A Whale of a Time
March 8, 2020 Inspirational Art
Is it me or are there a lot of ocean creatures just popping up in artwork all over the place? Maybe it’s an algorithm thing in my browser so it’s just me seeing them but whales in particular seem to be quite popular of late. What is it about whales that grabs the imagination? If you created a whale inspired piece, what would it look like?
I’ve always wanted to write an article about how people interpret the same things so differently but it’s really such a nebulous concept. Our interpretation of any one thing comes from all those experiences we’ve had over the years, or at least should. The subject of where our passion and our artistic voice comes from is the primary theme woven through this month’s Virtual Art Box, so I guess that’s on my mind. So, let’s just have an enjoyable, light-hearted excursion this week into the inspiring world of whales and see what you can glean about the artists and their experience by looking at the differences and choices they have made in their art.
Whale Sightings
My whale sightings started with this under side view of a whale and her baby by Christi Friesen. The underside of things in general don’t get a lot of attention but Christi picked the exact view and pose to really show off a connection between mother and child. Knowing Christi is recuperating from a year of near full-time travel in Hawaii, I get why she had whales on her mind but what made her think to view them as if under them in the water? It’s a fascinating view – both of the whales and of Christi’s mind.
Kseniia Dolhopolova, a jewelry artist from Ukraine says, “I create jewelry only in a good mood and try to make it with its own soul.” She created the whale opening this post. It not only has its own soul but a whole city on its back besides! Playfulness and joy seem to be of primary importance in the intention of her work here. But how do you think she came to think a city should be on the back of a whale?
Evgeny Hontor, a sculptural artist from Moscow, uses the broad surfaces of her creatures to create ornate designs and patterns. This whale, however, is the only one of hers I’ve seen that is also growing a lively garden on it’s back. So, what is with things sprouting from the back of whales? Is it born from the barnacles seen on some or just that they are so big that it’s not a leap to imagine a whole other world on their back?
Looking around for more interesting interpretations of whales, I came across Maori legends about whales. From the New Zealand Department of Conservation:
“In Maori cosmology, whales are the descendants of Tangaroa, the god of the oceans. They were thought of in awe, as supernatural beings, and often deemed tapu, or sacred. Whales appear in the migration legends of many tribes. In some, whales were a sign indicating to a tribe that it should settle in a particular place. In others, whales were a guide.”
So, the inspiration of something like this mother of pearl came from deep seated associations. The maker of this isn’t named but it comes from an online shopped simply called Janet’s that sells the work of Samoan and Pacific artists and designers. The swirl is a circle of life symbol integrated into the whale tail, creating an abstracted image of the whale and its ingrained cultural meaning. I just thought it was a lovely and simple design but, reading a bit about the culture and meaning around it and made it far more complex in my mind.
I love that art can be such an intimate glimpse into the world of an individual, but I think sometimes we forget to look that deep, inundated with all the work we see online and other places every day. Just stopping to think on it can really add to your enjoyment and give you more ideas and inspiration on how to reach in and bring out the originality that is you, into your work.
Having a Whale of a Virtual Time
Letting your unique self out and into your work as well as the wonderful and intense world of marks, an unassuming but immensely important design basic, are the subjects that guides all the content in the Virtual Art Box for March released yesterday. If you are signed up for it but haven’t seen your Art Box in your inbox, check your spam folder. If it’s not there, write me and I’ll get you fixed up.
If you haven’t joined us yet for VAB, get on board! We had one very intense and immensely productive month already and we have another one geared for this month. I must warn you, the VAB is not a passive mode of entertainment or something to just pass the time with. It’s all about getting in the studio and getting things done, learning about yourself as a crafter or artist, and discovering your source of creativity.
I have had more emails and messages in one month about people having the biggest “a-ha moments” they have had in months, if not years, than I have in the last several years put together, and it’s all from working with the Virtual Art Box content. I’m even a bit shocked at how much the simple idea of intention has changed the way so many of the VAB readers are looking at their work and how excited they are to discover the focus and direction they’ve been missing. I am thrilled beyond words!
