How to Make It Your Own
April 25, 2018 Inspirational Art
I know I just featured Katie Way in February, but this is such a great example of taking a technique and making it your own that I didn’t want to pass by this opportunity. This seemed particularly apropos after an incident came up a week or so ago that I was consulted about involving a student submitting something to a contest that they created either in a class or based on a class. The problem was not in taking something that was learned in a class and creating from that knowledge but using the design choices that the teaching artist used. So, let’s just review what that means. In a way, it’s very simple – you can replicate technique, but you cannot use the design decisions of another artist.
I think part of the issue is that there is some confusion as to what’s is technique and what is design, so let me try to define that.
Technique is how you manipulate the material including how you apply texture, the process of forming/sculpting, the mixing or application of color treatments, the creation of mechanisms or use of materials for constructing the piece, etc. In other words, it’s about the process of creating.
Design is about the specific choices you make about how something is going to look. So, your choices about the type of texture (not how you apply it), the shapes you create (but not how you create them), the colors you choose (but not the source of the color), and the arrangement of your construction (but not the mechanisms used to put pieces together), are all design choices. If the majority of your choices are based on someone else’s examples, then you’re in danger of copying their design. Changing the color or shape is simply not enough, nor is it fair to the artist that inspired you and, equally so, it’s not fair to you and your creative growth to skip the exploration of what a piece could be by not making the design decisions yourself.
In the piece we see here, Katie Way took a class with Alice Stroppel and made a piece that is uniquely her own. You can see the influence of both artists in this work. The big, bold cane work shows Alice’s influence, but the color choices and all those bulls-eye circles are absolutely Katie. I would’ve known this was Katie’s right away, but it would’ve taken me a few moments to realize where her change in technique came from if she hadn’t made note of her influencer. And that’s really how it should be.
You can absolutely copy the work of the teaching artist in class as a way to learn. Most of them do prefer that. But when you go home, don’t make that same basic piece ever again. Have enough confidence and belief in your artistic self to work out your own designs. It is far more fulfilling to create from your own sense of aesthetic and ideas than to simply be successful with someone else’s design.
Okay, getting off my soapbox now. If you’re intrigued by Alice’s cane mapping class, go to her website to check out where she will be teaching next. And if you’ve somehow missed Katie’s work, check out her Etsy shop and her Instagram page.
Veneers are Tops
April 20, 2018 Inspirational Art
I had not planned on going off on a cane-focused week but here we are with more canes. I couldn’t resist sharing this fabulous tabletop created by the very exploratory Bridget Derc.
Primarily I wanted to share the process photo. Don’t you love peeking in on people’s studio tables? In the Creative Spaces themed Spring 2012 issue, we peeked into a handful of people’s studios. That was the quickest selling issue we’ve ever had which makes me think we need to do some more of that in the future. For now, we’ll peek in on Bridget, who shows us here how she lays out her beautifully constructed canes to cover tabletops. She also tends to the size of the tables as shown in the last photo that I couldn’t resist adding because it’s just such a beautiful pattern and color palette.
She takes process shots of that white table nearly step-by-step, and not having room enough to show that here, I posted this to entice you to jump over to her Flickr photostream where you can see it all. That table and all the process photos are on her second page of Flickr photos. The one you see the process for here is on her first page. But take some time to peruse it all. Not only are her pieces lovingly finished, but you get to see how she puts it all together. Does it give you any ideas?
If you want to peek in on a few other artists, open up your spring 2012 issue of the Polymer Arts and go to the website to download a digital version at www.ThePolymerArts.com It is only available digitally but if you’re curious, go to our website and you can get an immediate download.
Spring as a Work in Progress
March 26, 2018 Inspirational Art
Spring has sprung, and we are seeing all kinds of colorful, foliage-focused artwork as well. Bonnie Bishoff just completed this wall piece called Murmuration. We see leaves moving like water in a series of flowing, organized lines. Behind it, the more conventional colors of water swirl and rush in opposing directions to further energize the composition.
This is just another example of Bonnie’s penchant for movement. It’s why she made the cover of our movement-themed issue in the summer of 2016. Get a copy to check out her gallery page and short biography as well as to take in all the articles about adding movement to one’s designs if this is of interest to you.
I look forward to seeing what she will do with the framing and hanging of this piece. But for right now we’re just privileged to get this sneak peak. You can follow Bonnie on Instagram and the work she does with her partner, J.M. Syron, on their website.
Paper Cranes for Days
March 16, 2018 Inspirational Art
There is nothing quite like a challenge to really push one to try out really different things in a design, especially if you are doing one a week for a year or some such challenge.
