Out of the Fire
November 16, 2018
Inspirational Art
Following this week’s fire theme, we’re sharing this post from the January 2015 Polymer Arts blog archives.
We’re going to head to the orange and yellow side of the warm spectrum today, with a beautiful sculpture by Canadian artist Ellen Jewett. The warmth in this piece feels more like the warmth of sunlight with the white and yellows and coppery oranges. We see that sense of glow here as well, from the gradation of the colors, although most of the color change seems to be between the laid out elements and not in the clay. Mica clays also help to radiate a sense of bright light. This is to show that the visual illusion doesn’t come just from the soft change in color, as in a Skinner blend, but in the way we visualize the play of light. Light changes quality as it hits different surfaces, which, in this case, are the feathers of this dragon-like phoenix. The variety of the surface gives it a liveliness not unlike a dancing fire.
Ellen creates all kinds of very fantastical creatures with very dynamic forms and proportions. I suspect either her educational pursuits in biological anthropology and anthrozoology contribute to these amazing pieces or the same artistic drive to create pushed her to pursue her unusual combination of studies. It is quite worth taking a break to spend some time in her Etsy shop.
Light As an Art Medium
September 28, 2018
Inspirational Art
I felt really bad I could not fit the colorful images of this fabulous lantern into Claire Fairweather’s gallery pages, so here you go. The first image in the upper left is the piece lit with white room light, with the following images showing Claire’s intention to combine it with colored light from within the vessel.
Claire uses bullseye cane slices with a center of translucent clay to create a simple yet dramatic pattern through which an electric candle can emit colored light. Her choice of a light-changing LED candle adds a whole other aspect to the look and feel of this polymer-covered sphere and was sure to be integral to Claire’s intention with this piece, which is why I felt so bad about not being able to fit it into the layout. But at least I can share it here.
Although you may not think of light as an art medium, it definitely can be. Anything that adds color and contrast is a medium you can use to increase the impact and look of your work. And with all the ways we can use translucent polymer, light—especially colored lights—should certainly be considered a possible addition to the work if it can functionally be done.
All of Claire’s work deals with the formation of texture and images created through a mosaic-type approach but she explores the outer reaches of what a mosaic can be, using things like this lantern and the mirror you would see in the gallery pages. You can take a look at more of this work of hers on her website and her blog.
Missing Grant
July 23, 2018
Inspirational Art
In going back through my polymer picks I saved over the years to consider for the blog, I came across some older work from people who no longer create in polymer. It might seem sad but it is simply that some artists move on from a material to find other materials that express the type of work they want to do in that time period. Although I am obviously a big promoter of polymer as an art material, there should be an adage that goes, “Just because you can do it with polymer doesn’t mean you should do it with polymer.” Sometimes another material is just a better choice.
The one polymer artist I personally miss the most is Grant Diffendaffer, whose gorgeous vessel you see here. His mica shift and the visual texture he created with it are still, today, some of the most amazing examples of the technique. Well done mica shift will always have a bit of an internal glow, but the colors Grant chose and the way his patterns shift and flow make the work come alive.
There is more than just an internal glow in Grant’s work. The mica reflects so brightly that it appears that there is a light behind that surface. And although I voraciously took in every page of his book back when I started, I was not able to figure out how he created the variation in visual texture. Not back then at least. I am thinking I need to give it another shot now that I know so much more than I did a decade ago.
His book, Polymer Clay Beads, is still a treasure of information, however, he no longer works in polymer. He did work with it for a while after his jewelry and decor era, creating props of sorts. He is back working in jewelry now but in 3-D printing resin. His portfolio on his website shows all of his work from polymer to 3-D printing. If you’re interested in the progression of his artwork or just want to see what is up to, take a look at his website and his Facebook page, Steadcraft.
Out of the Fire
January 7, 2015
Inspirational Art
We’re going to head to the orange and yellow side of the warm spectrum today, with a beautiful sculpture by Canadian artist Ellen Jewett. The warmth in this piece feels more like the warmth of sunlight with the white and yellows and coppery oranges. We see that sense of glow here as well, from the gradation of the colors, although most of the color change seems to be between the laid out elements and not in the clay. Mica clays also help to radiate a sense of bright light. This is to show that the visual illusion doesn’t come just from the soft change in color, as in a Skinner blend, but in the way we visualize the play of light. Light changes quality as it hits different surfaces, which, in this case, are the feathers of this dragon-like phoenix. The variety of the surface gives it a liveliness not unlike a dancing fire.
Ellen creates all kinds of very fantastical creatures with very dynamic forms and proportions. I suspect either her educational pursuits in biological anthropology and anthrozoology contribute to these amazing pieces or the same artistic drive to create pushed her to pursue her unusual combination of studies. It is quite worth taking a break to spend some time in her Etsy shop and her website.
