Almost Ancient
June 29, 2015
Inspirational Art
The obvious visual signs of age have been at the center of many conversations I’ve had this week. Many of us try very hard to cover up the signs of aging in ourselves because we don’t think they are considered beautiful. But I, for one, think the visual changes that come with age and being well-used can be quite beautiful. I do admit that I prefer to see these marks on inanimate objects rather than on myself, but even the soft wrinkles beneath the eyes and the laugh lines on the face have an inviting texture. They show we have lived and laughed; that we got out and lived our lives. That we have stories to tell.
I do believe that same feeling–that there are stories where we see age and change–is why we are drawn to old items and why we enjoy the aged faux looks we can achieve in polymer. This necklace here by Staci Louise is a kind of faux ceramic, but both the forms and the crackling affect make the set feel like something almost ancient. Doesn’t it make you want to hear the history of the civilization that bore these? And have a chance to ask about the significance of the beads, and where they got their color?
Luckily, the creator is not from some distant past, but is alive and well today. Staci even has a tutorial for her technique. Find it in her Etsy shop after you drop by her blog to see how she transforms white clay into these spectacular beads.
If you like this blog, support The Polymer Arts projects with a subscription or an issue of The Polymer Arts magazine, as well as by supporting our advertising partners.
Salted Old Beads
January 24, 2015
Inspirational Art, Technique tutorials
Has this week’s selection of faux ancient and old art got you thinking about ways to create more of that look in your own work? The techniques used to create these looks can be applied to a variety of forms and even be reinvented using brighter colors and not-so-old-looking contrasting textures and finishes. Searching for something fun and easy to get you started on that track, if you haven’t already, I found this delightfully easy and highly textural tutorial for you.
The blog post with this tutorial is originally in Russian, but I’ll send you to the the translated to English version here. It’s really pretty well laid out in the photos, and the steps are simple but with a beautiful and sophisticated result, as can be seen in the necklace Russia’s Katerina Sidorova designed from her technique. The layering of the clay is an ingenious way of adding that additional color for the aged look since it will show on the ends and wherever the salt digs through the very thin top layer to the colors underneath. So no additional painting or other color is needed. Pretty neat.
Katerina is the shop owner at Russia’s online polymer and jewelry supply shop, KalinkaPolinka, and for what I think must be wholesale or at least bulk-buying, Kalinka-Pro. If you are on that side of the globe, it is a shop well worth checking out. But for everyone everywhere, she has a great page on her website of articles, free tutorials and links to other tutorials that would be a great starting point for other new avenues to explore.
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.
Degraded Discs
January 22, 2015
Inspirational Art
This bit of inspired faux old art has more to do with the disintegration of materials than any past culture. The material it emulates could be seen as stone or sap or bone, but it long ago degraded into something soft and well-weathered. The texture and colors are simple but lovely in their organic connection.
I found these on an Etsy shop called @Logan Square. The artisan only identifies herself as Kristin. She does have some interesting words to explain where her textures come from and how she sees her beads:
“Each bead is unique, created by impressions taken from found objects. These objects come from my collection of plant forms, drift wood and pebbles from Lake Michigan, fossils and shells, as well as copper etchings of digital patterns I’ve created (I call these my digital “runes”) … my beads are fantasy fossils and relics.”
Take a look at her shop and the other wonderful textures she has there, especially her banner; she identifies the impressions made in those beads as being from “walnut seed, crayfish claws, fish vertebrae, digital runes, swordfish skull bones, and weathered concrete.” Wow. I would say no texture is safe from being used in this polymer work!
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.
Mandalas Well Used
January 20, 2015
Inspirational Art
I think part of the draw to old and well-used (or abused) items is that the scars and wear give us a peek into a hidden past. The object may have been many places, been handled by many hands and may have taken part in a an adventure or two. It’s hard, especially for those of us with wild imaginations, not to consider and maybe even fill out some of the secret pasts of an object. It can be rather thrilling to imagine actually.
That is what drew me to Danna Gussman’s piece here. The pendant seems somewhat like an ancient compass, clock or just a talisman for a secret organization that has been in existence for hundreds of years. Their leader would wear this during their ceremonies, but it would remain hidden in a stone box otherwise. It got those scrapes and scratches from its travels in that box and from the handling of it over so many years. Or so my imagination decided. But that’s just me. What do you see?
Danna refers to this as a geometric mandala. Her pieces are highly geometric and so very precise, and yet they do feel spiritual rather than being simply decorative. You can see what I mean by taking a look at other piece she has in her Etsy shop.
On a very un-polymer related note, there is an amazing book by Anne Proulx called Accordion Crimes that is about the journey of a single accordion and all that happens in the lives that surrounded it for a century. It was a mesmerizing tale, but, moreso, I think it made me see old objects a bit differently because it made me more fully consider what any one object may ‘see’ in its journeys. Being able to imagine the stories can help you develop your designs by creating the narrative behind them. Imagining a piece having a story can help steer the design choices you make. And it’s also quite fun!
