Fall Glass
November 4, 2016
Inspirational Art
Here is a little more autumn color for the week. I think this is a brooch although it doesn’t say. I did have something else in mind from the ever-exploring Sabine Spiesser but then I alighted upon this little experiment while enjoying her Flickr photos and a couple of things about it caught my eye.
I find this interesting not only because it’s a faux textured glass technique and yummy colors but also because of a comment Sabine made in regards to it:
“Unfortunately I noticed that alcohol inks fade in bright light in Pardo clay. I left an old piece in a bright spot where it gets some sunshine and after about 4 months all colours except for red were gone. That was quite a shock. I have to rethink what I am doing.”
It makes me wonder if this is just a problem with Pardo, or all translucents or alcohol inks in general. I’m going to do some research and then my own tests. I’ll post my results in our newsletter, where all such tips usually land in my world. If you aren’t on our twice monthly newsletter list, you’re missing out on tips, community news, first sales announcements, and some of our magazine news. You can sign up on the left hand side of our website’s home page. In the meantime, enjoy a view of Sabine’s work on her Flickr pages and website.
Inspirational Challenge of the Day: Try something different with a faux technique you like to do. If it’s faux stone, create forms you don’t usually see them in or texture them in a way that would be near impossible in a real stone. If it’s metal, create something organic-looking, like a silver flower or a copper pod. Just because we can mimic nature’s material doesn’t mean we need to recreate it only in the forms that nature presents it. Let go and try something different.
_________________________________________
Like this blog? Lend your support with a purchase of The Polymer Arts magazine and visit our partners.
_________________________________________
Blocks of Fall
November 2, 2016
Inspirational Art
Although fall colors in the changing trees is nearly over, I wanted to take a bow to my favorite color season with a couple beautiful pieces this week.
This necklace inspired several ideas for themes for the blog but in the end, I knew it was the color that is the real draw. I do love how the overlapping rough edges are mirrored in the cord strands but the rich colors of autumn are what pushes it beyond a clever bit of line repetition into a very elegant piece.
Craft artist Tatiana Saveliev is fond of using the rough edged look, stacked up or wound in circular patterns and almost always in a simple geometric form such as squares and circles. The uneven edges soften the feel of the symmetrical geometry while the lines impart energy. Her colors go from light and bright to deep and rich but this palette is my personal favorite.
You can see the various directions Tatiana takes this look by jumping over to her LiveMaster shop.
Inspirational Challenge of the Day: Try some seasonal color. What are you seeing outside today? Red, rusts, and yellow? Just blue sky and bare gray branches? Maybe green ocean and the pale buff color of sand? Create a palette from what you see, not trying to be too exact. Just let the colors of the day inspire you and create in these colors.
_________________________________________
Like this blog? Lend your support with a purchase of The Polymer Arts magazine and visit our partners.
_________________________________________
Fall into Autumn Colors
October 19, 2015
Inspirational Art
Well, it’s finally cooling down here in California, where I’ve been bouncing around the last several weeks, and I realized that I haven’t seen any Fall-like scenes yet. In Colorado, of course, we have some wonderfully dramatic color changes in our mountains and trees, but I’ve missed that. So, mid-season and a bit past-peek for Fall colors in much of the country, I want to delve into some of the richness a Fall palette provides.
This set of earrings is a classic example of the deep greens, rich rust reds, and brilliant yellows nature shows off this time of year. I found these on Livemaster.ru in the shop that the Google translator says belongs to Nina Kotlyarevich (I don’t trust the translators, especially when it comes to putting an English version of a name up, but the address on the photo goes to Nina’s shop so we’ll assume it’s close).
Such patience she must have to apply such tiny detail using those thin snakes of clay and little dots. The resulting texture is lovely and takes the simple autumn leaf design several steps beyond the norm.
The dense texture with thin clay snakes is something Nina looks to have done a bit of. She has some amazing pieces in her shop right now including an ancient ivory looking box with swirling and finely dotted detail that will make you hunger for a closer look. Which you should do.