So, if you want to check the VAB out, I’d suggest grabbing the February edition first. Intention is really a foundational concept and understanding it and working with it the way the Art Box will have you do, can be, well, as a couple Art Boxers said, life changing. How cool is that?!
Well, it’s been a long week, as satisfying and fun as it was creating the core of the second Virtual Art Box month, so I am going to take a day off and spend it outside and maybe cleaning the studio in preparation for my own creative time. My blood sugar has been normal for a straight week and my arm has given me next to no pain even after a full week of work so it looks like I can pull the intense focus on I had on my health and put some of it into my art. And some of it into taxes. And some into housework. But you know, I intend to make it happen and I’ll share my forays in the studio with you here!
I hope you have wonderful forays into your own studio with your own wonderful interpretations of your world this week!
Fun at the Table
December 18, 2017 Inspirational Art, The Polymer Arts magazine news
So, we finally got an official Instagram account up and going and my assistant and I are having a ton of fun with it. Aside from the fun we are having, there are plans for this account … we are hoping to whip up some stories and short videos with more “behind the scenes” peeks for those curious about the making of a magazine and the day to day bedlam over here at The Polymer Arts headquarters.
This planned amusement will commence in a more focused fashion after the new year, but do follow us now so I can find all of you and follow you back! I do want to keep up with what you all are up to and making as well. We hang out on Instagram at @thepolymerarts, of course.
We are not the only ones having fun there. That is where I ran into this fabulously curious and colorful piece by Alice Stroppel. Polymer wall art is really taking hold of her imagination. This is a wonderful example of the more illustrative construction wall work she’s done recently but she is also creating some very engaging pieces painting with polymer. Jump over to her corner on Instagram or visit her website where you can find out where she’ll be teaching in upcoming months.
Chaotic Tendrils
June 10, 2016 Inspirational Art
Let’s look at one last example of chaos, tendrils, and limited palettes. This time we join Beth Petricoin who wrote a great article on her polymer quilling in the Spring 2015 issue of The Polymer Arts. Here she actually builds it into a few layers which you don’t often see in paper quilling, the inspiration for her version of this technique.
With the randomness we have here–tendrils snaking their way into so much open space–the limited warm color palette holds the relationship between it all together. It does, of course, help that all the tendrils are anchored to a central form, but that round center’s prime function is as a focal point. When creating chaotic compositions, you would do well to provide a more solid resting point for the eyes of your viewers to gravitate to, otherwise the randomness can be overwhelming.
A focal point like this also give the viewer the opportunity to explore each section with a kind of home base to start from. The way the curls at the end of the tendrils roll back in on themselves helps redirect the viewer back to the center where they can start again in another direction if they like. It is even more impactful of a composition when the wall piece is seen straight on, but this image did a lot to show off the dimensionality of it.
Quilling is the theme of this month’s challenge through the PCAGOE (Polymer Clay Artist’s Guild of Etsy), and the entries can be found on Beth’s blog. So if you like the look of this technique, find your copy of the Spring 2015 issue (or buy one here) and check out the challenge entries for alternate clay quilling ideas. She also has lovely work in a variety of techniques in her Etsy shop.
Inspirational Challenge of the Day: Try some quilling! You can create an entire piece using sliced up sheets of clay to create your ribbons of clay or just use them to decorate part of a piece or, using narrow strips, as ‘leading’ in a faux enamel or stained glass piece.
_________________________________________
Like this blog? Lend your support with a purchase of The Polymer Arts magazine and visit our partners:
_________________________________________
Spring in Surprising Places
March 23, 2016 Inspirational Art
Onto more thoughts of Spring. We had a perfect Spring day yesterday but today we are in the middle of a blizzard, so I went off to find something cheerful and found some fun sculptures, wall art, and jewelry by Melissa Terlizzi. Her creatures are beautifully sculpted, but it’s the situations she puts them in that really made me smile. This here is not the most unusual place to find a tree frog but it would kind of startle you to find one on your indoor plants. She also has frog peeking out of terrariums, mice in the pantry, and beetles in books. There is a bright playfulness in the faces of her creatures and in the way she sets up the shots. Many of her compositions, like this one here, are predominantly constructed from polymer clay components, but many others use natural settings and common household items to bring out the story.
