Revisiting the Masters
April 2, 2013
Inspirational Art, Polymer issues, Ponderings
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.
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.
Doing Cute Well
August 13, 2012
Inspirational Art
One of the things I was truly delighted by with the Racine Museum exhibition last year was that the pieces chosen were not all just contemporary and serious pieces. They were, however, all well crafted as well as being historically relevant in the development of our art form. There were a number of ‘cute’ pieces such as Dan Cormier’s rocket vessels (love the one with the chimpanzee face in the rocket window!) or Cynthia Toops cartoon like mosaic pins. (Get your copy of the Terra Nova book to see these great pieces.) Art does not have to be serious. For goodness sakes, life is not!
Doing cute and doing it for a standard consumer audience with skill and good design is doubly difficult since you have to work within a certain pricing/cost structure and yet still spend the time and give the piece the consideration you would creating any true piece of art. That is why I find images like this one catching my eye ..
This adorable and beautifully wrought pin is by Pilar from Las Palmas, Spain. I ran into this on the Spanish European version of Etsy called Artesanum.
Pilar has obviously well-refined caning skills as well as being adept at modeling with polymer. She uses repetition of color (blues) placed at fairly regular intervals and repetition of motif (flowers repeated in different versions and even materials) to bring a cohesiveness to what might otherwise be an overwhelming array of texture and variety of items.
Repetition and rhythm are design elements not often discussed outside formal art courses but are hugely important in craft design. You can get great information on these concepts plus tons of polymer examples and even exercises to work on this in our upcoming Fall 2012 issue of The Polymer Arts. The issue rolls out this coming weekend so be sure you have renewed your subscription or have your order in so you can get in on the conversations you see online and can start applying this simple but powerful concepts to your own work!
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.
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.
Read MoreOne of the things I was truly delighted by with the Racine Museum exhibition last year was that the pieces chosen were not all just contemporary and serious pieces. They were, however, all well crafted as well as being historically relevant in the development of our art form. There were a number of ‘cute’ pieces such as Dan Cormier’s rocket vessels (love the one with the chimpanzee face in the rocket window!) or Cynthia Toops cartoon like mosaic pins. (Get your copy of the Terra Nova book to see these great pieces.) Art does not have to be serious. For goodness sakes, life is not!
Doing cute and doing it for a standard consumer audience with skill and good design is doubly difficult since you have to work within a certain pricing/cost structure and yet still spend the time and give the piece the consideration you would creating any true piece of art. That is why I find images like this one catching my eye ..
This adorable and beautifully wrought pin is by Pilar from Las Palmas, Spain. I ran into this on the Spanish European version of Etsy called Artesanum.
Pilar has obviously well-refined caning skills as well as being adept at modeling with polymer. She uses repetition of color (blues) placed at fairly regular intervals and repetition of motif (flowers repeated in different versions and even materials) to bring a cohesiveness to what might otherwise be an overwhelming array of texture and variety of items.
Repetition and rhythm are design elements not often discussed outside formal art courses but are hugely important in craft design. You can get great information on these concepts plus tons of polymer examples and even exercises to work on this in our upcoming Fall 2012 issue of The Polymer Arts. The issue rolls out this coming weekend so be sure you have renewed your subscription or have your order in so you can get in on the conversations you see online and can start applying this simple but powerful concepts to your own work!
Read More