___________________________________________
Like this blog? Lend your support with a purchase of The Polymer Arts magazine and visit our partners:
___________________________________________
Outside Inspiration: Extruded Fall
August 8, 2014
Inspirational Art
This is the look of fall I think of as the season approaches.
The burning colors of orange-reds with yellows against ashy whites. But then, I live in Colorado where the aspen trees light the Rocky Mountains on fire as they change from lush to stark. These pieces are extruded wall vases. That is extruded ceramic clay. I really want to see that extruder. It must be amazing! I hope it has a motor.
Luckily, artist Michael Macone, is aided by his two sons, Miles and Clayton, (does anyone else find it funny that he named one of his kids Clay-ton?), so whatever extruding they do, it’s not one set of hands and arms on that. Michael looks to be best known for a unique engraving technique he developed that allows him to etch his designs right into the clay, rather than placing them only on the surface. This looks to be the technique on the top-end tiles of these vases. But, I just really like that simple twist to them. It allows more than one side to show from any view and gives it a bit of movement.
As in polymer, classic fall colors are fairly popular in ceramics, probably more so since earthen clay in these earthy warm-colored glazes go so well together. If you are looking for natural fall palettes, perusing through ceramic arts on Pinterest, Flickr or Google images will bring you many wonderful and inspiring combinations.
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.
All Autumnal
August 7, 2014
Inspirational Art
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.
Carded Fall
August 6, 2014
Inspirational Art
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.
Classic Autumn Palette
August 4, 2014
Inspirational Art
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.
Just Dots
May 14, 2014
Inspirational Art
If you ever did petri dish tests in biology class or left the tomato sauce too many weeks in the fridge, you might recognize the patterning of this next piece for our microscopic week. This is a simple but visually high impact bracelet by Mathilde Colas. It’s not often that we think of mold or mildew as inspiring much beyond disgust but all of nature has a beauty to it. The delicate dots and rich colors against a stark white background make for a calm but dramatic beauty here.
It seems obvious, looking at her body of work, that Mathilde Colas is heavily influenced by nature in all its forms, from the color of spring flowers to the decay of late autumn. Take a look at her work and read up on her thoughts on her blog 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.
Here is a little more autumn color for the week. I think this is a brooch although it doesn’t say. I did have something else in mind from the ever-exploring Sabine Spiesser but then I alighted upon this little experiment while enjoying her Flickr photos and a couple of things about it caught my eye.
I find this interesting not only because it’s a faux textured glass technique and yummy colors but also because of a comment Sabine made in regards to it:
“Unfortunately I noticed that alcohol inks fade in bright light in Pardo clay. I left an old piece in a bright spot where it gets some sunshine and after about 4 months all colours except for red were gone. That was quite a shock. I have to rethink what I am doing.”
It makes me wonder if this is just a problem with Pardo, or all translucents or alcohol inks in general. I’m going to do some research and then my own tests. I’ll post my results in our newsletter, where all such tips usually land in my world. If you aren’t on our twice monthly newsletter list, you’re missing out on tips, community news, first sales announcements, and some of our magazine news. You can sign up on the left hand side of our website’s home page. In the meantime, enjoy a view of Sabine’s work on her Flickr pages and website.
Inspirational Challenge of the Day: Try something different with a faux technique you like to do. If it’s faux stone, create forms you don’t usually see them in or texture them in a way that would be near impossible in a real stone. If it’s metal, create something organic-looking, like a silver flower or a copper pod. Just because we can mimic nature’s material doesn’t mean we need to recreate it only in the forms that nature presents it. Let go and try something different.
_________________________________________
Like this blog? Lend your support with a purchase of The Polymer Arts magazine and visit our partners.
_________________________________________
Read MoreAlthough fall colors in the changing trees is nearly over, I wanted to take a bow to my favorite color season with a couple beautiful pieces this week.
