High On Art
June 23, 2019
Inspirational Art
Just flew in from Australia yesterday so I’m a bit jetlagged still but I wrote up some thoughts on the plane and pulled some pretties to demonstrate some more ideas on passion in your art, so here goes.
If you are reading this, chances are, you are passionate about art, either creating it or supporting its creation. Can we take just a few spare seconds to admire and be amazed by that passion of yours? I’d suggest that you stop at this moment and really let the emotion of that passion of yours come to the forefront, letting it blossom in the memory of what drives you to create or be supportive of creativity. Can you feel it? Close your eyes if you don’t feel it yet and just give it a few seconds to come to the surface so I can pose a few questions while that emotion is coursing through you.
Got it now? Okay. So, tell me … what color is your passion? Close your eyes if you need to and see what color blooms in your mind.
Then ask, does your passion have a temperature? Is it cool and constant or warm and rolling? Or something else entirely?
What does it act like? Is it like a soft, persistent wind, or a crashing ocean or something in between?
It doesn’t matter what metaphors you come up with for the feeling, you just want something concrete to hold onto. With those sensations and images in mind now, ask yourself, is that feeling there when you sit down to create? Does that passion spill out onto your worktable and direct your work? Does it drive you to come up with ideas or search out and soak up great art and other inspiring sights and sounds?
With all these metaphors and answers in your mind, I want to ask the core question that just couldn’t be put forth until you were in the right mindset:
Do you like what you create and why you create?
That might sound like a strange question because who would continue to create art while not liking it? Well, many of us do. That’s been at the heart of several conversations I’ve had recently, all related to trying to make a living from creative endeavors. That need to pay one’s bills is not the kind of drive that we really want to direct our work if fulfilling our passion is at all a goal of ours.
The fact is, letting out your passion and letting it guide you feel risky because you are putting a bit of yourself out there into the world in that process. Or a lot of yourself sometimes. It’s scary, isn’t it, putting your latest work out, wondering what people will think, whether it will sell or whether the receiver will like it? But it’s thrilling too, especially when people respond to it, when they connect to your work and to you. It’s a serious high.
You deserve to get that high on art. Don’t you think?
High on Creativity
I bet you can spy those artists who do get that high on a regular basis, people who let their passion run wild and lead their work. Here are just a few of my personal favorites but start thinking of your own as I go through them.
One of the first people that comes to mind is Ellen Jewett. She has worked in polymer, epoxy, and paper clay, using no tools but her hands and a brush, and makes only what she wants to make. Here is but one of her mind-blowing sculptures.
Her work is born of a unique and driving passion. In her own words:
At first glance my work explores the more modern prosaic concept of nature: a source of serene nostalgia but this is balanced with the more visceral experience of ‘wildness’ as remarkably alien and indifferent. Upon closer inspection of each ‘creature’ the viewer may discover a frieze on which themes as familiar as domestication and as abrasive as domination fall into sharp relief. These qualities are not only present in the final work but are fleshed out in the process of building. Each sculpture is constructed using an additive technique, layered from inside to out by an accumulation of innumerable tiny components. Many of these components are microcosmic representations of plants, animals and objects. Some are beautiful, some are grotesque and some are fantastical. The singularity of each sculpture is the sum total of its small narrative structures.
I encourage you to take the time to read her full artist statement. You may be surprised by her approach and amazed by her insights into her own work and purpose.
I have found that many of insanely passionate artists are also similarly intense thinkers. Some of these passionate thinkers take their love of art a step further by sharing their passion through education as a way to spark and inspire the creativity of others. Christine Dumont is just such an artist, giving polymer and mixed media artists a place to push themselves and grow through her website Viola and its related projects.
Her own work comes about as a result of intense exploration. She does not create to sell, and I think this gives her a freedom that an artist dependent on their work for their income may find harder, although not at all impossible, to achieve.
Christine will actually be in Switzerland teaching this mix of polymer and metal September 14-15, 2019. If you are interested in joining the class, you can message her directly through her website.
As demonstrated by Christine’s passion for teaching, a creative passion doesn’t have to manifest itself purely in your art. Teaching, which takes a particular passion of its own, is just one alternate avenue to steer one’s creative passions. Giving back to others is another way. We had a whole section of community recognition for polymer artists who give back in our first edition Polymer Journey in 2016. We have so many giving and generous people in this community! One of those beautiful people is Wendy Moore who I had the unparalleled pleasure of staying with this past week in Canberra, Australia.