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.
Capturing Deepening Light
September 17, 2014
Inspirational Art
We have another scene picked by Ginger Davis Allman today, this one by miniature sculptor Angee Chase. This is actually an older piece but it was kind of hard to pass by for someone with a love of painting and light like myself.
If you’ve ever taken a painting class you probably heard a lot about capturing the quality of light? Light is what visually defines everything we see but it has variable qualities, especially sunlight throughout the day. I found dawn and dusk to be two of the hardest but most interesting types of light to capture as you are working with growing or diminishing light coming from a low angle. The deepening shadows and richness of a darkening scene at sunset are well captured in Angee’s Sunset Farm Painting. This includes determining the right shades of color, choosing the right value for the background behind the foreground objects and varying the value of the layers of scenery. I’m not sure if the orb in the sky was intended as a sun or a moon but the lighting on the mountains are perfectly portrayed as a full moon rising on the tail end of sunset. And that is quite an inspiring scene if you’ve ever been able to see that over wide open country. This piece is only 3 .75″ x 4.25″ (95mm x 107mm) by the way. Great detail for something so small.
Angee is still doing scenes these days but the ones I found on her Etsy shop are 1″ (25mm) square. Now we’re talking tiny! Her newer shop is called WonderWorks and has a presence on Facebook as well. Her Flickr photostream displays her older pieces if you want ideas that are more like what you see here.
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 getting yourself 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 Summer 2014 Issue: Let There Be Light
May 16, 2014
Inspirational Art, The Polymer Arts magazine news
The Summer 2014 issue is just about done. It is presently due to be released the first week of June. Here we have a sneak preview of the cover with a bright, reflective necklace by Silvia Ortiz de la Torre:
You can look forward to a ton of great, in-depth articles–
- Designing with Light in Mind
- Creating the Illusion of Light
- Luminous Landscapes Technique
- Luscious Liquid Clay Glazes
- Putting Sealants to the Test
- Lighten up: Taking the Weight out of Big Beads
- Controlling Photographic Light
- Grabbing the Internet Spotlight
- The Mobile Polymer Studio
- The Clay Report: What’s new, what’s best, what’s out there.
- They Love Me Not: Creating Success from Failures
- … and more!
We just sent out renewal notices so if you got that, don’t hold off renewing any longer. The mailing list for you to get the issue when it is first mailed out will be put together this coming week so renew and get it first!
www.thepolymerarts.com/Subscription_ordering.html
We’ll resume our exploration of cellular formations in the next post today!
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.
Appreciating the Shadow Side
November 3, 2013
Ponderings
Not everyone wants to create, buy, or own work that is dark, creepy or sinister, or reminds them of all that is not sunshine and light in this world. I understand that. However, I do think we should all cultivate an appreciation for the many sides of this life, and the artwork that explores these other sides is just as important as the work that makes us smile and feel cheery. There are shadowy sides and bright sides to most things and they all have their place.
On many blogs, people share pictures of their pets–they are a big part of our lives for many of us–but I never thought I would post my pets, since I wanted this blog to be about you and all the wonderful artists out there. But I needed an image to go with this quote and, well, I couldn’t find one that I liked. However, I had this great photo of my cat and office companion, Cleo. So now you’ve met my cat who, should someone call asking for our marketing department, is the staff member I hand the phone to. She does a great job of getting sales people off the phone!
There is no Pink!
September 8, 2013
Ponderings
Since this was a week of curiosities, I thought instead of a quote to get you pondering on this fine Sunday, I’d share a bit of science I find rather interesting. This is not as useful for an artist as one might hope, but it is about color, and a highly favored one at that. And its just fascinating, the way the mind and eye work.
(Click here if you do not see the video above)
Crazy, right? Well, pink is still there for us to create with. It just now holds a bit of a special place in my mind, especially now that I know it’s all in my head!
Classy, Shiny Dots
August 20, 2013
Inspirational Art
I know when I hear “dots” I usually think of something fun, and maybe even silly; but dots can also be quite refined and stunning. This pendant by Etsy’s Noneoftheabove is definitely both. Using polymer dots to develop a gradation of color and accented with just a couple rings of crystals, this pendant is quite bright and shimmering. The combination of elements gives the impression at first that the polymer dots could be crystals themselves. Can you figure out why?
Our perception of shine comes from a contrast of bright against dark. If you look at the crystals themselves, you’ll see that the most “sparkly” ones have a facet reflecting bright white or blue, and a dark contrasting facet or ring of dark color at their base. When you to illustrate a glint in the eye in a painting, you add a white spot on the dark pupil or iris. When you photograph a glass object, you need the reflection of something dark to show its form against all the white light that it will reflect. The same basic principle is shown here; the light, yellow-colored clay with spots of black peeking through, the light pink against the dark red gem, and the actual crystals together make it so that, at a glance, we perceive shine across the whole collection of dots. Kinda neat, huh?
