The Concept of Flying & the Newly Released Spring 2016 Issue – Convergence
March 4, 2016
Inspirational Art, The Polymer Arts magazine news
The Spring 2016 issue of The Polymer Arts was released yesterday! Thank you so much for the many kind comments and compliments you’ve been posting all over Facebook and in our inboxes. It’s always great to know we’ve done well for you.
Digital access was sent to everyone who subscribed or pre-ordered prior to yesterday, and all the print issues are in the mail or will be as of this afternoon. If you don’t see the digital issue you expected in your inbox, check your spam folder. If it’s not there, write us at connect@thepolymerarts.com and we will look into it. If you don’t have your copy ordered or an active subscription, you can change that on our website here.
One of my wish-list articles, that Christine K. Harris and I have talked about doing on and off for a couple of years, is in this issue. It’s about how to use epoxy clay with polymer. She did an incredible job and so generously shared her techniques. The article is a series of short tutorials for using epoxy where polymer can’t be used, such as for strength as well as situations where some material added to the piece can’t be cured. The techniques can be used in jewelry as well as sculpture.
Of course, Christine is well-known for her award-winning concept sculpture, like this beautiful wall art, Fly (Wall sculpture of red haired woman). Christine’s work is very much about internal thoughts and conflicts and is often created around ideas or circumstances that are hard to deal with, so there is a lot of dark ideas and imagery in her work. However, her pieces are always graceful and are imbued with a beauty that comes from a sense of hope and promise that she instills in her imagery. This one is no exception, plus there is this potential joy the woman is contemplating, testing the idea of being free to fly in the bird formation she makes with her hands. Symbolic concept art is such a joy because you can add your own story and there is usually so much to look over and think about.
I have always been an advocate of looking at the darker side of our reality. The harder and less pleasant things in our lives are often the only or best path to finding the beauty and kindness in what we see around us. I think you can see what I mean when looking at Christine’s work. You can see more of it on her website and her Pinterest board.
Inspirational Challenge of the Day: What is something you are hopeful for? Distill it into one word and design or create a piece around that concept. Be as literal, symbolic, or abstract as feels right to you.
___________________________________________
Like this blog? Lend your support with a purchase of The Polymer Arts magazine and visit our partners:
___________________________________________
Outside Inspiration: Tile Elements
September 19, 2014
Inspirational Art
I just love what Ginger found for us today as an outside inspiration. A scene created with tiles, a kind of bas relief where the elements create the imagery and depth from how they are layered and arranged. This is not so very different from some of the polymer scenes we’ve seen this week. The primary difference is that the imagery is created with large swaths of color and texture to create a piecework landscape scene but one that is cohesive and pulls you in.
The wall hanging was created by Chris Sumka, a tile artist. This is the piece’s description:
“The old Palmer place”, 2014, 21″X42″, 237 hours, composed entirely of 12″X12″ r/c porcelain, ceramic and slate floor tile, mounted on r/c 3/4 inch plywood, green, eco friendly art. Large amounts of white grout were left behind to add to the snow effect.”
Now he actually cuts each of these shapes to fit the image from some pretty hard material. If you’ve ever worked with tile, then you know how hard this is and just how tricky it can be to make the right cut and not actually break the tile. I’ve done more than my share of tiling. I’m impressed. We can–and a number of people do–create polymer imagery in a similar fashion. With some pretty darn simple cutting work compared to this!
You can see further detail of this piece on Chris’ Facebook page here and more of his fascinating work including photos of pieces in progress on his Facebook timeline as well.
Our guest blogger partner, Ginger Davis Allman lives in Springfield, Missouri with her husband Gary, her three kids and her many craft obsessions. Subscribe to her blog and look around her website for her well-researched and in-depth posts and articles on polymer related subjects. Support her great information and research as well as treating yourself by purchasing a tutorial or two from this talented lady.
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.
