Movement takes Action … & the Giveaway winner
June 23, 2013
Ponderings, The Polymer Arts magazine news
In other words, do it rather than just think or talk about it, whatever it is. Perhaps you’ve been thinking of trying a new technique or form, sprucing up your Etsy site, starting a website or blog,or going to a workshop to hone your skills and boost your enthusiasm. Whatever it is, if you keep telling yourself you’re going to do it and haven’t, its time to stop and just do it. Do it now! Get on it, or schedule it out or buy what you need to get started. It will feel so good to take action.
Action was taken this past Monday when I asked for your help to spread the word about the magazine. I really appreciate all your enthusiasm and all of you for taking the time to post about the latest issue. Now to choose the winner of the giveaway:
So, to choose a winner for this giveaway, I use dice. Comments and emails are assigned a number from 11 on up according to when they came in and I roll two dice to get two digits for the winning number. This time … snake eyes! (An 11!) That means our very first comment and enthusiastic emissary of the digital flipbook, Sherrie Jo of Beary Tiny Treasures wins four print copies of her choice of The Polymer Arts. Congrats!
We’ll do more giveaways soon. They are certainly fun and I love getting your comments. Just keep reading and keep claying!
A Giveaway and Introduction to Movement This Week
June 17, 2013
Polymer community news, The Polymer Arts magazine news
This week I want to focus on the idea of movement in your artwork. Movement can be either a kinetic design (having parts that move as an integral part of the design), or a visual sense of movement. But before we move onto that, I’ve got a new little feature for you all.
Nearly every day I get an email, a card in the mail, pingbacks/notices or a comment on the blog with tips, ideas, thank yous for the blog and the magazine, as well as people who are just out promoting The Polymer Arts projects of their own accord. It’s hard to convey just how heart-warming and encouraging these notes and notices are to me, knowing that readers are taking time out of their busy lives to direct me to new information, help promote what we do here or just to let me know that TPA is making a difference. So I have this idea. Although I won’t be able to acknowledge everyone, I’d like to take time on at least one blog a week to bring these helpful and enthusiastic readers to your attention. It would be my way of saying thanks as well as helping show all you readers just how supportive this community can be. I hope seeing this will encourage you all to to reach out and add to that support or take advantage of it when you need help and encouragement.
This week, I want to give away four back issues (winner chooses any four in print, or digital if preferred) to one of our enthusiastic readers. I’ll draw a name from the folks who help spread the word about our latest issue, Summer 2013’s Mixing it Up, and the flipbook sampler that is now up on the website. This little flipbook has sample pages from the latest issue for those who haven’t decided to get their own copy yet. If you have a guild member site, a Facebook page, Twitter account, Pinterest board, or blog that you know polymer people watch, I’d be ever so grateful if you’d share this fun little teaser. There are several other flipbook sampler issues available on the same page on The Polymer Arts website. Just post this share-able link, www.thepolymerarts.com/SampleIssues.html, and/or right click and “save image” using the image below.
To get in on the drawing for the four back issues, email me or post a comment to this blog post with a link to where you posted the information. You’ll be helping encourage other aspiring polymer artists, as well as giving yourself a chance to gain any issues you might be missing in your collection. On Sunday, I’ll share some of these links and reveal the winning reader for the giveaway!
Be sure to check in tomorrow; we will investigate movement in polymer art for the rest of the week. We have some really beautiful and unusual pieces to share and hopefully inspire you with!
Joseph Barbaccia created his “foXstitch” piece as a proof of concept, which, if you’re not familiar with the term, means that he’s experimenting and there is no particular expectation of a completed piece. Now, who would think his process a waste of time, even though it’ may not become a finished piece? He says he’s not happy with the execution, but that just means that he can see ways to improve it. And he could only see that through what he learned in this process. And, yes, all those “stitches” are bits of polymer clay.
Do you know who said this:
“It’s not the destination, it’s the journey.”
Well, first of all, a lot of creative people! But specifically, this is a line in the book Self-Reliance by Ralph Waldo Emerson. Emerson was particularly good at appreciating the little things, especially the value of our true and unique experiences.
If you spend all day in the studio and don’t complete a single decent piece, or a successful part of a piece, do you feel like you wasted the day? I think we can all be disappointed when we don’t accomplish as much as we hoped to, but it’s never wasted time.
Every minute you spend at your studio table, no matter how long you’ve been working with the material, is a valuable experience, right? We are learning something new all the time, even if we don’t see it. We are honing our skills, solidifying our understanding, trying out new ideas, and finding out what doesn’t work, which can be more important than finding out what does work.