Take a break from your common or gray day and peruse her Flickr pages for some Spring cheer.
Inspirational Challenge of the Day: Create or adapt a piece of yours to live in an unusual place. Hang charms in the kitchen cupboards, replace blind pulls with beautiful focal beads, put a cute sculpted creature in the medicine cabinet (who doesn’t need a bit of cheer when opening the medicine cabinet?), glue tiles to the inside of the mailbox door, etc. Look for the most unusual and surprising place that will delight your family and visitors.
_________________________________________
Like this blog? Lend your support with a purchase of The Polymer Arts magazine and visit our partners:
___________________________________________
The Concept of Flying & the Newly Released Spring 2016 Issue – Convergence
March 4, 2016 Inspirational Art, The Polymer Arts magazine news
The Spring 2016 issue of The Polymer Arts was released yesterday! Thank you so much for the many kind comments and compliments you’ve been posting all over Facebook and in our inboxes. It’s always great to know we’ve done well for you.
Digital access was sent to everyone who subscribed or pre-ordered prior to yesterday, and all the print issues are in the mail or will be as of this afternoon. If you don’t see the digital issue you expected in your inbox, check your spam folder. If it’s not there, write us at connect@thepolymerarts.com and we will look into it. If you don’t have your copy ordered or an active subscription, you can change that on our website here.
One of my wish-list articles, that Christine K. Harris and I have talked about doing on and off for a couple of years, is in this issue. It’s about how to use epoxy clay with polymer. She did an incredible job and so generously shared her techniques. The article is a series of short tutorials for using epoxy where polymer can’t be used, such as for strength as well as situations where some material added to the piece can’t be cured. The techniques can be used in jewelry as well as sculpture.
Of course, Christine is well-known for her award-winning concept sculpture, like this beautiful wall art, Fly (Wall sculpture of red haired woman). Christine’s work is very much about internal thoughts and conflicts and is often created around ideas or circumstances that are hard to deal with, so there is a lot of dark ideas and imagery in her work. However, her pieces are always graceful and are imbued with a beauty that comes from a sense of hope and promise that she instills in her imagery. This one is no exception, plus there is this potential joy the woman is contemplating, testing the idea of being free to fly in the bird formation she makes with her hands. Symbolic concept art is such a joy because you can add your own story and there is usually so much to look over and think about.
I have always been an advocate of looking at the darker side of our reality. The harder and less pleasant things in our lives are often the only or best path to finding the beauty and kindness in what we see around us. I think you can see what I mean when looking at Christine’s work. You can see more of it on her website and her Pinterest board.
Inspirational Challenge of the Day: What is something you are hopeful for? Distill it into one word and design or create a piece around that concept. Be as literal, symbolic, or abstract as feels right to you.
___________________________________________
Like this blog? Lend your support with a purchase of The Polymer Arts magazine and visit our partners:
___________________________________________
Intrigue in Wall Art
May 4, 2015 Inspirational Art
First of all, thank you all for sending such kind notes and such encouragement. I am so touched that so many of you would take time out to let me know your thoughts and to be so supportive. I apologize I couldn’t respond to every one–it was kind of overwhelming–but my very able assistant has tried to help me get to the most specific ones, as well as answer any questions you might have had. I’m so lucky to have such an enthusiastic and appreciative readership. I endeavor to continue to earn this from you as well.
We’ll see if more rarity in the postings will make them all the more valuable and widely read. As a couple of people pointed out, this will lighten their daily reading load, so maybe we can all catch up on a few things. I’m not sure if I can do themes or not, but let’s start with a lovely wall piece that I have been wanting to share for a while.
