Found Inspiration
January 8, 2016
Inspirational Art
Speaking of found objects and nostalgia (we did a bit of that on Wednesday if you missed it), here is a piece I’ve had in my folder to share for quite some time. It’s an older piece by Chris Kapono and, no, the fish is not made of polymer but rather is cloisonné while the other sea creatures are brass and the big shiny blue baubles are glass. But the rest is polymer.
I don’t know if the fish was something nostalgic for Chris, but this is a wonderful example of letting something you have held onto inspire a beautiful creation. Yes, we may call ourselves polymer artists, but that should never make us feel restricted to working with just polymer. Chris certainly could have made the fish and other items from polymer, but it would give it a different feeling even if the non-polymer objects were really closely replicated.
Yes, polymer can imitate just about anything, but that doesn’t mean it should. If you have another material that will do the job or will do it even better, don’t hesitate. Creating is not about medium loyalty, it’s about expressing yourself. In the best work, the medium almost always is secondary to the image and emotion you create. Be loyal to your self-expression first, I say.
Inspiration Challenge of the Day: Go to your junk drawer, that box of broken jewelry, or those tins of bits and bobs filled with things you felt you might use someday, and pull out an object you don’t need or use. Add it to something you haven’t finished yet. If the unfinished work is polymer or another craft medium, find a way to attach and integrate it. If you have an unfinished sketch or painting, you can draw it in. If you have nothing unfinished, take some artistic idea you haven’t explored yet and try to meld it with this object in any manner you please.
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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: Glitter, Resin and Wireworks
December 13, 2013
Inspirational Art
Is there any material better for showing off the shimmer and shine of any surface effect than crystal clear resin? It allows for light to fall on metal foils, glitter, mica powders and and any other shiny material locked under it’s clear layers. A tasteful addition of well worked wire and crystal accents keep the glittery resin of these dainty wing earrings created by Christina Allen Page from going overboard.
If you haven’t worked with resin yet, it’s a fantastic finishing product although it takes a little practice to work out bubble-free applications and to avoid the potential mess it can create. ALWAYS wear gloves when using resin and preferably on a dedicated work surface. For one, it is a super powerful adhesive. And secondly, you can become suddenly and severely allergic to the chemical if you allow regular contact with your skin. I know this to be true because I am one of those this happened to. It is no fun, not to mention pretty darn scary and now, to work with resin, I have to don the equivalent of a haz mat suit. Quite a drag. The chemical BPA is in high concentrations in all resins before it cures–it’s what allows the hardening of the liquid. So be good to yourself and take precaution so you can continue to use it for many, many years because it is great stuff.
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.
Mixing with Mokume
January 24, 2013
Inspirational Art
Today we’re going to sit back and admire a great combination of materials. These bracelets are mokume gane polymer bangle bases with moving add-ons in the form of pmc, sterling silver, brass, and bronze rings that transverse the bangle as the wearer moves.
Celie Fago explains her rather lengthy process on the IPCA Synergy 2 page I found these on: “These bracelets evolve, in fits and starts, over the course of years. They mix many media and processes; they are material collaborations. I work in relays: I make the polymer bracelets, then the embellishments: I put them on the bracelets, take them off, move them from one to another …”
This brings up a couple thoughts. One … no work of art is ever really complete, is it? I think we could tweak and changes pieces forever, always seeing ways to improve or change them. The real talent is knowing when to stop.
The other thing that hit me about what she said was that these are “material collaborations”. We think about people collaborating but yes, why not consider how materials can “help” each other not just how they can fit together? In these bracelets, the variety of metal seems to actually increase the flash and depth of texture in the mokume gane. The metals and polymer are working together in a synergistic manner to make the parts, which seen on their own would not be so very impressive, integral and intriguing points in the whole of the composition.
Speaking of Synergy … if you plan on going to Synergy 3 in March, be sure to come and find The Polymer Arts in the vendors room and join me for my workshops and discussions on writing for the craft arts market, centralizing polymer information, and a interview panel of publishers chatting about what we do and why we do it for you. See you there!
