The Faux Enamel Options
May 16, 2013 Inspirational Art
First, because people are waiting to hear, we’d like to announce that the winner of the Sample Cosmic Ceramic project is … Karen Donald! Congrats!
Thank you all for chiming in on the faux versus variation question and taking part in the giveaway. I’m going to line up more giveaways so we can do this regularly. Write me with any suggestions for things you’d like me to try to get for these contests. Or if you’re a retailer of any kind and have something you’d like to giveaway from your shop, let me know. Write me directly at sbray@thepolymerarts.com
So … it would be remiss of me this week not to bring up what may be the faux techniques most widely experimented with when it comes to emulating other art forms–enamel. The common approach usually involves liquid polymer and alcohol inks and/or mica powders. The challenge tends to be in creating a base that has borders and/or channels to hold in and control the faux enamel. And there are a lot of different approaches for this.
At the beginning of the month, we visited Eugena’s artwork … she uses wire as her loose borders. It’s a gorgeous effect. It does take precision and patience, well worth the work, but isn’t for everyone. My favorite is the wax impression technique (See the Winter 2011 issue of The Polymer Arts magazine for the tutorial on this) because carving the wax to create the negative design has endless possibilities and there is nothing I’ve found that allows finer detail. But if you want to try something more straight forward, take a look at these “molds” cut into erasers and clay by Madrid’s Fabi.
She briefly explains the process on her Flickr page (although I think it was sent through a translator as it has some ‘interesting’ terms.) The advantage of erasers is the crispness of the lines although curves have to be more difficult to cut. I think her “gouging” tools must be engraving tools. You can get an inexpensive set at art and craft stores if you want to get into this. They can be used to easily cut into cured clay for other effects as well.
One of the things I wonder is whether we have really pushed faux enamel enough. I think there are possibilities, especially with the translucent clays, that we haven’t really seen. I’ve been playing with an idea myself but it’s not quite ready for prime time. However, tomorrow I am going to show you an artist that I think will knock your socks off, not just because it’s gorgeous work but because of the possibilities it shows us as polymer artists. She worked in real enamel and metal but the way it’s done, it actually reminds me of polymer and could be done in a way that would really push what we do with faux enamel right now. Intrigued? Well, tune in tomorrow …
Cloisonne Like No Other
May 1, 2013 Inspirational Art
Faux Cloisonne is not a new technique at all in polymer but there are at least a dozen ways to do it. Even then, within each approach there are very definite choices that become the signature of the artists who have chosen to work extensively with it. Below is a piece by a fairly well-known and, I think easily recognized artist (or maybe I’ve just been admiring this person’s work for ages!). Eugena Topina sells tutorials for this technique as well as having provided the basics in an issue of Polymer Cafe many years ago but as beautiful as this technique is, you don’t really see its likeness anywhere.
I’ve been sitting here trying to figure out how to say what I want to say next in a sensitive manner but I’m not sure there is a way. I brought up Eugena’s work because I wanted to address the worry that some artists have of being copied. My first thought on this subject is always about why one would worry about being copied. If it directly impacts your ability to gain income from your art, that is somewhat understandable but the fact is, you will put your art out there to be seen at some point and if it is well received, others will try their hand at it. There’s no way around that. My second thought is, if you have developed your own unique voice as an artist, there is no way anyone will be able to copy you so that what they do will be mistaken for yours. The third thought … do what you do so well, no one else can copy you, not in any direct manner.
Eugena’s approach to cloisonne is very precise, her colors are bold and bright and her finish looks flawless. She also tends towards flora and fauna in her imagery. This combination of approach, skill and imagery marks her work and makes her pieces easily recognizable. Even with all her information out there on how to do what she does, you don’t see work like hers by other artists. I think she’s simply done it so well, no one can touch her. So if you have a technique, design approach or form that you want to really push as your own, perfect it. Invest time in developing it to its full potential so when you do put it out there, you are setting a very high bar for those who want to emulate what you do. This will give you a solid position and the kind of recognition that does give you income making opportunities in being able to teach it as well as sell it.
Your other option for keeping people from copying you … develop your original, very individual artistic voice. We’ll touch on ideas about how to do that in tomorrow’s post along with a stunning example to draw from.
The other thing about people copying your work … if they do, it’s not only a compliment but an opportunity. Christi Friesen lives off the fact that so many people try and emulate her work.
Inspiration Coming Down the Line
December 13, 2012 Inspirational Art
We work in a very considerate community. There is much credit given to the artists who inspire us, and on Flickr and various blogs, clayers eagerly list the artists whose techniques they are practicing or who they drew their approach from.
This pendant, by Zuzana (Verundela on Flickr) of the Czech Republic, looks to be a combination of influences as well as materials. I would not call the liberal use of mica powders, embedding watch gears and wire into clay, and topping off a piece with resin unusual, but these approaches all came from somewhere else. Or at least they do not often come to us in a moment of pure, uninfluenced flash of genius. Even when we are not aware of it, other artists bring their influence to us by creative osmosis.
Here, however, we get a glimpse of the influential creative trail. Zuzana gives credit for this piece to Sabine Spiesser of Australia for the rather celestial looking faux enamel and wire work. But if you wander off into Sabine’s Flickr pages (papagodesigns), you’ll find she credits her faux cloisonne work to Eugena Topina of Maryland here in the US. Eugena’s wire bordered faux cloisonne enamel was one of the first tutorials I ever attempted to follow back in the days when I was expanding myself beyond the basics. The technique has been around for a while, but credit is still being considerately passed on. I also really like how global this influence can be … bouncing across the globe from the US to Australia to Eastern Europe. That is the wonderful thing about being an international community and a community very big on sharing and helping each other grow.
