Degraded Discs
January 22, 2015
Inspirational Art
This bit of inspired faux old art has more to do with the disintegration of materials than any past culture. The material it emulates could be seen as stone or sap or bone, but it long ago degraded into something soft and well-weathered. The texture and colors are simple but lovely in their organic connection.
I found these on an Etsy shop called @Logan Square. The artisan only identifies herself as Kristin. She does have some interesting words to explain where her textures come from and how she sees her beads:
“Each bead is unique, created by impressions taken from found objects. These objects come from my collection of plant forms, drift wood and pebbles from Lake Michigan, fossils and shells, as well as copper etchings of digital patterns I’ve created (I call these my digital “runes”) … my beads are fantasy fossils and relics.”
Take a look at her shop and the other wonderful textures she has there, especially her banner; she identifies the impressions made in those beads as being from “walnut seed, crayfish claws, fish vertebrae, digital runes, swordfish skull bones, and weathered concrete.” Wow. I would say no texture is safe from being used in this polymer work!
If you like this blog, support The Polymer Arts projects with a subscription or an issue of The Polymer Arts magazine as well as supporting our advertising partners.
Out of the Fire
January 7, 2015
Inspirational Art
We’re going to head to the orange and yellow side of the warm spectrum today, with a beautiful sculpture by Canadian artist Ellen Jewett. The warmth in this piece feels more like the warmth of sunlight with the white and yellows and coppery oranges. We see that sense of glow here as well, from the gradation of the colors, although most of the color change seems to be between the laid out elements and not in the clay. Mica clays also help to radiate a sense of bright light. This is to show that the visual illusion doesn’t come just from the soft change in color, as in a Skinner blend, but in the way we visualize the play of light. Light changes quality as it hits different surfaces, which, in this case, are the feathers of this dragon-like phoenix. The variety of the surface gives it a liveliness not unlike a dancing fire.
Ellen creates all kinds of very fantastical creatures with very dynamic forms and proportions. I suspect either her educational pursuits in biological anthropology and anthrozoology contribute to these amazing pieces or the same artistic drive to create pushed her to pursue her unusual combination of studies. It is quite worth taking a break to spend some time in her Etsy shop and her website.
If you like this blog, support The Polymer Arts projects with a subscription or an issue of The Polymer Arts magazine as well as supporting our advertising partners.
Little Flower Details
October 13, 2014
Inspirational Art
I just got back from nearly 3 weeks in California taking care of family matters and have 4 days before I am off again to the Racine Art Museum polymer symposium, so I will be looking towards the fine examples and ingenuous ideas of others this week to keep you inspired in case my words fail me. I have noticed a number of very clever tutorials and tips roaming about the online waves. Most are, after you see them, very obvious little tricks and ideas, but it’s so often only obvious after you see it!
Take this flower petal texturing method. I have seen many examples of lines in canes to create the visual look, but the actual tactile look of lines running across petals is far less common. Here is a very simple way to get those tactile lines into the petals: just scratch a series of lines into a soft but sturdy material and press your petals into the texture. I think texture was created on foam of some sort, but you could, of course, use polymer and bake it. It adds a wonderfully realistic quality to the petals. Here is the full visual tutorial.
Are there other items you tend to texture with hand tools that you could create a basic texture form to press or stamp with instead? It’d be worth a try if you think of something.
All I know about the creator of this tutorial is that he or she is going by Lufy, or did, on Livemaster.ru, but the Livemaster link for Lufy is not working, and this tutorial is spread all over on various sites without credit. Maybe we can correct that? Does anyone know who the craft artist is? Let me know if you d,o and I’ll dig up more about this clever clayer.
Note added on Oct 14th: Thanks Natalja for solving the mystery! It is not Lufy, but -Luly and the artist’s name is Julia Kotselova. Here is the link to her Livemaster shop.
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.
Organic Grace
March 18, 2014
Inspirational Art
This combination of organic plant and stone texture comes across as rather luscious and graceful. This creative bracelet by Russian artist, Evgeny Alexandrov, is an ode to the vivacity of natural elements. This bracelet design mirrors the feel of the rocks and the velvety moss that covers them. The succulent looking plants are fashioned with smooth surfaces, while the rock and the moss offer an enticing contrast to the tactile nature of the surfaces.