Our mysterious Canandian Noneoftheabove artist makes a whole variety of these pendants with insane precision. Peruse her Etsy page for more shiny collections of dots and just lots of “oh” and “ah” moments.
Following this week’s fire theme, we’re sharing this post from the January 2015 Polymer Arts blog archives.
We’re going to head to the orange and yellow side of the warm spectrum today, with a beautiful sculpture by Canadian artist Ellen Jewett. The warmth in this piece feels more like the warmth of sunlight with the white and yellows and coppery oranges. We see that sense of glow here as well, from the gradation of the colors, although most of the color change seems to be between the laid out elements and not in the clay. Mica clays also help to radiate a sense of bright light. This is to show that the visual illusion doesn’t come just from the soft change in color, as in a Skinner blend, but in the way we visualize the play of light. Light changes quality as it hits different surfaces, which, in this case, are the feathers of this dragon-like phoenix. The variety of the surface gives it a liveliness not unlike a dancing fire.
Ellen creates all kinds of very fantastical creatures with very dynamic forms and proportions. I suspect either her educational pursuits in biological anthropology and anthrozoology contribute to these amazing pieces or the same artistic drive to create pushed her to pursue her unusual combination of studies. It is quite worth taking a break to spend some time in her Etsy shop.
Read More
I felt really bad I could not fit the colorful images of this fabulous lantern into Claire Fairweather’s gallery pages, so here you go. The first image in the upper left is the piece lit with white room light, with the following images showing Claire’s intention to combine it with colored light from within the vessel.
Claire uses bullseye cane slices with a center of translucent clay to create a simple yet dramatic pattern through which an electric candle can emit colored light. Her choice of a light-changing LED candle adds a whole other aspect to the look and feel of this polymer-covered sphere and was sure to be integral to Claire’s intention with this piece, which is why I felt so bad about not being able to fit it into the layout. But at least I can share it here.
Although you may not think of light as an art medium, it definitely can be. Anything that adds color and contrast is a medium you can use to increase the impact and look of your work. And with all the ways we can use translucent polymer, light—especially colored lights—should certainly be considered a possible addition to the work if it can functionally be done.
All of Claire’s work deals with the formation of texture and images created through a mosaic-type approach but she explores the outer reaches of what a mosaic can be, using things like this lantern and the mirror you would see in the gallery pages. You can take a look at more of this work of hers on her website and her blog.
Read MoreIn going back through my polymer picks I saved over the years to consider for the blog, I came across some older work from people who no longer create in polymer. It might seem sad but it is simply that some artists move on from a material to find other materials that express the type of work they want to do in that time period. Although I am obviously a big promoter of polymer as an art material, there should be an adage that goes, “Just because you can do it with polymer doesn’t mean you should do it with polymer.” Sometimes another material is just a better choice.
The one polymer artist I personally miss the most is Grant Diffendaffer, whose gorgeous vessel you see here. His mica shift and the visual texture he created with it are still, today, some of the most amazing examples of the technique. Well done mica shift will always have a bit of an internal glow, but the colors Grant chose and the way his patterns shift and flow make the work come alive.
There is more than just an internal glow in Grant’s work. The mica reflects so brightly that it appears that there is a light behind that surface. And although I voraciously took in every page of his book back when I started, I was not able to figure out how he created the variation in visual texture. Not back then at least. I am thinking I need to give it another shot now that I know so much more than I did a decade ago.
His book, Polymer Clay Beads, is still a treasure of information, however, he no longer works in polymer. He did work with it for a while after his jewelry and decor era, creating props of sorts. He is back working in jewelry now but in 3-D printing resin. His portfolio on his website shows all of his work from polymer to 3-D printing. If you’re interested in the progression of his artwork or just want to see what is up to, take a look at his website and his Facebook page, Steadcraft.
Read MoreWe’re going to head to the orange and yellow side of the warm spectrum today, with a beautiful sculpture by Canadian artist Ellen Jewett. The warmth in this piece feels more like the warmth of sunlight with the white and yellows and coppery oranges. We see that sense of glow here as well, from the gradation of the colors, although most of the color change seems to be between the laid out elements and not in the clay. Mica clays also help to radiate a sense of bright light. This is to show that the visual illusion doesn’t come just from the soft change in color, as in a Skinner blend, but in the way we visualize the play of light. Light changes quality as it hits different surfaces, which, in this case, are the feathers of this dragon-like phoenix. The variety of the surface gives it a liveliness not unlike a dancing fire.
Ellen creates all kinds of very fantastical creatures with very dynamic forms and proportions. I suspect either her educational pursuits in biological anthropology and anthrozoology contribute to these amazing pieces or the same artistic drive to create pushed her to pursue her unusual combination of studies. It is quite worth taking a break to spend some time in her Etsy shop and her website.
