Outside Inspiration: A Burst of Swirling Spots
April 17, 2015
Inspirational Art
I pulled this one out particularly for you mad cane slicing artists who might want some fresh ideas for creating patterns with your slices. Barbara Takenaga is a painter who works solely in pattern rather than imagery or abstraction. Her paintings have the illusion of depth and movement that creates wonderful drama, as well as an often mesmerizing effect.
Since the energy and movement is created by the arrangement and size of the forms–spots, in this case–one can easily imagine creating such movement with cane slices using canes of various sizes. A few extruded snakes to emphasize the lines and you could end up with some pretty amazing wall or decorative art.
Time spent wandering her gallery is like a trip through a galactic field of stars and sometimes kind of like an acid trip, but it’s wonderfully engrossing. You will get lost in the work. You have been warned.
http://www.barbaratakenaga.com/
If you like this blog, support The Polymer Arts projects with a subscription or an issue of The Polymer Arts magazine, as well as by supporting our advertising partners.
Outside Inspiration: Challenged by Simplicity
December 5, 2014
Inspirational Art
It would seem that successful, simple compositions would be fairly easy to achieve, but I have found that in order to be successful with simple creations is many times more difficult than with complex ones. When the elements are few and spare, every single choice made counts in a big way. This is how I see the challenge in the work of Jon Ryan. His work is gorgeous, but rarely even approaches complexity.
This carved scale aluminum brooch of his epitomizes this. There is really only one color, and that is slightly graduated. There is one texture in the scales, and the form is balanced. That is all that is here, and yet, you can recognize the genius of the design and the bold beauty of it, even if you don’t have any idea why that is so apparent. The genius is in being reserved while choosing elements that make the brooch feel alive. Scales are, of course, an element of reptiles, so there is a hint of a living creature. The slight change in the tint of the color makes the blue glow, so it gives off a sense of soft light and energy. Also, the form curves just enough on either end to introduce movement. These choices along with an impeccable finish is what makes this feel so masterly. I have a hard time imagining how I would go about creating something anywhere near as elegant with such minimalism. I find it quite amazing.
Jon’s body of work is all about simplicity. And, lucky for us, there is an easily recognized correlation to be seen between his metal work and working in polymer. Take even just a few seconds to look at his Flickr portfolio album to see what I mean. If you are intrigued by his work, you can read more about his process on his 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.
Fiery Ripples
September 27, 2014
Inspirational Art
A piece with shibori style ripples, fire, and crackling? How could I resist? The creator of this richly textured bracelet seems to go by nothing more than morskiekamni over on LiveJournal. This particular clayer dabbles in a little of this and a bit of that with a fair amount of miniatures and a lot of floral in there.
So, this bracelet comes as a bit of a surprise in the line-up of work. But, a lovely surprise. The cracks ripple across the base layer of orange, as well as along the edges of the flames. The whole surface looks to be in flux, and I find it hard not to get lost in intricacies; it’s an awful lot like staring into and losing yourself in those campfire flames or the fiery embers of a fireplace.
Yes, I usually give you a little something to work on come Saturday, but I couldn’t help but share this lovely piece first. If you are looking to try something new, how about creating using a ripple blade? The ripple blade looks to have fallen out of fashion in polymer within recent years, but I seem to be seeing it in use a little more just recently. Here is an older page full of still fantastic ideas for rippling up some really beautiful polymer! Enjoy!
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.
Ripples Gone Wild
September 25, 2014
Inspirational Art
If yesterday’s version of ripples was controlled and reserved, today’s rippling beads border on being a full-fledged party.
Although Daniela Wernli, also known as Dr. Fimo, only uses one color plus white in these beads, the energy here is very high, but you know the color isn’t a primary factor for that. The beads actually push the whole idea of what a ripple is and can be. You see ripples in the twisted clay curls with their repetition and progression wrapped into tight swirls that ramps up the sense of movement, making for a very energized piece.
In case you were wondering, Daniela was named Dr. Fimo by her family because she is often seen wandering about with her polymer work gloves on. See more of her work, especially some very interesting dots and rolled clay pieces, on her Flickr 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.
Controlled Ripples
September 24, 2014
Inspirational Art
We’ve looked at a few rather free-form versions of rippling, but ripples can also be well controlled and stylized while maintaining that similarly energized feel of movement.
The pins that emerged in The Broken Internet Project had a lot of controlled, but high-energy lines in the designs, most likely due to their inspiration being a pin by the meticulous Dan Cormier, a pin that had a zigzag line (a cousin to the ripple, you could say) through the center of it. I loved Cornelia Brockstedt’s interpretation with both a controlled rippling Skinner blend and a silhouette of a ripple inserted next to it. Calm, but energized. It’s almost the definition of that.
