Repeating Yourself
January 29, 2016
Inspirational Art
It’s been a week of seeing something new in something you already have in front of you, and I have been having a lot of fun with the ideas while readers have been getting quite a kick out of what we’ve been sharing. So, let’s do this one more time, but with a twist. Let’s try out repetition and pattern.
Nature is full of repeated elements all brought together to create beautiful and perfectly formed patterns. If you follow nature’s guidelines, you can take any form or element and make it in the same or graduating sizes and repeat them side-by-side, over-lapping, sitting on top of one another, or all in a row. The formation is not as important to these beautiful patterns as the precision and consistency of form and placement. Apparently, an artichoke suggested the placement of the beautiful pieces that make up this necklace by Eva Ehmeier. Or maybe she created them and it made her think of artichokes. But the natural repetitive element is there, echoing that recognizable natural beauty.
This technique of layered, folded, and repeated elements has been a common approach of Eva’s in years past and she has plenty of examples of it on her Flickr photostream and her website.
Inspirational Challenge of the Day: Find a natural repeated pattern that intrigues you and try recreating the pattern using a favorite element. Nature has patterns everywhere. You might find yours in your fridge, a garden, on a hiking path, or something you see at the zoo. Recreate the pattern, not what you were inspired by. You don’t need an element that will recreate the look of that turtle shell, just something that can be fitted together in a regular pattern, like the hexagonal sections of the shell do. Or layer your favorite bright blue and purple canes slices in that similar overlay pattern you found in a pine cone you picked up. Try to see only the pattern and bring that into the studio or your sketchbook.
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Layer, Cut, Roll, Repeat and … Wow
February 4, 2013
Inspirational Art
Repeating elements can add such energy to a piece. Especially if you push the elements just a little and add some contrast to make it pop.
Here Eva Ehmeier uses her small layered and rolled elements repeated across a donut form to create a piece that almost looks alive. I don’t think it would have quite the impact if it weren’t for the little details each element has … the subtle stripes in the purple layers, the layering you can see in the sides of the elements and that yellow boldly peeking out from within the rolls. The deep texture these elements create are contrasted with a silver band following the same form. I’m not sure the texture on the silver was needed but the contrast of materials really makes the polymer stand out and adds elegance.
If you work with repeated elements a lot (or would like to) how can you add extra interest to the elements themselves? Its something to ponder.
And if you are intrigued by the possibilities of using layered edges, make sure you get a copy of our Spring issue of The Polymer Arts due out on the 18th of this month. Susan O’Neill offers a plethora of ideas on using visual and structural aspects of layering in polymer. It’s great stuff.
It’s been a week of seeing something new in something you already have in front of you, and I have been having a lot of fun with the ideas while readers have been getting quite a kick out of what we’ve been sharing. So, let’s do this one more time, but with a twist. Let’s try out repetition and pattern.
Nature is full of repeated elements all brought together to create beautiful and perfectly formed patterns. If you follow nature’s guidelines, you can take any form or element and make it in the same or graduating sizes and repeat them side-by-side, over-lapping, sitting on top of one another, or all in a row. The formation is not as important to these beautiful patterns as the precision and consistency of form and placement. Apparently, an artichoke suggested the placement of the beautiful pieces that make up this necklace by Eva Ehmeier. Or maybe she created them and it made her think of artichokes. But the natural repetitive element is there, echoing that recognizable natural beauty.
This technique of layered, folded, and repeated elements has been a common approach of Eva’s in years past and she has plenty of examples of it on her Flickr photostream and her website.
Inspirational Challenge of the Day: Find a natural repeated pattern that intrigues you and try recreating the pattern using a favorite element. Nature has patterns everywhere. You might find yours in your fridge, a garden, on a hiking path, or something you see at the zoo. Recreate the pattern, not what you were inspired by. You don’t need an element that will recreate the look of that turtle shell, just something that can be fitted together in a regular pattern, like the hexagonal sections of the shell do. Or layer your favorite bright blue and purple canes slices in that similar overlay pattern you found in a pine cone you picked up. Try to see only the pattern and bring that into the studio or your sketchbook.
___________________________________________
Like this blog? Lend your support with a purchase of The Polymer Arts magazine and visit our partners:
___________________________________________
Read MoreRepeating elements can add such energy to a piece. Especially if you push the elements just a little and add some contrast to make it pop.
Here Eva Ehmeier uses her small layered and rolled elements repeated across a donut form to create a piece that almost looks alive. I don’t think it would have quite the impact if it weren’t for the little details each element has … the subtle stripes in the purple layers, the layering you can see in the sides of the elements and that yellow boldly peeking out from within the rolls. The deep texture these elements create are contrasted with a silver band following the same form. I’m not sure the texture on the silver was needed but the contrast of materials really makes the polymer stand out and adds elegance.
If you work with repeated elements a lot (or would like to) how can you add extra interest to the elements themselves? Its something to ponder.
And if you are intrigued by the possibilities of using layered edges, make sure you get a copy of our Spring issue of The Polymer Arts due out on the 18th of this month. Susan O’Neill offers a plethora of ideas on using visual and structural aspects of layering in polymer. It’s great stuff.
Read More