This intriguing piece was created by Karen Brueggemann. Intriguing is what primarily comes to mind because there is just so much to look at. The textures, graduated colors, and the neatly, yet varying, lines and repetition. It has a very painterly feel with a sculptural application. I thought this was a brooch or pendant when I first saw it, and then read that it was a wall piece. I couldn’t find any size information, but I am thinking it is not very large. And, couldn’t it just be a wonderful pin? The thing is, most of her jewelry doesn’t look like this, but the personal expression and sense of aesthetic and intention is exceedingly strong. My guess is, she found freedom in creating a wall piece that is quite different from creating jewelry. In jewelry we have to consider how it will be worn, hung or attached, as well as consider aspects of durability. With wall art, all it has to do is hang on a wall. That could be quite a freeing experience.
You can see what I mean about her work by heading over to her Pinterest board. All of her work is lovely, but I think her wall pieces just shine with intensity and, yes, a bit of intrigue that keeps you looking, trying to take it all in.
If you like this blog, support The Polymer Arts projects with a subscription or an issue of The Polymer Arts magazine, as well as by supporting our advertising partners.
An Adventureland of Ideas
July 30, 2014 Inspirational Art
A more traditional approach to wall sculpture, but keeping with the use of smaller parts to complete a larger and whole part, would be something like this fantastical piece by Layl McDill. Her wall sculptures are composed of a wide variety of cane slices, beads and sheets of marbled or surface treated clay.
The entrancing thing about Layl’s work is just how wildly playful it is. This work is not about finish, precision or any particular technique. It’s about the story and a child-like ability to let the imagination roam freely.
This piece entitled “Blingo Flamingo Adventureland” has to be my favorite piece of hers to date. Every part of this piece either reaches out or swings back, and used alongside the high-energy of the colors and cane patterns, creates this frenetically kinetic composition. Such fun!
Layl is the co-owner of Clay Squared to Infinity, a shop for handmade ceramic tile as well as Layl’s polymer sculptures, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Layl also posts her work on Flickr for a full, all-at-once visual dose of her child-like abandon.
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.
Is it me or are there a lot of ocean creatures just popping up in artwork all over the place? Maybe it’s an algorithm thing in my browser so it’s just me seeing them but whales in particular seem to be quite popular of late. What is it about whales that grabs the imagination? If you created a whale inspired piece, what would it look like?
I’ve always wanted to write an article about how people interpret the same things so differently but it’s really such a nebulous concept. Our interpretation of any one thing comes from all those experiences we’ve had over the years, or at least should. The subject of where our passion and our artistic voice comes from is the primary theme woven through this month’s Virtual Art Box, so I guess that’s on my mind. So, let’s just have an enjoyable, light-hearted excursion this week into the inspiring world of whales and see what you can glean about the artists and their experience by looking at the differences and choices they have made in their art.
Whale Sightings
My whale sightings started with this under side view of a whale and her baby by Christi Friesen. The underside of things in general don’t get a lot of attention but Christi picked the exact view and pose to really show off a connection between mother and child. Knowing Christi is recuperating from a year of near full-time travel in Hawaii, I get why she had whales on her mind but what made her think to view them as if under them in the water? It’s a fascinating view – both of the whales and of Christi’s mind.
Kseniia Dolhopolova, a jewelry artist from Ukraine says, “I create jewelry only in a good mood and try to make it with its own soul.” She created the whale opening this post. It not only has its own soul but a whole city on its back besides! Playfulness and joy seem to be of primary importance in the intention of her work here. But how do you think she came to think a city should be on the back of a whale?
Evgeny Hontor, a sculptural artist from Moscow, uses the broad surfaces of her creatures to create ornate designs and patterns. This whale, however, is the only one of hers I’ve seen that is also growing a lively garden on it’s back. So, what is with things sprouting from the back of whales? Is it born from the barnacles seen on some or just that they are so big that it’s not a leap to imagine a whole other world on their back?