Scenes in Micro
September 18, 2014
Inspirational Art
Ginger really wanted to share a micro mosaic piece with you this week and I’ve gone back and forth on options for us. The thing is, micro mosaics in polymer were really established, and I think are still best done, by Cynthia Toops. But I’ll be breaking a rule of mine to not feature an artist that was on the blog within the last 6 months–I like to spread the love around so to speak and Cynthia was featured last month. Well, here’s to breaking rules now and then!
The image of this bracelet is actually from Chuck Domitrovich’s Flickr pages. Chuck, an accomplished metal smith, partnered with Cynthia to create this bracelet some years back. This gorgeous bangle has two scenes actually–one side with an underwater scenario on the right and a land scene on the left. They work together because of the similar color palette and the styling of the imagery. I didn’t think it was too hard to imagine how these were created but the timing issue was not something I would have expected. Here is Cynthia’s process in Chuck’s words:
“Each mosaic is made by rolling tiny Fimo/polymer threads out of each color, and then baking those threads to harden them. Then the threads are cut into small pieces and these are used as the basis for the mosaic, with each tiny cut piece of thread pushed into soft polymer lining the bezel. She only has a limited amount of time to set all the threads before the polymer clay dries out and the threads begin to curl. In some of the larger mosaics she has done, Cynthia has had to rework entire sections that have dried too fast. Each mosaic takes many, many hours, and it is not unusual for her to spend a week of working almost constantly to finish one. Once all the threads are in place the entire piece is baked once again, hardening and setting them.”
There is more detail in this bracelet at the hinges and a closer look really is needed to appreciate all that went into this. You can see great detail shots by clicking the image here or this link and then clicking the right side arrows on Chuck’s Flickr page to see them all. And you can find more of Cynthia and Chuck’s micro mosaic collaborations in this Flickr photo album.
Our guest blogger partner, Ginger Davis Allman lives in Springfield, Missouri with her husband Gary, her three kids and her many craft obsessions. Subscribe to her blog and look around her website for her well-researched and in-depth posts and articles on polymer related subjects. Support her great information and research as well as treating yourself by purchasing a tutorial or two from this talented lady.
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 Spring 2016 issue of The Polymer Arts was released yesterday! Thank you so much for the many kind comments and compliments you’ve been posting all over Facebook and in our inboxes. It’s always great to know we’ve done well for you.
Digital access was sent to everyone who subscribed or pre-ordered prior to yesterday, and all the print issues are in the mail or will be as of this afternoon. If you don’t see the digital issue you expected in your inbox, check your spam folder. If it’s not there, write us at connect@thepolymerarts.com and we will look into it. If you don’t have your copy ordered or an active subscription, you can change that on our website here.
One of my wish-list articles, that Christine K. Harris and I have talked about doing on and off for a couple of years, is in this issue. It’s about how to use epoxy clay with polymer. She did an incredible job and so generously shared her techniques. The article is a series of short tutorials for using epoxy where polymer can’t be used, such as for strength as well as situations where some material added to the piece can’t be cured. The techniques can be used in jewelry as well as sculpture.
Of course, Christine is well-known for her award-winning concept sculpture, like this beautiful wall art, Fly (Wall sculpture of red haired woman). Christine’s work is very much about internal thoughts and conflicts and is often created around ideas or circumstances that are hard to deal with, so there is a lot of dark ideas and imagery in her work. However, her pieces are always graceful and are imbued with a beauty that comes from a sense of hope and promise that she instills in her imagery. This one is no exception, plus there is this potential joy the woman is contemplating, testing the idea of being free to fly in the bird formation she makes with her hands. Symbolic concept art is such a joy because you can add your own story and there is usually so much to look over and think about.
I have always been an advocate of looking at the darker side of our reality. The harder and less pleasant things in our lives are often the only or best path to finding the beauty and kindness in what we see around us. I think you can see what I mean when looking at Christine’s work. You can see more of it on her website and her Pinterest board.
