Rousing Repetition
July 28, 2019
Inspirational Art, Polymer community news, The Polymer Arts magazine news
Neon Paper beads necklace by Devi Chand.
First of all, thank you to all you amazing, wonderful, caring folks who sent me notes and words of encouragement and offers of help and even a book in one case, all due to my little tendinitis issue. You are the most amazing people. What a fantastic community we have! I expect most of you are dealing with something frustratingly disruptive in your life and things a lot worse than my little annoyance in many cases so know that my heart goes out to you too. Life is challenging. So, let’s go out and wrestle it and show the universe what we’re made of!
I do have more news but I’m going to save the update on my situation until the end so you can enjoy some artwork first.
Okay, on to the contemplation of art!
Rousing Repetition
This week I want to talk about repetition. Do you like heavy repetition in artwork, where a single form, mark, or motif is repeated over and over? Saying it like that makes it sound boring and unimaginative. But I think repetition has gotten a bad rap. I mean, sure, in some circumstances, like when someone says the same thing over and over again in a conversation, it is going to get on your nerves. But when it comes to design, repetition can be mesmerizing, energetic, and downright stunning. The trick is to put some rhythm and variation into that repetition. Or at least, if it’s very static, it’s best if it is obvious that a lack of variation is intentional to convey stillness, poise, or something of that sort.
I thought we’d pull up some really beautiful examples of repetition to prove the point. You’ll note in all these pieces that although form, shape, motif, or other characteristics are repeated, variation in other aspects of the design choices brings in the energy and rhythm that draws us in. The repeating element also serves to create cohesiveness and unity amongst all the other elements
So, as we go through these this week, identify the repeating design elements in each piece and then the variation that makes the repetition so interesting for you. I’ll show the piece first before I talk about it so you have a chance to consider and see what you come up with. Mind you, you will often come up with things that I won’t and that doesn’t mean that I’m right and you’re not. When art is viewed, it has to be fundamentally about personal interpretation so there is a ton of room for your unique point of view. Asking yourself these questions that I periodically challenge you with just gets you to actively think about the work, homes your eye, and, hopefully, gives you the understanding to verbalize those things so you can translate them into aspects of your own work.
So, let’s get to it!
Music in the Monotony
I am going heavy this week on non-polymer artists and I may do a bit more of this going forward too. There is just so much great design amongst craftspeople of other mediums that we could really learn from. I find it refreshing and immensely inspiring to consider how to get the aspects that I enjoy in the artwork of other mediums into my polymer designs. I hope you agree and will stick this out with me! But we’ll start with polymer work.
Here we have some really obvious repetition with a couple of bracelets from Maria Belkomor. A lot of things are being repeated here. How many do you count?
Depending on how you count, there are either two repeated elements– the black carved beads and the disk elements – or maybe four if you count the stacks of beads and the colors. Or maybe you counted more. Everything in these are repeated except for the clasps so pretty much every element can be counted as a repeating one. Variation and, especially, the contrast in the colors and the contrast in the shape between the round beads and the flat disks is what keeps the repetition from being boring. It’s very regular but the bracelets are still fun and visually engaging pieces.
Keep in mind, repetition doesn’t mean it needs to all be lined up to engage repetition. Take a look at the pieces below. Parallel lines are used over and over again but aren’t always the same types of parallel lines nor are they seated in the same orientation.
Anna Nel has a lot of fun with her bouncy graphic look by repeating parallel lines over and over but varying them from solid line sets to lines of blended clay, adding pops of color and focal points with the irregularly placed round cane slices. Her variation in color, going from black-and-white to very saturated hues doesn’t hurt the impact of these pieces either.
Looking outside of polymer, it is not hard to find gorgeous examples of repetition in construction jewelry like beadwork.
Obviously, the repetition here is primarily in the square beads, all lined up with the same orientation, as well as the repeated dangles. The designer, Beth Graham of Semper Fi designs on Etsy, switches up the color in the squares and the length of the dangles for a simple but very effective variation within the design. There are much more intricate bead designs out there, but I like this example because it highlights the concept in an easy to identify way and works to great effect.
I wonder if, in polymer, we might use repetition more often if it was not so easy for us to vary up our elements. I do think there is such a discipline in trying to create dynamic and intriguing pieces without using a wide range of variety to carry it. Just look at this necklace below. It could be polymer but is gorgeously carved, colored, and polished wood.
Liv Blavap’s works are amazing. She works with repetition in a way that it somehow becomes the focal point of her pieces. I think it’s because there’s an almost seamless transition in the variation between one element and the next, making a smooth undulation in the form and, collectively, feeling like one continuous piece even though it is dozens, maybe a couple hundred, individual elements. This approach and her workmanship make you hyper-aware that basic forms are being repeated, if changing along the way. If you’re unfamiliar with Liv’s work, jump over to this site for a quick peek at more of these stunning necklaces of hers.
Okay, one more piece that is not polymer but so readily could be and I think will be quite inspiring for those of you who like to work with sheets of thin polymer or, looking at the pattern only, cool geometric cane work. Paper does really lend itself to repetition as seen by this and the paper necklace of the opening image.
This is paper jewelry by Dutch artists Nel Linssen. Paper quite readily, and beautifully, lends itself to dynamic repetition. The energy here comes with the variation within each element that has been repeated. It doesn’t hurt that they’re basically arrow shapes all pointing inwards making it feel like all the movement is strongly and persistently moving towards the center. Yes, there is strength in repetition as well!
Meanwhile, back at the ranch (as they used to say) …
Okay, so, a little bit of an update on the situation over here at Tenth Muse Arts headquarters:
The not so great news is that the conclusion about my tendinitis progressed into something called tendinosis which takes a lot longer to heal and is why I am still dealing with it. On top of that, I have some possible physiological issues which may be the cause of my slow healing (on top of working too much, of course!) The good news is it is all fixable. However, I am going to have to disrupt my usual schedule to deal with this and, with the tendinosis, I am being told that I should stay off my keyboard as much as possible for the next 3-6 months. Ack! That means I can’t do layout, photo adjustments, or anything else that takes just a ton of mouse clicking and keyboard shortcuts. I can still write thanks to speech to text software but not much of anything else.
Translation… I have had to make the decision to halt production on The Polymer Studio magazine for the time being. I’ve also decided subscription purchases will not be available during this time because I just can’t take money for something that isn’t actively in process. That just feels wrong. And yes, I considered bringing on people to help but it would take a while to get anyone up to speed on graphics and editing work and if I’m going to work on myself, I can’t add to my schedule. My crazy long workdays are why I’m having the physiological issues, so I really have to take a pretty full break.