Cristian Marianciuc, however, went nuts and created one artistic paper crane every day for, not one year, not two years, but for nearly three years! 1000 days to be exact. That’s 1000 variations on the origami paper crane and most of the variation did not come from the paper but from the additions he brought to his little creations. And his efforts were well rewarded, not only because he now has this wonderful collection but because it caught the eye of the editors of the Colossal blog and got him this little article here.
Just take a look at the article to see a small sampling of all the ways he added to the cranes. And if you really want to go down that wonderful rabbit hole, start with his Instagram page. No material or curl of paper seems to be safe from his mad craning. But how wonderful it is.
Fuzzy Feelings
February 14, 2018 Inspirational Art
Happy Valentine’s day to you all! Here is a little Valentines from me to all of you out there who follow and read my babbling posts and keep me going with your kind words and stories.
I don’t know if you realize this, but I only get to do this because of you all, especially those who help me keep the lights on by subscribing or buying The Polymer Arts magazine. I know that not everything in the magazine is for everyone but it is THE reason I am able to spend the time scouring the web and researching the artwork I post here. The blog is wholly a labor of love so if you appreciate this, please consider supporting the magazine and/or our advertising partners you see here as their contributions cover the maintenance and service costs, without which I could not justify doing this.
So, here is a visual image of my love and dedication to all of you. I have always adored Christine Pecaut‘s cats. They always look so happy and adoring, accented with whimsically placed canes and Dustin-inspired translucent slices. But this simple faux ceramic looking pair, momma and baby kitty, just tugs at the heartstrings even if you’re not much of a cat person.
She actually has a whole gallery of her cats that you can see here. Cats are not, by far, the only thing she creates. Find more of her work in her Etsy shop, on Instagram, and on her blog.
Round the Hearts
February 5, 2018 Inspirational Art
As we approach that heart-filled holiday, I find I have succumbed to collecting related polymer art and polymer hearts. I couldn’t help it this year and I can’t say why. But maybe I’ll get this all in early enough that you can appreciate these unusual hearts and heartfelt pieces before you overdose on it next week.
I am a big fan of polymer artist Katie Way. Her work has a very distinguished style full of color and energy and, as her shop name reveals, bullseye dots, spots, circles and canes.
Just because her preferred motif is round doesn’t stop her from creating all kinds of shapes with her round favorites as building blocks. Like this heart. It is a fantastic metaphor for our hearts in the real world. Love and related emotions are so complex and we love so many different people in so many different ways don’t we? Well, I hope most of us do because that is the real beauty of our connection with the people we love. It’s complex and constantly changing and whirring about inside us. The energy of this piece and the variation of her circles represents this so well.
Enjoy more of Katie’s work by going to her Etsy shop and her Instagram page.
Celine Crushes It
January 10, 2018 Inspirational Art
Another artist with a bunch of new images posted recently on Flickr is Celine Charuau. Her alien-like plant forms an interesting combination of materials and forms have taken on a sparkly and crumbled texture, maybe from crushed shells. I’ve seen a similar product used in acrylic nail art although she doesn’t list that.
Here she balances the texture polymer forms with steel leaves. Although the beads are more dimensional, I like the echo of the leaf shapes with the pod shapes. They are basically the same shapes but contrast in dimensionality and texture. It is also the quieter of the pieces she created with this intriguing new texture.
You can see the rest of this collection to date on her Flickr photostream.
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We are going to hop back to the new book, Polymer Art Projects—Organic (which you can still get 10% off on for the next couple of days, promo code PAP10), for one last day this week to give you another taste and some additional information on one of the beautiful projects in there.
One of our contributors, Fabi Ajates, has this wonderful collection of objects at the end of her tutorial, showing you some of the different decor items you can make with the many little techniques she teaches. In a conversation we had after the tutorial was in layout, I found out that some of the objects are actually reversible and Fabi, with the help of her son David, graciously sent us these additional images and some information about the pieces for you to enjoy. Here is what they sent:
CORAL KELP
All the textures and shapes I create are one-of-a-kind and handmade, conceived in the pursuit of the pieces’ harmony and the most dramatic result. Furthermore, the project [in the book] is meant to be versatile because it can be used not only to create jewelry such as the necklace, but also décor elements which can add a touch of individuality. When used for interior design pieces, these can have a double purpose which makes this technique even more resourceful, attractive, and interesting.
What looked like a turquoise coral vase from which a leaf of kelp languidly emerges, has become a bowl or small plate. We observe the same effect with the piece that imitates an anemone; its face changes relative to whether it sits upright or it is reversed, while it contrasts or harmonizes with the landscape and with the rest of the pieces.
