The Story Within

July 14, 2019

What is it about faux damaged and worn surfaces that we like so much? I mean, it’s everywhere – crackle, antiquing, weathering, patina, torn edges, scratching, distressing – these are all widely used surface techniques in art and in all kinds of decor. But have you ever asked yourself why we are drawn to things that are breaking down and degrading?

Let me say right out the gate, I absolutely adore this kind of surface treatment so don’t stop reading because you think I’m going to try to dissuade anyone from using it. But I do think it’s interesting that artists of all kinds are interested in it and wondered if you ever considered why people, in general, are so attracted to it.

I’ll give you the answer in one simple word – story. Things that are worn, show signs of use, and show the passage of time, have a story, history, a connection leading into the past lives and worlds of other people and places, or are a connection to our own past. Human beings love story. Civilizations of all kinds, and through all time, have told stories or sung songs to keep a culture, event, or person alive in the community or society. Communities everywhere collect evidence of the past – both their own and of others – and engage in the exchange of stories through nearly everything that we do and attend to including banter and gossip, entertainment, all our print and spoken communication sources , and all kinds of visual forms including, and maybe most especially, art. So, it’s no wonder artists love to recreate that innate sense of story by creating the look of aging, wear, breakage and weathering.

Now, you may think you simply like the look and any attraction you have to aged looks has nothing to do with the potential history something might have had or the stories that you could make up, consciously or unconsciously. The thing is, whether it is faux or real aging, we will always associate the look of something worn and weathered with the past and the past means history and history is, well, hi-story. It’s never just what we see that draws us. It’s what we associate with it, what our experiences tell us and our emotions evoke.

If these looks were just about the visuals, more people would be drawing inspiration from gory and grimy imagery alongside the pretty, intriguing, and more benign sources. (There are definitely people who draw texture from gore and grime but they’re not usually doing it to create something with a comfortable, aesthetic beauty.) So yes, the worn and weathered textures are beautiful, but it is psychologically attractive because it represents the passage of time and it’s interaction with the world and us.

Understanding that it is story and not just the beauty of these aged and distressed textures can take your work and designs into a more complex and rich realm because, instead of just thinking “This is a pretty texture, I want to make something with it,” you can start asking yourself, “What is the story behind this texture and why do I want to put it on this piece?” Or conversely, “Why do I want to make that texture into a piece of art?”

This is not to say that you have to write up an actual story or history for the piece that you’re making. I think just being aware that what you’re putting forth does represent a history will help guide you in your choices. After all, the viewer of your work isn’t necessarily going to know what story you associate with it but they will insert their own story, or an emotion associated with a story that the textures elicit, and the whole of the design should support the idea of its history or use.

Let’s look at some work with some of our favorite worn and weathered textures, and not just polymer either – I think we need to branch out a bit, especially in this subject matter, to see just how ubiquitous this type of texture is in art.

 

All a Story is Cracked Up to Be

Let’s start with an example from an artist who is obviously all about the story in her artwork. Christine Damm’s website and shop name is, after all, “Stories They Tell”. All her work looks weathered or worn, maybe a bit beaten and dinged, but she’s coaxed a persevering beauty out of these rough, color strewn treatments with consistent intention. This piece of Christine’s includes parts of an old vintage hand beater whose actual history of use, neglect, and, now, adoration, is echoed in the polymer clay and combined in a tribal-esque design.

This piece was actually the opening beauty shot for Christine’s article, “Found Fusion: Designing with Polymer & Found Objects”, in the Spring 2016 issue of The Polymer Arts. It’s a fantastic article that will really get you thinking about how enriching found objects can be when added to your work. We still have copies of that issue in print on our website here and you can read more about Christine’s and her process on her website here.

 

Nadezhda Plotnikova’s “Sunny necklace”, below, is aptly named. Although the surface of the focal beads is quite crackled and the other beads have a rough, weathered look, the necklace is anything but worn out looking. The bright and light colors convey that “sunny” emotion while the surface treatments give it a relaxed and comfortable feel. It’s that same kind of feeling you get from your favorite well-worn comfy jeans (and don’t those jeans have stories!), only with a bit more pizzazz. It seems like the individual beads here would have the stories, though, and the necklace would be a recent gathering of them. Like maybe it could be a collection of old sun-bleached coral washed up on a distant island combined with wave-worn, fantastical rocks, all found and brought together by some seafaring adventurer. Or something like that. What story do you come up with when looking at this?

 

Like Nadezhda’s above, Tamara of Block Party Press has chosen a light theme for a necklace of visually distressed beads. Her’s however, comes in the form of stylized daisies but the color and treatment is on the dark and heavy side, with its worn-out whites over a dark brown base. It’s a kind of a subdued approach to what we have above, being much less dramatic. I also feel like it’s the kind of thing you might have found in the back of your mother’s jewelry drawer, forgotten and dusty, and just exuding nostalgia. It absolutely begs for a story to be wound around it. It’s the kind of piece that I think would feel instantly a part of your personal history even when new.

 

Some artwork does not just imply story but is actually created from a story. Our featured artist in the #3 issue of The Polymer Studio is an avid researcher and history lover from Brazil quite inspired by interpreting story. Beatriz Cominatto created the pieces you see in the opening of this post and the one below as part of a series inspired by the native work of the Marajoara people. She researched the history of Brazil’s Marajo Island and the archaeological finds there extensively before starting the series and then developed this into quite the elaborate art installation, complete with simulated archaeological work. These pieces imply story even when you even to those uninformed about Beatriz’s inspiration, due to the consistently applied signs of age and the tribal design.

You can see and read more about this Beatriz’s work, in the next issue as she is our featured interview. She has had the most amazing artistic journey! She’s had a lot of hurdles to jump being so isolated, primarily language-wise, in Brazil, from the rest of the polymer community and yet she grew polymer as an art form there almost single-handedly, even helping to develop Brazil’s own line of polymer clay. You gotta read this article! You can also find out more about her Marajoara series on her feature page in Polymer Journeys 2019.

 

When I think about cracked and torn pieces in art jewelry, I always think about the metalsmiths. There’s something about taking a jeweler’s saw and developing cracked layers, revealing the jewels or textured surfaces beneath. Both the metalsmiths and admiring collectors seem to be quite drawn to it as the treatment is not at all uncommon. Lexi Erickson’s penchant for this kind of treatment is often paired with pitted and worn metal as in this pendant below.

It almost feels like Lexi’s piece was torn from some old piece of machinery which could lead you to wonder where and what that machine was and maybe what the machine’s purpose was and whether its maker ever imagined it would become a piece of jewelry. No, I’m not saying that’s what she did but that’s the kind of story, or at least e a sense of story, this type of work can invoke, all because of the thoroughness in her treatment of that one layer.

 

And what about this amazing conglomeration of worn, cracked, scratched and yet intensely beautiful surface treatments on this ceramic vessel below? Lesley McInally’s work is often reminiscent of an old doorframe much in need of painting or the corner of a crumbling old house where the plaster and frame have started to show. And that red dot … so simple and yet it adds so much energy and drama. I don’t think it’s supposed to be blood, but it could represent something of that sort. It really depends on where your mind wants to go with the possible stories buried here.

