Oldie but Goodie

October 18, 2014

rr11I wish I could start sharing all the wonderful things we’ve already started talking about and sharing at the Polymer 2.0 conference in Racine, but I think we really need to wait until it’s over to pull out the juiciest tidbits. So, while I am off taking photos and notes for future blogs and articles, why don’t you try this unusual, but older, technique that involves creating long ribbons of polymer.

The tutorial was originally created by Nora Jean Stone for Polymer Clay Polyzine some 13 years ago, but it’s still a relevant technique today that I really think could use some more exploration. The depth and patterning results of this approach could be dramatically altered by changing up the layers and the way the ribbon is folded, as well as choosing solid or mica clays or a combination of them.  Have you ever  tried it? If you haven’t, wouldn’t you like to?

Go get yourself some time in the studio with this or any of the other neat tips and tutorials dug up for you this week. See what surprises you have in store for yourself!

 

 

 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-P3 Fall-Play cover Full sm  Blog2 -2014-02Feb-3   polymer clay butterfly ornament sm   TPA Blog Newsletter Ad  ShadesofClay 1014 v2  tpabl-10-9072014

Taking it Tribal

January 7, 2014

These days, the  idea of something being modern but tribal, encircles a loose set of characteristics that can be applied to all kinds of materials, forms and techniques. The more prevalent characteristics would be earthy or naturally derived color palettes, repeated motifs with a hand drawn look, and rough, uneven edges or shapes. As we’ll see this week, that may not always be true, but if you wanted to create something more tribal or primitive looking, adding these types of elements would lean your piece in that direction.

I don’t know that I would have easily come up with a way to make mokume look tribal but even this technique, drawn from ancient Japanese metal work that demanded precision and fine skill, can be converted to reflect the idea of tribal by simply adding a few of the generalized characteristics just mentioned. Julie Picarello, known around the community for her extensive work with mokume style techniques she calls imprinting, did just this a few years ago with a line of tribal pendants as seen here.

3432693857_529a15701b

This set of tribal pendants actually hits all the basic characteristics, but Julie’s line of tribal pendants include all kinds of color, texture and motifs, repeated and not. The uneven shapes, however, keep harkening back to the modern tribal aesthetic. Go ahead and take a look at what she’s done in this area on her website and Flickr pages, and don’t forget her book, Patterns in Polymer.

 

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

Oldie but Goodie

October 18, 2014
Posted in

rr11I wish I could start sharing all the wonderful things we’ve already started talking about and sharing at the Polymer 2.0 conference in Racine, but I think we really need to wait until it’s over to pull out the juiciest tidbits. So, while I am off taking photos and notes for future blogs and articles, why don’t you try this unusual, but older, technique that involves creating long ribbons of polymer.

The tutorial was originally created by Nora Jean Stone for Polymer Clay Polyzine some 13 years ago, but it’s still a relevant technique today that I really think could use some more exploration. The depth and patterning results of this approach could be dramatically altered by changing up the layers and the way the ribbon is folded, as well as choosing solid or mica clays or a combination of them.  Have you ever  tried it? If you haven’t, wouldn’t you like to?

Go get yourself some time in the studio with this or any of the other neat tips and tutorials dug up for you this week. See what surprises you have in store for yourself!

 

 

 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-P3 Fall-Play cover Full sm  Blog2 -2014-02Feb-3   polymer clay butterfly ornament sm   TPA Blog Newsletter Ad  ShadesofClay 1014 v2  tpabl-10-9072014

Read More

Taking it Tribal

January 7, 2014
Posted in

These days, the  idea of something being modern but tribal, encircles a loose set of characteristics that can be applied to all kinds of materials, forms and techniques. The more prevalent characteristics would be earthy or naturally derived color palettes, repeated motifs with a hand drawn look, and rough, uneven edges or shapes. As we’ll see this week, that may not always be true, but if you wanted to create something more tribal or primitive looking, adding these types of elements would lean your piece in that direction.

I don’t know that I would have easily come up with a way to make mokume look tribal but even this technique, drawn from ancient Japanese metal work that demanded precision and fine skill, can be converted to reflect the idea of tribal by simply adding a few of the generalized characteristics just mentioned. Julie Picarello, known around the community for her extensive work with mokume style techniques she calls imprinting, did just this a few years ago with a line of tribal pendants as seen here.

3432693857_529a15701b

This set of tribal pendants actually hits all the basic characteristics, but Julie’s line of tribal pendants include all kinds of color, texture and motifs, repeated and not. The uneven shapes, however, keep harkening back to the modern tribal aesthetic. Go ahead and take a look at what she’s done in this area on her website and Flickr pages, and don’t forget her book, Patterns in Polymer.

 

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

Read More
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