Looking around for more interesting interpretations of whales, I came across Maori legends about whales. From the New Zealand Department of Conservation:
“In Maori cosmology, whales are the descendants of Tangaroa, the god of the oceans. They were thought of in awe, as supernatural beings, and often deemed tapu, or sacred. Whales appear in the migration legends of many tribes. In some, whales were a sign indicating to a tribe that it should settle in a particular place. In others, whales were a guide.”
So, the inspiration of something like this mother of pearl came from deep seated associations. The maker of this isn’t named but it comes from an online shopped simply called Janet’s that sells the work of Samoan and Pacific artists and designers. The swirl is a circle of life symbol integrated into the whale tail, creating an abstracted image of the whale and its ingrained cultural meaning. I just thought it was a lovely and simple design but, reading a bit about the culture and meaning around it and made it far more complex in my mind.
I love that art can be such an intimate glimpse into the world of an individual, but I think sometimes we forget to look that deep, inundated with all the work we see online and other places every day. Just stopping to think on it can really add to your enjoyment and give you more ideas and inspiration on how to reach in and bring out the originality that is you, into your work.
Having a Whale of a Virtual Time
Letting your unique self out and into your work as well as the wonderful and intense world of marks, an unassuming but immensely important design basic, are the subjects that guides all the content in the Virtual Art Box for March released yesterday. If you are signed up for it but haven’t seen your Art Box in your inbox, check your spam folder. If it’s not there, write me and I’ll get you fixed up.
If you haven’t joined us yet for VAB, get on board! We had one very intense and immensely productive month already and we have another one geared for this month. I must warn you, the VAB is not a passive mode of entertainment or something to just pass the time with. It’s all about getting in the studio and getting things done, learning about yourself as a crafter or artist, and discovering your source of creativity.
I have had more emails and messages in one month about people having the biggest “a-ha moments” they have had in months, if not years, than I have in the last several years put together, and it’s all from working with the Virtual Art Box content. I’m even a bit shocked at how much the simple idea of intention has changed the way so many of the VAB readers are looking at their work and how excited they are to discover the focus and direction they’ve been missing. I am thrilled beyond words!
So, if you want to check the VAB out, I’d suggest grabbing the February edition first. Intention is really a foundational concept and understanding it and working with it the way the Art Box will have you do, can be, well, as a couple Art Boxers said, life changing. How cool is that?!
Well, it’s been a long week, as satisfying and fun as it was creating the core of the second Virtual Art Box month, so I am going to take a day off and spend it outside and maybe cleaning the studio in preparation for my own creative time. My blood sugar has been normal for a straight week and my arm has given me next to no pain even after a full week of work so it looks like I can pull the intense focus on I had on my health and put some of it into my art. And some of it into taxes. And some into housework. But you know, I intend to make it happen and I’ll share my forays in the studio with you here!
I hope you have wonderful forays into your own studio with your own wonderful interpretations of your world this week!
Read More
So, we finally got an official Instagram account up and going and my assistant and I are having a ton of fun with it. Aside from the fun we are having, there are plans for this account … we are hoping to whip up some stories and short videos with more “behind the scenes” peeks for those curious about the making of a magazine and the day to day bedlam over here at The Polymer Arts headquarters.
This planned amusement will commence in a more focused fashion after the new year, but do follow us now so I can find all of you and follow you back! I do want to keep up with what you all are up to and making as well. We hang out on Instagram at @thepolymerarts, of course.
We are not the only ones having fun there. That is where I ran into this fabulously curious and colorful piece by Alice Stroppel. Polymer wall art is really taking hold of her imagination. This is a wonderful example of the more illustrative construction wall work she’s done recently but she is also creating some very engaging pieces painting with polymer. Jump over to her corner on Instagram or visit her website where you can find out where she’ll be teaching in upcoming months.