So, I’m making plans to play around with creating some other stuff that would be doable with written, spoken, or videotaped content because I am just not good at not being productive. But without deadlines, I can take my time. And, yes, I do plan to continue to post the blog. I like chatting with you all too much to stop if I don’t really have to!
So, some weeks I might have to go a little bit light, but I do plan to be here to join you on Sunday mornings for low contemplative art. Do please join me next Sunday – I’m putting together a survey to see what you all would like me to talk about on the blog and my other possible projects. I’m working on gathering goodies for a giveaway to go with the survey so don’t miss that!
Have a wonderful, creative, healthy, and inspiring week!
Flower Powered Polymer
May 5, 2019
Inspirational Art
Kathy McCurry, Bearded Sadie
Have you ever walked outside and been assaulted by a cloud of butterflies? Sounds like something that might happen in a dream, right? But it actually is happening here in Southern California. The first wave came through a month ago as Painted Lady butterflies traveled north on their annual migration only this time there were many more than usual, supported by the crazy wildflower bloom that we have going on out here. Between a very heavy rainy season and all the fires around here, the ground has been very fertile and supportive of tons and tons of mustard flowers, orange poppies, and purple lupines. So now, the next generation of butterflies, laid here by the first migratory wave, have grown, transformed, and are continuing the migration, with streams of them cavorting down the hills, rolling through backyards, and, strangely enough, traveling in clouds down the streets, following the asphalt rivers
So, of course, I had to get out in it (and out of the house) yesterday and now my head is full of flowers and butterflies. Which is weird for me. Although I love these fascinating and colorful gems of nature, they aren’t usually the thing that I turned to, especially when it comes to artwork. But, with flowers on the mind, I sat down to drum up something lovely to show you this week and came up with all kinds of polymer flowers, but not quite what you’d expect.
Let’s look at how people are switching up this most common and enduring subject for artistic inspiration.
Flower Power
first of all, if you read last week’s blog, you know I wanted to focus on mica shift techniques on my own studio table this past week and challenged you all to try a little yourselves. Well, I did get started but it was a tough week for getting things done. However, that post initiated a number of experimentations in a slew of other artist’s studios as well. It does seem that a majority of people are still in the experimentation stage so I will hold off sharing any results until we all have something more complete.
What did happen though, was a lot of online conversations as people shared their work. One such online chat was with Kathy McCurry, one of our most creative floral polymer artists. I am really excited to see what she comes up within mica shift for her flowers as they are already so intriguing. Kathy creates pieces that could be nothing else but flowers yet they are like nothing you ever have, or ever well, see on this earth. They are eye-catching, colorful, shimmery, and crazy exotic looking, as you can see in her piece opening this post and the one below. Being Cinco de Mayo today, I thought these Fiesta flowers would be an apropos example.
It is always hard to pick just one or two pictures from a talented artist like this so please to click over to her website to see more of her work if you’ve not seen it before. You can also find her featured in Polymer Journeys 2019, and she’ll be in Issue #3 of The Polymer Studio. with a bit of a personal story. You can buy the book or subscribe to the magazine (Issue #2 was released last week and is ready to ship if you need a copy!) on the website.
Other creative and beautiful, yet not-found-in-nature flowers made in polymer can be found in the studio of Ann Duncan-Hlavach. Ann has a habit of making up her own patterns for petals from just about any source of inspiration besides actual flowers, resulting in some really delightful combinations.
Here is an ode to the Monarch butterfly (since butterflies started this, it seemed like I should bring them in here somewhere on this post), but in a rose shape. Don’t you love the translucent quality of the “wings”? The translucence glows when light hits it. This makes for truly stunning and unusual bouquets as you can see in a wedding set of hers that made it into Polymer Journeys 2019.
Just how else can you mix and match inspiration for flowers? Well, the possibilities are endless, and sometimes even frightening! But in a good way. There are few people who have taken the light and delicate nature of flowers and melded them with the far end of the spectrum quite like Anastasiya Khramina. Here carnivorous flora are at once beautiful and horrifying. I do have to wonder what inspired her to add vampiric teeth and a forceful tongue lolling out of her flowers’ centers. And yes, this is not a one-off thing for her. Most of her posted creations are sharp-teethed flowers. I posted one of her pieces a year or so ago and it was one of the most viewed post of that year. I guess us humans will always be drawn by beauty, especially when it is combined with what scares us.
Now, if you really would prefer to go the more traditional way and have realistic looking flowers for adornment, you can do so while still taking it up a notch and showing up mother nature herself. Just come up with a color combination and arrangement nature hasn’t quite gotten around to creating. See how Vera of Etsy’s Handmade Blossoms does it … in pastels or a full and bright rainbow.
But, perhaps you, like me, are not so much into the flowers but you do love the shapes and forms of them with their layers or rows of petals, and the balanced swirling repetition of their arrangement. Those formations do not only come in flowers. Albina Asadullina popped an extremely realistic succulent onto the focal point of the pendant instead of a flower as one might expect. It has a bit more substance and so is not quite as delicate looking as most flowers but it visually has the same effect for the piece.
Moving on From Flowers
To quickly wrap this up, I’m going to let you do further research as you are inspired. I am utterly exhausted by a long arduous week of decision-making, further house rearranging, and trying to keep the dust at bay. Here I am in the middle of what once was my kitchen, contemplating the problem plumbing which instigated this whole thing. I now spend my entire day in my studio (and my nights this week since I have to sleep here for the time being too!) which wouldn’t be that abnormal or too bad if the family didn’t all have to retreat here too when they are home as it’s still a bit nippy outside. We are making the most of it and looking on it as a challenging adventure. Now I just need to figure out how to get work done amidst this all!
The Polymer Studio, Issue #2 … click the image to see a sampler edition
Get oodles of inspiration and have fun with the many intriguing projects, artist interviews, studio tours and other tidbits in the latest issue of The Polymer Studio. Click here to see a sampler of it.
Looking for your already purchased copy?
If you are due a digital edition, the access emails went out on Tuesday but if you didn’t see yours, check your junk mail folders or go to your account where you can access it. You can also write Sydney, my keeper of lists, from there if you have questions.
Print editions of the new issue went to the post office Wednesday directly from the printer if you were subscribed or pre-ordered before April 22nd. My shipment has been delayed but I should have them Tuesday so recent orders will go out then from here.
