Imagining Stone Bones

January 21, 2015

100076147Alright, 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.

businesscard-3.5inx2in-h-front    PolymerArts Kaleidoscope     sfxpaad

Bubbles, Dots and Cupped Flowers

August 16, 2014

After a week of studying dense and mostly random repetition of elements, I thought some of you might be looking for some ideas to play with using this design concept, so today I brought you a few ideas.

bubblehowto0207 018

 

Ponsawan Sila has an easy mokume gane tutorial using bubble-like elements to create a dense surface texture. She flattens hers, but I was thinking, just keep the raised spots, and maybe create a denser bubble pattern then indent the middle of each bubble for additional dimension. I think that would look interesting.

http://polymerclaybeads.blogspot.fr/2007/02/blog-post.html

 

 

IMG_7633

 

 

If you want just some simple, fun repetition that could get you in the zen mode dot after dot, try this tutorial from Marina, known as Paper World Mary on Blogspot.

http://bond-mary.blogspot.com/2010/04/blog-post.html

4c7938a0ae3022b3936c3b454ad264da

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you were admiring some of the cupped shapes and flowers we saw, how about this cupped flower tutorial by Olga Fufygin.

(Click on the image for a larger view. There seems to be a problem with the image coming up on the blog page it’s from.)

 

Here’s to hoping you get some time for clay play! Have a great weekend.

 

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.

14-P2 CoverFnl-blog   Blog2 -2014-02Feb-1   marble cane ad

Crowded Elegance

August 14, 2014

tubeNecklace1I 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.

14-P2 CoverFnl-blog   Blog2 -2014-02Feb-1   marble cane ad

The Attraction of Many

August 11, 2014

helen p on EtsyThere has been an aesthetic concept I have been thinking about ever since I posted Dorothy Siemen’s wall piece, Colony two weeks agoWhy is it that we find beauty, comfort or some kind of attraction to items that have repeated and crowded patterns? They make wonderful, energy-filled compositions, and they are filled with texture and richness by the way they thoroughly fill the space. Let’s contemplate this thoroughness as we enjoy some gorgeous art this week.

This piece, by Greece’s Helen P. of Eleins Kingdom on Etsy, is pretty typical of the look I am talking about. Such an approach can carry a piece with little or no color. It does not need any particular order or structure, and there is no pattern or set of lines to follow. Just the same kind of shapes repeated over and over. Why do we like this?

My initial theory is that it harkens back to very common natural formations like lichen, fungus, barnacles, etc. We recognize something organic and inherently beautiful in the abundance and growth of such formations. Or do we?

Let’s start this week by you telling me what you think. Do you find you have an especially strong attraction to this kind of artwork and/or this kind of thing in the natural world and maybe that is why we are attracted to it? Or do you have another theory? Put your thoughts in the comments at the end of the blog post (if you are getting this by email, click on the header of this post to get to the post page), and I’ll aim to use those thoughts to steer the discussion this week.

See more of this crowded, repeated type of work in Helen’s Etsy shop. This type of approach is her primary thing, so you’ll have a chance to ponder it in quite a few more iterations.

 

 

 

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.

14-P2 CoverFnl-blog   Blog2 -2014-02Feb-1   marble cane ad

Floral as a Geometric Motif

December 17, 2013

Here is another approach that uses what is commonly thought of as classic organic imagery but creates a graphic style using repetition.

From a distance, the repeated pattern on this necklace looks like dots, but when you look closely, you will see flowers. Lucy Struncova uses the floral cane slices to add a stylized but soft organic side to a modern, graphic look that is further enhanced by the rounded, smooth edges of the triangular forms.

DSCF3788

As you might have noticed on the photo, this is available as a tutorial … for free even! Just go to Lucy’s blog to see this and several other tutorials you might find of interest. (Drop the URL into Google translate to get the Polish translated for you.)

Lucy’s is an amazing young artist–just a teenager!–but she is working on books and polymer products as well as her tutorials and artful pieces. Be sure to check out her work on Flickr and Pinterest as well.

