A Little Dance
March 3, 2015
Inspirational Art
So, yes, more about repetition but in slightly less obvious or more varied manners will be in store for you the rest of the week. Hopefully, you aren’t bored with the subject. The ways you can apply it are limitless really.
For instance, take this fun, contemporary piece titled “Little Cities Necklace” by Ann Dillon. There is plenty of repetition in the shape of the beads, the colors and order of the layers and the general placement of the thick cane cuts. But, the canes are laid out in a varied manner and are all different canes. This wonderfully illustrates the interconnection between repetition and rhythm. Repetition doesn’t mean regular, measured, evenly applied elements. It means something is used over and over, but how those elements are applied create rhythm that can be steady and strong or varied and even chaotic.
An underlying regular rhythm, like the bead bases here, provide grounding for the less predictable rhythm of the canes that kind of dance about in close but buoyant manner. The fact that they are applied across the horizontal center of each bead gives them that floating feel, so it’s definitely more of a dance or flight. If they were in the same formation but at the bottom, they could look heavy, as if they were spilled–nothing wrong with that, but definitely a different feel to the rhythm because they will look grounded.
Ann works in polymer and also a lot in seedbeads–talk about repetition and rhythm! That kind of bead work is all about that. Take a look at her website and practice identifying and feeling the rhythm of the pieces. It’s rather fun to think of work in that way.
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.
Reading Weather in the Swirls
April 9, 2013
Inspirational Art
For me, swirls and curls represent, more than anything, the liveliness of Mother Nature, especially the drama of changing weather which is very much the theme here for us today in Colorado.
I grew up in Los Angeles where I think they pay Mother Nature to stay away as much as possible. Here at the foot of the Rocky Mountains we get all kinds of weather, often several wide variations in the same week if not in the same day. Yesterday it was warm enough for shorts and sunbathing but by evening we were getting blizzard warnings. It can be rather exciting and amazing to see clouds spilling over the mountain peaks in billowing curls, the swirl of leaves and dust on the sidewalks as the storm builds then the twisting fall of the snow as it comes down. Quite inspiring I have to say.
This piece of Daniela D’Uva‘s (same piece, four views) also reminds me of the power of weather. It could be seen as the icy blue of a harsh winter wind or the swirling pools on the side of a rushing river.
The repetition of the curling lines, echoed in the winding wire creates nonstop movement, the motion becoming an element of repetition unto itself. The near saving grace here, that which might keep us from being overwhelmed, are the three almost too small beads of blue. A touch larger or with more contrast and the beads would provide a solid resting point for the eye. I’m not saying it needs that, not if Daniela wants us to feel a little overwhelmed and lost here. It is certainly matching the crazy weather outside my window today.
Daniela is quite the master of polymer and wire work as well as completing some of the most interesting ‘back sides’ in polymer jewelry. If you’re stuck inside or just want a break from work, take a minute or two to look over the gorgeous work on her Flickr pages.
A Rich and Moving Monday
April 1, 2013
Inspirational Art
Post-holiday Mondays can feel so drab after a weekend of fun and festivities with family and/or friends. So let’s start this Monday with some rich colors and textures.
This pendant was created by Sylvie Peraud of France. Controlled alcohol inks and careful finishing make this one impressive piece.
The repetition is simple but effective … the rounded triangular shapes fall from the neck cord in a gentle curve that is mimicked by the loose strands waving at the end of it. The off-balance arrangement and size of the shapes and strands give you the impression that is may be blowing in the wind. I do wish we had a shot of it hanging on a neck to see how it balances when worn. I bet it’s eye-catching in the way it moves on the wearer as well.
You can actually learn this technique, including how to make your own molds for the forms, via a class Sylvie has on CraftArtEdu titled Pearl Crackled Bracelet & Pendant.
Outside Inspiration: Millefiori in Porcelain
August 24, 2012
Inspirational Art
I was sure when I first saw these that they had to be polymer but they aren’t. The way porcelain is being pushed here is inspiring. If you’ve ever worked with porcelain or any earthen clays, you know that manipulation and embedding color with any crispness is tricky.
In this pendant — a reversible one even — the application of color and pattern matches what we do with polymer … all borrowed from the ancient technique of millefiori.