I hope you all have a wonderful week full of flowers, butterflies, and lots of not-so-challenging adventures!
Splitting the Difference
April 21, 2019
Inspirational Art
Happy Easter or Chag Sameach or simply happy Sunday to you! I wasn’t sure I was going to get this one out between holidays and family and wrapping up the latest issue of The Polymer Studio (there has been a slight delay with the printer so we still have time to get you on the list for the first shipment from the printer if you subscribe or pre-order before Monday night … go here to get yours) and picking out shower and floor tile (yes, there is a tad more drama at Tenth Muse headquarters, a.k.a. home, which I will expound upon at the end for those of you find it humorous to see what craziness I’m steeped in.)
So, have you ever been in the middle of a busy, stressful, crazy, chaotic day and then all of a sudden you just are coming up with new art projects from out of nowhere? Well, yesterday I was in this ginormous tile shop, putting white tiles against dark tiles and smooth stone surfaces next to busy mosaics trying to see what works and, of course, being so design focused, when it didn’t work I would ask myself why, and when it did, I asked myself why as well. (My mind is like a three-year-old… Why this? Why that? Why…?) This led to considering how I pair up surfaces in my own artwork. The fact is, I don’t do a ton of it, but I do really like it.
I think this also came to mind because I had the pleasure of online chatting with Kimberly Arden, a potential contributor for a future issue, and she showed me some of her pendants and earrings which are often a split canvas – one side is busy with canes or extruder veneers and one side is a lightly textured black with a flower or other form laid on it in using just a few canes, like the one you see opening this post. So, I’m there comparing tiles and thinking about her pendants which got me thinking about how often we pair up surfaces in art and next thing you know, I’m writing you this post with all this in mind. That’s how these themes happen!
So, let’s just ponder the idea of having two different surfaces next to each other on the same canvas or form. How is this done to in a way that still creates a cohesive piece and what are the different ways this can be applied?
Splitting the Canvas
Two or more different surfaces on the same canvas or form is a great method for creating contrast but like any other element, two surfaces that are not alike do have to have some kind of connection to make them work together in a piece. Yes, that connection is there physically when the surfaces are within the same framework in or attached to a singular object, but that is not usually enough. The best way to ensure a connection is to have at least one design element that is the same or very similar.
For instance, both sides could be the same color but very different textures. Olga Bulat does this in this necklace. Making it monochromatic keeps us focused on that texture and that difference which creates the energy in the piece.
Now, Olga could have had two different colors in the above piece but the colors themselves would have had to have some commonality. For example, both sides could be pastel, or both might be similarly bright. They could even be next to each other or completely opposite each other on the color wheel (because complete opposites also connect in our mind as being related but in an opposing fashion, if that makes sense. Think how much green and red there is at Christmas time. It works, color wise, right?)
Below is an example of using different colors but with the same texture so that there is commonality in the texture, but at the same time, the colors are also completely opposite (a dark, rich, warm brown versus a light, colorless, cool gray). These opposites are paired in our mind the way good and evil, young and old, and night and day are paired conceptually.
This is the genius of Meisha Barbee who also puts the canvas split on the horizontal (notice how many of the examples I show you today are split vertically – vertical has a lot of energy but it doesn’t mean that vertical is right for every piece.) Just changing the color however does not give the work a ton of energy so she adds a band of multicolored spots. I added a few more examples below the first pendant so you can see the various ways she pairs up the competing sides of the canvas. She uses large bands to separate when the surface pattern is subtle but goes for a simple slim line on the one with a bottom half already busy and full of extruded canes slices.
And speaking of changing up directions, you can also change up the point at which they meet. It doesn’t have to be a straight line or a simple curve Here is a simple design, actually done in terra-cotta, offered by a website called Tradenimbo. The zigzag line splits up the two sides with enough energy to carry the simple graphic look. Note how the pendant is the stronger design between it and the earrings, with the dots being a place of focus and rest for the eye as it jumps back and forth between the two sides.
Juxtaposing two different surface designs doesn’t mean it needs to be on the same canvas facing the viewer in the same direction. It could be on something three-dimensional so that the viewer has to walk around to compare. Or take it a step further and have a different surface on the front and back or get really ingenious and make it a curved surface so you can see both sides at the same time as Arden Bardol does with these whimsical earrings of hers.
You can also contrast different surfaces by creating one surface on the outside and another on the inside. Martina Buriánová did that here with two surfaces contrasted in pattern and treatment, yet with similar or highly contrasting colors which make a strong connection between them.
Splitting up is Not Hard to Do
If you find these contrasting surfaces interesting, click on any of the above artist names to see additional pieces for further inspiration. Then get to work trying your own!
Here is a simple series of steps you can try right now … A Cane Split Canvas:
- Choose a cane (or a few canes that go together) and pick a base clay in a complementary color.
- Roll a thick sheet of the solid color and apply canes to just one section, trimming or lining them up to create a boundary between a cane side and a solid clay color side.
- Burnish the canes into the clay sheet so the surface is smooth.
- Then, texturize a similar sized section next to the canes. You can use something as simple as sandpaper or add lots of tiny dots with a hand tool or stripes or lines or whatever you like, but I think you will find it more successful if the texture is very different from the canes. So, for instance, if you applied a series of flower canes with dots in the center, don’t texturize with dots but rather create something quite unlike anything in the flowers, such as a lot of orderly vertical lines or go for the randomness of a filter sponge texture. The cool thing about applying texture here is that if you don’t like it you can burnish it away and try something else.
- Once you have a texture that you like, use a cookie cutter, first as a frame to find the section to cut that includes the two sides– it doesn’t have to be half canes and half texture. In fact, 1/3 to 2/3 will probably look nicer in many cases. Move your cookie cutter around to see what you like.
- Once you find the section you like, cover it with plastic wrap and cut with your cutter.
- Your new split canvas form can be used as the beginning of a more complex piece or punch a hole at the top and you have a pendant or the first of a pair of earrings.
Now, if you want to splice together two different sheets of clay onto the same piece, you might want to check out this tutorial by Samantha Burroughs.
You may also want to take a look at the first issue of The Polymer Studio for the great tutorial by Julie Picarello who has a beautifully simple way to splice together a mokume gane slice and simple textured clay.
Got any great split canvases of your own? Share it with us by leaving a comment or a link at the end of the post!
Now for the Great Tile Adventure
Story time! For those entertained by the little dramas of my little life.
