Colors of Bollywood
June 22, 2016 Inspirational Art
When I think of Claire Maunsell’s work, I think of her lovely and very organic pods and vessels. Her matte but saturated colors along with those crackle textures and scratches have become identifying characteristics of her style. So when I saw this post in a Facebook group with this work in progress piece, I was surprised to see it was posted by Claire. The contemporary shapes and brilliant colors are a departure from her usual approach, but what a brilliant exploration it is.
Claire says this was inspired by Bollywood films, which was an easy an instant connection for me. Those Indian fabrics and decor are so luscious in color, and Claire’s interpretation is a beautiful collaboration of those colors and her penchant for heavy texture.
Although I can’t point you to the source of this image, you can see more of Claire’s beautiful work on her Flickr photostream and in her Etsy shop.
Inspirational Challenge of the Day: Relax and watch a movie or show where the scenery, atmosphere, or fashion has a very particular look. Find colors, textures, forms, or imagery that inspires you and design or create your next piece based on this inspiration.
_________________________________________
Like this blog? Lend your support with a purchase of The Polymer Arts magazine and visit our partners:
_________________________________________
The Blue Between the Buildings
May 13, 2016 Inspirational Art
Silvia Ortiz de la Torre offered up her vision of a sky on this Fimo 50 World Project tile as one familiar to many people–the small patch of sky seen through a crowding of city skyscrapers. Maybe this is not the sky you most often think of when you envision sky, but for many this is a very common daily view. There is certainly something about seeing that small patch of blue hanging there beyond the reach of these immensely tall buildings that attracts the eye.
As amazing and beautiful as the man-made structures can be, I think most all of us gravitate towards the natural world more strongly. The directional lines of the buildings Silvia outlines make that focus on the sky automatic. And her choice to make that sun both glow in the blue sky and come through the form of a building in a singular burst of red color makes that both the resting point, a place our eye does not feel like it has to bounce around as it is pushed by the strong lines of the buildings, and a focal point. It’s a beautiful and expert composition.
Interested in seeing all the tiles in the Fimo 50 World Project? You can casually go through the submission that were posted on the project’s Facebook page or on Cynthia Tinapple’s Instagram page she set up for it.
Inspiration Challenge of the Day: Create or design something that contrasts man-made with natural. What elements of each are you drawn to? Or consider a favorite natural object or form and recreate it with very clean and structured lines. Or take a man-made form and make it organic looking.
________________________________________
Like this blog? Lend your support with a purchase of The Polymer Arts magazine and visit our partners:
Degraded Discs
January 22, 2015 Inspirational Art
This bit of inspired faux old art has more to do with the disintegration of materials than any past culture. The material it emulates could be seen as stone or sap or bone, but it long ago degraded into something soft and well-weathered. The texture and colors are simple but lovely in their organic connection.
I found these on an Etsy shop called @Logan Square. The artisan only identifies herself as Kristin. She does have some interesting words to explain where her textures come from and how she sees her beads:
“Each bead is unique, created by impressions taken from found objects. These objects come from my collection of plant forms, drift wood and pebbles from Lake Michigan, fossils and shells, as well as copper etchings of digital patterns I’ve created (I call these my digital “runes”) … my beads are fantasy fossils and relics.”
Take a look at her shop and the other wonderful textures she has there, especially her banner; she identifies the impressions made in those beads as being from “walnut seed, crayfish claws, fish vertebrae, digital runes, swordfish skull bones, and weathered concrete.” Wow. I would say no texture is safe from being used in this polymer work!
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.
Outside Inspiration: A Clay-Fire Connection
January 9, 2015 Inspirational Art
Raku pottery is so fascinating. There are a myriad of variations and techniques, so much so that it’s rather hard to define. The only real commonalities between them all seem to be the low-firing temperature and pulling the pottery out of the kiln while still red hot. The Western method includes introducing red hot clay to a combustible material to halt the chemical reaction in glazes and introducing the black smoke that works its way into the cracked glaze, creating those characteristic black crazing patterns. But it has been the intense color that can be achieved with raku that has drawn it into such favor in recent decades.