Here is what the artist Tom Garvin of Blue Bus Studios (http://www.bluebusstudio.com/) says about his work:
“The extreme detail and intense color in our ceramic work results from the use of over 500 different colors of clay to create our carefully designed clay loaves. Next, cross-sections are sliced from the loaves, and these sections are shaped and finished into individual pieces, then glazed and fired twice.”
It’s just kind of cool to know that others are working in similar ways to us and that, well, we have a pretty easy material to work with. But kudos to all artists that push their medium to create more beauty in the world!
Cane, Cut, Repeat
August 23, 2012
Inspirational Art
If you read the in-depth design articles in this latest issue, here is an opportunity to practice your new analytical skills for identifying types of repetition and rhythm. And to see just how much beauty these design concepts can add to a piece.
Look at the piece below. Draws you in immediatly doesn’t it? But why? Seems straight-forward, maybe even rather basic at first glance. However, this is anything but simple and is a sterling example of what makes good art great — it makes you keep looking at it. After a minute or two of surveying this mosaic wall piece — and especially if you have an appreciation for the roles that repetition and rhythm play in art — you’ll really begin to appreciate the complexity of the design choices.
Ponsawan Sila created this piece with mosaic polymer pieces 1cmx1cm — nothing more representative of repetition than a shape repeated over and over but … the visual textures in each shape are all different or rarely repeated, incorporating random (textures) and regular (shape) repetition. She uses progressive rhythm in the color changes that occur in each waving layer as it moves horizontially across. There is also repetition of line in the waves, which consistently create the space for each color palette, creating soft slow rhythm established in the reserved undulations of those lines.
All on a 6″x12″ tile. That’s pretty impressive.
The Nails Have It!
August 21, 2012
Inspirational Art, Technique tutorials
I’ve been drawn to stripes a lot lately … we have a cool striping tutorial in the latest issue — a simple, fun technique from Donna Greenberg that you can add to your approach to any practice in rhythm and repetition you might be inspired to try from the articles focused on those design concepts — as well as a lot of sample art in the Fall 2012 issue that uses lines as a primary design elements.
So a set of striped nails attracted me like a magnet. Polymer nail art has so much potential and not just the cane accents that have become so popular.
Claire Wallis’ Facebook tutorial with the steps on how to make your own fake nails with polymer is terrific. After you have looked at the tutorial, buzz over to her site to check out more hyponotizing stripes in her work, especially her beautiful bangles.
Theme for the Day: Repetition
August 17, 2012
Inspirational Art, The Polymer Arts magazine news
This is my day … pack, peel, and stick… repeat. This is the day I get to do all the international mailing and distribution packs for the newest issue Fall 2012: Rhythm and Flow. It involves packing envelopes and clear mailers, sealing them, sticking on the labels and doing this over and over again. The repetition gets one into a nice rhythm well-accompanied by some good sing-a-long music.
Which of course brings us to this issue’s theme and the desire to find something to counter the regular rhythm of my work. Here is a just amazing wall piece by those great innovators Ford and Forlano called “Pebbles Galaxy”.
There is definitely repetition of all kinds here — color, form, motif and texture. But the rhythm is utterly random, quite child-like in its placement yet reminiscent of rocks at the bottom of a river eddy — reminding us that there is an underlying reason for every arrangement in nature and created by a child’s hand. The caption says it has a removable pin. It is 13″ high so I’m thinking there could have been multiple pins, a pendant, a pair of earrings and a belt buckle if they worked it right. I really do like the idea of wall art that you can take pieces of to wear and share outside the place it is housed.
Well, for now, I have but another issue to share with you, to send off beyond TPA headquarters. I do hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed putting it together for you!
This above inspiring image is brought to you by the Ganoksin project, a jeweler’s resource site. The link takes you to their archive of an article by Marjorie Simon for Metalsmith Magazine (Winter 2003) about Ford and Forlano.
The Fall 2012 Cover–Rhythm & Flow
July 30, 2012
The Polymer Arts magazine news
Today just a simple announcement … finally have the cover for the Fall 2012 issue of The Polymer Arts ready for prime time!
Don’t forget to subscribe, renew or pre-order your copy! http://thepolymerarts.com/Subscribe.html
a
So, yes, more about repetition but in slightly less obvious or more varied manners will be in store for you the rest of the week. Hopefully, you aren’t bored with the subject. The ways you can apply it are limitless really.
