Spanning Spinning Rings
April 9, 2014
Inspirational Art
Another design idea based on spanning the distance across the fingers along with including kinetic design in a ring can be found in one of Donna Kato’s first spinner rings. These rings have an element that will actually twirl when you spin them. In this one it’s obviously the central red bead but the striped lines and wavy edge of the larger element already gives you a sense of movement. Plus this element wraps over both fingers to either side of the finger wearing it which would stabilize the large piece as well as make it really hard to miss!
The engineering of new designs is one of Donna’s favorite aspects of jewelry making. But of course, Donna is one of those people just brimming with ideas not just for designs but for products, classes and business as well. Besides her line of Kato products, she is also the founder and one of the more prolific instructors at Craft Art Edu. Her spinner ring designs have evolved since the appearance of this one here several years ago and now you can take advantage of her experimentation and perfecting of the design in her spinner ring class. Lucky you!
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.
Cohesive Variety
February 26, 2013
Inspirational Art
Sophy Dumoulin uses a plethora of different textures in these contemporary pendants but somehow they all work together without any sense of chaos or clashing. Why does this work?
As long as there is consistency and cohesion in the rest of the piece, a great variety in one aspect will be balanced out. In these pendants, the muted tones in gradated reds, grayed whites, and dusty blacks bring a cohesive calm to the pieces. That along with the simplicity of the shapes–rectangles and dots with even the dots arranged in rectangular patterns–makes these orderly and pleasing even with the variety of textures.
Now if these had been done with bright colors, it probably would not work as well. Instead of a calm orderliness, we’d feel high energy and maybe a little tension as the bright colors accentuate the many different textures. Cohesiveness has as much to do with matching the tone and feel of the rest of the components as it does with the more tangible characteristics.
Sophy Dumoulin plays quite a bit with texture and more often with brighter colors. Flip through her blog if you have a moment. Her work is delightful. She is also a Craft Art Edu instructor now with a couple of her classes up and ready to learn from in English and her native French.
Another design idea based on spanning the distance across the fingers along with including kinetic design in a ring can be found in one of Donna Kato’s first spinner rings. These rings have an element that will actually twirl when you spin them. In this one it’s obviously the central red bead but the striped lines and wavy edge of the larger element already gives you a sense of movement. Plus this element wraps over both fingers to either side of the finger wearing it which would stabilize the large piece as well as make it really hard to miss!
The engineering of new designs is one of Donna’s favorite aspects of jewelry making. But of course, Donna is one of those people just brimming with ideas not just for designs but for products, classes and business as well. Besides her line of Kato products, she is also the founder and one of the more prolific instructors at Craft Art Edu. Her spinner ring designs have evolved since the appearance of this one here several years ago and now you can take advantage of her experimentation and perfecting of the design in her spinner ring class. Lucky you!
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.
Sophy Dumoulin uses a plethora of different textures in these contemporary pendants but somehow they all work together without any sense of chaos or clashing. Why does this work?
As long as there is consistency and cohesion in the rest of the piece, a great variety in one aspect will be balanced out. In these pendants, the muted tones in gradated reds, grayed whites, and dusty blacks bring a cohesive calm to the pieces. That along with the simplicity of the shapes–rectangles and dots with even the dots arranged in rectangular patterns–makes these orderly and pleasing even with the variety of textures.
Now if these had been done with bright colors, it probably would not work as well. Instead of a calm orderliness, we’d feel high energy and maybe a little tension as the bright colors accentuate the many different textures. Cohesiveness has as much to do with matching the tone and feel of the rest of the components as it does with the more tangible characteristics.
Sophy Dumoulin plays quite a bit with texture and more often with brighter colors. Flip through her blog if you have a moment. Her work is delightful. She is also a Craft Art Edu instructor now with a couple of her classes up and ready to learn from in English and her native French.
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