Read MoreLet’s look at one last example of chaos, tendrils, and limited palettes. This time we join Beth Petricoin who wrote a great article on her polymer quilling in the Spring 2015 issue of The Polymer Arts. Here she actually builds it into a few layers which you don’t often see in paper quilling, the inspiration for her version of this technique.
With the randomness we have here–tendrils snaking their way into so much open space–the limited warm color palette holds the relationship between it all together. It does, of course, help that all the tendrils are anchored to a central form, but that round center’s prime function is as a focal point. When creating chaotic compositions, you would do well to provide a more solid resting point for the eyes of your viewers to gravitate to, otherwise the randomness can be overwhelming.
A focal point like this also give the viewer the opportunity to explore each section with a kind of home base to start from. The way the curls at the end of the tendrils roll back in on themselves helps redirect the viewer back to the center where they can start again in another direction if they like. It is even more impactful of a composition when the wall piece is seen straight on, but this image did a lot to show off the dimensionality of it.
Quilling is the theme of this month’s challenge through the PCAGOE (Polymer Clay Artist’s Guild of Etsy), and the entries can be found on Beth’s blog. So if you like the look of this technique, find your copy of the Spring 2015 issue (or buy one here) and check out the challenge entries for alternate clay quilling ideas. She also has lovely work in a variety of techniques in her Etsy shop.
Inspirational Challenge of the Day: Try some quilling! You can create an entire piece using sliced up sheets of clay to create your ribbons of clay or just use them to decorate part of a piece or, using narrow strips, as ‘leading’ in a faux enamel or stained glass piece.
_________________________________________
Like this blog? Lend your support with a purchase of The Polymer Arts magazine and visit our partners:
_________________________________________
Read MoreOnto more thoughts of Spring. We had a perfect Spring day yesterday but today we are in the middle of a blizzard, so I went off to find something cheerful and found some fun sculptures, wall art, and jewelry by Melissa Terlizzi. Her creatures are beautifully sculpted, but it’s the situations she puts them in that really made me smile. This here is not the most unusual place to find a tree frog but it would kind of startle you to find one on your indoor plants. She also has frog peeking out of terrariums, mice in the pantry, and beetles in books. There is a bright playfulness in the faces of her creatures and in the way she sets up the shots. Many of her compositions, like this one here, are predominantly constructed from polymer clay components, but many others use natural settings and common household items to bring out the story.
Take a break from your common or gray day and peruse her Flickr pages for some Spring cheer.
Inspirational Challenge of the Day: Create or adapt a piece of yours to live in an unusual place. Hang charms in the kitchen cupboards, replace blind pulls with beautiful focal beads, put a cute sculpted creature in the medicine cabinet (who doesn’t need a bit of cheer when opening the medicine cabinet?), glue tiles to the inside of the mailbox door, etc. Look for the most unusual and surprising place that will delight your family and visitors.
_________________________________________
Like this blog? Lend your support with a purchase of The Polymer Arts magazine and visit our partners:
___________________________________________
Read MoreThe Spring 2016 issue of The Polymer Arts was released yesterday! Thank you so much for the many kind comments and compliments you’ve been posting all over Facebook and in our inboxes. It’s always great to know we’ve done well for you.
Digital access was sent to everyone who subscribed or pre-ordered prior to yesterday, and all the print issues are in the mail or will be as of this afternoon. If you don’t see the digital issue you expected in your inbox, check your spam folder. If it’s not there, write us at connect@thepolymerarts.com and we will look into it. If you don’t have your copy ordered or an active subscription, you can change that on our website here.
One of my wish-list articles, that Christine K. Harris and I have talked about doing on and off for a couple of years, is in this issue. It’s about how to use epoxy clay with polymer. She did an incredible job and so generously shared her techniques. The article is a series of short tutorials for using epoxy where polymer can’t be used, such as for strength as well as situations where some material added to the piece can’t be cured. The techniques can be used in jewelry as well as sculpture.