Inspired by coral and marine vegetation, [these forms are] mysterious nature that awaits silently like a treasure in the depths of seas and oceans whose colors and shades, a combination of seawater and sunlight, are uniquely beautiful.
Thanks for the extra images and your thoughts, Fabi!
Find out more about this amazing artist who has not let her deaf condition or language barriers get in the way of sharing her skills. Check out her class schedule here and follow her artistic adventures on her blog.
And don’t forget to get in on the 10% off offer to get your own copy of the book or other items we presently have in print, here on The Polymer Arts website. Use promo code PAP10 before midnight on Sunday Pacific time to get the discount off everything in your cart!
Read MoreIn going back through my polymer picks I saved over the years to consider for the blog, I came across some older work from people who no longer create in polymer. It might seem sad but it is simply that some artists move on from a material to find other materials that express the type of work they want to do in that time period. Although I am obviously a big promoter of polymer as an art material, there should be an adage that goes, “Just because you can do it with polymer doesn’t mean you should do it with polymer.” Sometimes another material is just a better choice.
The one polymer artist I personally miss the most is Grant Diffendaffer, whose gorgeous vessel you see here. His mica shift and the visual texture he created with it are still, today, some of the most amazing examples of the technique. Well done mica shift will always have a bit of an internal glow, but the colors Grant chose and the way his patterns shift and flow make the work come alive.
There is more than just an internal glow in Grant’s work. The mica reflects so brightly that it appears that there is a light behind that surface. And although I voraciously took in every page of his book back when I started, I was not able to figure out how he created the variation in visual texture. Not back then at least. I am thinking I need to give it another shot now that I know so much more than I did a decade ago.
His book, Polymer Clay Beads, is still a treasure of information, however, he no longer works in polymer. He did work with it for a while after his jewelry and decor era, creating props of sorts. He is back working in jewelry now but in 3-D printing resin. His portfolio on his website shows all of his work from polymer to 3-D printing. If you’re interested in the progression of his artwork or just want to see what is up to, take a look at his website and his Facebook page, Steadcraft.
Read MoreSince we got on a glass kick this week, I rummaged through my outside inspiration board on Pinterest and came up with this fantastic artist who I have long wanted to share with you.
Jean Fernandes was born in India but was raised both there and in California. After graduating with a Masters in Glass from the University of Texas at Arlington, she became an award-winning emerging artist and winner of a 2015 Niche award.
And it’s no wonder. Just look at this simple but mesmerizing cast glass tower she created in 2015—its interiors look almost alive with movement. The basic shape and grayscale color palette allows the interior lines and undulating forms to captivate us without distraction. The vertical shape relies on a sense of strength, as vertical forms and lines do, adding to the monumental feel of this piece even though it’s only 16 inches high.
Jean considers herself a multimedia artist although glass has been her primary medium. To quote her from an interview in 2015, “Often, I work with glass because of its conceptual flexibility and duality. It has the ability to be fragile or strong, transparent or opaque, stiff or flexible, etc. and acts as an excellent metaphor in my work. The properties of the media are often integral to my work; I’ve used yarn for its softness and strength, ice for its temporality, wax for its ability to melt when introduced to heat, etc. and all of these qualities often play a large role in the concept of the piece I am working on.”
This brings up an interesting thought that I’ve discussed with several artists recently and that is whether our art is defined by our medium or do we work with the mediums that help us to define our art? I think those who put the artwork first may often find themselves working in various mediums simply because they’re looking for the materials that help them realize what they want to express. It’s wonderful that polymer’s versatility can fulfill many artistic needs so readily, but I thought I’d take this moment to remind us that we can, and should, use other mediums when it helps us express what it is we want to put out there in the world.
Take a look at more of Jean’s work on her website here.
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Apparently, I’m a bit of a wreck. I’m only telling you this because you are probably going to see a bit of a slowdown in our publications coming out and maybe a little less research here on the blog. As many of you know, I’m the only full-time person who works on The Polymer Arts projects and I’m dealing with two injuries that occurred earlier this year and arthritis in my neck, none of which are happy with how much I work. So, doctor’s orders, I have to cut my computer time down the next few months while I focus on healing. It’s going to be hard to slow down, workaholic that I am, but I’m counting on you all to hold me to it!
So to minimize my research time, I’m going to be pulling things to share from my stash on my Pinterest boards and favorites on Instagram and Flickr and such for a while. We will, therefore, be seeing a fair amount of older work, but there’s so much really inspirational and timeless work to share.