But the most valuable thing, I think, is the fact that we are sitting down for some quality time with ourselves and our thoughts, taking up the enormous challenge to make something from nothing, and forging ahead on a creative journey that will teach us things and give us memories that no one else and nothing else can provide. How common can such an experience be? Not that common, truly. We are some lucky ducks to have the creative time that we do.
Sure, having a successfully finished piece is such a high, but what comes after that? The journey’s over. Okay, that’s not quite true. The process of creating any piece is a short trip on a much bigger journey. But what is more valuable—the finished piece or the skills and knowledge acquired that will allow you to make that again, and probably even better?
Now, where is all this philosophical nattering coming from?
Well, this week, I had lots of starts and stops with my time at the polymer table and with my writing. Not only am I trying to get taxes done—that can really kill one’s creative vigor—but I’m on a new nutritional regimen which is making me a little foggy in the head. So, I’ve been a little frustrated. However, I realized that every night I go to bed, I think about what I did do that day, and, honestly, it’s just all too exciting to know there’s newly created bits on the studio table and new pages in my writing project. All in all, if I got to create something, it was a really good day.
So, if you can go to sleep at night with a little more knowledge and a bit more experience than you had when you woke up, that’s been a successful day. I know we can be anxious to finish things or can be disappointed by how little we produce, but unless our efforts need to put food on the table, let’s see if we can’t step back and not just appreciate but really learn to value our creative time for simply being our own precious, unique experience.
I mean, really, would you trade that time for anything?
Yay Giveaways!
So, I’m keeping this short since I’ve had a bit of a rough week but, as promised, I’m going to do some giveaways!
I have enough goodies here to give something away every weekend this month, so here’s what we’ll do this week:
Giveaway:
- Polyform’s Sculpey III clays in 7 new 2oz glitter colors, an 8oz Opal block, and a pack of their new jewelry templates.
- Or if outside the US, I have a $25 Tenth Muse certificate, not wanting to chance shipping clay outside the US.
How to Win:
- Put a comment in the blog comments* (below), telling us all what you appreciate most about your creative time. It can be one word or a story. I am just supercurious to hear what you love most about your studio table time. *It can take some time for the comment to appear since, due to annoying spamming, I have to approve it if you’ve not commented before.
- Giveaway winners will be chosen by random—it will not be based on your answers. And let’s say you can only win once this month so we can spread the love around.
- Get your comments posted by Wednesday March 10th at midnight Pacific time to get in for the raffle.
- I’ll announce the winner here on the blog next weekend!
Then … next weekend, I’ll put together another pack of goodies to giveaway so keep an eye on these posts!
You can support this blog by buying yourself a little something at Tenth Muse Arts or, if you like…
Read More
In other words, do it rather than just think or talk about it, whatever it is. Perhaps you’ve been thinking of trying a new technique or form, sprucing up your Etsy site, starting a website or blog,or going to a workshop to hone your skills and boost your enthusiasm. Whatever it is, if you keep telling yourself you’re going to do it and haven’t, its time to stop and just do it. Do it now! Get on it, or schedule it out or buy what you need to get started. It will feel so good to take action.
Action was taken this past Monday when I asked for your help to spread the word about the magazine. I really appreciate all your enthusiasm and all of you for taking the time to post about the latest issue. Now to choose the winner of the giveaway:
So, to choose a winner for this giveaway, I use dice. Comments and emails are assigned a number from 11 on up according to when they came in and I roll two dice to get two digits for the winning number. This time … snake eyes! (An 11!) That means our very first comment and enthusiastic emissary of the digital flipbook, Sherrie Jo of Beary Tiny Treasures wins four print copies of her choice of The Polymer Arts. Congrats!
We’ll do more giveaways soon. They are certainly fun and I love getting your comments. Just keep reading and keep claying!
Read More
This week I want to focus on the idea of movement in your artwork. Movement can be either a kinetic design (having parts that move as an integral part of the design), or a visual sense of movement. But before we move onto that, I’ve got a new little feature for you all.
Nearly every day I get an email, a card in the mail, pingbacks/notices or a comment on the blog with tips, ideas, thank yous for the blog and the magazine, as well as people who are just out promoting The Polymer Arts projects of their own accord. It’s hard to convey just how heart-warming and encouraging these notes and notices are to me, knowing that readers are taking time out of their busy lives to direct me to new information, help promote what we do here or just to let me know that TPA is making a difference. So I have this idea. Although I won’t be able to acknowledge everyone, I’d like to take time on at least one blog a week to bring these helpful and enthusiastic readers to your attention. It would be my way of saying thanks as well as helping show all you readers just how supportive this community can be. I hope seeing this will encourage you all to to reach out and add to that support or take advantage of it when you need help and encouragement.
