessible, and much of your material can be gleaned from the recycle bin. But it does have its limitations–for instance, you don’t want to get it wet!
I don’t know that Amy Eisenfeld Genser uses recycled paper in her stunning sculptural wall pieces, although it looks like it would be possible. These pieces are rolled colored paper, adhered to acrylic painted canvases. The very organic way the paper components are laid out is reflective of coral reefs with the colors of the sea behind them–an exotic ocean landscape made from, of all things, paper.
I think using a material to represent a natural scene the material itself couldn’t exist in is delightfully ironic–or maybe it’s just me. In our chosen art, polymer clayers constantly experience the irony of working in a material that is considered the antithesis of organic, yet can so accurately and beautifully recreate the organic; so maybe I just enjoy these kinds of ironic connections.
Aside from the ironic beauty of Amy’s work here, I thought the textures were something that might inspire any number of you who work in extruded canes or enjoy sculptural texture. The variety of color and size in the components as well as their application–crowded and overlapping in some areas, scattered in others–is an approach that could be emulated quite easily in polymer, giving you yet another textural option for playing and designing with little bits of clay and bringing the inspiration of nature to your work.
Read More