This week’s first piece is from Adrianne Jeswiet whose work I discovered not too long ago. Her shop on Etsy is called “Kissing Glass” and it is filled with various glass vessels covered in detailed imagery. This piece includes tiny dragonflies, water lilies, irises and cattails applied to a recycled glass vase colored with glass paint. Take a close look to see the myriad of tiny details that are sure to make this a conversation piece wherever it finds its new home.
Pop over to Adrianne’s Etsy shop to see the full range of what she does.
Read MoreGuest Blog Post by Stéphanie Kilgast
Justyna Wołodkiewicz mixes embroidery with polymer clay in an always poetic way.
She seamlessly binds traditional arts to very contemporary ones, resulting in often abstract and always mesmerizing works of art.
Her work vacillates between organic shapes and precise geometry with a dash of oddity. Eyes and sad or sleepy faces often inhabit her embroidery hoops.
Her world is one of colors, and she effortlessly mixes hues and shades, giving each sculptural work a different set of emotions.
Her artist’s name, “Nibyniebo,” translates into “just like the sky,” and just like the sky, her work is an evidence of poetry that will resonate within you.
You can follow her artistic journey on Instagram and also buy certain of her pieces on her website.
Stéphanie Kilgast shares and teaches her craft through video and online tutorials. Find them at www.petitplat.fr and follow her on Instagram @petitplat.
Read MoreI’m not sure how it happened but we somehow got Nikolina Otrzan to “spill the beads” on her unique, signature textures that she creates for her jewelry components. She shares not one, not two, but four different textures and even variations on those so it’s more like a dozen possible textures you can get out of completing her tutorial in this issue. It turns out, they are all pretty easy to do. They will just take some patience to do it as neatly as she does.
We were not able to fit in examples of all the ways these beads could be used. As seen here, her textured components can be artfully composed to decorate home décor and not just as beads for jewelry. Her cat seems to approve of these mirrors as well. And what a great idea. If you have a stash of flat-backed beads or components that work together, decorate a mirror, frame, or another object they can be attached to. Your spare components will have a home and you too can end up with some beautiful—as you see in the article—pet-approved décor.
Nikolina is a very thorough and detailed instructor. If, after getting into those textures in the article, you find that you want more, all you need to do is go to her Etsy shop to get another tutorial from the couple dozen she has available right now.
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Yesterday, the “Summer 2018 – Everything in Its Place” issue of The Polymer Arts was released digitally and the print issues were at the post office getting sorted on Friday. If you are expecting a digital edition, look in your inbox (check spam/junk mail folders if it’s not there) and print editions will start popping up in mailboxes soon (allow up to four weeks if you are on the east or southeast end of the United States or are overseas.)
Here is a collage of some of the first pages of articles if you haven’t seen the issue yet. Click on the image to get a bigger picture.
In the meantime, let’s look at some items that didn’t make it into this packed issue.
The piece you see here is actually in the issue but it’s small and there’s so much detail it seemed a shame not to provide a larger image. (You can click on the image of the tiles to get a bigger, more detailed photo.)
This nine square inches scene was created by Chris Kapono as an example of how to use her tiny tiles methods to create a series of tiles that work together. She shows the construction of this type of tile in the article and has examples of how to lay out a version of your own.
This kind of project reminds me of the “tiny steps” philosophy of goal setting, where you take a big goal and break it down into small chunks. So if you have ever thought about doing wall art or larger pieces, take a tip from this composition and break it down into multiple sections. After mapping out the larger picture, you can create one section at a time and pretty soon, you will have a complete piece. Really makes large projects much more manageable when you can break them down in some fashion.
Check out more of Chris’s work and her tutorials in her Mandarin Moon Etsy shop.
Read MoreAfter all that blathering to you on Wednesday, I thought I’d keep it simple today. Let’s just enjoy some relatively minimal but beautiful canes to spark some ideas for your creative time this weekend.
Spain’s Pilar Rodríguez Domínguez creates lovely, dynamic flower petal canes. The soft but dense sets of radiating lines that dominate her designs help to create a sense of complexity with relatively few elements. I chose this one because you can see how much energy is created with the just these brushed-looking lines, three oval marks, and a vibrant burgundy red. You don’t need a lot of different stuff to create complexity and energy.
She works similarly in almost all her canes although more commonly with highly contrasting colors to create finely controlled finished flower canes. Enjoy a good eyeful of color and pattern in her Etsy shop, and on her Instagram, Facebook, and Flickr accounts.
Also, since you all couldn’t click-through to see the work of Cécile Bos last week, as she went on vacation and shuttered her shop right after I drafted the blog on her work, take this opportunity to click-through to her website now to see her delicately detailed pieces.
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