A Favorite Niche

December 4, 2015

10338291_10152506334045519_7827083766749266876_nLiz Hall has graced the Niche Award’s finalist and winner pages several times in the past in addition to being one of the very few polymer artists to gain a place as a Saul Bell award finalist. I do wonder how they determine what category her work goes in. She creates in both metal clay and polymer, combining both for an original and truly stunning effect.

Liz was a first place Niche Award winner in 2014, but since we featured that bracelet set at the time, I thought I’d share a new favorite set of mine. How beautiful are the colors and the shimmer here? The colors are dazzling and the mosaic insets are organically set, but there is still this contained feel to the design thanks to the beautiful, even construction in the silver that frames the polymer and overall finish.

Looking through Liz’s most recent work is always delightful. The gallery on her website is just so full of beautiful things, but you can also find her latest work posted on her Facebook page. Of course, if you fancy her work for yourself, be sure to put her Etsy shop on your Christmas list!

___________________________________________

Like this blog? Lend your support with a purchase of The Polymer Arts magazine and visit our partners:

PCA Nov 15 Blog   Print

   

Polymer Takes Flight

December 2, 2015

Kassel_Doreen_GuardianOwl-Preview857370525

We’re going to keep going in the trend of award-winning art this week. This is another Niche Award finalist for this year.

This intricate sculpture is both constructed and sculpted, plus it has a touch of paint added. There is so much detail here, but all you initially see is a beautiful, lively bird. This is not something I might have expected of Doreen Kassel until you look at the expression of this piece and realize that the subtlety of color comes from her judicious and light painting techniques.

Her work always has such character and the paint she applies doesn’t look like paint at all. All you notice is the imagery she has brought to life. And it really stands out among the polymer finalist in the Niche awards this year. It’s rather nice to see non-jewelry making the final cut. In fact, out of the 5 polymer pieces in the Niche finalist list, only two are jewelry. You can see all the finalist on the Niche finalists page.

You can find more of Doreen’s charming pieces on her website here. As for me … I’m off for my quarterly multi-state crossing, looking forward to some warmer temperatures on the West coast where I will be through the holidays. See you here on Friday!

 

 

___________________________________________

Like this blog? Lend your support with a purchase of The Polymer Arts magazine and visit our partners:

PCA Nov 15 Blog   Print

   

Wiwat and His Hidden Beauties

March 25, 2014

Wiwat Kamolpornwijit’s work has fascinated me since I first laid eyes on one of his trapped rose necklaces, as I like to call them. A couple new variations on these are in the new  1000 Beads book. I, too, have a fascination with things that are wholly exposed, with caves and crevice, and what is hiding behind the screen, in the box and under the veil. Wiwat’s work presents a lot of these intriguing, partially exposed and trapped elements.

This piece is actually older. I am thinking from around 2007 but you can see that this partly hidden and trapped theme has been an ongoing vein of interest to him.

wiwat2

As he describes his work, “I hand-form every piece of polymer clay jewelry with no use of commercial molds. I use several techniques including caning, engraving, weaving, layering, and many others for which I don’t have names.”

Wiwat, who originally is from Thailand and currently lives in Virginia, is a Niche Awards winner for 2011 and 2013, and Saul Bell Design Award Finalist for 2011. You can be inspired by more of his work on his website.

 

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.

14P1 cover Fnl   PCW blue string art cane   Blog2 -2014-02Feb-2

Tribal Trends

January 6, 2014

In our recent perusal of items that people are posting, commenting and otherwise bandying about online, we’ve noticed there is quite a bit of tribal influenced designs and color palettes. So this week, we thought we’d look at tribal tendencies and see how our fellow clayers are using this type source for inspiration in their work.

Liz Hall has previously put out a lot of work reminiscent of the American Southwest. (She’s from Maryland and lives in Virginia so I’m not sure how that happened.) I never really thought about it, but the southwest imagery and patterns are not so different from what we generally think of as tribal. Ancient art, whether from Africa, Australia, Europe or the Americas, tends towards natural and raw edged work, heavy with patterning in motifs particular to their area and culture. So it would not be difficult to move from the Southwestern aesthetic which draws from the Native American Indian culture to colors and patterns closer to an African influence as Liz has done here in these bangles.

1b710a976b909f0dc8e15ea502457c4a

These bangles are one of the final entries for the polymer clay category of the Niche awards. You can see the other entries on the Niche website. Take a look at more of Liz’s work on her own website and Etsy store.

 

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.