 

Creating Your Own Story

So, I want to give you a little, fun challenge today. Go take a look at some of your more elaborate pieces or, if you don’t have anything of your making at hand, look up some of your favorite pieces by other artists. What is the story, for you, in each piece that you look at? Tell yourself as much or as little of the story as comes to you in the first minute or less. Do this with at least 3 pieces, maybe 5. You may discover, during this process, a story in a piece that was only unconsciously there, but once you ask yourself about its possible history, it may become quite obvious. How exciting is that? Or do all of your pieces already come with a fully realized story?

Some artists do work that way, creating full-fledged stories for all their work, although I think it’s more predominant with people who create figures, animals, or creatures of some sort. I learned to do this with my art jewelry, mostly because, when I was selling, I made sure each piece had a title because that really helps to get potential customers thinking about its story and since they write the story, they tend to find a connection to the work, making it much more likely that they would buy the piece. I have a whole article about naming your pieces and the advantages of this in the Fall 2014 issue of The Polymer Arts if you want to read more about that.

 

My Own Story

First of all, I want to thank all of you who wrote me little personal notes about my physical well-being. You’re also sweet! Mind you, it’s nothing serious but chronic tendinitis does make it very hard to work, I have to say. But I have my workarounds. And for those who wrote me about the earthquakes… I grew up with them and although they are scary in the moment, us native Californians just take it in stride. There were no major injuries from these quakes as it was centered in a fairly unpopulated area and deep in the earth. We were rolling around quite a bit here but nothing even fell over, which was a miracle considering the state of our house.

As for this house renovation, we are supposedly really close to being done but it still looks like a wreck and everything is covered in a layer of white dust from all the plastering. It feels like it’s going to be months after they finish before the house is back to normal, just because of all the house cleaning we get to look forward to and all the organizing. It’s going to be like moving into a new place! Well, it is mostly a new place now, actually. Which is cool! But a lot of work.

The good news is that we do have nearly one whole bathroom done, which is really nice, to say the least. We’re doing the painting on it to save us some bucks while the crew works on the kitchen and tiling the other bathroom. I’m training the family on painting and other home improvement stuff. It’s become quite the family project which is pretty nice. We get to spend paint-spattered time with the teen before she goes off to college in a couple of months!

 

As for work here at Tenth Muse headquarters, I’m still working on polishing the next issue of The Polymer Studio which is going slower than I’d like because of the tendinitis but I’m going to keep at it. I hope to have the actual publication date next week so stay tuned!

I hope you are enjoying your weekend and have a little time to go and find some of the stories in your work–you’ll love doing that! I promise. Have a great week!

High On Art

June 23, 2019

Just flew in from Australia yesterday so I’m a bit jetlagged still but I wrote up some thoughts on the plane and pulled some pretties to demonstrate some more ideas on passion in your art, so here goes.

If you are reading this, chances are, you are passionate about art, either creating it or supporting its creation. Can we take just a few spare seconds to admire and be amazed by that passion of yours? I’d suggest that you stop at this moment and really let the emotion of that passion of yours come to the forefront, letting it blossom in the memory of what drives you to create or be supportive of creativity. Can you feel it? Close your eyes if you don’t feel it yet and just give it a few seconds to come to the surface so I can pose a few questions while that emotion is coursing through you.

Got it now? Okay. So, tell me … what color is your passion? Close your eyes if you need to and see what color blooms in your mind.

Then ask, does your passion have a temperature? Is it cool and constant or warm and rolling? Or something else entirely?

What does it act like? Is it like a soft, persistent wind, or a crashing ocean or something in between?

It doesn’t matter what metaphors you come up with for the feeling, you just want something concrete to hold onto. With those sensations and images in mind now, ask yourself, is that feeling there when you sit down to create? Does that passion spill out onto your worktable and direct your work? Does it drive you to come up with ideas or search out and soak up great art and other inspiring sights and sounds?

With all these metaphors and answers in your mind, I want to ask the core question that just couldn’t be put forth until you were in the right mindset:

Do you like what you create and why you create?

That might sound like a strange question because who would continue to create art while not liking it? Well, many of us do. That’s been at the heart of several conversations I’ve had recently, all related to trying to make a living from creative endeavors. That need to pay one’s bills is not the kind of drive that we really want to direct our work if fulfilling our passion is at all a goal of ours.

The fact is, letting out your passion and letting it guide you feel risky because you are putting a bit of yourself out there into the world in that process. Or a lot of yourself sometimes. It’s scary, isn’t it, putting your latest work out, wondering what people will think, whether it will sell or whether the receiver will like it? But it’s thrilling too, especially when people respond to it, when they connect to your work and to you. It’s a serious high.

You deserve to get that high on art. Don’t you think?

 

High on Creativity

I bet you can spy those artists who do get that high on a regular basis, people who let their passion run wild and lead their work. Here are just a few of my personal favorites but start thinking of your own as I go through them.

One of the first people that comes to mind is Ellen Jewett. She has worked in polymer, epoxy, and paper clay, using no tools but her hands and a brush, and makes only what she wants to make. Here is but one of her mind-blowing sculptures.

Her work is born of a unique and driving passion. In her own words:

At first glance my work explores the more modern prosaic concept of nature: a source of serene nostalgia but this is balanced with the more visceral experience of ‘wildness’ as remarkably alien and indifferent.  Upon closer inspection of each ‘creature’ the viewer may discover a frieze on which themes as familiar as domestication and as abrasive as domination fall into sharp relief.   These qualities are not only present in the final work but are fleshed out in the process of building. Each sculpture is constructed using an additive technique, layered from inside to out by an accumulation of innumerable tiny components.  Many of these components are microcosmic representations of plants, animals and objects.  Some are beautiful, some are grotesque and some are fantastical.  The singularity of each sculpture is the sum total of its small narrative structures.

I encourage you to take the time to read her full artist statement. You may be surprised by her approach and amazed by her insights into her own work and purpose.

 

I have found that many of insanely passionate artists are also similarly intense thinkers. Some of these passionate thinkers take their love of art a step further by sharing their passion through education as a way to spark and inspire the creativity of others. Christine Dumont is just such an artist, giving polymer and mixed media artists a place to push themselves and grow through her website Viola and its related projects.

Her own work comes about as a result of intense exploration. She does not create to sell, and I think this gives her a freedom that an artist dependent on their work for their income may find harder, although not at all impossible, to achieve.

Christine will actually be in Switzerland teaching this mix of polymer and metal September 14-15, 2019. If you are interested in joining the class, you can message her directly through her website.

 

As demonstrated by Christine’s passion for teaching, a creative passion doesn’t have to manifest itself purely in your art. Teaching, which takes a particular passion of its own, is just one alternate avenue to steer one’s creative passions. Giving back to others is another way. We had a whole section of community recognition for polymer artists who give back in our first edition Polymer Journey in 2016. We have so many giving and generous people in this community! One of those beautiful people is Wendy Moore who I had the unparalleled pleasure of staying with this past week in Canberra, Australia.

Her creative passion was intertwined with a passion to give back to others when she founded the Friends of Samunnat alongside Nepalese lawyer Kopila Basnet, to help support and give independence to women who were victims of violence. Wendy’s passion and empathy for others is seen directly in her art as well, including this piece I photographed at her home but which you can also find in the Polymer Journeys 2019 edition. It is a representation of her “confusion and angst relating to issues about how we move forward in relationships with Australia’s indigenous people.”