So, as you might have read in previous posts, we have been forced to do a kitchen renovation earlier than planned, in part because of a drain that collapsed under the slab on the kitchen side. The bad news came when the plumbers came out to plan the job and determined that the drain in the master bath was about to go as well so in addition to the kitchen, we have to tear out the shower in the bathroom. Oh, joy!
Actually, we were kind of happy about this because we really dislike that shower. It’s like a tiny tile covered phone booth, which is great for singing in but, not big enough for even a tiny mobile recording studio to make that worthwhile, it’s otherwise rather claustrophobic feeling. This is not to say that the news and the added cost to the budget didn’t give me a few more gray hairs, but I won’t be sad to see that go.
So, after spending two hours in a tile shop yesterday, mostly searching for just the right basic white but still subtly veined tile (veins in a cool, not a warm gray on a cool but not bright white – we are both artists so the color conversations have been quite intense) to go with our more dramatic accent choices and coming home and putting every tile sample we bought up against the wall, and not finding any to be quite right, I went into my studio for something and there in my stack of tiles on my studio table was the exact pattern of tile we were looking for. And I’ve been curing clay on it for the last six years! Now we just have to see if we can find eight full boxes of it somewhere!
Here I am giving my better half the not so great news that our ideal tile came from my studio stash and I don’t remember where I got it. But at least we know what we like!
I’m also, by the way, designing and making our kitchen backsplash which will, of course, have polymer in it somehow. So that should be exciting. Especially the part where I have to figure out how to carve out the time to do actually make that happen. But I will!
So, with my head full of tile images, I say goodbye to you for now. Have a wonderful rest of your holiday weekend and a great coming week.
Tiny, Tiny Patterns
April 18, 2018
Inspirational Art
The most common polymer veneer in the community has got to be canes. Although caning seems to exist in a category of its own, it is surface design and cane slices are veneers, albeit tiny, often of a singular image and usually repeated over and over on a piece.
Cécile Bos probably doesn’t identify as a polymer clay artist in a strict sense but she does some of the most amazing detailed canes for her small, delicate jewelry. Originally a biology researcher, she left the field to be a jewelry designer. Her focus is pattern and her primary inspiration is plants. As stated in her online biography, she creates intricate canes which are “then worked in the manner of a textile or thin layers of paper to shape [beads] or other original elements. After curing, these elements are mounted on silver 925 or bronze to form the final piece.” She also adds glass beads, ceramics, wood, metal, and cotton.
You will have to go to her website to see these small jewelry elements she creates from these tiny patterned canes. You can also follow her on Instagram.
Ripple Away
January 4, 2018
Inspirational Art, Technique tutorials
For an easy but classic set of techniques that you might want to explore, just pick up your ripple blade. Most all of us have one. They come in those beginner pack of polymer blades so they are easy to acquire if you don’t have one. The effects you can create with them go from controlled pattern to random to sculptural texture.
I just pulled out a few that caught my eye today. The top one was posted by Libby Mills back in 2012. She used stacks and played around with manipulation and how to slice them, following instruction she got from Jody Bishel both at a retreat and through a project in the book Polymer Clay: Exploring New Techniques and New Materials. She really had too much fun as you can see on Libby’s blog post from back then.
I could not find attribution for the center image but I didn’t want to skip over the sculptural aspect of this handy blade. Cutting beads and stacked edges with this blade gives us quick and interesting textures. The ripple tends to lend a fun quality as well as the instant tactile quality so it’s not for all pieces but whimsical and graphic pieces might be something to try this on.
This last one was created by Nevenka Sabo some years back. I don’t have a date as the links are broken but you can see well enough what she did. Create a bulls-eye cane with a Skinner blend laid on a white sheet of clay and roll. Cut sideways and you have some wonderful veneers with an interesting patterned center swatch. Click here to get a more detailed view.
There are tons of tutorials online for using the ripple blade so if these tickle your fancy, do try a Google search or spend some time on the many Pinterest boards featuring techniques with this tool and then head off to the studio table with a new infusion of ideas.
Arieta’s Colorful World
August 7, 2017
Inspirational Art
First of all, my sincere apologies for the wonky email situation with posts going out last week. Took a while to resolve as it turned out to be the collision of two different services throwing our smooth-running world into chaos. (Just kidding … our world is often not running as smoothly as we’d like!) We are still trying to work out how to prevent it from happening again so if it gets silly again on any level this week, chalk it up to repairs, but I am told it really should all be fine.
Since so many of you weren’t seeing the rainbow-focused posts last week, I do urge you to jump over to the blog and read up on work by Christine Damm, Cecilia Leonini, and Heather Moore. In the meantime, I’m just going to keep at it this week with wonderful work that just isn’t afraid to use all, or nearly all, the colors in the rainbow.
This vessel is by Arieta Stavridou who a lot of people first got to know in the pages of The Polymer Arts last summer. The difference between her work then, which was absolutely stunning and dominated by intricately patterned plates created with cane slices, is amazing. She seems to be getting more and more bold with her colors and, apparently, no decor item or vessel is bound to be safe from being adorned by her hand if in reach. This image is actually from a brief video that shows it from a few different angles. It still can’t possibly do it justice and must be awe-inspiring in person.
Just take a look at what she’s been up to since she was last in our pages and on our blog by visiting Arieta on her Facebook page.
And a little aside … come join me and my fellow trouble makers for a some crazy fun, September 2nd in Los Angeles–The Triple Trouble Creative Play Day. If you are in the area for Labor Day Weekend, join Christi Friesen, Anke Humpert and myself (a very rare appearance for Sage this year! ) for 6 hours of non-stop creativity. We’ll each be teaching several of our signature techniques as well as divulging many a tip and trick. And, yes, there will be chocolate. (Sign up by August 9th and get a free Christi Friesen book and a signed copy of Polymer Journeys!)
_________________________________________
Like this blog? Lend your support with a purchase of The Polymer Arts magazine and visit our partners.
_________________________________________
Exploring Mandalas
January 29, 2013
Inspirational Art, Tips and Tricks
Mandala is a Sanskrit word meaning “circle.” These visually engaging patterns have spiritual and ritual significance for some eastern religions and western communities and have been growing in popularity as an art form.
Susan Buhrman is one of the most prolific mandala artists that I know of in our community. She uses cane slices, cut sheets of clay, beads and other objects to create the patterns for these wall pieces.