Her creative passion was intertwined with a passion to give back to others when she founded the Friends of Samunnat alongside Nepalese lawyer Kopila Basnet, to help support and give independence to women who were victims of violence. Wendy’s passion and empathy for others is seen directly in her art as well, including this piece I photographed at her home but which you can also find in the Polymer Journeys 2019 edition. It is a representation of her “confusion and angst relating to issues about how we move forward in relationships with Australia’s indigenous people.”
Wendy’s passion has not gone unnoticed outside the polymer community either. It was recently announced that she has been awarded the 2019 Order of Australia medal by the Australian Governor-General for her contribution to the international community of Nepal! This is one of a set of awards and appointments the Australian government uses as a principal way of recognizing outstanding citizens. Join me in a big congratulations to (a probably very embarrassed and blushing) Wendy Moore. Read more about the award along with her interview in this article here.
And you can also look forward to reading in depth about Wendy, her journey, her work, and her life in issue #4 of The Polymer Studio later this year, so keep up those subscriptions!
Here are a few pics from my time with Wendy. I’ll get more photos of the trip up on Facebook where you are welcome to follow me.
Wendy and I contemplating the insanity of this immense tapestry which recreated a much smaller painting in every nuance. At the Australian Parliament house’s Great Hall.
Forest labyrinth built by some passionate creative person in the bush just beyond Wendy’s house. Wendy and I are walking it with my step-daughter and Wendy’s granddaughter.
Photos by Brett Varon
There are so, so many other artists I could point out as examples of deeply passionate people who let that passion drive the work they do, both in and outside the studio. But this is all I have in me to write just now. Right now, I am very passionate about sleep!
However, I would encourage you to continue this search for passion in your daily perusals of artwork online. I would challenge you to keep an eye out for work in which the artist’s passion is intensely obvious and try to imagine the emotion and drive that they must have to create the wonderful work they share with us.
If you aren’t feeling a glimmer of what you think these dynamos must have, perhaps it’s time to assess what you are doing and why. Perhaps you need to infuse your work with new inspiration and materials (as suggested in last week’s post) or maybe you would be more fulfilled spending some of your time teaching (which might include writing articles for publications like The Polymer Studio. Check out our guidelines.) or maybe you need to step back and ensure you are creating in a fulfilling and meaningful way for you, not just for your customers. If your work is infused with your passion, you’ll sell it and you’ll get noticed. Just note how highly passionate art grabs your attention!
Okay, off for more sleep so I can hit the ground running on Monday as I aim to get Issue #3 off to the printer in early July. It’s shaping up to be a really gorgeous issue but I’m still having my challenges here as the house is still in various stages of construction (the worst of it being there are no working sinks except the one in the garage) but the bones of the kitchen are in so that is awesome! Now I can start working on the back-splash I designed. Well, maybe after this next issue if off to the printer.
In the meantime, have a wonderful, inspired, and passionate week!
Moths and Mushrooms
January 14, 2017
Inspirational Art
For a last look at moths this week, I thought I’d share this work by Cheryl Lee Myers of Elemental Urchin. This is probably not polymer clay but rather two-part epoxy clay. I say that because for one, I found that she paints these all on a black base that looks very much like epoxy I’ve used and, two, she never mentions polymer.
I did wonder if her decision not to specify the type of clay she uses was because she is very much into nature and mother earth so she didn’t want to see the word polymer or epoxy in her nature-centric listings. I personally don’t see that as a problem but not everyone understands the choices we make as artists, even when us tree-huggers create in plastic and such. I have a lot of thoughts on that subject and I’ll be talking about that at this summer’s Synergy 4 in Pennsylvania which, by the way, opened registration this week so hop over to get signed up and start making your travel plans!
But regardless of the reason Cheryl doesn’t mention the type of clay she uses, the idea of recreating natural elements combined with actual natural elements is something I thought might inspire a few readers who haven’t tried it yet. She also changes up what nature has given us, much like our artists from earlier this week.
Cheryl’s textures and painted wings–see the moths wings with what look to be lily pads and stars in them?–are visually rich as is the dominant purple color palette. The light touch of metallic powder and the shine of the stones create an alluring combination but one not quite like what we’d find in the wild but obviously it exists in this artist’s mind!
I found Cheryl’s work on Instagram but you can also take a look at her work in her Etsy shop.
Inspirational Challenge of the Week: Find something in nature and recreate it … your way. Change or add to what nature has already done and make it your version.