Wendy’s passion has not gone unnoticed outside the polymer community either. It was recently announced that she has been awarded the 2019 Order of Australia medal by the Australian Governor-General for her contribution to the international community of Nepal! This is one of a set of awards and appointments the Australian government uses as a principal way of recognizing outstanding citizens. Join me in a big congratulations to (a probably very embarrassed and blushing) Wendy Moore. Read more about the award along with her interview in this article here.

And you can also look forward to reading in depth about Wendy, her journey, her work, and her life in issue #4 of The Polymer Studio later this year, so keep up those subscriptions!

Here are a few pics from my time with Wendy. I’ll get more photos of the trip up on Facebook where you are welcome to follow me.

 

Wendy and I contemplating the insanity of this immense tapestry which recreated a much smaller painting in every nuance. At the Australian Parliament house’s Great Hall.

 

Forest labyrinth built by some passionate creative person in the bush just beyond Wendy’s house. Wendy and I are walking it with my step-daughter and Wendy’s granddaughter.

 

Photos by Brett Varon

There are so, so many other artists I could point out as examples of deeply passionate people who let that passion drive the work they do, both in and outside the studio. But this is all I have in me to write just now. Right now, I am very passionate about sleep!

However, I would encourage you to continue this search for passion in your daily perusals of artwork online. I would challenge you to keep an eye out for work in which the artist’s passion is intensely obvious and try to imagine the emotion and drive that they must have to create the wonderful work they share with us.

If you aren’t feeling a glimmer of what you think these dynamos must have, perhaps it’s time to assess what you are doing and why. Perhaps you need to infuse your work with new inspiration and materials (as suggested in last week’s post) or maybe you would be more fulfilled spending some of your time teaching (which might include writing articles for publications like The Polymer Studio. Check out our guidelines.) or maybe you need to step back and ensure you are creating in a fulfilling and meaningful way for you, not just for your customers. If your work is infused with your passion, you’ll sell it and you’ll get noticed. Just note how highly passionate art grabs your attention!

Okay, off for more sleep so I can hit the ground running on Monday as I aim to get Issue #3 off to the printer in early July. It’s shaping up to be a really gorgeous issue but I’m still having my challenges here as the house is still in various stages of construction (the worst of it being there are no working sinks except the one in the garage) but the bones of the kitchen are in so that is awesome! Now I can start working on the back-splash I designed. Well, maybe after this next issue if off to the printer.

In the meantime, have a wonderful, inspired, and passionate week!

A Blossoming Passion

June 18, 2019

I’m sorry to say that I have not been able to find sufficient Wi-Fi or cellular service to work on research and photos for this blog. I tried getting these done before I left but it got a bit chaotic and you know what they say about best-laid plans!  But here is another little story about passion that will hopefully hold you over until I return next weekend.

Clownfish in anemone

Photo by David Clode on Unsplash

I am on Kangaroo Island in South Australia right now. 2 days ago we were in Cairns off the Great Barrier Reef where we got to see a real passion bloom in our teenager. My step-daughter just graduated high school and this trip was her graduation present. Australia and the Great Barrier Reef, in particular, were chosen because she is entering college as a Marine Biology major. She had to declare a major when she applied but the truth is, she is not at all certain what she wants to do. She is interested in conservation and environmental issues so the reef and its survival through the ravages of global warming is something that resonates with her.

In Cairns, were lucky enough to find a snorkeling trip run by a very passionate marine biologist who took us out on the reefs and educated us for a good hour on the creatures of the reef, the ecology, and the efforts being made to save it. Our teenager soaked it all in, every word. You could see her interest blossoming into an intense passion before our eyes. She couldn’t stop talking about it. It was so lovely to see that. I nearly cried.

This is not to say that she might not change her mind later but I do think we witnessed the start of an intense journey out there in the aqua blue ocean. Do you remember when your passion for art or for polymer occurred? Do you remember the feeling? Is it still there?

If that same passion doesn’t still exist, it is okay to consider a change. I have had so many passionate excursions in my life although writing and creativity have always been out front. Sometimes we just need to get out and adventure to figure it out or find it again. Sometimes those adventures just reaffirm or invigorate a passion that already exists but perhaps those passions needed a new and novel experience to energize them again. Or perhaps it is not the subject that is in question but what you are doing with it.

The blog I had planned for this week was originally about that—figuring out if we are doing what we want with our passion and our love of art. It is a question that needs to be asked regularly. Sure, routine and inertia can keep you going even if you’re not completely happy with what you are doing, but shouldn’t we strive to do what we love if at all possible?

This week, I’d like to suggest that you try something new every day. Not just in your art but in your daily life. Drive a new way to work. Shop at a different grocery store. Take a day hike at a nearby park or area you’ve never been to. Wear your hair differently. Try a new food or restaurant. And in the studio, try a new technique, just once at least. Or try a new material even. Or a new form—so if you primarily do jewelry, try sculpture or wall art. Set yourself this challenge just to shake it up and see what you discover. You never know if a new passion will bloom inside of you from just one little different adventure.

Its Time! The Polymer Studio Subscriptions & Bonus Gifts

Today we’re going to do a little bit of business but it is exciting business!

I am so pleased to announce that subscriptions to The Polymer Studio are finally available online. I appreciate your patience while we worked all the kinks out in our new website but yes… there is also a new website! Tenthmusearts.com will house all of our publication information, purchasing, the biggest polymer resource list in the world, and your account if you’re a subscriber. We are very excited about the beautiful new layout and worked to make it as easy as possible to navigate but if you have any suggestions, don’t hesitate to write us.

If you subscribe now, before the end of the month, or you are an existing subscriber to The Polymer Arts rolling over into the new magazine subscription, you will receive a couple of gifts to thank you for your support and to hold you over until January when the first issue comes out: bonus discounts and a video magazine!

Bonus Discounts! Subscribe before the end of the month and we will send out an email with exclusive discounts worked out with some of your favorite online polymer shops. As we enter the holiday season, you can use these discounts to purchase gifts as well as stock up on your own goods all while supporting small independent businesses run by polymer artists and enthusiast like yourself. You’ll get discounts and deals from the likes of Christi Friesen, Shades of Clay, Linda’s Art Spot, Nemravka.cz, Helen Breil, ilove2Craft, Lisa Pavelka, The Whimsical Bead, and Tenth Muse Arts. Give us 1 business day to get that discount email to you.

Video magazine! What is a video magazine? It’s just what it sounds like—a collection of videos on a number of related subjects, collected much like articles in a magazine. This is an idea I started looking into earlier in the year and I will wrap up my first trial edition to share with all new and existing subscribers—you get to be my exclusive viewers who can help me shape this into a possible future publication or bonus material for magazine subscribers. Not sure where this is going yet but it sounded like fun for us all!

For this trial video magazine, you get to hang out with me in my studio and Tenth Muse headquarters for a behind-the-scenes peek at how we put together a magazine, as well as seeing a number of product demonstrations and technique tips. I’m still working out details on the other cool things going into this but I guarantee it will be a great time and should hold you over  some until the magazine comes in January. So subscribe now if you’re not already on our subscription list so you don’t miss out.

For more information about the new magazine or to purchase books or back issues, go to the new website at www.tenthmusearts.com.

Memories for a Lifetime

 

I know I showed you a bit of the sample “Into the Forest” installation last week, but I didn’t get in this mosaic created by Julie Eakes for the exhibition that will be installed in November. I think Julie gets the prize for the most intense and biggest piece to go into the installation. I uploaded a fairly large image of this so if you click on the photo, it should open up in a browser window and you can zoom in to see all the individual canes that make up the idyllic scene.