Inspirational Challenge of the Day: What is something you are hopeful for? Distill it into one word and design or create a piece around that concept. Be as literal, symbolic, or abstract as feels right to you.
___________________________________________
Like this blog? Lend your support with a purchase of The Polymer Arts magazine and visit our partners:
___________________________________________
I just love what Ginger found for us today as an outside inspiration. A scene created with tiles, a kind of bas relief where the elements create the imagery and depth from how they are layered and arranged. This is not so very different from some of the polymer scenes we’ve seen this week. The primary difference is that the imagery is created with large swaths of color and texture to create a piecework landscape scene but one that is cohesive and pulls you in.
The wall hanging was created by Chris Sumka, a tile artist. This is the piece’s description:
“The old Palmer place”, 2014, 21″X42″, 237 hours, composed entirely of 12″X12″ r/c porcelain, ceramic and slate floor tile, mounted on r/c 3/4 inch plywood, green, eco friendly art. Large amounts of white grout were left behind to add to the snow effect.”
Now he actually cuts each of these shapes to fit the image from some pretty hard material. If you’ve ever worked with tile, then you know how hard this is and just how tricky it can be to make the right cut and not actually break the tile. I’ve done more than my share of tiling. I’m impressed. We can–and a number of people do–create polymer imagery in a similar fashion. With some pretty darn simple cutting work compared to this!
You can see further detail of this piece on Chris’ Facebook page here and more of his fascinating work including photos of pieces in progress on his Facebook timeline as well.
Our guest blogger partner, Ginger Davis Allman lives in Springfield, Missouri with her husband Gary, her three kids and her many craft obsessions. Subscribe to her blog and look around her website for her well-researched and in-depth posts and articles on polymer related subjects. Support her great information and research as well as treating yourself by purchasing a tutorial or two from this talented lady.
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.
Ginger really wanted to share a micro mosaic piece with you this week and I’ve gone back and forth on options for us. The thing is, micro mosaics in polymer were really established, and I think are still best done, by Cynthia Toops. But I’ll be breaking a rule of mine to not feature an artist that was on the blog within the last 6 months–I like to spread the love around so to speak and Cynthia was featured last month. Well, here’s to breaking rules now and then!
The image of this bracelet is actually from Chuck Domitrovich’s Flickr pages. Chuck, an accomplished metal smith, partnered with Cynthia to create this bracelet some years back. This gorgeous bangle has two scenes actually–one side with an underwater scenario on the right and a land scene on the left. They work together because of the similar color palette and the styling of the imagery. I didn’t think it was too hard to imagine how these were created but the timing issue was not something I would have expected. Here is Cynthia’s process in Chuck’s words:
“Each mosaic is made by rolling tiny Fimo/polymer threads out of each color, and then baking those threads to harden them. Then the threads are cut into small pieces and these are used as the basis for the mosaic, with each tiny cut piece of thread pushed into soft polymer lining the bezel. She only has a limited amount of time to set all the threads before the polymer clay dries out and the threads begin to curl. In some of the larger mosaics she has done, Cynthia has had to rework entire sections that have dried too fast. Each mosaic takes many, many hours, and it is not unusual for her to spend a week of working almost constantly to finish one. Once all the threads are in place the entire piece is baked once again, hardening and setting them.”
There is more detail in this bracelet at the hinges and a closer look really is needed to appreciate all that went into this. You can see great detail shots by clicking the image here or this link and then clicking the right side arrows on Chuck’s Flickr page to see them all. And you can find more of Cynthia and Chuck’s micro mosaic collaborations in this Flickr photo album.
Our guest blogger partner, Ginger Davis Allman lives in Springfield, Missouri with her husband Gary, her three kids and her many craft obsessions. Subscribe to her blog and look around her website for her well-researched and in-depth posts and articles on polymer related subjects. Support her great information and research as well as treating yourself by purchasing a tutorial or two from this talented lady.
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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