Taking the Disk Challenge
August 12, 2015
Inspirational Art
I just had to share this because these creations by Debbie Crothers were a direct result of the pieces posted on this past Friday’s blog. Do you recall those gorgeous glass beads by Debbie Sanders? And my mental meanderings about how cool something like this would be in polymer? Well … ta-da!, Debbie took on Debbie and created polymer versions, and I have to say they are just luscious.
Our dear Deb is such an explorer. These beads are just one in many recent experiments she’s shared on her Facebook page and blog. If you are a lover of visual, organic textures, take a look at her recent “what-if” beads you see here too. I don’t know what she put on these, but they’re entrancing in their variation of color and forms. Jump over to her post on her what-if day in the studio to see more. 
Debbie also released her latest Craft Art Edu class on image transfers. There must be something out there in the ether that is pushing us towards image transfers because we also have an article on image transfer in the soon-to-be-released Fall 2015 issue of The Polymer Arts. Deb’s class uses pre-printed laser prints, waterslide images, and temporary tattoo applications while the tutorial in the upcoming TPA issue explores inkjet print transfer created on plain paper (yes, just regular old white copy paper) and photo paper. They both have their pros and cons, so you’d have to check them out to see which you might want to play with.
Pre-order your copy of the Fall 2015 issue on the website, and you can preview Debbie’s class on Craft Art Edu by just clicking on the window you find there.
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.
Outside Inspiration: Cosmic Dots
August 23, 2013
Inspirational Art
In searching for dot-focused art for today’s Outside Inspiration, I found that, outside of textiles and glass blowing, polymer seems to be one of the most dot-obsessed crafts. This strikes me as maybe a little odd, because it seems just as easy to create dots in the form of holes and inlay in so many other crafts. Maybe we just like to talk about our dots, and so search engines are able to gather more of them. But in any case, I did actually come across a silversmith with a great appreciation and fondness for dots — cutting holes and inlaying, as well as the applied dimensional dots we are so fond of.
Abi Cochran of SilverSpirals works with her dots in an organic and gorgeously colored manner at that. She crafted the piece here in silver (I think silver clay, as she mentions it’s what she primarily works with), used gold for the dimensional dots, then added resin in a glass enameled fashion to compliment the focal opal in this cosmic-style pendant.
In other pieces of Abi’s, semi-precious stones become the dots that accent her work, or she uses granulation to add small grains of metal for her surface design (see the first issue of The Polymer Arts, Fall 2011 for a faux granulation technique, along with other faux metal approaches). You could spend a lovely break from work or during your downtime this evening looking through her site or checking out the close-ups of her work on her Facebook page. Just a suggestion!
Crafting with Light: Hollow Faux Glass Beads
July 10, 2012
Inspirational Art
Kathrin Neumaier of Germany has been focused on translucents for well over a year now using layered translucent clay and liquid polymer to create a glass effect. Her work has a natural feel to them, like they might be something you would find washed up on the beach. But the simple elegance of the forms also makes me think they could be something you’d pull out of long forgotten collection of odds and ends in an old relative’s attic. Regardless, they are intriguing, not only because as polymer artsits we know this effect is not easy to achieve but because the forms rely on light to create interest.
The translucent hollow forms bounces light around and through the forms giving pieces like these simple earrings an enticing liveliness. This is the kind of thing we emphasized in The Polymer Arts’ Spring 2012 article “Design Beyond Form” where we talked about using light in the composition of your piece. Using glass (or faux glass), reflective surfaces, and shimmering texture can add that extra dimension that allows your piece to play with the light in the room–an element that changes based on the viewer’s position or, in terms of jewelry and adornment, the wearer’s movement. How cool is that?
I just had to share this because these creations by Debbie Crothers were a direct result of the pieces posted on this past Friday’s blog. Do you recall those gorgeous glass beads by Debbie Sanders? And my mental meanderings about how cool something like this would be in polymer? Well … ta-da!, Debbie took on Debbie and created polymer versions, and I have to say they are just luscious.
Our dear Deb is such an explorer. These beads are just one in many recent experiments she’s shared on her Facebook page and blog. If you are a lover of visual, organic textures, take a look at her recent “what-if” beads you see here too. I don’t know what she put on these, but they’re entrancing in their variation of color and forms. Jump over to her post on her what-if day in the studio to see more.
Debbie also released her latest Craft Art Edu class on image transfers. There must be something out there in the ether that is pushing us towards image transfers because we also have an article on image transfer in the soon-to-be-released Fall 2015 issue of The Polymer Arts. Deb’s class uses pre-printed laser prints, waterslide images, and temporary tattoo applications while the tutorial in the upcoming TPA issue explores inkjet print transfer created on plain paper (yes, just regular old white copy paper) and photo paper. They both have their pros and cons, so you’d have to check them out to see which you might want to play with.
Pre-order your copy of the Fall 2015 issue on the website, and you can preview Debbie’s class on Craft Art Edu by just clicking on the window you find there.
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.
In searching for dot-focused art for today’s Outside Inspiration, I found that, outside of textiles and glass blowing, polymer seems to be one of the most dot-obsessed crafts. This strikes me as maybe a little odd, because it seems just as easy to create dots in the form of holes and inlay in so many other crafts. Maybe we just like to talk about our dots, and so search engines are able to gather more of them. But in any case, I did actually come across a silversmith with a great appreciation and fondness for dots — cutting holes and inlaying, as well as the applied dimensional dots we are so fond of.
Abi Cochran of SilverSpirals works with her dots in an organic and gorgeously colored manner at that. She crafted the piece here in silver (I think silver clay, as she mentions it’s what she primarily works with), used gold for the dimensional dots, then added resin in a glass enameled fashion to compliment the focal opal in this cosmic-style pendant.
In other pieces of Abi’s, semi-precious stones become the dots that accent her work, or she uses granulation to add small grains of metal for her surface design (see the first issue of The Polymer Arts, Fall 2011 for a faux granulation technique, along with other faux metal approaches). You could spend a lovely break from work or during your downtime this evening looking through her site or checking out the close-ups of her work on her Facebook page. Just a suggestion!
Kathrin Neumaier of Germany has been focused on translucents for well over a year now using layered translucent clay and liquid polymer to create a glass effect. Her work has a natural feel to them, like they might be something you would find washed up on the beach. But the simple elegance of the forms also makes me think they could be something you’d pull out of long forgotten collection of odds and ends in an old relative’s attic. Regardless, they are intriguing, not only because as polymer artsits we know this effect is not easy to achieve but because the forms rely on light to create interest.
The translucent hollow forms bounces light around and through the forms giving pieces like these simple earrings an enticing liveliness. This is the kind of thing we emphasized in The Polymer Arts’ Spring 2012 article “Design Beyond Form” where we talked about using light in the composition of your piece. Using glass (or faux glass), reflective surfaces, and shimmering texture can add that extra dimension that allows your piece to play with the light in the room–an element that changes based on the viewer’s position or, in terms of jewelry and adornment, the wearer’s movement. How cool is that?
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