_________________________________________
Like this blog? Lend your support with a purchase of The Polymer Arts magazine and visit our partners.
_________________________________________
The Concept of Flying & the Newly Released Spring 2016 Issue – Convergence
March 4, 2016
Inspirational Art, The Polymer Arts magazine news
The Spring 2016 issue of The Polymer Arts was released yesterday! Thank you so much for the many kind comments and compliments you’ve been posting all over Facebook and in our inboxes. It’s always great to know we’ve done well for you.
Digital access was sent to everyone who subscribed or pre-ordered prior to yesterday, and all the print issues are in the mail or will be as of this afternoon. If you don’t see the digital issue you expected in your inbox, check your spam folder. If it’s not there, write us at connect@thepolymerarts.com and we will look into it. If you don’t have your copy ordered or an active subscription, you can change that on our website here.
One of my wish-list articles, that Christine K. Harris and I have talked about doing on and off for a couple of years, is in this issue. It’s about how to use epoxy clay with polymer. She did an incredible job and so generously shared her techniques. The article is a series of short tutorials for using epoxy where polymer can’t be used, such as for strength as well as situations where some material added to the piece can’t be cured. The techniques can be used in jewelry as well as sculpture.
Of course, Christine is well-known for her award-winning concept sculpture, like this beautiful wall art, Fly (Wall sculpture of red haired woman). Christine’s work is very much about internal thoughts and conflicts and is often created around ideas or circumstances that are hard to deal with, so there is a lot of dark ideas and imagery in her work. However, her pieces are always graceful and are imbued with a beauty that comes from a sense of hope and promise that she instills in her imagery. This one is no exception, plus there is this potential joy the woman is contemplating, testing the idea of being free to fly in the bird formation she makes with her hands. Symbolic concept art is such a joy because you can add your own story and there is usually so much to look over and think about.
I have always been an advocate of looking at the darker side of our reality. The harder and less pleasant things in our lives are often the only or best path to finding the beauty and kindness in what we see around us. I think you can see what I mean when looking at Christine’s work. You can see more of it on her website and her Pinterest board.
Inspirational Challenge of the Day: What is something you are hopeful for? Distill it into one word and design or create a piece around that concept. Be as literal, symbolic, or abstract as feels right to you.
___________________________________________
Like this blog? Lend your support with a purchase of The Polymer Arts magazine and visit our partners:
___________________________________________
Just flew in from Australia yesterday so I’m a bit jetlagged still but I wrote up some thoughts on the plane and pulled some pretties to demonstrate some more ideas on passion in your art, so here goes.
If you are reading this, chances are, you are passionate about art, either creating it or supporting its creation. Can we take just a few spare seconds to admire and be amazed by that passion of yours? I’d suggest that you stop at this moment and really let the emotion of that passion of yours come to the forefront, letting it blossom in the memory of what drives you to create or be supportive of creativity. Can you feel it? Close your eyes if you don’t feel it yet and just give it a few seconds to come to the surface so I can pose a few questions while that emotion is coursing through you.
Got it now? Okay. So, tell me … what color is your passion? Close your eyes if you need to and see what color blooms in your mind.
Then ask, does your passion have a temperature? Is it cool and constant or warm and rolling? Or something else entirely?
What does it act like? Is it like a soft, persistent wind, or a crashing ocean or something in between?
It doesn’t matter what metaphors you come up with for the feeling, you just want something concrete to hold onto. With those sensations and images in mind now, ask yourself, is that feeling there when you sit down to create? Does that passion spill out onto your worktable and direct your work? Does it drive you to come up with ideas or search out and soak up great art and other inspiring sights and sounds?
With all these metaphors and answers in your mind, I want to ask the core question that just couldn’t be put forth until you were in the right mindset:
Do you like what you create and why you create?
That might sound like a strange question because who would continue to create art while not liking it? Well, many of us do. That’s been at the heart of several conversations I’ve had recently, all related to trying to make a living from creative endeavors. That need to pay one’s bills is not the kind of drive that we really want to direct our work if fulfilling our passion is at all a goal of ours.
The fact is, letting out your passion and letting it guide you feel risky because you are putting a bit of yourself out there into the world in that process. Or a lot of yourself sometimes. It’s scary, isn’t it, putting your latest work out, wondering what people will think, whether it will sell or whether the receiver will like it? But it’s thrilling too, especially when people respond to it, when they connect to your work and to you. It’s a serious high.
You deserve to get that high on art. Don’t you think?
