The Collaborative Path
January 3, 2015 Inspirational Art
A last idea to push you into new territory this year would be to try a collaboration; you could work with another artist and share the process of creation. You could have equal say in all the elements of a piece, or you could each work independently on components that are brought together later. One of you could start a piece, and the other can finish it. You can collaborate with other polymer artists, artists in other mediums, including two-dimensional art forms (any 2-D image can be used as a transfer or as a background for instance).
So who do you know that you might want to work with? It’s kind of a scary prospect, isn’t it? I have collaborations in mind with a couple people this year, and I’m almost too scared to ask! But I know it will push me to get into the studio when I would otherwise let the magazine take over and it will push me to think in ways I haven’t before.
Here is a collaboration between Carol Simmons and Rebecca Watkins from 2013. Can you see what each of them contributed? And isn’t is wonderful how cohesive it is? You can read up on their project in the post Carol has on her blog.
So what do you think? Are you going to push yourself and try something completely different this year? If you do, let me know. Send photos, and we’ll look at sharing them as they come up!
If you like this blog, support The Polymer Arts projects with a subscription or an issue of The Polymer Arts magazine as well as supporting our advertising partners.
Polymer Resistance
October 15, 2014 Inspirational Art
If you’re a fellow art and/or craft junkie who has tried every other medium that has come your way, there’s a very good chance you have worked with resists. They are most commonly found in watercolor and in textile dying, but any art form that includes paints, dyes, stains or any other liquid that might be used to change the color or appearance of a surface, there are almost always resist techniques.
Polymer is no different, although such techniques are a little less common. I have seen stencils, colored pencil and crayons as resists on polymer a number of times, and once, I recall seeing the use of brushed on masking fluid that is commonly used as a resist on watercolors. Rebecca Watkins discovered a slightly newer version of these options–a masking fluid pen. And she does it in layers!
The control the pen affords makes for some beautiful possibilities as you can see here. Instead of just one layer of resist designs as is commonly seen, Rebecca lays down several layers of alcohol ink, changing the resist design in between to create this complex effect. She shares her news beads, where to get yourself one of these pens, and her technique on her blog. How very clever and generous of her!
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.
A Bowl of Spring Beads
January 16, 2014 Inspirational Art
I kept thinking that the Pantone Spring palette seemed somewhat familiar. Then it occurred to me that Rebecca Watkins often works in similar color combinations and I went back and found this lovely bowl of beads on one of our Pinterest boards. The colors are subdued with low saturation but plenty of contrast to make them festive without being loud or garish.
If you enjoy these types of color palettes’ and the fun approach Rebecca takes with her work, be sure to jump on over to her Blogspot site and her Flickr pages for more wonderful inspiration for Spring and beyond.
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.
Whimsy in One Color
December 4, 2012 Inspirational Art
Its been so nice and mild this Fall, even as we first entered December. Then yesterday, the cool settled in and I started rummaging through my sweaters. I have a couple sweaters with big buttons that reminded me of the sweatered fish I got to see in person when sitting down for a drink with Rebecca Watkins who was here in Denver with Alice Stroppel this past Summer. I never would have thought to wrap a fish up with a sweater but for some reason, it looks quite right!
I imagine it is simply the whimsical nature of Rebecca’s style that makes sweaters work on her aquatic creatures. Whimsy does allow for all kinds of hitherto unimagined combinations. As long as there is some commonality that brings it all together, there are few things you can’t make work. Rebecca’s common thread is color–ochre browns. Simple. Effective. And rather fun.
A last idea to push you into new territory this year would be to try a collaboration; you could work with another artist and share the process of creation. You could have equal say in all the elements of a piece, or you could each work independently on components that are brought together later. One of you could start a piece, and the other can finish it. You can collaborate with other polymer artists, artists in other mediums, including two-dimensional art forms (any 2-D image can be used as a transfer or as a background for instance).
So who do you know that you might want to work with? It’s kind of a scary prospect, isn’t it? I have collaborations in mind with a couple people this year, and I’m almost too scared to ask! But I know it will push me to get into the studio when I would otherwise let the magazine take over and it will push me to think in ways I haven’t before.
Here is a collaboration between Carol Simmons and Rebecca Watkins from 2013. Can you see what each of them contributed? And isn’t is wonderful how cohesive it is? You can read up on their project in the post Carol has on her blog.
So what do you think? Are you going to push yourself and try something completely different this year? If you do, let me know. Send photos, and we’ll look at sharing them as they come up!
If you like this blog, support The Polymer Arts projects with a subscription or an issue of The Polymer Arts magazine as well as supporting our advertising partners.
Read MoreIf you’re a fellow art and/or craft junkie who has tried every other medium that has come your way, there’s a very good chance you have worked with resists. They are most commonly found in watercolor and in textile dying, but any art form that includes paints, dyes, stains or any other liquid that might be used to change the color or appearance of a surface, there are almost always resist techniques.
Polymer is no different, although such techniques are a little less common. I have seen stencils, colored pencil and crayons as resists on polymer a number of times, and once, I recall seeing the use of brushed on masking fluid that is commonly used as a resist on watercolors. Rebecca Watkins discovered a slightly newer version of these options–a masking fluid pen. And she does it in layers!
The control the pen affords makes for some beautiful possibilities as you can see here. Instead of just one layer of resist designs as is commonly seen, Rebecca lays down several layers of alcohol ink, changing the resist design in between to create this complex effect. She shares her news beads, where to get yourself one of these pens, and her technique on her blog. How very clever and generous of her!
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 MoreI kept thinking that the Pantone Spring palette seemed somewhat familiar. Then it occurred to me that Rebecca Watkins often works in similar color combinations and I went back and found this lovely bowl of beads on one of our Pinterest boards. The colors are subdued with low saturation but plenty of contrast to make them festive without being loud or garish.
If you enjoy these types of color palettes’ and the fun approach Rebecca takes with her work, be sure to jump on over to her Blogspot site and her Flickr pages for more wonderful inspiration for Spring and beyond.
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 MoreIts been so nice and mild this Fall, even as we first entered December. Then yesterday, the cool settled in and I started rummaging through my sweaters. I have a couple sweaters with big buttons that reminded me of the sweatered fish I got to see in person when sitting down for a drink with Rebecca Watkins who was here in Denver with Alice Stroppel this past Summer. I never would have thought to wrap a fish up with a sweater but for some reason, it looks quite right!
I imagine it is simply the whimsical nature of Rebecca’s style that makes sweaters work on her aquatic creatures. Whimsy does allow for all kinds of hitherto unimagined combinations. As long as there is some commonality that brings it all together, there are few things you can’t make work. Rebecca’s common thread is color–ochre browns. Simple. Effective. And rather fun.
Read More