I had a chance to build a few of my own raku pots back in art school and found myself drawn not only to the color and crazing but to the direct relationship the pottery had with fire and earth. We would bury our hot pots in a sawdust-filled hole in the ground, watch it smolder and then cover the hole with a heavy metal lid to let the pottery sit and take it in. There was this primal, raw feeling that the earth itself was assisting in creating this art. It was so unusual, to be outside, letting the fire, smoke and earth create the texture and design of my pieces, and I can’t say I’ve had quite that kind of experience since then.
I think it is that uncontrollable outcome in the surface design of raku that also draws people to this kind of work. That happenstance texture is dominant in the work of ceramicist Chris Hawkins. Yes, he works up some really brilliant colors, but it is his collaboration with the fire elements, allowing the heat, flame and smoke to choose the patterning, that makes it so breathtakingly beautiful.
You can find a gallery of Chris’s work on his website and a bit of insight into how and why he creates these pieces on his 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.
Outside Inspiration: Bead & Fiber on the Verge
October 24, 2014 Inspirational Art
Before I write up a blog, I search what I’ve posted over the years to insure I’m not showing the same artists over and over, and that it’s been a while since I’ve posted their work. It’s a way of spreading the love around, so to speak. I don’t usually have to worry about that with posts from artists working in other mediums, but I was afraid I’d already shared the stunning work of Amy Gross and maybe shouldn’t be sharing it again. But, to my surprise, I never have! I don’t know how that happened. However, since her work was in the Racine Museum of Art’s (in)Organic exhibition I saw this past weekend, I can now correct that.
Amy is so one of my very favorite artists in the realm of mixed media art. The richness of the textures and colors are what draw you in, but it’s the imagery, both realistic and implied, that holds you there. At least it does me. It helps that I have an interest in both the growth and decay that is the cycle of nature. Amy’s work filters what she sees in this cycle through her own personal experiences as she notes in her artist statement on her website:
“My embroidered and beaded fiber pieces are my attempt to merge the natural observable world with my own inner life: I’m trying to remake nature sieved through my own experiences. I’ve always been attracted and frightened by things that are in their fullest bloom but on the verge of spoiling. There’s such beauty and sadness to them, heightened by the undeniable inevitability of their ending.”
I was so immensely thrilled to see her work in person for the first time at Racine Art Museum–I had read her work would be in the exhibit–that I was having a hard time containing myself. But, jumping up and down or squealing with glee is not museum-appropriate conduct. So, I am happy I have a chance to to do so here. The first image is one I was given permission to take at the museum. I really wanted to capture the colors in that top leaf in contrast with the darker colors below. The second photo is from her website and gives you more details of the lower half. See even more shots of this and other pieces of Amy’s in her website gallery pages.
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.
Crowded Elegance
August 14, 2014 Inspirational Art
I knew it was not likely that I would get through a week about repetition and crowded aesthetics without bringing in Cynthia Toops. I tried, but of all the artists I can think of, no one really beats her degree of repetitious elements that is a portrayal of beauty rather than something that tips into chaos or excess.
This tube necklace really drives home the idea that no matter how machined and perfect the elements, the crowded disorder of their assemblage is going to read as organic. Every element here was created with a precision tool or skill set, from the extruded tubes to the carefully chosen gradation of colors, and then to the elegant high-sided bezels the polymer tubes are packed into. It is easy to sense the care in the craftsmanship, but the precision may be hidden. You see this and still think of bunches of flowers, a meadow dense with wildflowers or the flowering of yarrow plants and the like, don’t you? It’s that very slight variation in color and height of each standing tube that sways our thoughts to the natural settings. A simple idea, but the results are complex, rich and rather intense in a quiet, elegant way.
From their amassed tubes to dense string of pods, and on to micro mosaics, Cynthia and her collaborator, Dan Adams, really crowd it in and continue to awe and delight us along the way. If you’ve never visited their website, take a a little trip through some of these beautifully packed spaces.
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.
Libby’s Curious Pin
March 29, 2014 Uncategorized
Color, texture, and shape are hallmarks of Libby Mill‘s work, as so beautifully illustrated in this curious beaded pin. Polymer clay allows her to explore the textured and smooth, patterned and plain surfaces. This pin has a very organic feel to it and the elongated shape and beaded texture brings it to life in a fluid, animated way.
