Outside Inspiration: Organic Disks in Glass

August 7, 2015

DGS Beads glass set purpleKeeping with the disk theme this week, I went out in search of organic versions that weren’t polymer, and as soon as I saw these, I knew I just had to share.

The luminosity of glass touched with even just a little bit of metallic feels so rich and ‘special occasion’ that even in organic forms and colors, it still looks like you need to pull out that fancy evening dress or be in the mood to garner a lot of attention in order to wear it. These gorgeous organic beads by Debbie Sanders would be head-turners no matter what they are worn with. These are a set of beads rather than a finished necklace, but other than some spacers, I’d say this grouping is good to go as a necklace.

Over the years, we’ve seen a lot of polymer disks with the side accents and various textures and treatments, but I don’t know that I’ve seen them treated this way in translucents. Just imagine how the light would play through a translucent polymer disk done in this style with a bit of metal leaf or gilder’s paste, colored with a dash of ink and finished with a glossy sealant or buffed to a brilliant shine? It would compete for attention with the likes of these beads I’d think. Or better yet … combine them with these beads! Wouldn’t that be something? Oh, the ideas these outside inspirations bring us!

Debbie has a ton of these beautiful beads to be ogled over on both her website and in her Etsy shop where, by the way, you can also buy a set to play with! Just saying.

 

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.

      TPA_McGuire_blog ad  

Outside Inspiration: Surface Design in Glass

December 7, 2012

The big struggle with any medium is working reasonably within the limitations of the material as it applies to the end product you are creating. Polymer has such freedom and ease, that it seems nearly limitless. We don’t tend to ask “if” something we see can be replicated with polymer but only “how”.

In other mediums, the limitations are extreme. Glass is one of those mediums with many restricting factors that play into what is possible as well as increasing the necessary skill set to begin to push the limitations at all. Work like that of Cynthia Saari, a glass lampwork artist, plays with the limitations and control over the surface design of glass. Her work on the glass beads below is controlled and quite intentional. With texture and lines that build beautiful landscape-like compositions, she sets aside the serendipitous opportunities that can be the fun and wonder of working on this kind of lampwork in order to assert her intentions and vision.

How does this translate for polymer artists? Well, first of all, we also have a lot of techniques whose end results are allowed to emerge from random or fairly uncontrolled applications of materials and tools. Even though it’s common in mokume gane or alcohol ink applications to allow the visual design to emerge from a random process, you might try your hand at asserting control. For instance you can control the application of inks using brushes, stencils, and resists such as wax or tape. Instead of randomly punching and puncturing an mg stack, why not lay out the alteration of the clay in a precise, predetermined pattern?

Obviously, there is nothing wrong with randomness. It’s endlessly delightful to see what appears from an uncontrolled approach, but sometimes putting limitations or structure in your process can also produce wonderful results you hadn’t imagined before.

 

Outside Inspiration: Organic Disks in Glass

August 7, 2015
Posted in

DGS Beads glass set purpleKeeping with the disk theme this week, I went out in search of organic versions that weren’t polymer, and as soon as I saw these, I knew I just had to share.

The luminosity of glass touched with even just a little bit of metallic feels so rich and ‘special occasion’ that even in organic forms and colors, it still looks like you need to pull out that fancy evening dress or be in the mood to garner a lot of attention in order to wear it. These gorgeous organic beads by Debbie Sanders would be head-turners no matter what they are worn with. These are a set of beads rather than a finished necklace, but other than some spacers, I’d say this grouping is good to go as a necklace.

Over the years, we’ve seen a lot of polymer disks with the side accents and various textures and treatments, but I don’t know that I’ve seen them treated this way in translucents. Just imagine how the light would play through a translucent polymer disk done in this style with a bit of metal leaf or gilder’s paste, colored with a dash of ink and finished with a glossy sealant or buffed to a brilliant shine? It would compete for attention with the likes of these beads I’d think. Or better yet … combine them with these beads! Wouldn’t that be something? Oh, the ideas these outside inspirations bring us!

Debbie has a ton of these beautiful beads to be ogled over on both her website and in her Etsy shop where, by the way, you can also buy a set to play with! Just saying.

 

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.

      TPA_McGuire_blog ad  

Read More

Outside Inspiration: Surface Design in Glass

December 7, 2012
Posted in

The big struggle with any medium is working reasonably within the limitations of the material as it applies to the end product you are creating. Polymer has such freedom and ease, that it seems nearly limitless. We don’t tend to ask “if” something we see can be replicated with polymer but only “how”.

In other mediums, the limitations are extreme. Glass is one of those mediums with many restricting factors that play into what is possible as well as increasing the necessary skill set to begin to push the limitations at all. Work like that of Cynthia Saari, a glass lampwork artist, plays with the limitations and control over the surface design of glass. Her work on the glass beads below is controlled and quite intentional. With texture and lines that build beautiful landscape-like compositions, she sets aside the serendipitous opportunities that can be the fun and wonder of working on this kind of lampwork in order to assert her intentions and vision.

How does this translate for polymer artists? Well, first of all, we also have a lot of techniques whose end results are allowed to emerge from random or fairly uncontrolled applications of materials and tools. Even though it’s common in mokume gane or alcohol ink applications to allow the visual design to emerge from a random process, you might try your hand at asserting control. For instance you can control the application of inks using brushes, stencils, and resists such as wax or tape. Instead of randomly punching and puncturing an mg stack, why not lay out the alteration of the clay in a precise, predetermined pattern?

Obviously, there is nothing wrong with randomness. It’s endlessly delightful to see what appears from an uncontrolled approach, but sometimes putting limitations or structure in your process can also produce wonderful results you hadn’t imagined before.

 

Read More
If you love these posts ...