I wish you could zoom in on the screens you see here in the main assembly room as Ellen Prophater presented her talk on mokume gane. Oh, the secrets and the great tips and tricks she gave away during this talk! This kind of thing was happening all over and made the price of this event well worth it on that basis alone. The friendships and conversations, however, they make it priceless.

If you didn’t get to make Synergy and haven’t been to any major events lately or ever, keep them in mind. Save up your pennies and plan to get that time off from work for the next big event you can possibly work into your schedule. They are each an experience you’ll keep with you all life long.

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Enticing and Entertaining

The art jewelry at these events is also a big draw. There is nothing quite like seeing masterful polymer work in person.

Here is a gorgeous piece by Bonnie Bishoff. She wore it to the final gala event and I just could not stop looking at the delicate forms and sunset-like colors. The picture (and the poor lighting in these places) doesn’t quite do it justice.

Another bonus to coming to these events is the local color. In this case, Sherman Oberson, a board member of the IPCA and a local Pennsylvania resident, treated a small handful of us to a tour of his insanely packed and ever-entertaining collection of flea market and thrift store finds. We did this, in part, to honor Nan Roche whose birthday it was. A huge collector of the curious and visually enticing herself, it was a perfect birthday outing for her and an immensely entertaining evening for those of us who got to tag along.

Poke around on Instagram and Facebook for more on Sherman’s place and other Synergy events.

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

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Synergy Recap in Pictures

First of all … the new Fall issue came out over the weekend! Get your texture fix with this issue, in a big way. If you have a digital subscription and have not seen your access email, check your junk mail folder. You should also be able to access it through your account here. If you have a print subscription, those went to the post office in Idaho on Friday so they are on the way too. If you do not have an active subscription or need to get your single issue copy, go to our website at www.thepolymerarts.com.

So this week we are going to have a parade of photos from Synergy 4 to include some beautiful art and some show shots for those who didn’t go but are trying to live vicariously through the community’s representatives that did.

The absolute best thing about going to these events is the people you get to meet and chat it up with. I think I may have said that last week but it’s true! The first picture here is just a sampling of the talent that was sitting behind me at breakfast one morning. How thrilled would you be to have the opportunity to sit down with Jeff Dever and Rachel Carren and listen in on their, no doubt, very insightful conversation? Or pull up a chair and say hello to Nan Roche and Melanie West? Or hang out at the same table with Christi Friesen, Bettina Welker, and Martina Weller? And you can at these things. People here, no matter what the skill level or how long they have been involved, are happy to talk to all the attendees. It is always illuminating what one can learn from others with the same passion.

I was grateful to get to talk to so many people but I was particularly happy to have a little time to sit down with our longtime polymer master, Marie Segal. She gave a talk about the new Cernit formulation–there has been improved strength, flexibility, and clarity that looks to rival the other better-known brands which got me quite excited to try it. If you like sampling clays to see what works best in what application, jump over to her shop and get yourself some new goodies at The Clay Factory.

 

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

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A Recognizable Voice

May 2, 2013

Today I would like to ask for your input. I want to talk about creating an unique artistic voice and I think the best way to define it is to have you, the readers, break it down together. Are you up for it?

The primary question is, what does it mean to have an artistic voice? I think the answer is in understanding what sets the well defined and easily recognized style of one artist apart from all others? Sometimes it’s the choice of form or imagery, maybe even a standard set of colors. But what if that artist does a wide range of things. Is their particular voice going to stand out if they jump from one thing to another. I think, if they are following their true selves, that voice inside that directs the inquiry and steers the fascination that motivates the artist to create can be apparent in a wide variety of work from the same person.

Take a look at the piece below. Even if you have never seen this type of work from this artist, you may be able to guess who this is. I did pick a fairly easy person to recognize.

BloomingArtichokeSculptureContainer500

 

Did you guess? You can click on the image to take you to the artist’s website if you like. But we’re going to chat a bit more about this before answering. So … this piece is not one of the more popular, widely seen pieces from this artist and is not one of her more well-known styles (perhaps … it’s hard to say that any of the phases or styles of this artist aren’t fairly well-known) but how quickly did you come to recognize the artist? I’m guessing for most of you it took almost no time. And why is that? Why, when this artist is known primarily for her translucent techniques, her imagery, her purses, do we still recognize a vegetable sculpture by her so readily?

Some of the reasons are pretty simple but they do matter … like the fact that she’s widely shown. But what else? What is is about her work, no matter what form, technique or imagery she uses, that allows us to recognize her? Are there other artists that come to mind that you know you’ll recognize right away? Why?

I would love to have as many of you chime in as possible. If you are getting this via the email delivery, you can click on the title of the post in the email to go to the blog and comment at the bottom of the post. If you need, you can reply with an email and I can post it for you. But do get in on the conversation if you have anything to add. I can have my say about why I think Kathleen Dustin here is so readily recognizable but its just my view. We are a large community with many, many different views. Let’s hear what you think.

Revisiting the Masters

In a recent conversation with a couple rather big names in our community, I was asked why the community’s major blogs don’t feature the masters very often. It gave me pause. The thing is, I think we do … but part of it may be that there can be a difference in opinion as to what constitutes a master. But really what it comes down to is why we do these blogs. I know my reason is to bring inspiring ideas to you, things that will get you running into the studio or thinking about how to challenge yourself or tips that might help resolve a design issue. This requires a lot of new work and new ideas. The people we might call masters have perfected a set of techniques and/or approaches to design that most of us have become familiar with, so there is a question as to whether a reader will be very enthused by a post on something they’ve seen before. But what this question did make me consider is what we can get out of revisiting the masters.

We can become so familiar with some things that we just can’t see what there is to learn from it any more. The first time I saw Jeffrey Lloyd Dever’s work was years ago in Art Jewelry magazine. I was floored by his technique and finish (still am actually!) and tried out the tutorial in those pages. I wasn’t very successful but I did learn quite a few things along the way about back-filling and finishing. The thing is, if I worked through that same tutorial now, I would learn something different. What I was able to glean from my exploration of his work then, is not what I would glean from it now. Jeff was at Synergy and had a gallery table of his work so I was able to see his pieces close up. This time it was the color choices that I pondered. That didn’t even cross my mind years ago when I was so focused on technique.

You can see by the detail of his Racine Art Museum installation why his colors might be just a tad intriguing. But is that what intrigues you? Maybe, maybe not. It all depends on where you are in your art and even where your thoughts are on this day.

dever09-edensong-reveries-med-shot

The point is, we should keep revisiting the masters, even the same pieces. The best work does not have just one thing to teach us or for us to take away. Really wonderful art will have many facets that will hit us differently at various points in our lives. So, I’ve been thinking … I should make a point here and there of revisiting even the most familiar work on this blog, give us a chance to get reacquainted with it and find what is new and exciting for us because of where we are as a community today. I’d love to hear that many of you are or will do the same. If you have any great discoveries in doing this, do let me know. We can share it here.

By the way, I pulled this image of Jeff’s work from the Polymer Art Archive which is also a treasure of a source for work from our past as well as our present. It is well worth reading and visiting on a regular basis.