Libby likes to work in polymer clay and sterling silver. See more of her work on her Flickr pages, including lots of bangles, beads, necklaces, earrings, and mixed media pieces, and visit her blog to share in discussions about balancing your creative life with a busy family life.
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.
When I think of Claire Maunsell’s work, I think of her lovely and very organic pods and vessels. Her matte but saturated colors along with those crackle textures and scratches have become identifying characteristics of her style. So when I saw this post in a Facebook group with this work in progress piece, I was surprised to see it was posted by Claire. The contemporary shapes and brilliant colors are a departure from her usual approach, but what a brilliant exploration it is.
Claire says this was inspired by Bollywood films, which was an easy an instant connection for me. Those Indian fabrics and decor are so luscious in color, and Claire’s interpretation is a beautiful collaboration of those colors and her penchant for heavy texture.
Although I can’t point you to the source of this image, you can see more of Claire’s beautiful work on her Flickr photostream and in her Etsy shop.
Inspirational Challenge of the Day: Relax and watch a movie or show where the scenery, atmosphere, or fashion has a very particular look. Find colors, textures, forms, or imagery that inspires you and design or create your next piece based on this inspiration.
_________________________________________
Like this blog? Lend your support with a purchase of The Polymer Arts magazine and visit our partners:
_________________________________________
Read MoreSilvia Ortiz de la Torre offered up her vision of a sky on this Fimo 50 World Project tile as one familiar to many people–the small patch of sky seen through a crowding of city skyscrapers. Maybe this is not the sky you most often think of when you envision sky, but for many this is a very common daily view. There is certainly something about seeing that small patch of blue hanging there beyond the reach of these immensely tall buildings that attracts the eye.
As amazing and beautiful as the man-made structures can be, I think most all of us gravitate towards the natural world more strongly. The directional lines of the buildings Silvia outlines make that focus on the sky automatic. And her choice to make that sun both glow in the blue sky and come through the form of a building in a singular burst of red color makes that both the resting point, a place our eye does not feel like it has to bounce around as it is pushed by the strong lines of the buildings, and a focal point. It’s a beautiful and expert composition.
Interested in seeing all the tiles in the Fimo 50 World Project? You can casually go through the submission that were posted on the project’s Facebook page or on Cynthia Tinapple’s Instagram page she set up for it.
Inspiration Challenge of the Day: Create or design something that contrasts man-made with natural. What elements of each are you drawn to? Or consider a favorite natural object or form and recreate it with very clean and structured lines. Or take a man-made form and make it organic looking.
________________________________________
Like this blog? Lend your support with a purchase of The Polymer Arts magazine and visit our partners:
Read MoreThis bit of inspired faux old art has more to do with the disintegration of materials than any past culture. The material it emulates could be seen as stone or sap or bone, but it long ago degraded into something soft and well-weathered. The texture and colors are simple but lovely in their organic connection.
I found these on an Etsy shop called @Logan Square. The artisan only identifies herself as Kristin. She does have some interesting words to explain where her textures come from and how she sees her beads:
“Each bead is unique, created by impressions taken from found objects. These objects come from my collection of plant forms, drift wood and pebbles from Lake Michigan, fossils and shells, as well as copper etchings of digital patterns I’ve created (I call these my digital “runes”) … my beads are fantasy fossils and relics.”
Take a look at her shop and the other wonderful textures she has there, especially her banner; she identifies the impressions made in those beads as being from “walnut seed, crayfish claws, fish vertebrae, digital runes, swordfish skull bones, and weathered concrete.” Wow. I would say no texture is safe from being used in this polymer work!
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.
Read MoreRaku pottery is so fascinating. There are a myriad of variations and techniques, so much so that it’s rather hard to define. The only real commonalities between them all seem to be the low-firing temperature and pulling the pottery out of the kiln while still red hot. The Western method includes introducing red hot clay to a combustible material to halt the chemical reaction in glazes and introducing the black smoke that works its way into the cracked glaze, creating those characteristic black crazing patterns. But it has been the intense color that can be achieved with raku that has drawn it into such favor in recent decades.