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.
We have another scene picked by Ginger Davis Allman today, this one by miniature sculptor Angee Chase. This is actually an older piece but it was kind of hard to pass by for someone with a love of painting and light like myself.
If you’ve ever taken a painting class you probably heard a lot about capturing the quality of light? Light is what visually defines everything we see but it has variable qualities, especially sunlight throughout the day. I found dawn and dusk to be two of the hardest but most interesting types of light to capture as you are working with growing or diminishing light coming from a low angle. The deepening shadows and richness of a darkening scene at sunset are well captured in Angee’s Sunset Farm Painting. This includes determining the right shades of color, choosing the right value for the background behind the foreground objects and varying the value of the layers of scenery. I’m not sure if the orb in the sky was intended as a sun or a moon but the lighting on the mountains are perfectly portrayed as a full moon rising on the tail end of sunset. And that is quite an inspiring scene if you’ve ever been able to see that over wide open country. This piece is only 3 .75″ x 4.25″ (95mm x 107mm) by the way. Great detail for something so small.
Angee is still doing scenes these days but the ones I found on her Etsy shop are 1″ (25mm) square. Now we’re talking tiny! Her newer shop is called WonderWorks and has a presence on Facebook as well. Her Flickr photostream displays her older pieces if you want ideas that are more like what you see here.
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 getting yourself 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 Summer 2014 issue is just about done. It is presently due to be released the first week of June. Here we have a sneak preview of the cover with a bright, reflective necklace by Silvia Ortiz de la Torre:
You can look forward to a ton of great, in-depth articles–
- Designing with Light in Mind
- Creating the Illusion of Light
- Luminous Landscapes Technique
- Luscious Liquid Clay Glazes
- Putting Sealants to the Test
- Lighten up: Taking the Weight out of Big Beads
- Controlling Photographic Light
- Grabbing the Internet Spotlight
- The Mobile Polymer Studio
- The Clay Report: What’s new, what’s best, what’s out there.
- They Love Me Not: Creating Success from Failures
- … and more!
We just sent out renewal notices so if you got that, don’t hold off renewing any longer. The mailing list for you to get the issue when it is first mailed out will be put together this coming week so renew and get it first!
www.thepolymerarts.com/Subscription_ordering.html
We’ll resume our exploration of cellular formations in the next post today!
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.
Not everyone wants to create, buy, or own work that is dark, creepy or sinister, or reminds them of all that is not sunshine and light in this world. I understand that. However, I do think we should all cultivate an appreciation for the many sides of this life, and the artwork that explores these other sides is just as important as the work that makes us smile and feel cheery. There are shadowy sides and bright sides to most things and they all have their place.
On many blogs, people share pictures of their pets–they are a big part of our lives for many of us–but I never thought I would post my pets, since I wanted this blog to be about you and all the wonderful artists out there. But I needed an image to go with this quote and, well, I couldn’t find one that I liked. However, I had this great photo of my cat and office companion, Cleo. So now you’ve met my cat who, should someone call asking for our marketing department, is the staff member I hand the phone to. She does a great job of getting sales people off the phone!
Read More
Since this was a week of curiosities, I thought instead of a quote to get you pondering on this fine Sunday, I’d share a bit of science I find rather interesting. This is not as useful for an artist as one might hope, but it is about color, and a highly favored one at that. And its just fascinating, the way the mind and eye work.
(Click here if you do not see the video above)
Crazy, right? Well, pink is still there for us to create with. It just now holds a bit of a special place in my mind, especially now that I know it’s all in my head!
I know when I hear “dots” I usually think of something fun, and maybe even silly; but dots can also be quite refined and stunning. This pendant by Etsy’s Noneoftheabove is definitely both. Using polymer dots to develop a gradation of color and accented with just a couple rings of crystals, this pendant is quite bright and shimmering. The combination of elements gives the impression at first that the polymer dots could be crystals themselves. Can you figure out why?
Our perception of shine comes from a contrast of bright against dark. If you look at the crystals themselves, you’ll see that the most “sparkly” ones have a facet reflecting bright white or blue, and a dark contrasting facet or ring of dark color at their base. When you to illustrate a glint in the eye in a painting, you add a white spot on the dark pupil or iris. When you photograph a glass object, you need the reflection of something dark to show its form against all the white light that it will reflect. The same basic principle is shown here; the light, yellow-colored clay with spots of black peeking through, the light pink against the dark red gem, and the actual crystals together make it so that, at a glance, we perceive shine across the whole collection of dots. Kinda neat, huh?
Our mysterious Canandian Noneoftheabove artist makes a whole variety of these pendants with insane precision. Peruse her Etsy page for more shiny collections of dots and just lots of “oh” and “ah” moments.
Read More