If you never had the chance to see the whole Broken Internet Project results, be sure to jump over to The Cutting Edge’s Facebook page to see them all together. And, for more by the fabulous Cornelia Brockstedt, take a look at her website or her Flickr pages for her latest pieces.
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.
I pulled this one out particularly for you mad cane slicing artists who might want some fresh ideas for creating patterns with your slices. Barbara Takenaga is a painter who works solely in pattern rather than imagery or abstraction. Her paintings have the illusion of depth and movement that creates wonderful drama, as well as an often mesmerizing effect.
Since the energy and movement is created by the arrangement and size of the forms–spots, in this case–one can easily imagine creating such movement with cane slices using canes of various sizes. A few extruded snakes to emphasize the lines and you could end up with some pretty amazing wall or decorative art.
Time spent wandering her gallery is like a trip through a galactic field of stars and sometimes kind of like an acid trip, but it’s wonderfully engrossing. You will get lost in the work. You have been warned.
http://www.barbaratakenaga.com/
If you like this blog, support The Polymer Arts projects with a subscription or an issue of The Polymer Arts magazine, as well as by supporting our advertising partners.
It would seem that successful, simple compositions would be fairly easy to achieve, but I have found that in order to be successful with simple creations is many times more difficult than with complex ones. When the elements are few and spare, every single choice made counts in a big way. This is how I see the challenge in the work of Jon Ryan. His work is gorgeous, but rarely even approaches complexity.
This carved scale aluminum brooch of his epitomizes this. There is really only one color, and that is slightly graduated. There is one texture in the scales, and the form is balanced. That is all that is here, and yet, you can recognize the genius of the design and the bold beauty of it, even if you don’t have any idea why that is so apparent. The genius is in being reserved while choosing elements that make the brooch feel alive. Scales are, of course, an element of reptiles, so there is a hint of a living creature. The slight change in the tint of the color makes the blue glow, so it gives off a sense of soft light and energy. Also, the form curves just enough on either end to introduce movement. These choices along with an impeccable finish is what makes this feel so masterly. I have a hard time imagining how I would go about creating something anywhere near as elegant with such minimalism. I find it quite amazing.
Jon’s body of work is all about simplicity. And, lucky for us, there is an easily recognized correlation to be seen between his metal work and working in polymer. Take even just a few seconds to look at his Flickr portfolio album to see what I mean. If you are intrigued by his work, you can read more about his process on his 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.
A piece with shibori style ripples, fire, and crackling? How could I resist? The creator of this richly textured bracelet seems to go by nothing more than morskiekamni over on LiveJournal. This particular clayer dabbles in a little of this and a bit of that with a fair amount of miniatures and a lot of floral in there.
So, this bracelet comes as a bit of a surprise in the line-up of work. But, a lovely surprise. The cracks ripple across the base layer of orange, as well as along the edges of the flames. The whole surface looks to be in flux, and I find it hard not to get lost in intricacies; it’s an awful lot like staring into and losing yourself in those campfire flames or the fiery embers of a fireplace.
Yes, I usually give you a little something to work on come Saturday, but I couldn’t help but share this lovely piece first. If you are looking to try something new, how about creating using a ripple blade? The ripple blade looks to have fallen out of fashion in polymer within recent years, but I seem to be seeing it in use a little more just recently. Here is an older page full of still fantastic ideas for rippling up some really beautiful polymer! Enjoy!
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.
If yesterday’s version of ripples was controlled and reserved, today’s rippling beads border on being a full-fledged party.
Although Daniela Wernli, also known as Dr. Fimo, only uses one color plus white in these beads, the energy here is very high, but you know the color isn’t a primary factor for that. The beads actually push the whole idea of what a ripple is and can be. You see ripples in the twisted clay curls with their repetition and progression wrapped into tight swirls that ramps up the sense of movement, making for a very energized piece.
In case you were wondering, Daniela was named Dr. Fimo by her family because she is often seen wandering about with her polymer work gloves on. See more of her work, especially some very interesting dots and rolled clay pieces, on her Flickr 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.
We’ve looked at a few rather free-form versions of rippling, but ripples can also be well controlled and stylized while maintaining that similarly energized feel of movement.
The pins that emerged in The Broken Internet Project had a lot of controlled, but high-energy lines in the designs, most likely due to their inspiration being a pin by the meticulous Dan Cormier, a pin that had a zigzag line (a cousin to the ripple, you could say) through the center of it. I loved Cornelia Brockstedt’s interpretation with both a controlled rippling Skinner blend and a silhouette of a ripple inserted next to it. Calm, but energized. It’s almost the definition of that.
If you never had the chance to see the whole Broken Internet Project results, be sure to jump over to The Cutting Edge’s Facebook page to see them all together. And, for more by the fabulous Cornelia Brockstedt, take a look at her website or her Flickr pages for her latest pieces.
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.