Evgeny’s work is full of luscious organic forms and the tactile textures. You can admire more of her work in her online shop.
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.
This bit of inspired faux old art has more to do with the disintegration of materials than any past culture. The material it emulates could be seen as stone or sap or bone, but it long ago degraded into something soft and well-weathered. The texture and colors are simple but lovely in their organic connection.
I found these on an Etsy shop called @Logan Square. The artisan only identifies herself as Kristin. She does have some interesting words to explain where her textures come from and how she sees her beads:
“Each bead is unique, created by impressions taken from found objects. These objects come from my collection of plant forms, drift wood and pebbles from Lake Michigan, fossils and shells, as well as copper etchings of digital patterns I’ve created (I call these my digital “runes”) … my beads are fantasy fossils and relics.”
Take a look at her shop and the other wonderful textures she has there, especially her banner; she identifies the impressions made in those beads as being from “walnut seed, crayfish claws, fish vertebrae, digital runes, swordfish skull bones, and weathered concrete.” Wow. I would say no texture is safe from being used in this polymer work!
If you like this blog, support The Polymer Arts projects with a subscription or an issue of The Polymer Arts magazine as well as supporting our advertising partners.
We’re going to head to the orange and yellow side of the warm spectrum today, with a beautiful sculpture by Canadian artist Ellen Jewett. The warmth in this piece feels more like the warmth of sunlight with the white and yellows and coppery oranges. We see that sense of glow here as well, from the gradation of the colors, although most of the color change seems to be between the laid out elements and not in the clay. Mica clays also help to radiate a sense of bright light. This is to show that the visual illusion doesn’t come just from the soft change in color, as in a Skinner blend, but in the way we visualize the play of light. Light changes quality as it hits different surfaces, which, in this case, are the feathers of this dragon-like phoenix. The variety of the surface gives it a liveliness not unlike a dancing fire.
Ellen creates all kinds of very fantastical creatures with very dynamic forms and proportions. I suspect either her educational pursuits in biological anthropology and anthrozoology contribute to these amazing pieces or the same artistic drive to create pushed her to pursue her unusual combination of studies. It is quite worth taking a break to spend some time in her Etsy shop and her website.
If you like this blog, support The Polymer Arts projects with a subscription or an issue of The Polymer Arts magazine as well as supporting our advertising partners.
I just got back from nearly 3 weeks in California taking care of family matters and have 4 days before I am off again to the Racine Art Museum polymer symposium, so I will be looking towards the fine examples and ingenuous ideas of others this week to keep you inspired in case my words fail me. I have noticed a number of very clever tutorials and tips roaming about the online waves. Most are, after you see them, very obvious little tricks and ideas, but it’s so often only obvious after you see it!
Take this flower petal texturing method. I have seen many examples of lines in canes to create the visual look, but the actual tactile look of lines running across petals is far less common. Here is a very simple way to get those tactile lines into the petals: just scratch a series of lines into a soft but sturdy material and press your petals into the texture. I think texture was created on foam of some sort, but you could, of course, use polymer and bake it. It adds a wonderfully realistic quality to the petals. Here is the full visual tutorial.
Are there other items you tend to texture with hand tools that you could create a basic texture form to press or stamp with instead? It’d be worth a try if you think of something.
All I know about the creator of this tutorial is that he or she is going by Lufy, or did, on Livemaster.ru, but the Livemaster link for Lufy is not working, and this tutorial is spread all over on various sites without credit. Maybe we can correct that? Does anyone know who the craft artist is? Let me know if you d,o and I’ll dig up more about this clever clayer.
Note added on Oct 14th: Thanks Natalja for solving the mystery! It is not Lufy, but -Luly and the artist’s name is Julia Kotselova. Here is the link to her Livemaster shop.
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.
This combination of organic plant and stone texture comes across as rather luscious and graceful. This creative bracelet by Russian artist, Evgeny Alexandrov, is an ode to the vivacity of natural elements. This bracelet design mirrors the feel of the rocks and the velvety moss that covers them. The succulent looking plants are fashioned with smooth surfaces, while the rock and the moss offer an enticing contrast to the tactile nature of the surfaces.
Evgeny’s work is full of luscious organic forms and the tactile textures. You can admire more of her work in her online shop.
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.