I had a chance to build a few of my own raku pots back in art school and found myself drawn not only to the color and crazing but to the direct relationship the pottery had with fire and earth. We would bury our hot pots in a sawdust-filled hole in the ground, watch it smolder and then cover the hole with a heavy metal lid to let the pottery sit and take it in. There was this primal, raw feeling that the earth itself was assisting in creating this art. It was so unusual, to be outside, letting the fire, smoke and earth create the texture and design of my pieces, and I can’t say I’ve had quite that kind of experience since then.
I think it is that uncontrollable outcome in the surface design of raku that also draws people to this kind of work. That happenstance texture is dominant in the work of ceramicist Chris Hawkins. Yes, he works up some really brilliant colors, but it is his collaboration with the fire elements, allowing the heat, flame and smoke to choose the patterning, that makes it so breathtakingly beautiful.
You can find a gallery of Chris’s work on his website and a bit of insight into how and why he creates these pieces on his 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.
Read MoreBefore I write up a blog, I search what I’ve posted over the years to insure I’m not showing the same artists over and over, and that it’s been a while since I’ve posted their work. It’s a way of spreading the love around, so to speak. I don’t usually have to worry about that with posts from artists working in other mediums, but I was afraid I’d already shared the stunning work of Amy Gross and maybe shouldn’t be sharing it again. But, to my surprise, I never have! I don’t know how that happened. However, since her work was in the Racine Museum of Art’s (in)Organic exhibition I saw this past weekend, I can now correct that.
Amy is so one of my very favorite artists in the realm of mixed media art. The richness of the textures and colors are what draw you in, but it’s the imagery, both realistic and implied, that holds you there. At least it does me. It helps that I have an interest in both the growth and decay that is the cycle of nature. Amy’s work filters what she sees in this cycle through her own personal experiences as she notes in her artist statement on her website:
“My embroidered and beaded fiber pieces are my attempt to merge the natural observable world with my own inner life: I’m trying to remake nature sieved through my own experiences. I’ve always been attracted and frightened by things that are in their fullest bloom but on the verge of spoiling. There’s such beauty and sadness to them, heightened by the undeniable inevitability of their ending.”
I was so immensely thrilled to see her work in person for the first time at Racine Art Museum–I had read her work would be in the exhibit–that I was having a hard time containing myself. But, jumping up and down or squealing with glee is not museum-appropriate conduct. So, I am happy I have a chance to to do so here. The first image is one I was given permission to take at the museum. I really wanted to capture the colors in that top leaf in contrast with the darker colors below. The second photo is from her website and gives you more details of the lower half. See even more shots of this and other pieces of Amy’s in her website gallery pages.
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.
Read MoreI knew it was not likely that I would get through a week about repetition and crowded aesthetics without bringing in Cynthia Toops. I tried, but of all the artists I can think of, no one really beats her degree of repetitious elements that is a portrayal of beauty rather than something that tips into chaos or excess.
This tube necklace really drives home the idea that no matter how machined and perfect the elements, the crowded disorder of their assemblage is going to read as organic. Every element here was created with a precision tool or skill set, from the extruded tubes to the carefully chosen gradation of colors, and then to the elegant high-sided bezels the polymer tubes are packed into. It is easy to sense the care in the craftsmanship, but the precision may be hidden. You see this and still think of bunches of flowers, a meadow dense with wildflowers or the flowering of yarrow plants and the like, don’t you? It’s that very slight variation in color and height of each standing tube that sways our thoughts to the natural settings. A simple idea, but the results are complex, rich and rather intense in a quiet, elegant way.
From their amassed tubes to dense string of pods, and on to micro mosaics, Cynthia and her collaborator, Dan Adams, really crowd it in and continue to awe and delight us along the way. If you’ve never visited their website, take a a little trip through some of these beautifully packed spaces.
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.
Read MoreColor, texture, and shape are hallmarks of Libby Mill‘s work, as so beautifully illustrated in this curious beaded pin. Polymer clay allows her to explore the textured and smooth, patterned and plain surfaces. This pin has a very organic feel to it and the elongated shape and beaded texture brings it to life in a fluid, animated way.
Libby likes to work in polymer clay and sterling silver. See more of her work on her Flickr pages, including lots of bangles, beads, necklaces, earrings, and mixed media pieces, and visit her blog to share in discussions about balancing your creative life with a busy family life.
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.
Read More