 

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  120113 snowflake display ad  WhimsicalBead051512

Imagining Stone Bones

January 21, 2015
Posted in

100076147Alright, 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.

businesscard-3.5inx2in-h-front    PolymerArts Kaleidoscope     sfxpaad

Read More

Bubbles, Dots and Cupped Flowers

August 16, 2014
Posted in

After a week of studying dense and mostly random repetition of elements, I thought some of you might be looking for some ideas to play with using this design concept, so today I brought you a few ideas.

bubblehowto0207 018

 

Ponsawan Sila has an easy mokume gane tutorial using bubble-like elements to create a dense surface texture. She flattens hers, but I was thinking, just keep the raised spots, and maybe create a denser bubble pattern then indent the middle of each bubble for additional dimension. I think that would look interesting.

http://polymerclaybeads.blogspot.fr/2007/02/blog-post.html

 

 

IMG_7633

 

 

If you want just some simple, fun repetition that could get you in the zen mode dot after dot, try this tutorial from Marina, known as Paper World Mary on Blogspot.

http://bond-mary.blogspot.com/2010/04/blog-post.html

4c7938a0ae3022b3936c3b454ad264da

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you were admiring some of the cupped shapes and flowers we saw, how about this cupped flower tutorial by Olga Fufygin.

(Click on the image for a larger view. There seems to be a problem with the image coming up on the blog page it’s from.)

 

Here’s to hoping you get some time for clay play! Have a great weekend.

 

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.

14-P2 CoverFnl-blog   Blog2 -2014-02Feb-1   marble cane ad

Read More

Crowded Elegance

August 14, 2014
Posted in

tubeNecklace1I 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.

14-P2 CoverFnl-blog   Blog2 -2014-02Feb-1   marble cane ad

Read More

The Attraction of Many

August 11, 2014
Posted in

helen p on EtsyThere has been an aesthetic concept I have been thinking about ever since I posted Dorothy Siemen’s wall piece, Colony two weeks agoWhy is it that we find beauty, comfort or some kind of attraction to items that have repeated and crowded patterns? They make wonderful, energy-filled compositions, and they are filled with texture and richness by the way they thoroughly fill the space. Let’s contemplate this thoroughness as we enjoy some gorgeous art this week.

This piece, by Greece’s Helen P. of Eleins Kingdom on Etsy, is pretty typical of the look I am talking about. Such an approach can carry a piece with little or no color. It does not need any particular order or structure, and there is no pattern or set of lines to follow. Just the same kind of shapes repeated over and over. Why do we like this?

My initial theory is that it harkens back to very common natural formations like lichen, fungus, barnacles, etc. We recognize something organic and inherently beautiful in the abundance and growth of such formations. Or do we?

Let’s start this week by you telling me what you think. Do you find you have an especially strong attraction to this kind of artwork and/or this kind of thing in the natural world and maybe that is why we are attracted to it? Or do you have another theory? Put your thoughts in the comments at the end of the blog post (if you are getting this by email, click on the header of this post to get to the post page), and I’ll aim to use those thoughts to steer the discussion this week.

See more of this crowded, repeated type of work in Helen’s Etsy shop. This type of approach is her primary thing, so you’ll have a chance to ponder it in quite a few more iterations.

 

 

 

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.

14-P2 CoverFnl-blog   Blog2 -2014-02Feb-1   marble cane ad

Read More

Floral as a Geometric Motif

December 17, 2013
Posted in

Here is another approach that uses what is commonly thought of as classic organic imagery but creates a graphic style using repetition.

From a distance, the repeated pattern on this necklace looks like dots, but when you look closely, you will see flowers. Lucy Struncova uses the floral cane slices to add a stylized but soft organic side to a modern, graphic look that is further enhanced by the rounded, smooth edges of the triangular forms.

DSCF3788

As you might have noticed on the photo, this is available as a tutorial … for free even! Just go to Lucy’s blog to see this and several other tutorials you might find of interest. (Drop the URL into Google translate to get the Polish translated for you.)

Lucy’s is an amazing young artist–just a teenager!–but she is working on books and polymer products as well as her tutorials and artful pieces. Be sure to check out her work on Flickr and Pinterest as well.

 

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  120113 snowflake display ad  WhimsicalBead051512
Read More
If you love these posts ...