High on Creativity
I bet you can spy those artists who do get that high on a regular basis, people who let their passion run wild and lead their work. Here are just a few of my personal favorites but start thinking of your own as I go through them.
One of the first people that comes to mind is Ellen Jewett. She has worked in polymer, epoxy, and paper clay, using no tools but her hands and a brush, and makes only what she wants to make. Here is but one of her mind-blowing sculptures.
Her work is born of a unique and driving passion. In her own words:
At first glance my work explores the more modern prosaic concept of nature: a source of serene nostalgia but this is balanced with the more visceral experience of ‘wildness’ as remarkably alien and indifferent. Upon closer inspection of each ‘creature’ the viewer may discover a frieze on which themes as familiar as domestication and as abrasive as domination fall into sharp relief. These qualities are not only present in the final work but are fleshed out in the process of building. Each sculpture is constructed using an additive technique, layered from inside to out by an accumulation of innumerable tiny components. Many of these components are microcosmic representations of plants, animals and objects. Some are beautiful, some are grotesque and some are fantastical. The singularity of each sculpture is the sum total of its small narrative structures.
I encourage you to take the time to read her full artist statement. You may be surprised by her approach and amazed by her insights into her own work and purpose.
I have found that many of insanely passionate artists are also similarly intense thinkers. Some of these passionate thinkers take their love of art a step further by sharing their passion through education as a way to spark and inspire the creativity of others. Christine Dumont is just such an artist, giving polymer and mixed media artists a place to push themselves and grow through her website Viola and its related projects.
Her own work comes about as a result of intense exploration. She does not create to sell, and I think this gives her a freedom that an artist dependent on their work for their income may find harder, although not at all impossible, to achieve.
Christine will actually be in Switzerland teaching this mix of polymer and metal September 14-15, 2019. If you are interested in joining the class, you can message her directly through her website.
As demonstrated by Christine’s passion for teaching, a creative passion doesn’t have to manifest itself purely in your art. Teaching, which takes a particular passion of its own, is just one alternate avenue to steer one’s creative passions. Giving back to others is another way. We had a whole section of community recognition for polymer artists who give back in our first edition Polymer Journey in 2016. We have so many giving and generous people in this community! One of those beautiful people is Wendy Moore who I had the unparalleled pleasure of staying with this past week in Canberra, Australia.
Her creative passion was intertwined with a passion to give back to others when she founded the Friends of Samunnat alongside Nepalese lawyer Kopila Basnet, to help support and give independence to women who were victims of violence. Wendy’s passion and empathy for others is seen directly in her art as well, including this piece I photographed at her home but which you can also find in the Polymer Journeys 2019 edition. It is a representation of her “confusion and angst relating to issues about how we move forward in relationships with Australia’s indigenous people.”
Wendy’s passion has not gone unnoticed outside the polymer community either. It was recently announced that she has been awarded the 2019 Order of Australia medal by the Australian Governor-General for her contribution to the international community of Nepal! This is one of a set of awards and appointments the Australian government uses as a principal way of recognizing outstanding citizens. Join me in a big congratulations to (a probably very embarrassed and blushing) Wendy Moore. Read more about the award along with her interview in this article here.
And you can also look forward to reading in depth about Wendy, her journey, her work, and her life in issue #4 of The Polymer Studio later this year, so keep up those subscriptions!
Here are a few pics from my time with Wendy. I’ll get more photos of the trip up on Facebook where you are welcome to follow me.
Wendy and I contemplating the insanity of this immense tapestry which recreated a much smaller painting in every nuance. At the Australian Parliament house’s Great Hall.
Forest labyrinth built by some passionate creative person in the bush just beyond Wendy’s house. Wendy and I are walking it with my step-daughter and Wendy’s granddaughter.
Photos by Brett Varon
There are so, so many other artists I could point out as examples of deeply passionate people who let that passion drive the work they do, both in and outside the studio. But this is all I have in me to write just now. Right now, I am very passionate about sleep!
However, I would encourage you to continue this search for passion in your daily perusals of artwork online. I would challenge you to keep an eye out for work in which the artist’s passion is intensely obvious and try to imagine the emotion and drive that they must have to create the wonderful work they share with us.
If you aren’t feeling a glimmer of what you think these dynamos must have, perhaps it’s time to assess what you are doing and why. Perhaps you need to infuse your work with new inspiration and materials (as suggested in last week’s post) or maybe you would be more fulfilled spending some of your time teaching (which might include writing articles for publications like The Polymer Studio. Check out our guidelines.) or maybe you need to step back and ensure you are creating in a fulfilling and meaningful way for you, not just for your customers. If your work is infused with your passion, you’ll sell it and you’ll get noticed. Just note how highly passionate art grabs your attention!
