Crackle and Glaze
October 20, 2017
Inspirational Art
Exploring technique is definitely one of the primary joys of working with polymer. Not only can the material do so many different things but within each technique, there are dozens if not hundreds of ways of applying it.
France’s Karine Barrera, like so many of us, has spent a fair amount of time exploring crackle techniques. This necklace, created for her mother, a painter, shows a slightly different variation of crackle along with a faux ceramic look. She is also working in a brighter array of colors than she normally does, taking inspiration from the more saturated colors she says her mother prefers. The exploration of all these elements resulted in a piece that, although presented in a balanced, symmetrical composition, has a lot of energy and intrigue to draw a viewer in.
To see Karine’s other work, which tends towards more muted colors and a tribal style, take a look at her Akak blog.
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Imagining Stone Bones
January 21, 2015
Inspirational Art
Alright, this piece isn’t in itself particularly old-looking, but it does represent another element of time and hide a possible story in its history. Plus, I just think it’s a beautiful piece.
France’s Karine Barrera regularly creates tribal or ethnic pieces, but I don’t think there are any particular civilizations they are drawn from. Rather they seem to be an amalgamation of tribal aesthetics. This one appears to be a most interesting composition of stone, although its form is more reminiscent of bone; the gentle curves recall tusks, claws and ribs.
But if it were stone, what kind of stone would have such layers? Or is the white not supposed to be stone but a material for joining two types of stone? What kind of material is that? What kind of people would find these shapes and the combination of stones meaningful? There are so many possible stories that can be imagined for this piece.
Karine’s work is full of possible stories. Even in her explanation in the blog post, her words are translated from French to say, at one point, that these “are stories designs”. Not sure what that means exactly, but Google Translate creates some pretty wacky text sometimes. In the end, it’s not so much about the story the artist has in her head but what the viewer of the piece comes up with. If your work makes someone stop and consider and create their own little stories and worlds in their mind from what they see, you have succeeded in communicating and maybe even entertaining. And that makes for some pretty good art. See more examples of this kind of thing on Karine’s blog.
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.
Exploring technique is definitely one of the primary joys of working with polymer. Not only can the material do so many different things but within each technique, there are dozens if not hundreds of ways of applying it.
France’s Karine Barrera, like so many of us, has spent a fair amount of time exploring crackle techniques. This necklace, created for her mother, a painter, shows a slightly different variation of crackle along with a faux ceramic look. She is also working in a brighter array of colors than she normally does, taking inspiration from the more saturated colors she says her mother prefers. The exploration of all these elements resulted in a piece that, although presented in a balanced, symmetrical composition, has a lot of energy and intrigue to draw a viewer in.
To see Karine’s other work, which tends towards more muted colors and a tribal style, take a look at her Akak blog.
_________________________________________
Like this blog? Lend your support with a purchase of The Polymer Arts magazine and visit our partners.
_________________________________________
Read MoreAlright, this piece isn’t in itself particularly old-looking, but it does represent another element of time and hide a possible story in its history. Plus, I just think it’s a beautiful piece.
France’s Karine Barrera regularly creates tribal or ethnic pieces, but I don’t think there are any particular civilizations they are drawn from. Rather they seem to be an amalgamation of tribal aesthetics. This one appears to be a most interesting composition of stone, although its form is more reminiscent of bone; the gentle curves recall tusks, claws and ribs.
But if it were stone, what kind of stone would have such layers? Or is the white not supposed to be stone but a material for joining two types of stone? What kind of material is that? What kind of people would find these shapes and the combination of stones meaningful? There are so many possible stories that can be imagined for this piece.
Karine’s work is full of possible stories. Even in her explanation in the blog post, her words are translated from French to say, at one point, that these “are stories designs”. Not sure what that means exactly, but Google Translate creates some pretty wacky text sometimes. In the end, it’s not so much about the story the artist has in her head but what the viewer of the piece comes up with. If your work makes someone stop and consider and create their own little stories and worlds in their mind from what they see, you have succeeded in communicating and maybe even entertaining. And that makes for some pretty good art. See more examples of this kind of thing on Karine’s blog.
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.
