Spring is Almost Here …
February 1, 2016
Inspirational Art
… not that you can tell by the weather! But we are doing our best to get you a bit of Spring by the end of February. Here is your first peek at the next issue of The Polymer Arts, Spring 2016 – Convergence. The issue is set to come out around March 1st.
Gracing our cover is the fabulous Fabiola Periz Ajates, otherwise known as Fabi. And what a fitting name. These brooches give you an idea of some of the articles and eye candy you’ll see in this mixed media, yet polymer-centric, issue. We’ve been trying for a while to do mixed media again, but we had to wait until we had the best ideas and great artists to share them and we really think we do.
Articles you can look forward to include:
- Focal Convergence: Composing with Focal Points
- Converging Clays: Create Metal Clay & Polymer
- Found Fusion: Working with Found Objects
- Fold, Cut, Shred, and Clay: Exploring Paper & Polymer
- All Knotted Up: Polymer & Micro Macrame Designs
- When is a Technique Ready to Share?
- The Best Camera for You and Your Art
- The Perfect Cure: The Final Word on Time & Temperature
- Training Your Artistic Eye
- Convergence at Ravensdale, 20 Years Later
- … and so much more!
I am off today for a family gathering so we are going to get a breather from the challenges today, but I will be back with one on Wed!
___________________________________________
Like this blog? Lend your support with a purchase of The Polymer Arts magazine and visit our partners:
___________________________________________
One Idea, Many Minds
July 16, 2014
Inspirational Art
If you are ever in need of an inspiring push to get out of a creative rut, the classroom is the place to go, especially those that encourage variation in the end result. Fabiola Perez Ajates, (known simply as Fabi) encourages a broad range of expression in her classes, and she photographs and posts collages of them on her wonderful blog Con Tus Manos (With Two Hands). Just last week she posted many shots like these of her students’ little trinket bowls.
It’s obvious that Fabi encourages brave color combinations and individual ideas. Take a close look at the various choices the students made. The pieces are basically the same form, but color, textures, canes and the sculptural additions such as stands or handles are all handled quite differently. Find some applications that you like, and ask yourself if you could aim for something like that in some of your creative endeavors. Seeing the wide open possibilities in a group of unique, creative minds can really stretch your own creativity.
You can also see how she uses collaged images to promote her classes in this post here. If you want to skip the blog information (it has to be translated from the Spanish if you don’t speak it), you can see many of these same images on Fabi’s Flickr pages.
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.
Concept in Composition
September 7, 2013
Inspirational Art
This was actually the first piece I found that made me go “Oh wow! I don’t think I’ve seen anything quite like this in polymer!” Well, it’s not all polymer, but I still thought it was a wonderful piece by a primarily polymer artist with a composition worth talking about. This container was created by the ingenious Fabiola Perez Ajates, simply known to most people as Fabi.
The body of this piece is actually paper-paper streamers, to be exact. Many streamers, rolled up tightly into a disc, then pressed from the center to expand into tapered shapes like this one here. What I enjoy so much about this piece is that it is a container, but on top these random red balls are emerging and escaping down the side of a vessel made for holding things. It’s a nice ironic juxtaposition between the function of the objects and the imagery. The top of the paper lid, indented and tilted as well as being inherently striped, also makes it feel like the balls were spinning in the concavity before being spilled out, so there is quite the sense of moment with these very simple additions to the paper shape.
Fabi is another explorer-type artist. She has quite the collection and variety of work on her blog and Flicker pages.
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 …
… not that you can tell by the weather! But we are doing our best to get you a bit of Spring by the end of February. Here is your first peek at the next issue of The Polymer Arts, Spring 2016 – Convergence. The issue is set to come out around March 1st.
Gracing our cover is the fabulous Fabiola Periz Ajates, otherwise known as Fabi. And what a fitting name. These brooches give you an idea of some of the articles and eye candy you’ll see in this mixed media, yet polymer-centric, issue. We’ve been trying for a while to do mixed media again, but we had to wait until we had the best ideas and great artists to share them and we really think we do.
Articles you can look forward to include:
- Focal Convergence: Composing with Focal Points
- Converging Clays: Create Metal Clay & Polymer
- Found Fusion: Working with Found Objects
- Fold, Cut, Shred, and Clay: Exploring Paper & Polymer
- All Knotted Up: Polymer & Micro Macrame Designs
- When is a Technique Ready to Share?
- The Best Camera for You and Your Art
- The Perfect Cure: The Final Word on Time & Temperature
- Training Your Artistic Eye
- Convergence at Ravensdale, 20 Years Later
- … and so much more!
I am off today for a family gathering so we are going to get a breather from the challenges today, but I will be back with one on Wed!
___________________________________________
Like this blog? Lend your support with a purchase of The Polymer Arts magazine and visit our partners:
___________________________________________
Read MoreIf you are ever in need of an inspiring push to get out of a creative rut, the classroom is the place to go, especially those that encourage variation in the end result. Fabiola Perez Ajates, (known simply as Fabi) encourages a broad range of expression in her classes, and she photographs and posts collages of them on her wonderful blog Con Tus Manos (With Two Hands). Just last week she posted many shots like these of her students’ little trinket bowls.
It’s obvious that Fabi encourages brave color combinations and individual ideas. Take a close look at the various choices the students made. The pieces are basically the same form, but color, textures, canes and the sculptural additions such as stands or handles are all handled quite differently. Find some applications that you like, and ask yourself if you could aim for something like that in some of your creative endeavors. Seeing the wide open possibilities in a group of unique, creative minds can really stretch your own creativity.
You can also see how she uses collaged images to promote her classes in this post here. If you want to skip the blog information (it has to be translated from the Spanish if you don’t speak it), you can see many of these same images on Fabi’s Flickr pages.
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.
This was actually the first piece I found that made me go “Oh wow! I don’t think I’ve seen anything quite like this in polymer!” Well, it’s not all polymer, but I still thought it was a wonderful piece by a primarily polymer artist with a composition worth talking about. This container was created by the ingenious Fabiola Perez Ajates, simply known to most people as Fabi.
The body of this piece is actually paper-paper streamers, to be exact. Many streamers, rolled up tightly into a disc, then pressed from the center to expand into tapered shapes like this one here. What I enjoy so much about this piece is that it is a container, but on top these random red balls are emerging and escaping down the side of a vessel made for holding things. It’s a nice ironic juxtaposition between the function of the objects and the imagery. The top of the paper lid, indented and tilted as well as being inherently striped, also makes it feel like the balls were spinning in the concavity before being spilled out, so there is quite the sense of moment with these very simple additions to the paper shape.
Fabi is another explorer-type artist. She has quite the collection and variety of work on her blog and Flicker pages.
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 More