Okay, off for more sleep so I can hit the ground running on Monday as I aim to get Issue #3 off to the printer in early July. It’s shaping up to be a really gorgeous issue but I’m still having my challenges here as the house is still in various stages of construction (the worst of it being there are no working sinks except the one in the garage) but the bones of the kitchen are in so that is awesome! Now I can start working on the back-splash I designed. Well, maybe after this next issue if off to the printer.
In the meantime, have a wonderful, inspired, and passionate week!
Read MoreFor a last look at moths this week, I thought I’d share this work by Cheryl Lee Myers of Elemental Urchin. This is probably not polymer clay but rather two-part epoxy clay. I say that because for one, I found that she paints these all on a black base that looks very much like epoxy I’ve used and, two, she never mentions polymer.
I did wonder if her decision not to specify the type of clay she uses was because she is very much into nature and mother earth so she didn’t want to see the word polymer or epoxy in her nature-centric listings. I personally don’t see that as a problem but not everyone understands the choices we make as artists, even when us tree-huggers create in plastic and such. I have a lot of thoughts on that subject and I’ll be talking about that at this summer’s Synergy 4 in Pennsylvania which, by the way, opened registration this week so hop over to get signed up and start making your travel plans!
But regardless of the reason Cheryl doesn’t mention the type of clay she uses, the idea of recreating natural elements combined with actual natural elements is something I thought might inspire a few readers who haven’t tried it yet. She also changes up what nature has given us, much like our artists from earlier this week.
Cheryl’s textures and painted wings–see the moths wings with what look to be lily pads and stars in them?–are visually rich as is the dominant purple color palette. The light touch of metallic powder and the shine of the stones create an alluring combination but one not quite like what we’d find in the wild but obviously it exists in this artist’s mind!
I found Cheryl’s work on Instagram but you can also take a look at her work in her Etsy shop.
Inspirational Challenge of the Week: Find something in nature and recreate it … your way. Change or add to what nature has already done and make it your version.
_________________________________________
Like this blog? Lend your support with a purchase of The Polymer Arts magazine and visit our partners.
_________________________________________
Read MoreThe Spring 2016 issue of The Polymer Arts was released yesterday! Thank you so much for the many kind comments and compliments you’ve been posting all over Facebook and in our inboxes. It’s always great to know we’ve done well for you.
Digital access was sent to everyone who subscribed or pre-ordered prior to yesterday, and all the print issues are in the mail or will be as of this afternoon. If you don’t see the digital issue you expected in your inbox, check your spam folder. If it’s not there, write us at connect@thepolymerarts.com and we will look into it. If you don’t have your copy ordered or an active subscription, you can change that on our website here.
One of my wish-list articles, that Christine K. Harris and I have talked about doing on and off for a couple of years, is in this issue. It’s about how to use epoxy clay with polymer. She did an incredible job and so generously shared her techniques. The article is a series of short tutorials for using epoxy where polymer can’t be used, such as for strength as well as situations where some material added to the piece can’t be cured. The techniques can be used in jewelry as well as sculpture.
Of course, Christine is well-known for her award-winning concept sculpture, like this beautiful wall art, Fly (Wall sculpture of red haired woman). Christine’s work is very much about internal thoughts and conflicts and is often created around ideas or circumstances that are hard to deal with, so there is a lot of dark ideas and imagery in her work. However, her pieces are always graceful and are imbued with a beauty that comes from a sense of hope and promise that she instills in her imagery. This one is no exception, plus there is this potential joy the woman is contemplating, testing the idea of being free to fly in the bird formation she makes with her hands. Symbolic concept art is such a joy because you can add your own story and there is usually so much to look over and think about.
I have always been an advocate of looking at the darker side of our reality. The harder and less pleasant things in our lives are often the only or best path to finding the beauty and kindness in what we see around us. I think you can see what I mean when looking at Christine’s work. You can see more of it on her website and her Pinterest board.
Inspirational Challenge of the Day: What is something you are hopeful for? Distill it into one word and design or create a piece around that concept. Be as literal, symbolic, or abstract as feels right to you.
___________________________________________
Like this blog? Lend your support with a purchase of The Polymer Arts magazine and visit our partners:
___________________________________________