This necklace inspired several ideas for themes for the blog but in the end, I knew it was the color that is the real draw. I do love how the overlapping rough edges are mirrored in the cord strands but the rich colors of autumn are what pushes it beyond a clever bit of line repetition into a very elegant piece.
Craft artist Tatiana Saveliev is fond of using the rough edged look, stacked up or wound in circular patterns and almost always in a simple geometric form such as squares and circles. The uneven edges soften the feel of the symmetrical geometry while the lines impart energy. Her colors go from light and bright to deep and rich but this palette is my personal favorite.
You can see the various directions Tatiana takes this look by jumping over to her LiveMaster shop.
Inspirational Challenge of the Day: Try some seasonal color. What are you seeing outside today? Red, rusts, and yellow? Just blue sky and bare gray branches? Maybe green ocean and the pale buff color of sand? Create a palette from what you see, not trying to be too exact. Just let the colors of the day inspire you and create in these colors.
_________________________________________
Like this blog? Lend your support with a purchase of The Polymer Arts magazine and visit our partners.
_________________________________________
Read MoreWell, it’s finally cooling down here in California, where I’ve been bouncing around the last several weeks, and I realized that I haven’t seen any Fall-like scenes yet. In Colorado, of course, we have some wonderfully dramatic color changes in our mountains and trees, but I’ve missed that. So, mid-season and a bit past-peek for Fall colors in much of the country, I want to delve into some of the richness a Fall palette provides.
This set of earrings is a classic example of the deep greens, rich rust reds, and brilliant yellows nature shows off this time of year. I found these on Livemaster.ru in the shop that the Google translator says belongs to Nina Kotlyarevich (I don’t trust the translators, especially when it comes to putting an English version of a name up, but the address on the photo goes to Nina’s shop so we’ll assume it’s close).
Such patience she must have to apply such tiny detail using those thin snakes of clay and little dots. The resulting texture is lovely and takes the simple autumn leaf design several steps beyond the norm.
The dense texture with thin clay snakes is something Nina looks to have done a bit of. She has some amazing pieces in her shop right now including an ancient ivory looking box with swirling and finely dotted detail that will make you hunger for a closer look. Which you should do.
___________________________________________
Like this blog? Lend your support with a purchase of The Polymer Arts magazine and visit our partners:
___________________________________________
Read More
This is the look of fall I think of as the season approaches.
The burning colors of orange-reds with yellows against ashy whites. But then, I live in Colorado where the aspen trees light the Rocky Mountains on fire as they change from lush to stark. These pieces are extruded wall vases. That is extruded ceramic clay. I really want to see that extruder. It must be amazing! I hope it has a motor.
Luckily, artist Michael Macone, is aided by his two sons, Miles and Clayton, (does anyone else find it funny that he named one of his kids Clay-ton?), so whatever extruding they do, it’s not one set of hands and arms on that. Michael looks to be best known for a unique engraving technique he developed that allows him to etch his designs right into the clay, rather than placing them only on the surface. This looks to be the technique on the top-end tiles of these vases. But, I just really like that simple twist to them. It allows more than one side to show from any view and gives it a bit of movement.
As in polymer, classic fall colors are fairly popular in ceramics, probably more so since earthen clay in these earthy warm-colored glazes go so well together. If you are looking for natural fall palettes, perusing through ceramic arts on Pinterest, Flickr or Google images will bring you many wonderful and inspiring combinations.
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.
Read More
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.
Read More
If you ever did petri dish tests in biology class or left the tomato sauce too many weeks in the fridge, you might recognize the patterning of this next piece for our microscopic week. This is a simple but visually high impact bracelet by Mathilde Colas. It’s not often that we think of mold or mildew as inspiring much beyond disgust but all of nature has a beauty to it. The delicate dots and rich colors against a stark white background make for a calm but dramatic beauty here.
It seems obvious, looking at her body of work, that Mathilde Colas is heavily influenced by nature in all its forms, from the color of spring flowers to the decay of late autumn. Take a look at her work and read up on her thoughts on her blog 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.