Cover 13-P4 web    PCW_flower tile canes  WhimsicalBead051512

A Favorite Niche

December 4, 2015
Posted in

10338291_10152506334045519_7827083766749266876_nLiz Hall has graced the Niche Award’s finalist and winner pages several times in the past in addition to being one of the very few polymer artists to gain a place as a Saul Bell award finalist. I do wonder how they determine what category her work goes in. She creates in both metal clay and polymer, combining both for an original and truly stunning effect.

Liz was a first place Niche Award winner in 2014, but since we featured that bracelet set at the time, I thought I’d share a new favorite set of mine. How beautiful are the colors and the shimmer here? The colors are dazzling and the mosaic insets are organically set, but there is still this contained feel to the design thanks to the beautiful, even construction in the silver that frames the polymer and overall finish.

Looking through Liz’s most recent work is always delightful. The gallery on her website is just so full of beautiful things, but you can also find her latest work posted on her Facebook page. Of course, if you fancy her work for yourself, be sure to put her Etsy shop on your Christmas list!

___________________________________________

Like this blog? Lend your support with a purchase of The Polymer Arts magazine and visit our partners:

PCA Nov 15 Blog   Print

   

Read More

Polymer Takes Flight

December 2, 2015
Posted in

Kassel_Doreen_GuardianOwl-Preview857370525

We’re going to keep going in the trend of award-winning art this week. This is another Niche Award finalist for this year.

This intricate sculpture is both constructed and sculpted, plus it has a touch of paint added. There is so much detail here, but all you initially see is a beautiful, lively bird. This is not something I might have expected of Doreen Kassel until you look at the expression of this piece and realize that the subtlety of color comes from her judicious and light painting techniques.

Her work always has such character and the paint she applies doesn’t look like paint at all. All you notice is the imagery she has brought to life. And it really stands out among the polymer finalist in the Niche awards this year. It’s rather nice to see non-jewelry making the final cut. In fact, out of the 5 polymer pieces in the Niche finalist list, only two are jewelry. You can see all the finalist on the Niche finalists page.

You can find more of Doreen’s charming pieces on her website here. As for me … I’m off for my quarterly multi-state crossing, looking forward to some warmer temperatures on the West coast where I will be through the holidays. See you here on Friday!

 

 

___________________________________________

Like this blog? Lend your support with a purchase of The Polymer Arts magazine and visit our partners:

PCA Nov 15 Blog   Print

   

Read More

Wiwat and His Hidden Beauties

March 25, 2014
Posted in

Wiwat Kamolpornwijit’s work has fascinated me since I first laid eyes on one of his trapped rose necklaces, as I like to call them. A couple new variations on these are in the new  1000 Beads book. I, too, have a fascination with things that are wholly exposed, with caves and crevice, and what is hiding behind the screen, in the box and under the veil. Wiwat’s work presents a lot of these intriguing, partially exposed and trapped elements.

This piece is actually older. I am thinking from around 2007 but you can see that this partly hidden and trapped theme has been an ongoing vein of interest to him.

wiwat2

As he describes his work, “I hand-form every piece of polymer clay jewelry with no use of commercial molds. I use several techniques including caning, engraving, weaving, layering, and many others for which I don’t have names.”

Wiwat, who originally is from Thailand and currently lives in Virginia, is a Niche Awards winner for 2011 and 2013, and Saul Bell Design Award Finalist for 2011. You can be inspired by more of his work on his website.

 

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.

14P1 cover Fnl   PCW blue string art cane   Blog2 -2014-02Feb-2

Read More

Tribal Trends

January 6, 2014
Posted in

In our recent perusal of items that people are posting, commenting and otherwise bandying about online, we’ve noticed there is quite a bit of tribal influenced designs and color palettes. So this week, we thought we’d look at tribal tendencies and see how our fellow clayers are using this type source for inspiration in their work.

Liz Hall has previously put out a lot of work reminiscent of the American Southwest. (She’s from Maryland and lives in Virginia so I’m not sure how that happened.) I never really thought about it, but the southwest imagery and patterns are not so different from what we generally think of as tribal. Ancient art, whether from Africa, Australia, Europe or the Americas, tends towards natural and raw edged work, heavy with patterning in motifs particular to their area and culture. So it would not be difficult to move from the Southwestern aesthetic which draws from the Native American Indian culture to colors and patterns closer to an African influence as Liz has done here in these bangles.

1b710a976b909f0dc8e15ea502457c4a

These bangles are one of the final entries for the polymer clay category of the Niche awards. You can see the other entries on the Niche website. Take a look at more of Liz’s work on her own website and Etsy store.

 

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.

Cover 13-P4 web    PCW_flower tile canes  WhimsicalBead051512

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