Mandalas aren’t just a beautiful art form; the creation of them can be quite a therapeutic activity. Take a number of scrap canes, sheet clay or what not and simply start placing them in a balanced and repetitive pattern on a board or other stiff, movable surface. Don’t think too much about it. Let your inner artist just play. This should get you into a very relaxing zone, and at the end of your time creating this, you may find yourself surprised by what you end up with. Just something fun and relaxing to try when you need it.
Neon Paper beads necklace by Devi Chand.
First of all, thank you to all you amazing, wonderful, caring folks who sent me notes and words of encouragement and offers of help and even a book in one case, all due to my little tendinitis issue. You are the most amazing people. What a fantastic community we have! I expect most of you are dealing with something frustratingly disruptive in your life and things a lot worse than my little annoyance in many cases so know that my heart goes out to you too. Life is challenging. So, let’s go out and wrestle it and show the universe what we’re made of!
I do have more news but I’m going to save the update on my situation until the end so you can enjoy some artwork first.
Okay, on to the contemplation of art!
Rousing Repetition
This week I want to talk about repetition. Do you like heavy repetition in artwork, where a single form, mark, or motif is repeated over and over? Saying it like that makes it sound boring and unimaginative. But I think repetition has gotten a bad rap. I mean, sure, in some circumstances, like when someone says the same thing over and over again in a conversation, it is going to get on your nerves. But when it comes to design, repetition can be mesmerizing, energetic, and downright stunning. The trick is to put some rhythm and variation into that repetition. Or at least, if it’s very static, it’s best if it is obvious that a lack of variation is intentional to convey stillness, poise, or something of that sort.
I thought we’d pull up some really beautiful examples of repetition to prove the point. You’ll note in all these pieces that although form, shape, motif, or other characteristics are repeated, variation in other aspects of the design choices brings in the energy and rhythm that draws us in. The repeating element also serves to create cohesiveness and unity amongst all the other elements
So, as we go through these this week, identify the repeating design elements in each piece and then the variation that makes the repetition so interesting for you. I’ll show the piece first before I talk about it so you have a chance to consider and see what you come up with. Mind you, you will often come up with things that I won’t and that doesn’t mean that I’m right and you’re not. When art is viewed, it has to be fundamentally about personal interpretation so there is a ton of room for your unique point of view. Asking yourself these questions that I periodically challenge you with just gets you to actively think about the work, homes your eye, and, hopefully, gives you the understanding to verbalize those things so you can translate them into aspects of your own work.
So, let’s get to it!
Music in the Monotony
I am going heavy this week on non-polymer artists and I may do a bit more of this going forward too. There is just so much great design amongst craftspeople of other mediums that we could really learn from. I find it refreshing and immensely inspiring to consider how to get the aspects that I enjoy in the artwork of other mediums into my polymer designs. I hope you agree and will stick this out with me! But we’ll start with polymer work.
Here we have some really obvious repetition with a couple of bracelets from Maria Belkomor. A lot of things are being repeated here. How many do you count?
Depending on how you count, there are either two repeated elements– the black carved beads and the disk elements – or maybe four if you count the stacks of beads and the colors. Or maybe you counted more. Everything in these are repeated except for the clasps so pretty much every element can be counted as a repeating one. Variation and, especially, the contrast in the colors and the contrast in the shape between the round beads and the flat disks is what keeps the repetition from being boring. It’s very regular but the bracelets are still fun and visually engaging pieces.
Keep in mind, repetition doesn’t mean it needs to all be lined up to engage repetition. Take a look at the pieces below. Parallel lines are used over and over again but aren’t always the same types of parallel lines nor are they seated in the same orientation.
Anna Nel has a lot of fun with her bouncy graphic look by repeating parallel lines over and over but varying them from solid line sets to lines of blended clay, adding pops of color and focal points with the irregularly placed round cane slices. Her variation in color, going from black-and-white to very saturated hues doesn’t hurt the impact of these pieces either.
Looking outside of polymer, it is not hard to find gorgeous examples of repetition in construction jewelry like beadwork.
Obviously, the repetition here is primarily in the square beads, all lined up with the same orientation, as well as the repeated dangles. The designer, Beth Graham of Semper Fi designs on Etsy, switches up the color in the squares and the length of the dangles for a simple but very effective variation within the design. There are much more intricate bead designs out there, but I like this example because it highlights the concept in an easy to identify way and works to great effect.
I wonder if, in polymer, we might use repetition more often if it was not so easy for us to vary up our elements. I do think there is such a discipline in trying to create dynamic and intriguing pieces without using a wide range of variety to carry it. Just look at this necklace below. It could be polymer but is gorgeously carved, colored, and polished wood.
Liv Blavap’s works are amazing. She works with repetition in a way that it somehow becomes the focal point of her pieces. I think it’s because there’s an almost seamless transition in the variation between one element and the next, making a smooth undulation in the form and, collectively, feeling like one continuous piece even though it is dozens, maybe a couple hundred, individual elements. This approach and her workmanship make you hyper-aware that basic forms are being repeated, if changing along the way. If you’re unfamiliar with Liv’s work, jump over to this site for a quick peek at more of these stunning necklaces of hers.
Okay, one more piece that is not polymer but so readily could be and I think will be quite inspiring for those of you who like to work with sheets of thin polymer or, looking at the pattern only, cool geometric cane work. Paper does really lend itself to repetition as seen by this and the paper necklace of the opening image.
This is paper jewelry by Dutch artists Nel Linssen. Paper quite readily, and beautifully, lends itself to dynamic repetition. The energy here comes with the variation within each element that has been repeated. It doesn’t hurt that they’re basically arrow shapes all pointing inwards making it feel like all the movement is strongly and persistently moving towards the center. Yes, there is strength in repetition as well!
Meanwhile, back at the ranch (as they used to say) …
Okay, so, a little bit of an update on the situation over here at Tenth Muse Arts headquarters:
The not so great news is that the conclusion about my tendinitis progressed into something called tendinosis which takes a lot longer to heal and is why I am still dealing with it. On top of that, I have some possible physiological issues which may be the cause of my slow healing (on top of working too much, of course!) The good news is it is all fixable. However, I am going to have to disrupt my usual schedule to deal with this and, with the tendinosis, I am being told that I should stay off my keyboard as much as possible for the next 3-6 months. Ack! That means I can’t do layout, photo adjustments, or anything else that takes just a ton of mouse clicking and keyboard shortcuts. I can still write thanks to speech to text software but not much of anything else.
