Gane Cellular
May 13, 2014
Inspirational Art
As we continue our look at designs inspired by microscopic imagery, this necklace by Jael Thorp from Champaign, Illinois, brings to mind plant material under a microscope. This necklace is one of Jael’s Jewels and was made by the mokume gane method. She calls this her mini mokume gane set. They have an organic fluidity that almost vibrates with life.
Jael works with color to fit her mood. You have to wonder what kind of wonderful mood she was in here. To see more of Jael’s work, visit her Art Fire shop or her Flickr pages. You can read about her process on her award winning blog site “Jael’s Art Jewels Blog.”
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.
Firing it Up this Week
July 15, 2013
Inspirational Art
Up here in Colorado we have had a terrible time with fires– a particularly bad fire season with far too much tragedy in it. But like so many natural forces, fire has both its awesomely frightening aspect as well a beauty and necessity in our lives. Its hard not to be drawn to imagery of fire, flames, and colors that convey the sense of things hot and burning. I’m sure we have an inherent connection to anything that resembles fire from our tens of thousands of years of depending on it for our survival as well as fearing its incredible power. So between the continuing news stories of our battle with the local fires and the hot weather we’ve been having, I find myself drawn to the theme of fire for this week.
The actual visual trigger for this week’s theme came in the form of an amazing vessel by the very talented Melanie West. It’s a very interesting mix of a cellular visual texture with flames that wave on the outside of the vase along the undulating extensions of the form’s edges.
I have to marvel at Melanie’s imagination. These are two textures types–flames and cellular structures–that probably don’t get a lot of side by side play. But Melanie is well known for her bio-organic textures and undulating forms, so combining these two was probably a very natural conclusion for her. On her website she says “What drives my current work with polymer is a life long fascination with Nature’s use of extravagant forms, colors and patterns. Nature never ceases to amaze, and I have always been compelled to answer that amazement in my work.”
If you have never spent time looking over Melanie’s work, treat yourself this Monday to some time on her website’s gallery for some bio-organic inspiration.
As we continue our look at designs inspired by microscopic imagery, this necklace by Jael Thorp from Champaign, Illinois, brings to mind plant material under a microscope. This necklace is one of Jael’s Jewels and was made by the mokume gane method. She calls this her mini mokume gane set. They have an organic fluidity that almost vibrates with life.
Jael works with color to fit her mood. You have to wonder what kind of wonderful mood she was in here. To see more of Jael’s work, visit her Art Fire shop or her Flickr pages. You can read about her process on her award winning blog site “Jael’s Art Jewels Blog.”
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.
Up here in Colorado we have had a terrible time with fires– a particularly bad fire season with far too much tragedy in it. But like so many natural forces, fire has both its awesomely frightening aspect as well a beauty and necessity in our lives. Its hard not to be drawn to imagery of fire, flames, and colors that convey the sense of things hot and burning. I’m sure we have an inherent connection to anything that resembles fire from our tens of thousands of years of depending on it for our survival as well as fearing its incredible power. So between the continuing news stories of our battle with the local fires and the hot weather we’ve been having, I find myself drawn to the theme of fire for this week.
The actual visual trigger for this week’s theme came in the form of an amazing vessel by the very talented Melanie West. It’s a very interesting mix of a cellular visual texture with flames that wave on the outside of the vase along the undulating extensions of the form’s edges.
I have to marvel at Melanie’s imagination. These are two textures types–flames and cellular structures–that probably don’t get a lot of side by side play. But Melanie is well known for her bio-organic textures and undulating forms, so combining these two was probably a very natural conclusion for her. On her website she says “What drives my current work with polymer is a life long fascination with Nature’s use of extravagant forms, colors and patterns. Nature never ceases to amaze, and I have always been compelled to answer that amazement in my work.”
If you have never spent time looking over Melanie’s work, treat yourself this Monday to some time on her website’s gallery for some bio-organic inspiration.