This week, I want to give away four back issues (winner chooses any four in print, or digital if preferred) to one of our enthusiastic readers. I’ll draw a name from the folks who help spread the word about our latest issue, Summer 2013’s Mixing it Up, and the flipbook sampler that is now up on the website. This little flipbook has sample pages from the latest issue for those who haven’t decided to get their own copy yet. If you have a guild member site, a Facebook page, Twitter account, Pinterest board, or blog that you know polymer people watch, I’d be ever so grateful if you’d share this fun little teaser. There are several other flipbook sampler issues available on the same page on The Polymer Arts website. Just post this share-able link, www.thepolymerarts.com/SampleIssues.html, and/or right click and “save image” using the image below.
To get in on the drawing for the four back issues, email me or post a comment to this blog post with a link to where you posted the information. You’ll be helping encourage other aspiring polymer artists, as well as giving yourself a chance to gain any issues you might be missing in your collection. On Sunday, I’ll share some of these links and reveal the winning reader for the giveaway!
Be sure to check in tomorrow; we will investigate movement in polymer art for the rest of the week. We have some really beautiful and unusual pieces to share and hopefully inspire you with!
Read More
Focus on the Journey (And March Giveaways!)
Joseph Barbaccia created his “foXstitch” piece as a proof of concept, which, if you’re not familiar with the term, means that he’s experimenting and there is no particular expectation of a completed piece. Now, who would think his process a waste of time, even though it’ may not become a finished piece? He says he’s not happy with the execution, but that just means that he can see ways to improve it. And he could only see that through what he learned in this process. And, yes, all those “stitches” are bits of polymer clay.
Do you know who said this:
“It’s not the destination, it’s the journey.”
Well, first of all, a lot of creative people! But specifically, this is a line in the book Self-Reliance by Ralph Waldo Emerson. Emerson was particularly good at appreciating the little things, especially the value of our true and unique experiences.
If you spend all day in the studio and don’t complete a single decent piece, or a successful part of a piece, do you feel like you wasted the day? I think we can all be disappointed when we don’t accomplish as much as we hoped to, but it’s never wasted time.
Every minute you spend at your studio table, no matter how long you’ve been working with the material, is a valuable experience, right? We are learning something new all the time, even if we don’t see it. We are honing our skills, solidifying our understanding, trying out new ideas, and finding out what doesn’t work, which can be more important than finding out what does work.
But the most valuable thing, I think, is the fact that we are sitting down for some quality time with ourselves and our thoughts, taking up the enormous challenge to make something from nothing, and forging ahead on a creative journey that will teach us things and give us memories that no one else and nothing else can provide. How common can such an experience be? Not that common, truly. We are some lucky ducks to have the creative time that we do.
Sure, having a successfully finished piece is such a high, but what comes after that? The journey’s over. Okay, that’s not quite true. The process of creating any piece is a short trip on a much bigger journey. But what is more valuable—the finished piece or the skills and knowledge acquired that will allow you to make that again, and probably even better?
Now, where is all this philosophical nattering coming from?
Well, this week, I had lots of starts and stops with my time at the polymer table and with my writing. Not only am I trying to get taxes done—that can really kill one’s creative vigor—but I’m on a new nutritional regimen which is making me a little foggy in the head. So, I’ve been a little frustrated. However, I realized that every night I go to bed, I think about what I did do that day, and, honestly, it’s just all too exciting to know there’s newly created bits on the studio table and new pages in my writing project. All in all, if I got to create something, it was a really good day.
So, if you can go to sleep at night with a little more knowledge and a bit more experience than you had when you woke up, that’s been a successful day. I know we can be anxious to finish things or can be disappointed by how little we produce, but unless our efforts need to put food on the table, let’s see if we can’t step back and not just appreciate but really learn to value our creative time for simply being our own precious, unique experience.
I mean, really, would you trade that time for anything?
Yay Giveaways!
So, I’m keeping this short since I’ve had a bit of a rough week but, as promised, I’m going to do some giveaways!
I have enough goodies here to give something away every weekend this month, so here’s what we’ll do this week:
Giveaway:
How to Win:
Then … next weekend, I’ll put together another pack of goodies to giveaway so keep an eye on these posts!
You can support this blog by buying yourself a little something at Tenth Muse Arts or, if you like…