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.
Old Stories, New Faces
January 19, 2015
Inspirational Art
So since I spent all last week aiming to introduce you to something new, I thought this week we could do something “old.” Not that I would bore you with old techniques or things you’ve seen a million times — but how about old looks, as in antiqued or ancient, while meeting new faces we haven’t seen on the blog before? Well, that will be my aim this week.
Ancient, antique, patina, aged, degraded, worn out and rough … these looks are hot in many markets right now. If you have a penchant for anything of that sort and you are looking for some new looks for your line of sellable art, you might just want to consider playing with some of those faux old techniques and looks.
Here is the work of an artist I’ve followed for a while now, due to the way her pieces seem to embody some mysterious tale. Lisa Renner makes very distinct art dolls, books, jewelry, sculpture and wall art, much of which is in a mixed media arena. Most all of her work has an old or ancient feel to it but nothing that can be pinned down to any one type of technique or period influence. What I decided to share of hers is not on her website or any site I could readily find, but there is something about this faux ivory pendant that makes me want to ask about its story. It looks like something that has been beaten and well worn, with embellishments that might have been added at different points in time, if it had been an ancient piece of jewelry. There is so much subtle complexity here to explore: cracks, impressions, gouges, random beads. One can spend a lot of time pondering it.
I would heavily encourage you to take some time exploring her portfolio on her website. If this is the first you’ve seen her work, this single piece does not do justice as an introduction to her artistry.
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.
Handworked Inros
January 22, 2014
Inspirational Art
When I saw this and several other pieces by jewelry artist Robin Ragsdale, I thought I’d found some quiet polymer artist, busy creating these handcrafted pieces in some cut off region of the world. It may be rather obvious what the alternative material is but it seems like people are having quite a bit of fun this week guessing so I won’t say quite yet. Take a guess what this is but challenge yourself and try to be specific. What do you think?
Robin is a metal artist but not of the sleek contemporary kind. The presence of a set of hands working the metal versus using machines or exacting tools makes the design and texture quite rich and timeless. This piece could be downright ancient. The metal used here is actually bronze and from conversations on Flickr it looks like it’s bronze metal clay. Don’t you love the multi-colored leather strands it hangs from as well? Just a little bit of added color takes it out of the realm of ancient and into the present without feeling out of place.
Robin’s Flickr pages are full of these thoughtfully crafted, could-be-polymer-faux metal pieces. Go enjoy exploring her work!
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.
The obvious visual signs of age have been at the center of many conversations I’ve had this week. Many of us try very hard to cover up the signs of aging in ourselves because we don’t think they are considered beautiful. But I, for one, think the visual changes that come with age and being well-used can be quite beautiful. I do admit that I prefer to see these marks on inanimate objects rather than on myself, but even the soft wrinkles beneath the eyes and the laugh lines on the face have an inviting texture. They show we have lived and laughed; that we got out and lived our lives. That we have stories to tell.
I do believe that same feeling–that there are stories where we see age and change–is why we are drawn to old items and why we enjoy the aged faux looks we can achieve in polymer. This necklace here by Staci Louise is a kind of faux ceramic, but both the forms and the crackling affect make the set feel like something almost ancient. Doesn’t it make you want to hear the history of the civilization that bore these? And have a chance to ask about the significance of the beads, and where they got their color?
Luckily, the creator is not from some distant past, but is alive and well today. Staci even has a tutorial for her technique. Find it in her Etsy shop after you drop by her blog to see how she transforms white clay into these spectacular beads.
If you like this blog, support The Polymer Arts projects with a subscription or an issue of The Polymer Arts magazine, as well as by supporting our advertising partners.
Has this week’s selection of faux ancient and old art got you thinking about ways to create more of that look in your own work? The techniques used to create these looks can be applied to a variety of forms and even be reinvented using brighter colors and not-so-old-looking contrasting textures and finishes. Searching for something fun and easy to get you started on that track, if you haven’t already, I found this delightfully easy and highly textural tutorial for you.
The blog post with this tutorial is originally in Russian, but I’ll send you to the the translated to English version here. It’s really pretty well laid out in the photos, and the steps are simple but with a beautiful and sophisticated result, as can be seen in the necklace Russia’s Katerina Sidorova designed from her technique. The layering of the clay is an ingenious way of adding that additional color for the aged look since it will show on the ends and wherever the salt digs through the very thin top layer to the colors underneath. So no additional painting or other color is needed. Pretty neat.
