The Off-White Canvas
September 28, 2016
Inspirational Art
Let’s look at a little more off-white today. In general, off-whites on the warm side tend to look older or antiqued. This would be due to most whites aging warm, not cool. Hence the term ‘yellowing’ for aged white materials, because they take on a yellow cast which is a warm color.
This is something to keep in mind if you choose to create something in a warm off-white. There is a very good chance it will look aged which, if you are going for the look of faux bone, antique ivory or are pulling inspiration from an ancient society, is precisely what you want. This piece here is an example of using that warm off-white to give a piece an ancient look. In the piece seen here, Marina of Clay Carousel looks to be drawing on inspiration from the Mayan culture, with the art work titled “Mayan Princess”. She created a perfectly symmetrical but still energetic necklace with an off white canvas for all her accents and details. The dangles are what really make the design work with their strong directional downward lines and, of course, their actual swaying movement while on the wearer. Choosing the off-white background allows the lines and accents to take center stage as well as automatically giving us the impression of age even when we aren’t aware of what it has been titled.
The link on the image here goes to her second version of this necklace since the first, not surprisingly sold already in her LiveMaster shop but take a look at how she changed up the design. I think the way an artist alters a design can be so interesting and so telling of what they were after.
Inspirational Challenge of the Day: If you don’t still have that cool and warm white clay from the last post’s challenge, create a couple more balls, one warm off-white and one cool. Then create the exact same design, one with the warm clay and one with the cool clay. Can you see how the color temperature changes the look of the piece? Cool whites look cleaner and brighter. Where would you want to use a cool off-white?
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Like this blog? Lend your support with a purchase of The Polymer Arts magazine and visit our partners.
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Imagining Stone Bones
January 21, 2015
Inspirational Art
Alright, this piece isn’t in itself particularly old-looking, but it does represent another element of time and hide a possible story in its history. Plus, I just think it’s a beautiful piece.
France’s Karine Barrera regularly creates tribal or ethnic pieces, but I don’t think there are any particular civilizations they are drawn from. Rather they seem to be an amalgamation of tribal aesthetics. This one appears to be a most interesting composition of stone, although its form is more reminiscent of bone; the gentle curves recall tusks, claws and ribs.
But if it were stone, what kind of stone would have such layers? Or is the white not supposed to be stone but a material for joining two types of stone? What kind of material is that? What kind of people would find these shapes and the combination of stones meaningful? There are so many possible stories that can be imagined for this piece.
Karine’s work is full of possible stories. Even in her explanation in the blog post, her words are translated from French to say, at one point, that these “are stories designs”. Not sure what that means exactly, but Google Translate creates some pretty wacky text sometimes. In the end, it’s not so much about the story the artist has in her head but what the viewer of the piece comes up with. If your work makes someone stop and consider and create their own little stories and worlds in their mind from what they see, you have succeeded in communicating and maybe even entertaining. And that makes for some pretty good art. See more examples of this kind of thing on Karine’s 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.
Influencing a Master
January 8, 2014
Inspirational Art
This tribal neck piece is made from textured colored polymer, oxidized sterling silver, horse hair, and antique coral. This collection of tribal work is based on Kathleen Dustin’s familiarity with ethnic jewelry from her nine years of living overseas and her extensive travels around the world. Hand-worked texture is the overriding technique in this piece. Take a look at Kathleen’s Pinterest board to see her abstract series that uses translucent layering techniques that resemble enamel on metal. She is creating pieces that reflect how all the fragments of our lives – prosperity, pain, crises, good times – come together to make something beautiful as a whole. Her work is influenced by the work of many abstract artists as well.
Again “there’s nothing new under the sun;” this style of jewelry dates back thousands of years. The commonality in motifs of primitive indigenous cultures is apparent. Compare Vicki Grant’s work on this Pinterest board with the African Protective Amulet Man’s Necklace made with leather, silk, and pigments. If you are in need of some serious style inspiration, take a look at these tribal designs for a fresh new look at graphic influences that have stood the test of time.