The Story Within

July 14, 2019
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What is it about faux damaged and worn surfaces that we like so much? I mean, it’s everywhere – crackle, antiquing, weathering, patina, torn edges, scratching, distressing – these are all widely used surface techniques in art and in all kinds of decor. But have you ever asked yourself why we are drawn to things that are breaking down and degrading?

Let me say right out the gate, I absolutely adore this kind of surface treatment so don’t stop reading because you think I’m going to try to dissuade anyone from using it. But I do think it’s interesting that artists of all kinds are interested in it and wondered if you ever considered why people, in general, are so attracted to it.

I’ll give you the answer in one simple word – story. Things that are worn, show signs of use, and show the passage of time, have a story, history, a connection leading into the past lives and worlds of other people and places, or are a connection to our own past. Human beings love story. Civilizations of all kinds, and through all time, have told stories or sung songs to keep a culture, event, or person alive in the community or society. Communities everywhere collect evidence of the past – both their own and of others – and engage in the exchange of stories through nearly everything that we do and attend to including banter and gossip, entertainment, all our print and spoken communication sources , and all kinds of visual forms including, and maybe most especially, art. So, it’s no wonder artists love to recreate that innate sense of story by creating the look of aging, wear, breakage and weathering.

Now, you may think you simply like the look and any attraction you have to aged looks has nothing to do with the potential history something might have had or the stories that you could make up, consciously or unconsciously. The thing is, whether it is faux or real aging, we will always associate the look of something worn and weathered with the past and the past means history and history is, well, hi-story. It’s never just what we see that draws us. It’s what we associate with it, what our experiences tell us and our emotions evoke.

If these looks were just about the visuals, more people would be drawing inspiration from gory and grimy imagery alongside the pretty, intriguing, and more benign sources. (There are definitely people who draw texture from gore and grime but they’re not usually doing it to create something with a comfortable, aesthetic beauty.) So yes, the worn and weathered textures are beautiful, but it is psychologically attractive because it represents the passage of time and it’s interaction with the world and us.

Understanding that it is story and not just the beauty of these aged and distressed textures can take your work and designs into a more complex and rich realm because, instead of just thinking “This is a pretty texture, I want to make something with it,” you can start asking yourself, “What is the story behind this texture and why do I want to put it on this piece?” Or conversely, “Why do I want to make that texture into a piece of art?”

This is not to say that you have to write up an actual story or history for the piece that you’re making. I think just being aware that what you’re putting forth does represent a history will help guide you in your choices. After all, the viewer of your work isn’t necessarily going to know what story you associate with it but they will insert their own story, or an emotion associated with a story that the textures elicit, and the whole of the design should support the idea of its history or use.

Let’s look at some work with some of our favorite worn and weathered textures, and not just polymer either – I think we need to branch out a bit, especially in this subject matter, to see just how ubiquitous this type of texture is in art.

 

All a Story is Cracked Up to Be

Let’s start with an example from an artist who is obviously all about the story in her artwork. Christine Damm’s website and shop name is, after all, “Stories They Tell”. All her work looks weathered or worn, maybe a bit beaten and dinged, but she’s coaxed a persevering beauty out of these rough, color strewn treatments with consistent intention. This piece of Christine’s includes parts of an old vintage hand beater whose actual history of use, neglect, and, now, adoration, is echoed in the polymer clay and combined in a tribal-esque design.

This piece was actually the opening beauty shot for Christine’s article, “Found Fusion: Designing with Polymer & Found Objects”, in the Spring 2016 issue of The Polymer Arts. It’s a fantastic article that will really get you thinking about how enriching found objects can be when added to your work. We still have copies of that issue in print on our website here and you can read more about Christine’s and her process on her website here.

 

Nadezhda Plotnikova’s “Sunny necklace”, below, is aptly named. Although the surface of the focal beads is quite crackled and the other beads have a rough, weathered look, the necklace is anything but worn out looking. The bright and light colors convey that “sunny” emotion while the surface treatments give it a relaxed and comfortable feel. It’s that same kind of feeling you get from your favorite well-worn comfy jeans (and don’t those jeans have stories!), only with a bit more pizzazz. It seems like the individual beads here would have the stories, though, and the necklace would be a recent gathering of them. Like maybe it could be a collection of old sun-bleached coral washed up on a distant island combined with wave-worn, fantastical rocks, all found and brought together by some seafaring adventurer. Or something like that. What story do you come up with when looking at this?

 

Like Nadezhda’s above, Tamara of Block Party Press has chosen a light theme for a necklace of visually distressed beads. Her’s however, comes in the form of stylized daisies but the color and treatment is on the dark and heavy side, with its worn-out whites over a dark brown base. It’s a kind of a subdued approach to what we have above, being much less dramatic. I also feel like it’s the kind of thing you might have found in the back of your mother’s jewelry drawer, forgotten and dusty, and just exuding nostalgia. It absolutely begs for a story to be wound around it. It’s the kind of piece that I think would feel instantly a part of your personal history even when new.

 

Some artwork does not just imply story but is actually created from a story. Our featured artist in the #3 issue of The Polymer Studio is an avid researcher and history lover from Brazil quite inspired by interpreting story. Beatriz Cominatto created the pieces you see in the opening of this post and the one below as part of a series inspired by the native work of the Marajoara people. She researched the history of Brazil’s Marajo Island and the archaeological finds there extensively before starting the series and then developed this into quite the elaborate art installation, complete with simulated archaeological work. These pieces imply story even when you even to those uninformed about Beatriz’s inspiration, due to the consistently applied signs of age and the tribal design.

You can see and read more about this Beatriz’s work, in the next issue as she is our featured interview. She has had the most amazing artistic journey! She’s had a lot of hurdles to jump being so isolated, primarily language-wise, in Brazil, from the rest of the polymer community and yet she grew polymer as an art form there almost single-handedly, even helping to develop Brazil’s own line of polymer clay. You gotta read this article! You can also find out more about her Marajoara series on her feature page in Polymer Journeys 2019.

 

When I think about cracked and torn pieces in art jewelry, I always think about the metalsmiths. There’s something about taking a jeweler’s saw and developing cracked layers, revealing the jewels or textured surfaces beneath. Both the metalsmiths and admiring collectors seem to be quite drawn to it as the treatment is not at all uncommon. Lexi Erickson’s penchant for this kind of treatment is often paired with pitted and worn metal as in this pendant below.

It almost feels like Lexi’s piece was torn from some old piece of machinery which could lead you to wonder where and what that machine was and maybe what the machine’s purpose was and whether its maker ever imagined it would become a piece of jewelry. No, I’m not saying that’s what she did but that’s the kind of story, or at least e a sense of story, this type of work can invoke, all because of the thoroughness in her treatment of that one layer.

 

And what about this amazing conglomeration of worn, cracked, scratched and yet intensely beautiful surface treatments on this ceramic vessel below? Lesley McInally’s work is often reminiscent of an old doorframe much in need of painting or the corner of a crumbling old house where the plaster and frame have started to show. And that red dot … so simple and yet it adds so much energy and drama. I don’t think it’s supposed to be blood, but it could represent something of that sort. It really depends on where your mind wants to go with the possible stories buried here.

 

Creating Your Own Story

So, I want to give you a little, fun challenge today. Go take a look at some of your more elaborate pieces or, if you don’t have anything of your making at hand, look up some of your favorite pieces by other artists. What is the story, for you, in each piece that you look at? Tell yourself as much or as little of the story as comes to you in the first minute or less. Do this with at least 3 pieces, maybe 5. You may discover, during this process, a story in a piece that was only unconsciously there, but once you ask yourself about its possible history, it may become quite obvious. How exciting is that? Or do all of your pieces already come with a fully realized story?

