Expanding on the New Fall Issue
August 31, 2015
Inspirational Art
Okay … the Fall 2015 – Elements issue of The Polymer Arts had a successful release this weekend (well, with a couple tiny bumps along the way). Thank you for all the great comments already coming in. It is a pretty awesome issue … so many great contributors and ideas!
So, if you are expecting a copy, DIGITAL issues should be in your emailbox. Check junk mail folders or other email addresses if you’re sure you should have one and don’t see it. If it can’t be found, write us at connect@thepolymerarts.com and we will look it up, see what is going on and get it to you as needed. PRINT copies went to the post office at the end of the week, so they are all on the way now as well. If you need to buy a copy or get a subscription, you can do so here: http://www.thepolymerarts.com/Subscribe.html
Now onto the pretty stuff …
As always, we had more material than we could fit into the issue. And then there are simply the articles I wish we could have expanded on more. One such was Laurie MacIsaac’s interview of Celine Charuau titled “Strange Beauty”. I am personally so enamored by Celine’s work and, I do admit, the article was a request of mine that I hope you all will agree, is an enthralling look into an artist’s process and view of the world. Celine’s work is just so wholly unusual, and although it’s obvious that she pulls from nature, I didn’t realize how connected she was to plants, but after reading the article, you can really see just how much her passion for them comes out in her work. You’ll see what I mean if you read the interview. I wish we could have had room for a few more of her direct garden interpretations such as this succulent inspired necklace.
Like so much of her work, there is quiet and harmony in the sparseness of this piece. She creates a lot of these bunching kind of compositions which echo the way plants often grow. She also chooses just very particular parts of the plant, so that you aren’t sure what you might be looking at to start with. I also very much admire that she does not restrict her use of space, and has her creations come out quite dramatically from the surface of the pieces, sometimes dangerously so. But that dimensionality gives her work a boldness that might otherwise be nearly impossible with the unassuming minimalism she tends towards.
Celine is definitely one of those artists whose work is best seen in a collection in order to really appreciate the genius of her design choices. I would suggest reading the article if you have the issue in hand already, then go over to her Flickr photostream or her DaWanda shop and spend a little time looking over her varied pieces. Having a little background on an artist can really open up how you see their work and can bring such a rich understanding and enjoyment of it.
Like this blog? Help support us … with a purchase of The Polymer Arts magazine and visit our partners:
Something New in the New Year
December 29, 2014
Inspirational Art
It’s that time of year, isn’t it? When we start thinking about how we’ll do things differently in the coming year. A lot of us will be considering what we can do to increase our sales, make our work vs art lives easier, improve our skills or simply get inspired to do something new to invigorate ourselves and our work. Well, I thought I might be able to help with the last bit here. It is what I try to do daily on this blog, but this week let’s just pull out a few pieces of work and talk about how the pieces might be used to inspire you to try something new.
For instance, how much variety to you have in your beads? Do you stick with primarily one shape or one type of treatment for them? Do you mix up the canes or texture you apply? If you feel like you’re in a bit of a rut in your bead making, shake it up by challenging yourself to a bit more variety. Here is an example of this from MaryAnne Loveless, who created these large hollow tube beads with a ton of different applications. She uses canes, textures, pressed clay bits and hand tooled marks. There is some dimensional contrast in all the beads, but some have more than others, which creates a wide variety of surface designs.
Varied surface design is MaryAnne’s forte, so if you want more inspiration in that area be sure to take a look at her Flickr photostream and her blog.
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.
Okay … the Fall 2015 – Elements issue of The Polymer Arts had a successful release this weekend (well, with a couple tiny bumps along the way). Thank you for all the great comments already coming in. It is a pretty awesome issue … so many great contributors and ideas!
So, if you are expecting a copy, DIGITAL issues should be in your emailbox. Check junk mail folders or other email addresses if you’re sure you should have one and don’t see it. If it can’t be found, write us at connect@thepolymerarts.com and we will look it up, see what is going on and get it to you as needed. PRINT copies went to the post office at the end of the week, so they are all on the way now as well. If you need to buy a copy or get a subscription, you can do so here: http://www.thepolymerarts.com/Subscribe.html
Now onto the pretty stuff …
As always, we had more material than we could fit into the issue. And then there are simply the articles I wish we could have expanded on more. One such was Laurie MacIsaac’s interview of Celine Charuau titled “Strange Beauty”. I am personally so enamored by Celine’s work and, I do admit, the article was a request of mine that I hope you all will agree, is an enthralling look into an artist’s process and view of the world. Celine’s work is just so wholly unusual, and although it’s obvious that she pulls from nature, I didn’t realize how connected she was to plants, but after reading the article, you can really see just how much her passion for them comes out in her work. You’ll see what I mean if you read the interview. I wish we could have had room for a few more of her direct garden interpretations such as this succulent inspired necklace.
Like so much of her work, there is quiet and harmony in the sparseness of this piece. She creates a lot of these bunching kind of compositions which echo the way plants often grow. She also chooses just very particular parts of the plant, so that you aren’t sure what you might be looking at to start with. I also very much admire that she does not restrict her use of space, and has her creations come out quite dramatically from the surface of the pieces, sometimes dangerously so. But that dimensionality gives her work a boldness that might otherwise be nearly impossible with the unassuming minimalism she tends towards.
Celine is definitely one of those artists whose work is best seen in a collection in order to really appreciate the genius of her design choices. I would suggest reading the article if you have the issue in hand already, then go over to her Flickr photostream or her DaWanda shop and spend a little time looking over her varied pieces. Having a little background on an artist can really open up how you see their work and can bring such a rich understanding and enjoyment of it.
Like this blog? Help support us … with a purchase of The Polymer Arts magazine and visit our partners:
It’s that time of year, isn’t it? When we start thinking about how we’ll do things differently in the coming year. A lot of us will be considering what we can do to increase our sales, make our work vs art lives easier, improve our skills or simply get inspired to do something new to invigorate ourselves and our work. Well, I thought I might be able to help with the last bit here. It is what I try to do daily on this blog, but this week let’s just pull out a few pieces of work and talk about how the pieces might be used to inspire you to try something new.
For instance, how much variety to you have in your beads? Do you stick with primarily one shape or one type of treatment for them? Do you mix up the canes or texture you apply? If you feel like you’re in a bit of a rut in your bead making, shake it up by challenging yourself to a bit more variety. Here is an example of this from MaryAnne Loveless, who created these large hollow tube beads with a ton of different applications. She uses canes, textures, pressed clay bits and hand tooled marks. There is some dimensional contrast in all the beads, but some have more than others, which creates a wide variety of surface designs.
Varied surface design is MaryAnne’s forte, so if you want more inspiration in that area be sure to take a look at her Flickr photostream and her blog.
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.