Speaking of found objects and nostalgia (we did a bit of that on Wednesday if you missed it), here is a piece I’ve had in my folder to share for quite some time. It’s an older piece by Chris Kapono and, no, the fish is not made of polymer but rather is cloisonné while the other sea creatures are brass and the big shiny blue baubles are glass. But the rest is polymer.
I don’t know if the fish was something nostalgic for Chris, but this is a wonderful example of letting something you have held onto inspire a beautiful creation. Yes, we may call ourselves polymer artists, but that should never make us feel restricted to working with just polymer. Chris certainly could have made the fish and other items from polymer, but it would give it a different feeling even if the non-polymer objects were really closely replicated.
Yes, polymer can imitate just about anything, but that doesn’t mean it should. If you have another material that will do the job or will do it even better, don’t hesitate. Creating is not about medium loyalty, it’s about expressing yourself. In the best work, the medium almost always is secondary to the image and emotion you create. Be loyal to your self-expression first, I say.
Inspiration Challenge of the Day: Go to your junk drawer, that box of broken jewelry, or those tins of bits and bobs filled with things you felt you might use someday, and pull out an object you don’t need or use. Add it to something you haven’t finished yet. If the unfinished work is polymer or another craft medium, find a way to attach and integrate it. If you have an unfinished sketch or painting, you can draw it in. If you have nothing unfinished, take some artistic idea you haven’t explored yet and try to meld it with this object in any manner you please.
___________________________________________
Like this blog? Lend your support with a purchase of The Polymer Arts magazine and visit our partners:
___________________________________________
Read MoreIs there any material better for showing off the shimmer and shine of any surface effect than crystal clear resin? It allows for light to fall on metal foils, glitter, mica powders and and any other shiny material locked under it’s clear layers. A tasteful addition of well worked wire and crystal accents keep the glittery resin of these dainty wing earrings created by Christina Allen Page from going overboard.
If you haven’t worked with resin yet, it’s a fantastic finishing product although it takes a little practice to work out bubble-free applications and to avoid the potential mess it can create. ALWAYS wear gloves when using resin and preferably on a dedicated work surface. For one, it is a super powerful adhesive. And secondly, you can become suddenly and severely allergic to the chemical if you allow regular contact with your skin. I know this to be true because I am one of those this happened to. It is no fun, not to mention pretty darn scary and now, to work with resin, I have to don the equivalent of a haz mat suit. Quite a drag. The chemical BPA is in high concentrations in all resins before it cures–it’s what allows the hardening of the liquid. So be good to yourself and take precaution so you can continue to use it for many, many years because it is great stuff.
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.
Today we’re going to sit back and admire a great combination of materials. These bracelets are mokume gane polymer bangle bases with moving add-ons in the form of pmc, sterling silver, brass, and bronze rings that transverse the bangle as the wearer moves.
Celie Fago explains her rather lengthy process on the IPCA Synergy 2 page I found these on: “These bracelets evolve, in fits and starts, over the course of years. They mix many media and processes; they are material collaborations. I work in relays: I make the polymer bracelets, then the embellishments: I put them on the bracelets, take them off, move them from one to another …”
This brings up a couple thoughts. One … no work of art is ever really complete, is it? I think we could tweak and changes pieces forever, always seeing ways to improve or change them. The real talent is knowing when to stop.
The other thing that hit me about what she said was that these are “material collaborations”. We think about people collaborating but yes, why not consider how materials can “help” each other not just how they can fit together? In these bracelets, the variety of metal seems to actually increase the flash and depth of texture in the mokume gane. The metals and polymer are working together in a synergistic manner to make the parts, which seen on their own would not be so very impressive, integral and intriguing points in the whole of the composition.
Speaking of Synergy … if you plan on going to Synergy 3 in March, be sure to come and find The Polymer Arts in the vendors room and join me for my workshops and discussions on writing for the craft arts market, centralizing polymer information, and a interview panel of publishers chatting about what we do and why we do it for you. See you there!
Read More