Katerina is the shop owner at Russia’s online polymer and jewelry supply shop, KalinkaPolinka, and for what I think must be wholesale or at least bulk-buying, Kalinka-Pro. If you are on that side of the globe, it is a shop well worth checking out. But for everyone everywhere, she has a great page on her website of articles, free tutorials and links to other tutorials that would be a great starting point for other new avenues to explore.
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 bit of inspired faux old art has more to do with the disintegration of materials than any past culture. The material it emulates could be seen as stone or sap or bone, but it long ago degraded into something soft and well-weathered. The texture and colors are simple but lovely in their organic connection.
I found these on an Etsy shop called @Logan Square. The artisan only identifies herself as Kristin. She does have some interesting words to explain where her textures come from and how she sees her beads:
“Each bead is unique, created by impressions taken from found objects. These objects come from my collection of plant forms, drift wood and pebbles from Lake Michigan, fossils and shells, as well as copper etchings of digital patterns I’ve created (I call these my digital “runes”) … my beads are fantasy fossils and relics.”
Take a look at her shop and the other wonderful textures she has there, especially her banner; she identifies the impressions made in those beads as being from “walnut seed, crayfish claws, fish vertebrae, digital runes, swordfish skull bones, and weathered concrete.” Wow. I would say no texture is safe from being used in this polymer work!
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.
I think part of the draw to old and well-used (or abused) items is that the scars and wear give us a peek into a hidden past. The object may have been many places, been handled by many hands and may have taken part in a an adventure or two. It’s hard, especially for those of us with wild imaginations, not to consider and maybe even fill out some of the secret pasts of an object. It can be rather thrilling to imagine actually.
That is what drew me to Danna Gussman’s piece here. The pendant seems somewhat like an ancient compass, clock or just a talisman for a secret organization that has been in existence for hundreds of years. Their leader would wear this during their ceremonies, but it would remain hidden in a stone box otherwise. It got those scrapes and scratches from its travels in that box and from the handling of it over so many years. Or so my imagination decided. But that’s just me. What do you see?
Danna refers to this as a geometric mandala. Her pieces are highly geometric and so very precise, and yet they do feel spiritual rather than being simply decorative. You can see what I mean by taking a look at other piece she has in her Etsy shop.
On a very un-polymer related note, there is an amazing book by Anne Proulx called Accordion Crimes that is about the journey of a single accordion and all that happens in the lives that surrounded it for a century. It was a mesmerizing tale, but, moreso, I think it made me see old objects a bit differently because it made me more fully consider what any one object may ‘see’ in its journeys. Being able to imagine the stories can help you develop your designs by creating the narrative behind them. Imagining a piece having a story can help steer the design choices you make. And it’s also quite fun!
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.
So since I spent all last week aiming to introduce you to something new, I thought this week we could do something “old.” Not that I would bore you with old techniques or things you’ve seen a million times — but how about old looks, as in antiqued or ancient, while meeting new faces we haven’t seen on the blog before? Well, that will be my aim this week.
Ancient, antique, patina, aged, degraded, worn out and rough … these looks are hot in many markets right now. If you have a penchant for anything of that sort and you are looking for some new looks for your line of sellable art, you might just want to consider playing with some of those faux old techniques and looks.
Here is the work of an artist I’ve followed for a while now, due to the way her pieces seem to embody some mysterious tale. Lisa Renner makes very distinct art dolls, books, jewelry, sculpture and wall art, much of which is in a mixed media arena. Most all of her work has an old or ancient feel to it but nothing that can be pinned down to any one type of technique or period influence. What I decided to share of hers is not on her website or any site I could readily find, but there is something about this faux ivory pendant that makes me want to ask about its story. It looks like something that has been beaten and well worn, with embellishments that might have been added at different points in time, if it had been an ancient piece of jewelry. There is so much subtle complexity here to explore: cracks, impressions, gouges, random beads. One can spend a lot of time pondering it.
I would heavily encourage you to take some time exploring her portfolio on her website. If this is the first you’ve seen her work, this single piece does not do justice as an introduction to her artistry.
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.
When I saw this and several other pieces by jewelry artist Robin Ragsdale, I thought I’d found some quiet polymer artist, busy creating these handcrafted pieces in some cut off region of the world. It may be rather obvious what the alternative material is but it seems like people are having quite a bit of fun this week guessing so I won’t say quite yet. Take a guess what this is but challenge yourself and try to be specific. What do you think?
Robin is a metal artist but not of the sleek contemporary kind. The presence of a set of hands working the metal versus using machines or exacting tools makes the design and texture quite rich and timeless. This piece could be downright ancient. The metal used here is actually bronze and from conversations on Flickr it looks like it’s bronze metal clay. Don’t you love the multi-colored leather strands it hangs from as well? Just a little bit of added color takes it out of the realm of ancient and into the present without feeling out of place.
Robin’s Flickr pages are full of these thoughtfully crafted, could-be-polymer-faux metal pieces. Go enjoy exploring her work!
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.
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