Of course, Christine is well-known for her award-winning concept sculpture, like this beautiful wall art, Fly (Wall sculpture of red haired woman). Christine’s work is very much about internal thoughts and conflicts and is often created around ideas or circumstances that are hard to deal with, so there is a lot of dark ideas and imagery in her work. However, her pieces are always graceful and are imbued with a beauty that comes from a sense of hope and promise that she instills in her imagery. This one is no exception, plus there is this potential joy the woman is contemplating, testing the idea of being free to fly in the bird formation she makes with her hands. Symbolic concept art is such a joy because you can add your own story and there is usually so much to look over and think about.
I have always been an advocate of looking at the darker side of our reality. The harder and less pleasant things in our lives are often the only or best path to finding the beauty and kindness in what we see around us. I think you can see what I mean when looking at Christine’s work. You can see more of it on her website and her Pinterest board.
Inspirational Challenge of the Day: What is something you are hopeful for? Distill it into one word and design or create a piece around that concept. Be as literal, symbolic, or abstract as feels right to you.
___________________________________________
Like this blog? Lend your support with a purchase of The Polymer Arts magazine and visit our partners:
___________________________________________
First of all, thank you all for sending such kind notes and such encouragement. I am so touched that so many of you would take time out to let me know your thoughts and to be so supportive. I apologize I couldn’t respond to every one–it was kind of overwhelming–but my very able assistant has tried to help me get to the most specific ones, as well as answer any questions you might have had. I’m so lucky to have such an enthusiastic and appreciative readership. I endeavor to continue to earn this from you as well.
We’ll see if more rarity in the postings will make them all the more valuable and widely read. As a couple of people pointed out, this will lighten their daily reading load, so maybe we can all catch up on a few things. I’m not sure if I can do themes or not, but let’s start with a lovely wall piece that I have been wanting to share for a while.
This intriguing piece was created by Karen Brueggemann. Intriguing is what primarily comes to mind because there is just so much to look at. The textures, graduated colors, and the neatly, yet varying, lines and repetition. It has a very painterly feel with a sculptural application. I thought this was a brooch or pendant when I first saw it, and then read that it was a wall piece. I couldn’t find any size information, but I am thinking it is not very large. And, couldn’t it just be a wonderful pin? The thing is, most of her jewelry doesn’t look like this, but the personal expression and sense of aesthetic and intention is exceedingly strong. My guess is, she found freedom in creating a wall piece that is quite different from creating jewelry. In jewelry we have to consider how it will be worn, hung or attached, as well as consider aspects of durability. With wall art, all it has to do is hang on a wall. That could be quite a freeing experience.
You can see what I mean about her work by heading over to her Pinterest board. All of her work is lovely, but I think her wall pieces just shine with intensity and, yes, a bit of intrigue that keeps you looking, trying to take it all in.
If you like this blog, support The Polymer Arts projects with a subscription or an issue of The Polymer Arts magazine, as well as by supporting our advertising partners.
Read MoreA more traditional approach to wall sculpture, but keeping with the use of smaller parts to complete a larger and whole part, would be something like this fantastical piece by Layl McDill. Her wall sculptures are composed of a wide variety of cane slices, beads and sheets of marbled or surface treated clay.
The entrancing thing about Layl’s work is just how wildly playful it is. This work is not about finish, precision or any particular technique. It’s about the story and a child-like ability to let the imagination roam freely.
This piece entitled “Blingo Flamingo Adventureland” has to be my favorite piece of hers to date. Every part of this piece either reaches out or swings back, and used alongside the high-energy of the colors and cane patterns, creates this frenetically kinetic composition. Such fun!
Layl is the co-owner of Clay Squared to Infinity, a shop for handmade ceramic tile as well as Layl’s polymer sculptures, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Layl also posts her work on Flickr for a full, all-at-once visual dose of her child-like abandon.
If you like this blog, support The Polymer Arts projects with a subscription or issue of The Polymer Arts magazine as well as supporting our advertising partners.
Read More