First, because people are waiting to hear, we’d like to announce that the winner of the Sample Cosmic Ceramic project is … Karen Donald! Congrats!
Thank you all for chiming in on the faux versus variation question and taking part in the giveaway. I’m going to line up more giveaways so we can do this regularly. Write me with any suggestions for things you’d like me to try to get for these contests. Or if you’re a retailer of any kind and have something you’d like to giveaway from your shop, let me know. Write me directly at sbray@thepolymerarts.com
So … it would be remiss of me this week not to bring up what may be the faux techniques most widely experimented with when it comes to emulating other art forms–enamel. The common approach usually involves liquid polymer and alcohol inks and/or mica powders. The challenge tends to be in creating a base that has borders and/or channels to hold in and control the faux enamel. And there are a lot of different approaches for this.
At the beginning of the month, we visited Eugena’s artwork … she uses wire as her loose borders. It’s a gorgeous effect. It does take precision and patience, well worth the work, but isn’t for everyone. My favorite is the wax impression technique (See the Winter 2011 issue of The Polymer Arts magazine for the tutorial on this) because carving the wax to create the negative design has endless possibilities and there is nothing I’ve found that allows finer detail. But if you want to try something more straight forward, take a look at these “molds” cut into erasers and clay by Madrid’s Fabi.
She briefly explains the process on her Flickr page (although I think it was sent through a translator as it has some ‘interesting’ terms.) The advantage of erasers is the crispness of the lines although curves have to be more difficult to cut. I think her “gouging” tools must be engraving tools. You can get an inexpensive set at art and craft stores if you want to get into this. They can be used to easily cut into cured clay for other effects as well.
One of the things I wonder is whether we have really pushed faux enamel enough. I think there are possibilities, especially with the translucent clays, that we haven’t really seen. I’ve been playing with an idea myself but it’s not quite ready for prime time. However, tomorrow I am going to show you an artist that I think will knock your socks off, not just because it’s gorgeous work but because of the possibilities it shows us as polymer artists. She worked in real enamel and metal but the way it’s done, it actually reminds me of polymer and could be done in a way that would really push what we do with faux enamel right now. Intrigued? Well, tune in tomorrow …
Read MoreFaux Cloisonne is not a new technique at all in polymer but there are at least a dozen ways to do it. Even then, within each approach there are very definite choices that become the signature of the artists who have chosen to work extensively with it. Below is a piece by a fairly well-known and, I think easily recognized artist (or maybe I’ve just been admiring this person’s work for ages!). Eugena Topina sells tutorials for this technique as well as having provided the basics in an issue of Polymer Cafe many years ago but as beautiful as this technique is, you don’t really see its likeness anywhere.
I’ve been sitting here trying to figure out how to say what I want to say next in a sensitive manner but I’m not sure there is a way. I brought up Eugena’s work because I wanted to address the worry that some artists have of being copied. My first thought on this subject is always about why one would worry about being copied. If it directly impacts your ability to gain income from your art, that is somewhat understandable but the fact is, you will put your art out there to be seen at some point and if it is well received, others will try their hand at it. There’s no way around that. My second thought is, if you have developed your own unique voice as an artist, there is no way anyone will be able to copy you so that what they do will be mistaken for yours. The third thought … do what you do so well, no one else can copy you, not in any direct manner.
Eugena’s approach to cloisonne is very precise, her colors are bold and bright and her finish looks flawless. She also tends towards flora and fauna in her imagery. This combination of approach, skill and imagery marks her work and makes her pieces easily recognizable. Even with all her information out there on how to do what she does, you don’t see work like hers by other artists. I think she’s simply done it so well, no one can touch her. So if you have a technique, design approach or form that you want to really push as your own, perfect it. Invest time in developing it to its full potential so when you do put it out there, you are setting a very high bar for those who want to emulate what you do. This will give you a solid position and the kind of recognition that does give you income making opportunities in being able to teach it as well as sell it.
Your other option for keeping people from copying you … develop your original, very individual artistic voice. We’ll touch on ideas about how to do that in tomorrow’s post along with a stunning example to draw from.
The other thing about people copying your work … if they do, it’s not only a compliment but an opportunity. Christi Friesen lives off the fact that so many people try and emulate her work.
Read MoreWe work in a very considerate community. There is much credit given to the artists who inspire us, and on Flickr and various blogs, clayers eagerly list the artists whose techniques they are practicing or who they drew their approach from.
This pendant, by Zuzana (Verundela on Flickr) of the Czech Republic, looks to be a combination of influences as well as materials. I would not call the liberal use of mica powders, embedding watch gears and wire into clay, and topping off a piece with resin unusual, but these approaches all came from somewhere else. Or at least they do not often come to us in a moment of pure, uninfluenced flash of genius. Even when we are not aware of it, other artists bring their influence to us by creative osmosis.
Here, however, we get a glimpse of the influential creative trail. Zuzana gives credit for this piece to Sabine Spiesser of Australia for the rather celestial looking faux enamel and wire work. But if you wander off into Sabine’s Flickr pages (papagodesigns), you’ll find she credits her faux cloisonne work to Eugena Topina of Maryland here in the US. Eugena’s wire bordered faux cloisonne enamel was one of the first tutorials I ever attempted to follow back in the days when I was expanding myself beyond the basics. The technique has been around for a while, but credit is still being considerately passed on. I also really like how global this influence can be … bouncing across the globe from the US to Australia to Eastern Europe. That is the wonderful thing about being an international community and a community very big on sharing and helping each other grow.
Read More