Some artists do work that way, creating full-fledged stories for all their work, although I think it’s more predominant with people who create figures, animals, or creatures of some sort. I learned to do this with my art jewelry, mostly because, when I was selling, I made sure each piece had a title because that really helps to get potential customers thinking about its story and since they write the story, they tend to find a connection to the work, making it much more likely that they would buy the piece. I have a whole article about naming your pieces and the advantages of this in the Fall 2014 issue of The Polymer Arts if you want to read more about that.

 

My Own Story

First of all, I want to thank all of you who wrote me little personal notes about my physical well-being. You’re also sweet! Mind you, it’s nothing serious but chronic tendinitis does make it very hard to work, I have to say. But I have my workarounds. And for those who wrote me about the earthquakes… I grew up with them and although they are scary in the moment, us native Californians just take it in stride. There were no major injuries from these quakes as it was centered in a fairly unpopulated area and deep in the earth. We were rolling around quite a bit here but nothing even fell over, which was a miracle considering the state of our house.

As for this house renovation, we are supposedly really close to being done but it still looks like a wreck and everything is covered in a layer of white dust from all the plastering. It feels like it’s going to be months after they finish before the house is back to normal, just because of all the house cleaning we get to look forward to and all the organizing. It’s going to be like moving into a new place! Well, it is mostly a new place now, actually. Which is cool! But a lot of work.

The good news is that we do have nearly one whole bathroom done, which is really nice, to say the least. We’re doing the painting on it to save us some bucks while the crew works on the kitchen and tiling the other bathroom. I’m training the family on painting and other home improvement stuff. It’s become quite the family project which is pretty nice. We get to spend paint-spattered time with the teen before she goes off to college in a couple of months!

 

As for work here at Tenth Muse headquarters, I’m still working on polishing the next issue of The Polymer Studio which is going slower than I’d like because of the tendinitis but I’m going to keep at it. I hope to have the actual publication date next week so stay tuned!

I hope you are enjoying your weekend and have a little time to go and find some of the stories in your work–you’ll love doing that! I promise. Have a great week!

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High On Art

June 23, 2019
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Just flew in from Australia yesterday so I’m a bit jetlagged still but I wrote up some thoughts on the plane and pulled some pretties to demonstrate some more ideas on passion in your art, so here goes.

If you are reading this, chances are, you are passionate about art, either creating it or supporting its creation. Can we take just a few spare seconds to admire and be amazed by that passion of yours? I’d suggest that you stop at this moment and really let the emotion of that passion of yours come to the forefront, letting it blossom in the memory of what drives you to create or be supportive of creativity. Can you feel it? Close your eyes if you don’t feel it yet and just give it a few seconds to come to the surface so I can pose a few questions while that emotion is coursing through you.

Got it now? Okay. So, tell me … what color is your passion? Close your eyes if you need to and see what color blooms in your mind.

Then ask, does your passion have a temperature? Is it cool and constant or warm and rolling? Or something else entirely?

What does it act like? Is it like a soft, persistent wind, or a crashing ocean or something in between?

It doesn’t matter what metaphors you come up with for the feeling, you just want something concrete to hold onto. With those sensations and images in mind now, ask yourself, is that feeling there when you sit down to create? Does that passion spill out onto your worktable and direct your work? Does it drive you to come up with ideas or search out and soak up great art and other inspiring sights and sounds?

With all these metaphors and answers in your mind, I want to ask the core question that just couldn’t be put forth until you were in the right mindset:

Do you like what you create and why you create?

That might sound like a strange question because who would continue to create art while not liking it? Well, many of us do. That’s been at the heart of several conversations I’ve had recently, all related to trying to make a living from creative endeavors. That need to pay one’s bills is not the kind of drive that we really want to direct our work if fulfilling our passion is at all a goal of ours.

The fact is, letting out your passion and letting it guide you feel risky because you are putting a bit of yourself out there into the world in that process. Or a lot of yourself sometimes. It’s scary, isn’t it, putting your latest work out, wondering what people will think, whether it will sell or whether the receiver will like it? But it’s thrilling too, especially when people respond to it, when they connect to your work and to you. It’s a serious high.

You deserve to get that high on art. Don’t you think?

 

High on Creativity

I bet you can spy those artists who do get that high on a regular basis, people who let their passion run wild and lead their work. Here are just a few of my personal favorites but start thinking of your own as I go through them.

One of the first people that comes to mind is Ellen Jewett. She has worked in polymer, epoxy, and paper clay, using no tools but her hands and a brush, and makes only what she wants to make. Here is but one of her mind-blowing sculptures.

Her work is born of a unique and driving passion. In her own words:

At first glance my work explores the more modern prosaic concept of nature: a source of serene nostalgia but this is balanced with the more visceral experience of ‘wildness’ as remarkably alien and indifferent.  Upon closer inspection of each ‘creature’ the viewer may discover a frieze on which themes as familiar as domestication and as abrasive as domination fall into sharp relief.   These qualities are not only present in the final work but are fleshed out in the process of building. Each sculpture is constructed using an additive technique, layered from inside to out by an accumulation of innumerable tiny components.  Many of these components are microcosmic representations of plants, animals and objects.  Some are beautiful, some are grotesque and some are fantastical.  The singularity of each sculpture is the sum total of its small narrative structures.

I encourage you to take the time to read her full artist statement. You may be surprised by her approach and amazed by her insights into her own work and purpose.

 

I have found that many of insanely passionate artists are also similarly intense thinkers. Some of these passionate thinkers take their love of art a step further by sharing their passion through education as a way to spark and inspire the creativity of others. Christine Dumont is just such an artist, giving polymer and mixed media artists a place to push themselves and grow through her website Viola and its related projects.

Her own work comes about as a result of intense exploration. She does not create to sell, and I think this gives her a freedom that an artist dependent on their work for their income may find harder, although not at all impossible, to achieve.

Christine will actually be in Switzerland teaching this mix of polymer and metal September 14-15, 2019. If you are interested in joining the class, you can message her directly through her website.

 

As demonstrated by Christine’s passion for teaching, a creative passion doesn’t have to manifest itself purely in your art. Teaching, which takes a particular passion of its own, is just one alternate avenue to steer one’s creative passions. Giving back to others is another way. We had a whole section of community recognition for polymer artists who give back in our first edition Polymer Journey in 2016. We have so many giving and generous people in this community! One of those beautiful people is Wendy Moore who I had the unparalleled pleasure of staying with this past week in Canberra, Australia.

Her creative passion was intertwined with a passion to give back to others when she founded the Friends of Samunnat alongside Nepalese lawyer Kopila Basnet, to help support and give independence to women who were victims of violence. Wendy’s passion and empathy for others is seen directly in her art as well, including this piece I photographed at her home but which you can also find in the Polymer Journeys 2019 edition. It is a representation of her “confusion and angst relating to issues about how we move forward in relationships with Australia’s indigenous people.”

Wendy’s passion has not gone unnoticed outside the polymer community either. It was recently announced that she has been awarded the 2019 Order of Australia medal by the Australian Governor-General for her contribution to the international community of Nepal! This is one of a set of awards and appointments the Australian government uses as a principal way of recognizing outstanding citizens. Join me in a big congratulations to (a probably very embarrassed and blushing) Wendy Moore. Read more about the award along with her interview in this article here.