Translation… I have had to make the decision to halt production on The Polymer Studio magazine for the time being. I’ve also decided subscription purchases will not be available during this time because I just can’t take money for something that isn’t actively in process. That just feels wrong. And yes, I considered bringing on people to help but it would take a while to get anyone up to speed on graphics and editing work and if I’m going to work on myself, I can’t add to my schedule. My crazy long workdays are why I’m having the physiological issues, so I really have to take a pretty full break.
So, I’m making plans to play around with creating some other stuff that would be doable with written, spoken, or videotaped content because I am just not good at not being productive. But without deadlines, I can take my time. And, yes, I do plan to continue to post the blog. I like chatting with you all too much to stop if I don’t really have to!
So, some weeks I might have to go a little bit light, but I do plan to be here to join you on Sunday mornings for low contemplative art. Do please join me next Sunday – I’m putting together a survey to see what you all would like me to talk about on the blog and my other possible projects. I’m working on gathering goodies for a giveaway to go with the survey so don’t miss that!
Have a wonderful, creative, healthy, and inspiring week!
Read MoreKathy McCurry, Bearded Sadie
Have you ever walked outside and been assaulted by a cloud of butterflies? Sounds like something that might happen in a dream, right? But it actually is happening here in Southern California. The first wave came through a month ago as Painted Lady butterflies traveled north on their annual migration only this time there were many more than usual, supported by the crazy wildflower bloom that we have going on out here. Between a very heavy rainy season and all the fires around here, the ground has been very fertile and supportive of tons and tons of mustard flowers, orange poppies, and purple lupines. So now, the next generation of butterflies, laid here by the first migratory wave, have grown, transformed, and are continuing the migration, with streams of them cavorting down the hills, rolling through backyards, and, strangely enough, traveling in clouds down the streets, following the asphalt rivers
So, of course, I had to get out in it (and out of the house) yesterday and now my head is full of flowers and butterflies. Which is weird for me. Although I love these fascinating and colorful gems of nature, they aren’t usually the thing that I turned to, especially when it comes to artwork. But, with flowers on the mind, I sat down to drum up something lovely to show you this week and came up with all kinds of polymer flowers, but not quite what you’d expect.
Let’s look at how people are switching up this most common and enduring subject for artistic inspiration.
Flower Power
first of all, if you read last week’s blog, you know I wanted to focus on mica shift techniques on my own studio table this past week and challenged you all to try a little yourselves. Well, I did get started but it was a tough week for getting things done. However, that post initiated a number of experimentations in a slew of other artist’s studios as well. It does seem that a majority of people are still in the experimentation stage so I will hold off sharing any results until we all have something more complete.
What did happen though, was a lot of online conversations as people shared their work. One such online chat was with Kathy McCurry, one of our most creative floral polymer artists. I am really excited to see what she comes up within mica shift for her flowers as they are already so intriguing. Kathy creates pieces that could be nothing else but flowers yet they are like nothing you ever have, or ever well, see on this earth. They are eye-catching, colorful, shimmery, and crazy exotic looking, as you can see in her piece opening this post and the one below. Being Cinco de Mayo today, I thought these Fiesta flowers would be an apropos example.
It is always hard to pick just one or two pictures from a talented artist like this so please to click over to her website to see more of her work if you’ve not seen it before. You can also find her featured in Polymer Journeys 2019, and she’ll be in Issue #3 of The Polymer Studio. with a bit of a personal story. You can buy the book or subscribe to the magazine (Issue #2 was released last week and is ready to ship if you need a copy!) on the website.
Other creative and beautiful, yet not-found-in-nature flowers made in polymer can be found in the studio of Ann Duncan-Hlavach. Ann has a habit of making up her own patterns for petals from just about any source of inspiration besides actual flowers, resulting in some really delightful combinations.
Here is an ode to the Monarch butterfly (since butterflies started this, it seemed like I should bring them in here somewhere on this post), but in a rose shape. Don’t you love the translucent quality of the “wings”? The translucence glows when light hits it. This makes for truly stunning and unusual bouquets as you can see in a wedding set of hers that made it into Polymer Journeys 2019.
Just how else can you mix and match inspiration for flowers? Well, the possibilities are endless, and sometimes even frightening! But in a good way. There are few people who have taken the light and delicate nature of flowers and melded them with the far end of the spectrum quite like Anastasiya Khramina. Here carnivorous flora are at once beautiful and horrifying. I do have to wonder what inspired her to add vampiric teeth and a forceful tongue lolling out of her flowers’ centers. And yes, this is not a one-off thing for her. Most of her posted creations are sharp-teethed flowers. I posted one of her pieces a year or so ago and it was one of the most viewed post of that year. I guess us humans will always be drawn by beauty, especially when it is combined with what scares us.
Now, if you really would prefer to go the more traditional way and have realistic looking flowers for adornment, you can do so while still taking it up a notch and showing up mother nature herself. Just come up with a color combination and arrangement nature hasn’t quite gotten around to creating. See how Vera of Etsy’s Handmade Blossoms does it … in pastels or a full and bright rainbow.
But, perhaps you, like me, are not so much into the flowers but you do love the shapes and forms of them with their layers or rows of petals, and the balanced swirling repetition of their arrangement. Those formations do not only come in flowers. Albina Asadullina popped an extremely realistic succulent onto the focal point of the pendant instead of a flower as one might expect. It has a bit more substance and so is not quite as delicate looking as most flowers but it visually has the same effect for the piece.
Moving on From Flowers
To quickly wrap this up, I’m going to let you do further research as you are inspired. I am utterly exhausted by a long arduous week of decision-making, further house rearranging, and trying to keep the dust at bay. Here I am in the middle of what once was my kitchen, contemplating the problem plumbing which instigated this whole thing. I now spend my entire day in my studio (and my nights this week since I have to sleep here for the time being too!) which wouldn’t be that abnormal or too bad if the family didn’t all have to retreat here too when they are home as it’s still a bit nippy outside. We are making the most of it and looking on it as a challenging adventure. Now I just need to figure out how to get work done amidst this all!
The Polymer Studio, Issue #2 … click the image to see a sampler edition
Get oodles of inspiration and have fun with the many intriguing projects, artist interviews, studio tours and other tidbits in the latest issue of The Polymer Studio. Click here to see a sampler of it.
Looking for your already purchased copy?
If you are due a digital edition, the access emails went out on Tuesday but if you didn’t see yours, check your junk mail folders or go to your account where you can access it. You can also write Sydney, my keeper of lists, from there if you have questions.
Print editions of the new issue went to the post office Wednesday directly from the printer if you were subscribed or pre-ordered before April 22nd. My shipment has been delayed but I should have them Tuesday so recent orders will go out then from here.
