Daily Polymer Arts Blog changes & A Rustic Tutorial
June 29, 2014
Inspirational Art, Polymer community news, The Polymer Arts magazine news
First thank you to every one who switched over to the new email post service a few weeks ago. The old service was scheduled to be taken down this week but things are little behind schedule. We are getting back on track and the switch will be done tomorrow. So, if you didn’t switch over and are reading this in an email post that has a long link on the top, click that link and unsubscribe and go here for the new blog emails or you won’t be receiving email notifications any longer as of Monday.
As of this week, the blog will have a few more changes as well. For one, I won’t be posting on Sundays any more. There is a lot going on over here and I need to get a little more time out of my week to get the books going and keep the magazine at the high quality you expect. We will still have a Saturday post which will encompass news, new products, links to great tutorials and anything else that I can find to give you something to look into over the weekend. We’ll continue with polymer and design posts every day during the week.
As part of the “get Sage more time for new and exciting TPA projects” initiative, I am looking for people to guest post and suggest themes. This is a great opportunity for anyone who wants to promote products, books, events and classes on the blog in exchange for helping create great content. If you are interested in learning details about this opportunity, write me at sbray@thepolymerarts.com
In the meantime, if this week’s rustic elegance has piqued your interest, try this neat little, free tutorial by Ginger Davis Allman (who also has a fantastic tutorial using translucent clay in the present Summer issue of The Polymer Arts magazine) to create shimmery rustic leaves in your own choice of elegant palettes. Here are a couple of examples by Ginger.
Thank you for your support of The Polymer Arts projects!
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.
Extravagant Leafy Florals
October 2, 2013
Inspirational Art
You know, it seems like I post a lot of floral, especially considering I’m not a floral kind of gal. Still, it’s hard not to appreciate the intricacy and cleverness of our community’s floral fanatics, so I do find myself pinning quite a few florals, although I also tend towards the leafy, spiky, and (surprise!) tendril infused versions.
This set by Yuliya Galuschak is a great example of what I really admire in the floral vein. However, if you look closely, there aren’t really any flowers here, at least none that I am familiar with. The floral like forms are actually leaves layered in a floral manner. They come to delicate curled points and are surrounded by wire tendrils. The pieces have all this in addition to a ton of beautiful beading and bead accents (and an obvious ton of patience).
These pieces are probably pushing the boundary of garish, but they are so tastefully composed and limited in palette (just purples, reds, and gold) while still feeling quite colorful. The dense beading is relegated to the strand from which everything on the necklace is hung, and the bead accents look purposeful and well-chosen.
If you like this, you will really enjoy perusing Yuliya’s other tastefully extravagant pieces on her Flickr site, many of which are true florals but with a smattering of other themes, including berries, aquatics, and even abstract imagery.
Bringing Attention to Nature
August 5, 2013
Inspirational Art
Since the upcoming issue of The Polymer Arts is all about organics, I have spent the last few months immersed in the idea of defining “organic”. This is a truly interesting subject to study in relation to polymer, a material that seems to be anything but. In an age where we have come to focus on green and sustainable materials, we work in a material that doesn’t easily break down. This guilt factor has been an on-going discussion in our community; it took up what seemed like half a day’s discussion at the RAM symposium in 2011. We as artists in this medium are not unconcerned about the environment and how we as humans affect the natural order of things; quite the contrary. If it weren’t for the minimal waste (how often, if ever, do you throw away scrap clay?), minimal energy usage (small ovens rather than kilns, torches, or major power tools) and durability of the medium (this is not disposable or temporary art!) we might be facing a conflict with today’s view on plastics. But it’s not only that; as a whole, polymer artists seem heavily drawn to recreating and bringing attention to nature and the organic state of our world. I think we do darn good for artists working in ‘plastic’.
This week, I want to look at just a few examples of polymer bringing people’s attention back to the natural. For instance, jewelry like this necklace allows adornment that would be too fragile and temporary if picked directly from nature.