And you can also look forward to reading in depth about Wendy, her journey, her work, and her life in issue #4 of The Polymer Studio later this year, so keep up those subscriptions!

Here are a few pics from my time with Wendy. I’ll get more photos of the trip up on Facebook where you are welcome to follow me.

 

Wendy and I contemplating the insanity of this immense tapestry which recreated a much smaller painting in every nuance. At the Australian Parliament house’s Great Hall.

 

Forest labyrinth built by some passionate creative person in the bush just beyond Wendy’s house. Wendy and I are walking it with my step-daughter and Wendy’s granddaughter.

 

Photos by Brett Varon

There are so, so many other artists I could point out as examples of deeply passionate people who let that passion drive the work they do, both in and outside the studio. But this is all I have in me to write just now. Right now, I am very passionate about sleep!

However, I would encourage you to continue this search for passion in your daily perusals of artwork online. I would challenge you to keep an eye out for work in which the artist’s passion is intensely obvious and try to imagine the emotion and drive that they must have to create the wonderful work they share with us.

If you aren’t feeling a glimmer of what you think these dynamos must have, perhaps it’s time to assess what you are doing and why. Perhaps you need to infuse your work with new inspiration and materials (as suggested in last week’s post) or maybe you would be more fulfilled spending some of your time teaching (which might include writing articles for publications like The Polymer Studio. Check out our guidelines.) or maybe you need to step back and ensure you are creating in a fulfilling and meaningful way for you, not just for your customers. If your work is infused with your passion, you’ll sell it and you’ll get noticed. Just note how highly passionate art grabs your attention!

Okay, off for more sleep so I can hit the ground running on Monday as I aim to get Issue #3 off to the printer in early July. It’s shaping up to be a really gorgeous issue but I’m still having my challenges here as the house is still in various stages of construction (the worst of it being there are no working sinks except the one in the garage) but the bones of the kitchen are in so that is awesome! Now I can start working on the back-splash I designed. Well, maybe after this next issue if off to the printer.

In the meantime, have a wonderful, inspired, and passionate week!

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A Blossoming Passion

June 18, 2019
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I’m sorry to say that I have not been able to find sufficient Wi-Fi or cellular service to work on research and photos for this blog. I tried getting these done before I left but it got a bit chaotic and you know what they say about best-laid plans!  But here is another little story about passion that will hopefully hold you over until I return next weekend.

Clownfish in anemone

Photo by David Clode on Unsplash

I am on Kangaroo Island in South Australia right now. 2 days ago we were in Cairns off the Great Barrier Reef where we got to see a real passion bloom in our teenager. My step-daughter just graduated high school and this trip was her graduation present. Australia and the Great Barrier Reef, in particular, were chosen because she is entering college as a Marine Biology major. She had to declare a major when she applied but the truth is, she is not at all certain what she wants to do. She is interested in conservation and environmental issues so the reef and its survival through the ravages of global warming is something that resonates with her.

In Cairns, were lucky enough to find a snorkeling trip run by a very passionate marine biologist who took us out on the reefs and educated us for a good hour on the creatures of the reef, the ecology, and the efforts being made to save it. Our teenager soaked it all in, every word. You could see her interest blossoming into an intense passion before our eyes. She couldn’t stop talking about it. It was so lovely to see that. I nearly cried.

This is not to say that she might not change her mind later but I do think we witnessed the start of an intense journey out there in the aqua blue ocean. Do you remember when your passion for art or for polymer occurred? Do you remember the feeling? Is it still there?

If that same passion doesn’t still exist, it is okay to consider a change. I have had so many passionate excursions in my life although writing and creativity have always been out front. Sometimes we just need to get out and adventure to figure it out or find it again. Sometimes those adventures just reaffirm or invigorate a passion that already exists but perhaps those passions needed a new and novel experience to energize them again. Or perhaps it is not the subject that is in question but what you are doing with it.

The blog I had planned for this week was originally about that—figuring out if we are doing what we want with our passion and our love of art. It is a question that needs to be asked regularly. Sure, routine and inertia can keep you going even if you’re not completely happy with what you are doing, but shouldn’t we strive to do what we love if at all possible?

This week, I’d like to suggest that you try something new every day. Not just in your art but in your daily life. Drive a new way to work. Shop at a different grocery store. Take a day hike at a nearby park or area you’ve never been to. Wear your hair differently. Try a new food or restaurant. And in the studio, try a new technique, just once at least. Or try a new material even. Or a new form—so if you primarily do jewelry, try sculpture or wall art. Set yourself this challenge just to shake it up and see what you discover. You never know if a new passion will bloom inside of you from just one little different adventure.

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Its Time! The Polymer Studio Subscriptions & Bonus Gifts

November 19, 2018
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Today we’re going to do a little bit of business but it is exciting business!

I am so pleased to announce that subscriptions to The Polymer Studio are finally available online. I appreciate your patience while we worked all the kinks out in our new website but yes… there is also a new website! Tenthmusearts.com will house all of our publication information, purchasing, the biggest polymer resource list in the world, and your account if you’re a subscriber. We are very excited about the beautiful new layout and worked to make it as easy as possible to navigate but if you have any suggestions, don’t hesitate to write us.

If you subscribe now, before the end of the month, or you are an existing subscriber to The Polymer Arts rolling over into the new magazine subscription, you will receive a couple of gifts to thank you for your support and to hold you over until January when the first issue comes out: bonus discounts and a video magazine!

Bonus Discounts! Subscribe before the end of the month and we will send out an email with exclusive discounts worked out with some of your favorite online polymer shops. As we enter the holiday season, you can use these discounts to purchase gifts as well as stock up on your own goods all while supporting small independent businesses run by polymer artists and enthusiast like yourself. You’ll get discounts and deals from the likes of Christi Friesen, Shades of Clay, Linda’s Art Spot, Nemravka.cz, Helen Breil, ilove2Craft, Lisa Pavelka, The Whimsical Bead, and Tenth Muse Arts. Give us 1 business day to get that discount email to you.

Video magazine! What is a video magazine? It’s just what it sounds like—a collection of videos on a number of related subjects, collected much like articles in a magazine. This is an idea I started looking into earlier in the year and I will wrap up my first trial edition to share with all new and existing subscribers—you get to be my exclusive viewers who can help me shape this into a possible future publication or bonus material for magazine subscribers. Not sure where this is going yet but it sounded like fun for us all!

For this trial video magazine, you get to hang out with me in my studio and Tenth Muse headquarters for a behind-the-scenes peek at how we put together a magazine, as well as seeing a number of product demonstrations and technique tips. I’m still working out details on the other cool things going into this but I guarantee it will be a great time and should hold you over  some until the magazine comes in January. So subscribe now if you’re not already on our subscription list so you don’t miss out.

For more information about the new magazine or to purchase books or back issues, go to the new website at www.tenthmusearts.com.

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Memories for a Lifetime

August 25, 2017
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I know I showed you a bit of the sample “Into the Forest” installation last week, but I didn’t get in this mosaic created by Julie Eakes for the exhibition that will be installed in November. I think Julie gets the prize for the most intense and biggest piece to go into the installation. I uploaded a fairly large image of this so if you click on the photo, it should open up in a browser window and you can zoom in to see all the individual canes that make up the idyllic scene.