I hope you all have a wonderful week full of flowers, butterflies, and lots of not-so-challenging adventures!
Read More
Happy Easter or Chag Sameach or simply happy Sunday to you! I wasn’t sure I was going to get this one out between holidays and family and wrapping up the latest issue of The Polymer Studio (there has been a slight delay with the printer so we still have time to get you on the list for the first shipment from the printer if you subscribe or pre-order before Monday night … go here to get yours) and picking out shower and floor tile (yes, there is a tad more drama at Tenth Muse headquarters, a.k.a. home, which I will expound upon at the end for those of you find it humorous to see what craziness I’m steeped in.)
So, have you ever been in the middle of a busy, stressful, crazy, chaotic day and then all of a sudden you just are coming up with new art projects from out of nowhere? Well, yesterday I was in this ginormous tile shop, putting white tiles against dark tiles and smooth stone surfaces next to busy mosaics trying to see what works and, of course, being so design focused, when it didn’t work I would ask myself why, and when it did, I asked myself why as well. (My mind is like a three-year-old… Why this? Why that? Why…?) This led to considering how I pair up surfaces in my own artwork. The fact is, I don’t do a ton of it, but I do really like it.
I think this also came to mind because I had the pleasure of online chatting with Kimberly Arden, a potential contributor for a future issue, and she showed me some of her pendants and earrings which are often a split canvas – one side is busy with canes or extruder veneers and one side is a lightly textured black with a flower or other form laid on it in using just a few canes, like the one you see opening this post. So, I’m there comparing tiles and thinking about her pendants which got me thinking about how often we pair up surfaces in art and next thing you know, I’m writing you this post with all this in mind. That’s how these themes happen!
So, let’s just ponder the idea of having two different surfaces next to each other on the same canvas or form. How is this done to in a way that still creates a cohesive piece and what are the different ways this can be applied?
Splitting the Canvas
Two or more different surfaces on the same canvas or form is a great method for creating contrast but like any other element, two surfaces that are not alike do have to have some kind of connection to make them work together in a piece. Yes, that connection is there physically when the surfaces are within the same framework in or attached to a singular object, but that is not usually enough. The best way to ensure a connection is to have at least one design element that is the same or very similar.
For instance, both sides could be the same color but very different textures. Olga Bulat does this in this necklace. Making it monochromatic keeps us focused on that texture and that difference which creates the energy in the piece.
Now, Olga could have had two different colors in the above piece but the colors themselves would have had to have some commonality. For example, both sides could be pastel, or both might be similarly bright. They could even be next to each other or completely opposite each other on the color wheel (because complete opposites also connect in our mind as being related but in an opposing fashion, if that makes sense. Think how much green and red there is at Christmas time. It works, color wise, right?)
Below is an example of using different colors but with the same texture so that there is commonality in the texture, but at the same time, the colors are also completely opposite (a dark, rich, warm brown versus a light, colorless, cool gray). These opposites are paired in our mind the way good and evil, young and old, and night and day are paired conceptually.
This is the genius of Meisha Barbee who also puts the canvas split on the horizontal (notice how many of the examples I show you today are split vertically – vertical has a lot of energy but it doesn’t mean that vertical is right for every piece.) Just changing the color however does not give the work a ton of energy so she adds a band of multicolored spots. I added a few more examples below the first pendant so you can see the various ways she pairs up the competing sides of the canvas. She uses large bands to separate when the surface pattern is subtle but goes for a simple slim line on the one with a bottom half already busy and full of extruded canes slices.
And speaking of changing up directions, you can also change up the point at which they meet. It doesn’t have to be a straight line or a simple curve Here is a simple design, actually done in terra-cotta, offered by a website called Tradenimbo. The zigzag line splits up the two sides with enough energy to carry the simple graphic look. Note how the pendant is the stronger design between it and the earrings, with the dots being a place of focus and rest for the eye as it jumps back and forth between the two sides.
Juxtaposing two different surface designs doesn’t mean it needs to be on the same canvas facing the viewer in the same direction. It could be on something three-dimensional so that the viewer has to walk around to compare. Or take it a step further and have a different surface on the front and back or get really ingenious and make it a curved surface so you can see both sides at the same time as Arden Bardol does with these whimsical earrings of hers.
You can also contrast different surfaces by creating one surface on the outside and another on the inside. Martina Buriánová did that here with two surfaces contrasted in pattern and treatment, yet with similar or highly contrasting colors which make a strong connection between them.
Splitting up is Not Hard to Do
If you find these contrasting surfaces interesting, click on any of the above artist names to see additional pieces for further inspiration. Then get to work trying your own!
Here is a simple series of steps you can try right now … A Cane Split Canvas:
- Choose a cane (or a few canes that go together) and pick a base clay in a complementary color.
- Roll a thick sheet of the solid color and apply canes to just one section, trimming or lining them up to create a boundary between a cane side and a solid clay color side.
- Burnish the canes into the clay sheet so the surface is smooth.
- Then, texturize a similar sized section next to the canes. You can use something as simple as sandpaper or add lots of tiny dots with a hand tool or stripes or lines or whatever you like, but I think you will find it more successful if the texture is very different from the canes. So, for instance, if you applied a series of flower canes with dots in the center, don’t texturize with dots but rather create something quite unlike anything in the flowers, such as a lot of orderly vertical lines or go for the randomness of a filter sponge texture. The cool thing about applying texture here is that if you don’t like it you can burnish it away and try something else.
- Once you have a texture that you like, use a cookie cutter, first as a frame to find the section to cut that includes the two sides– it doesn’t have to be half canes and half texture. In fact, 1/3 to 2/3 will probably look nicer in many cases. Move your cookie cutter around to see what you like.
- Once you find the section you like, cover it with plastic wrap and cut with your cutter.
- Your new split canvas form can be used as the beginning of a more complex piece or punch a hole at the top and you have a pendant or the first of a pair of earrings.
Now, if you want to splice together two different sheets of clay onto the same piece, you might want to check out this tutorial by Samantha Burroughs.
You may also want to take a look at the first issue of The Polymer Studio for the great tutorial by Julie Picarello who has a beautifully simple way to splice together a mokume gane slice and simple textured clay.
Got any great split canvases of your own? Share it with us by leaving a comment or a link at the end of the post!
Now for the Great Tile Adventure
Story time! For those entertained by the little dramas of my little life.