Olena Mysnyk from Ukraine created these realistic leaves, as nature and leaves in particular are a favorite subject of hers. There is definitely something to be said about being able to throw a bit of Mother Nature around your neck and have it still fresh and lovely at the end of the day.
First thank you to every one who switched over to the new email post service a few weeks ago. The old service was scheduled to be taken down this week but things are little behind schedule. We are getting back on track and the switch will be done tomorrow. So, if you didn’t switch over and are reading this in an email post that has a long link on the top, click that link and unsubscribe and go here for the new blog emails or you won’t be receiving email notifications any longer as of Monday.
As of this week, the blog will have a few more changes as well. For one, I won’t be posting on Sundays any more. There is a lot going on over here and I need to get a little more time out of my week to get the books going and keep the magazine at the high quality you expect. We will still have a Saturday post which will encompass news, new products, links to great tutorials and anything else that I can find to give you something to look into over the weekend. We’ll continue with polymer and design posts every day during the week.
As part of the “get Sage more time for new and exciting TPA projects” initiative, I am looking for people to guest post and suggest themes. This is a great opportunity for anyone who wants to promote products, books, events and classes on the blog in exchange for helping create great content. If you are interested in learning details about this opportunity, write me at sbray@thepolymerarts.com
In the meantime, if this week’s rustic elegance has piqued your interest, try this neat little, free tutorial by Ginger Davis Allman (who also has a fantastic tutorial using translucent clay in the present Summer issue of The Polymer Arts magazine) to create shimmery rustic leaves in your own choice of elegant palettes. Here are a couple of examples by Ginger.
Thank you for your support of The Polymer Arts projects!
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.
You know, it seems like I post a lot of floral, especially considering I’m not a floral kind of gal. Still, it’s hard not to appreciate the intricacy and cleverness of our community’s floral fanatics, so I do find myself pinning quite a few florals, although I also tend towards the leafy, spiky, and (surprise!) tendril infused versions.
This set by Yuliya Galuschak is a great example of what I really admire in the floral vein. However, if you look closely, there aren’t really any flowers here, at least none that I am familiar with. The floral like forms are actually leaves layered in a floral manner. They come to delicate curled points and are surrounded by wire tendrils. The pieces have all this in addition to a ton of beautiful beading and bead accents (and an obvious ton of patience).
These pieces are probably pushing the boundary of garish, but they are so tastefully composed and limited in palette (just purples, reds, and gold) while still feeling quite colorful. The dense beading is relegated to the strand from which everything on the necklace is hung, and the bead accents look purposeful and well-chosen.
If you like this, you will really enjoy perusing Yuliya’s other tastefully extravagant pieces on her Flickr site, many of which are true florals but with a smattering of other themes, including berries, aquatics, and even abstract imagery.
Since the upcoming issue of The Polymer Arts is all about organics, I have spent the last few months immersed in the idea of defining “organic”. This is a truly interesting subject to study in relation to polymer, a material that seems to be anything but. In an age where we have come to focus on green and sustainable materials, we work in a material that doesn’t easily break down. This guilt factor has been an on-going discussion in our community; it took up what seemed like half a day’s discussion at the RAM symposium in 2011. We as artists in this medium are not unconcerned about the environment and how we as humans affect the natural order of things; quite the contrary. If it weren’t for the minimal waste (how often, if ever, do you throw away scrap clay?), minimal energy usage (small ovens rather than kilns, torches, or major power tools) and durability of the medium (this is not disposable or temporary art!) we might be facing a conflict with today’s view on plastics. But it’s not only that; as a whole, polymer artists seem heavily drawn to recreating and bringing attention to nature and the organic state of our world. I think we do darn good for artists working in ‘plastic’.
This week, I want to look at just a few examples of polymer bringing people’s attention back to the natural. For instance, jewelry like this necklace allows adornment that would be too fragile and temporary if picked directly from nature.
Olena Mysnyk from Ukraine created these realistic leaves, as nature and leaves in particular are a favorite subject of hers. There is definitely something to be said about being able to throw a bit of Mother Nature around your neck and have it still fresh and lovely at the end of the day.