I wish you could zoom in on the screens you see here in the main assembly room as Ellen Prophater presented her talk on mokume gane. Oh, the secrets and the great tips and tricks she gave away during this talk! This kind of thing was happening all over and made the price of this event well worth it on that basis alone. The friendships and conversations, however, they make it priceless.

If you didn’t get to make Synergy and haven’t been to any major events lately or ever, keep them in mind. Save up your pennies and plan to get that time off from work for the next big event you can possibly work into your schedule. They are each an experience you’ll keep with you all life long.

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

    The Great Create Sept 15 blog   businesscard-3.5inx2in-h-front   Shades of Clay Sept 15 Blog

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Enticing and Entertaining

August 23, 2017
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The art jewelry at these events is also a big draw. There is nothing quite like seeing masterful polymer work in person.

Here is a gorgeous piece by Bonnie Bishoff. She wore it to the final gala event and I just could not stop looking at the delicate forms and sunset-like colors. The picture (and the poor lighting in these places) doesn’t quite do it justice.

Another bonus to coming to these events is the local color. In this case, Sherman Oberson, a board member of the IPCA and a local Pennsylvania resident, treated a small handful of us to a tour of his insanely packed and ever-entertaining collection of flea market and thrift store finds. We did this, in part, to honor Nan Roche whose birthday it was. A huge collector of the curious and visually enticing herself, it was a perfect birthday outing for her and an immensely entertaining evening for those of us who got to tag along.

Poke around on Instagram and Facebook for more on Sherman’s place and other Synergy events.

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

    The Great Create Sept 15 blog   businesscard-3.5inx2in-h-front   Shades of Clay Sept 15 Blog

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Synergy Recap in Pictures

August 21, 2017
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First of all … the new Fall issue came out over the weekend! Get your texture fix with this issue, in a big way. If you have a digital subscription and have not seen your access email, check your junk mail folder. You should also be able to access it through your account here. If you have a print subscription, those went to the post office in Idaho on Friday so they are on the way too. If you do not have an active subscription or need to get your single issue copy, go to our website at www.thepolymerarts.com.

So this week we are going to have a parade of photos from Synergy 4 to include some beautiful art and some show shots for those who didn’t go but are trying to live vicariously through the community’s representatives that did.

The absolute best thing about going to these events is the people you get to meet and chat it up with. I think I may have said that last week but it’s true! The first picture here is just a sampling of the talent that was sitting behind me at breakfast one morning. How thrilled would you be to have the opportunity to sit down with Jeff Dever and Rachel Carren and listen in on their, no doubt, very insightful conversation? Or pull up a chair and say hello to Nan Roche and Melanie West? Or hang out at the same table with Christi Friesen, Bettina Welker, and Martina Weller? And you can at these things. People here, no matter what the skill level or how long they have been involved, are happy to talk to all the attendees. It is always illuminating what one can learn from others with the same passion.

I was grateful to get to talk to so many people but I was particularly happy to have a little time to sit down with our longtime polymer master, Marie Segal. She gave a talk about the new Cernit formulation–there has been improved strength, flexibility, and clarity that looks to rival the other better-known brands which got me quite excited to try it. If you like sampling clays to see what works best in what application, jump over to her shop and get yourself some new goodies at The Clay Factory.

 

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A Recognizable Voice

May 2, 2013
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Today I would like to ask for your input. I want to talk about creating an unique artistic voice and I think the best way to define it is to have you, the readers, break it down together. Are you up for it?

The primary question is, what does it mean to have an artistic voice? I think the answer is in understanding what sets the well defined and easily recognized style of one artist apart from all others? Sometimes it’s the choice of form or imagery, maybe even a standard set of colors. But what if that artist does a wide range of things. Is their particular voice going to stand out if they jump from one thing to another. I think, if they are following their true selves, that voice inside that directs the inquiry and steers the fascination that motivates the artist to create can be apparent in a wide variety of work from the same person.

Take a look at the piece below. Even if you have never seen this type of work from this artist, you may be able to guess who this is. I did pick a fairly easy person to recognize.

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Did you guess? You can click on the image to take you to the artist’s website if you like. But we’re going to chat a bit more about this before answering. So … this piece is not one of the more popular, widely seen pieces from this artist and is not one of her more well-known styles (perhaps … it’s hard to say that any of the phases or styles of this artist aren’t fairly well-known) but how quickly did you come to recognize the artist? I’m guessing for most of you it took almost no time. And why is that? Why, when this artist is known primarily for her translucent techniques, her imagery, her purses, do we still recognize a vegetable sculpture by her so readily?

Some of the reasons are pretty simple but they do matter … like the fact that she’s widely shown. But what else? What is is about her work, no matter what form, technique or imagery she uses, that allows us to recognize her? Are there other artists that come to mind that you know you’ll recognize right away? Why?

I would love to have as many of you chime in as possible. If you are getting this via the email delivery, you can click on the title of the post in the email to go to the blog and comment at the bottom of the post. If you need, you can reply with an email and I can post it for you. But do get in on the conversation if you have anything to add. I can have my say about why I think Kathleen Dustin here is so readily recognizable but its just my view. We are a large community with many, many different views. Let’s hear what you think.

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Revisiting the Masters

April 2, 2013
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In a recent conversation with a couple rather big names in our community, I was asked why the community’s major blogs don’t feature the masters very often. It gave me pause. The thing is, I think we do … but part of it may be that there can be a difference in opinion as to what constitutes a master. But really what it comes down to is why we do these blogs. I know my reason is to bring inspiring ideas to you, things that will get you running into the studio or thinking about how to challenge yourself or tips that might help resolve a design issue. This requires a lot of new work and new ideas. The people we might call masters have perfected a set of techniques and/or approaches to design that most of us have become familiar with, so there is a question as to whether a reader will be very enthused by a post on something they’ve seen before. But what this question did make me consider is what we can get out of revisiting the masters.

We can become so familiar with some things that we just can’t see what there is to learn from it any more. The first time I saw Jeffrey Lloyd Dever’s work was years ago in Art Jewelry magazine. I was floored by his technique and finish (still am actually!) and tried out the tutorial in those pages. I wasn’t very successful but I did learn quite a few things along the way about back-filling and finishing. The thing is, if I worked through that same tutorial now, I would learn something different. What I was able to glean from my exploration of his work then, is not what I would glean from it now. Jeff was at Synergy and had a gallery table of his work so I was able to see his pieces close up. This time it was the color choices that I pondered. That didn’t even cross my mind years ago when I was so focused on technique.

You can see by the detail of his Racine Art Museum installation why his colors might be just a tad intriguing. But is that what intrigues you? Maybe, maybe not. It all depends on where you are in your art and even where your thoughts are on this day.

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The point is, we should keep revisiting the masters, even the same pieces. The best work does not have just one thing to teach us or for us to take away. Really wonderful art will have many facets that will hit us differently at various points in our lives. So, I’ve been thinking … I should make a point here and there of revisiting even the most familiar work on this blog, give us a chance to get reacquainted with it and find what is new and exciting for us because of where we are as a community today. I’d love to hear that many of you are or will do the same. If you have any great discoveries in doing this, do let me know. We can share it here.

By the way, I pulled this image of Jeff’s work from the Polymer Art Archive which is also a treasure of a source for work from our past as well as our present. It is well worth reading and visiting on a regular basis.

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