So, as you might have read in previous posts, we have been forced to do a kitchen renovation earlier than planned, in part because of a drain that collapsed under the slab on the kitchen side. The bad news came when the plumbers came out to plan the job and determined that the drain in the master bath was about to go as well so in addition to the kitchen, we have to tear out the shower in the bathroom. Oh, joy!
Actually, we were kind of happy about this because we really dislike that shower. It’s like a tiny tile covered phone booth, which is great for singing in but, not big enough for even a tiny mobile recording studio to make that worthwhile, it’s otherwise rather claustrophobic feeling. This is not to say that the news and the added cost to the budget didn’t give me a few more gray hairs, but I won’t be sad to see that go.
So, after spending two hours in a tile shop yesterday, mostly searching for just the right basic white but still subtly veined tile (veins in a cool, not a warm gray on a cool but not bright white – we are both artists so the color conversations have been quite intense) to go with our more dramatic accent choices and coming home and putting every tile sample we bought up against the wall, and not finding any to be quite right, I went into my studio for something and there in my stack of tiles on my studio table was the exact pattern of tile we were looking for. And I’ve been curing clay on it for the last six years! Now we just have to see if we can find eight full boxes of it somewhere!
Here I am giving my better half the not so great news that our ideal tile came from my studio stash and I don’t remember where I got it. But at least we know what we like!
I’m also, by the way, designing and making our kitchen backsplash which will, of course, have polymer in it somehow. So that should be exciting. Especially the part where I have to figure out how to carve out the time to do actually make that happen. But I will!
So, with my head full of tile images, I say goodbye to you for now. Have a wonderful rest of your holiday weekend and a great coming week.
Read MoreThe most common polymer veneer in the community has got to be canes. Although caning seems to exist in a category of its own, it is surface design and cane slices are veneers, albeit tiny, often of a singular image and usually repeated over and over on a piece.
Cécile Bos probably doesn’t identify as a polymer clay artist in a strict sense but she does some of the most amazing detailed canes for her small, delicate jewelry. Originally a biology researcher, she left the field to be a jewelry designer. Her focus is pattern and her primary inspiration is plants. As stated in her online biography, she creates intricate canes which are “then worked in the manner of a textile or thin layers of paper to shape [beads] or other original elements. After curing, these elements are mounted on silver 925 or bronze to form the final piece.” She also adds glass beads, ceramics, wood, metal, and cotton.
You will have to go to her website to see these small jewelry elements she creates from these tiny patterned canes. You can also follow her on Instagram.
Read More
For an easy but classic set of techniques that you might want to explore, just pick up your ripple blade. Most all of us have one. They come in those beginner pack of polymer blades so they are easy to acquire if you don’t have one. The effects you can create with them go from controlled pattern to random to sculptural texture.
I just pulled out a few that caught my eye today. The top one was posted by Libby Mills back in 2012. She used stacks and played around with manipulation and how to slice them, following instruction she got from Jody Bishel both at a retreat and through a project in the book Polymer Clay: Exploring New Techniques and New Materials. She really had too much fun as you can see on Libby’s blog post from back then.
I could not find attribution for the center image but I didn’t want to skip over the sculptural aspect of this handy blade. Cutting beads and stacked edges with this blade gives us quick and interesting textures. The ripple tends to lend a fun quality as well as the instant tactile quality so it’s not for all pieces but whimsical and graphic pieces might be something to try this on.
This last one was created by Nevenka Sabo some years back. I don’t have a date as the links are broken but you can see well enough what she did. Create a bulls-eye cane with a Skinner blend laid on a white sheet of clay and roll. Cut sideways and you have some wonderful veneers with an interesting patterned center swatch. Click here to get a more detailed view.
There are tons of tutorials online for using the ripple blade so if these tickle your fancy, do try a Google search or spend some time on the many Pinterest boards featuring techniques with this tool and then head off to the studio table with a new infusion of ideas.
Read MoreFirst of all, my sincere apologies for the wonky email situation with posts going out last week. Took a while to resolve as it turned out to be the collision of two different services throwing our smooth-running world into chaos. (Just kidding … our world is often not running as smoothly as we’d like!) We are still trying to work out how to prevent it from happening again so if it gets silly again on any level this week, chalk it up to repairs, but I am told it really should all be fine.
Since so many of you weren’t seeing the rainbow-focused posts last week, I do urge you to jump over to the blog and read up on work by Christine Damm, Cecilia Leonini, and Heather Moore. In the meantime, I’m just going to keep at it this week with wonderful work that just isn’t afraid to use all, or nearly all, the colors in the rainbow.
This vessel is by Arieta Stavridou who a lot of people first got to know in the pages of The Polymer Arts last summer. The difference between her work then, which was absolutely stunning and dominated by intricately patterned plates created with cane slices, is amazing. She seems to be getting more and more bold with her colors and, apparently, no decor item or vessel is bound to be safe from being adorned by her hand if in reach. This image is actually from a brief video that shows it from a few different angles. It still can’t possibly do it justice and must be awe-inspiring in person.
Just take a look at what she’s been up to since she was last in our pages and on our blog by visiting Arieta on her Facebook page.
And a little aside … come join me and my fellow trouble makers for a some crazy fun, September 2nd in Los Angeles–The Triple Trouble Creative Play Day. If you are in the area for Labor Day Weekend, join Christi Friesen, Anke Humpert and myself (a very rare appearance for Sage this year! ) for 6 hours of non-stop creativity. We’ll each be teaching several of our signature techniques as well as divulging many a tip and trick. And, yes, there will be chocolate. (Sign up by August 9th and get a free Christi Friesen book and a signed copy of Polymer Journeys!)
_________________________________________
Like this blog? Lend your support with a purchase of The Polymer Arts magazine and visit our partners.
_________________________________________
Read MoreMandala is a Sanskrit word meaning “circle.” These visually engaging patterns have spiritual and ritual significance for some eastern religions and western communities and have been growing in popularity as an art form.
Susan Buhrman is one of the most prolific mandala artists that I know of in our community. She uses cane slices, cut sheets of clay, beads and other objects to create the patterns for these wall pieces.
Mandalas aren’t just a beautiful art form; the creation of them can be quite a therapeutic activity. Take a number of scrap canes, sheet clay or what not and simply start placing them in a balanced and repetitive pattern on a board or other stiff, movable surface. Don’t think too much about it. Let your inner artist just play. This should get you into a very relaxing zone, and at the end of your time creating this, you may find yourself surprised by what you end up with. Just something fun and relaxing to try when you need it.
Read More