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.
Let’s look at a little more off-white today. In general, off-whites on the warm side tend to look older or antiqued. This would be due to most whites aging warm, not cool. Hence the term ‘yellowing’ for aged white materials, because they take on a yellow cast which is a warm color.
This is something to keep in mind if you choose to create something in a warm off-white. There is a very good chance it will look aged which, if you are going for the look of faux bone, antique ivory or are pulling inspiration from an ancient society, is precisely what you want. This piece here is an example of using that warm off-white to give a piece an ancient look. In the piece seen here, Marina of Clay Carousel looks to be drawing on inspiration from the Mayan culture, with the art work titled “Mayan Princess”. She created a perfectly symmetrical but still energetic necklace with an off white canvas for all her accents and details. The dangles are what really make the design work with their strong directional downward lines and, of course, their actual swaying movement while on the wearer. Choosing the off-white background allows the lines and accents to take center stage as well as automatically giving us the impression of age even when we aren’t aware of what it has been titled.
The link on the image here goes to her second version of this necklace since the first, not surprisingly sold already in her LiveMaster shop but take a look at how she changed up the design. I think the way an artist alters a design can be so interesting and so telling of what they were after.
Inspirational Challenge of the Day: If you don’t still have that cool and warm white clay from the last post’s challenge, create a couple more balls, one warm off-white and one cool. Then create the exact same design, one with the warm clay and one with the cool clay. Can you see how the color temperature changes the look of the piece? Cool whites look cleaner and brighter. Where would you want to use a cool off-white?
_________________________________________
Like this blog? Lend your support with a purchase of The Polymer Arts magazine and visit our partners.
_________________________________________
Read MoreAlright, this piece isn’t in itself particularly old-looking, but it does represent another element of time and hide a possible story in its history. Plus, I just think it’s a beautiful piece.
France’s Karine Barrera regularly creates tribal or ethnic pieces, but I don’t think there are any particular civilizations they are drawn from. Rather they seem to be an amalgamation of tribal aesthetics. This one appears to be a most interesting composition of stone, although its form is more reminiscent of bone; the gentle curves recall tusks, claws and ribs.
But if it were stone, what kind of stone would have such layers? Or is the white not supposed to be stone but a material for joining two types of stone? What kind of material is that? What kind of people would find these shapes and the combination of stones meaningful? There are so many possible stories that can be imagined for this piece.
Karine’s work is full of possible stories. Even in her explanation in the blog post, her words are translated from French to say, at one point, that these “are stories designs”. Not sure what that means exactly, but Google Translate creates some pretty wacky text sometimes. In the end, it’s not so much about the story the artist has in her head but what the viewer of the piece comes up with. If your work makes someone stop and consider and create their own little stories and worlds in their mind from what they see, you have succeeded in communicating and maybe even entertaining. And that makes for some pretty good art. See more examples of this kind of thing on Karine’s 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.
This tribal neck piece is made from textured colored polymer, oxidized sterling silver, horse hair, and antique coral. This collection of tribal work is based on Kathleen Dustin’s familiarity with ethnic jewelry from her nine years of living overseas and her extensive travels around the world. Hand-worked texture is the overriding technique in this piece. Take a look at Kathleen’s Pinterest board to see her abstract series that uses translucent layering techniques that resemble enamel on metal. She is creating pieces that reflect how all the fragments of our lives – prosperity, pain, crises, good times – come together to make something beautiful as a whole. Her work is influenced by the work of many abstract artists as well.
Again “there’s nothing new under the sun;” this style of jewelry dates back thousands of years. The commonality in motifs of primitive indigenous cultures is apparent. Compare Vicki Grant’s work on this Pinterest board with the African Protective Amulet Man’s Necklace made with leather, silk, and pigments. If you are in need of some serious style inspiration, take a look at these tribal designs for a fresh new look at graphic influences that have stood the test of time.
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.