For instance, take this fun, contemporary piece titled “Little Cities Necklace” by Ann Dillon. There is plenty of repetition in the shape of the beads, the colors and order of the layers and the general placement of the thick cane cuts. But, the canes are laid out in a varied manner and are all different canes. This wonderfully illustrates the interconnection between repetition and rhythm. Repetition doesn’t mean regular, measured, evenly applied elements. It means something is used over and over, but how those elements are applied create rhythm that can be steady and strong or varied and even chaotic.
An underlying regular rhythm, like the bead bases here, provide grounding for the less predictable rhythm of the canes that kind of dance about in close but buoyant manner. The fact that they are applied across the horizontal center of each bead gives them that floating feel, so it’s definitely more of a dance or flight. If they were in the same formation but at the bottom, they could look heavy, as if they were spilled–nothing wrong with that, but definitely a different feel to the rhythm because they will look grounded.
Ann works in polymer and also a lot in seedbeads–talk about repetition and rhythm! That kind of bead work is all about that. Take a look at her website and practice identifying and feeling the rhythm of the pieces. It’s rather fun to think of work in that way.
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.
For me, swirls and curls represent, more than anything, the liveliness of Mother Nature, especially the drama of changing weather which is very much the theme here for us today in Colorado.
I grew up in Los Angeles where I think they pay Mother Nature to stay away as much as possible. Here at the foot of the Rocky Mountains we get all kinds of weather, often several wide variations in the same week if not in the same day. Yesterday it was warm enough for shorts and sunbathing but by evening we were getting blizzard warnings. It can be rather exciting and amazing to see clouds spilling over the mountain peaks in billowing curls, the swirl of leaves and dust on the sidewalks as the storm builds then the twisting fall of the snow as it comes down. Quite inspiring I have to say.
This piece of Daniela D’Uva‘s (same piece, four views) also reminds me of the power of weather. It could be seen as the icy blue of a harsh winter wind or the swirling pools on the side of a rushing river.
The repetition of the curling lines, echoed in the winding wire creates nonstop movement, the motion becoming an element of repetition unto itself. The near saving grace here, that which might keep us from being overwhelmed, are the three almost too small beads of blue. A touch larger or with more contrast and the beads would provide a solid resting point for the eye. I’m not saying it needs that, not if Daniela wants us to feel a little overwhelmed and lost here. It is certainly matching the crazy weather outside my window today.
Daniela is quite the master of polymer and wire work as well as completing some of the most interesting ‘back sides’ in polymer jewelry. If you’re stuck inside or just want a break from work, take a minute or two to look over the gorgeous work on her Flickr pages.
Read MorePost-holiday Mondays can feel so drab after a weekend of fun and festivities with family and/or friends. So let’s start this Monday with some rich colors and textures.
This pendant was created by Sylvie Peraud of France. Controlled alcohol inks and careful finishing make this one impressive piece.
The repetition is simple but effective … the rounded triangular shapes fall from the neck cord in a gentle curve that is mimicked by the loose strands waving at the end of it. The off-balance arrangement and size of the shapes and strands give you the impression that is may be blowing in the wind. I do wish we had a shot of it hanging on a neck to see how it balances when worn. I bet it’s eye-catching in the way it moves on the wearer as well.
You can actually learn this technique, including how to make your own molds for the forms, via a class Sylvie has on CraftArtEdu titled Pearl Crackled Bracelet & Pendant.
Read MoreI was sure when I first saw these that they had to be polymer but they aren’t. The way porcelain is being pushed here is inspiring. If you’ve ever worked with porcelain or any earthen clays, you know that manipulation and embedding color with any crispness is tricky.
In this pendant — a reversible one even — the application of color and pattern matches what we do with polymer … all borrowed from the ancient technique of millefiori.
Here is what the artist Tom Garvin of Blue Bus Studios (http://www.bluebusstudio.com/) says about his work:
“The extreme detail and intense color in our ceramic work results from the use of over 500 different colors of clay to create our carefully designed clay loaves. Next, cross-sections are sliced from the loaves, and these sections are shaped and finished into individual pieces, then glazed and fired twice.”
It’s just kind of cool to know that others are working in similar ways to us and that, well, we have a pretty easy material to work with. But kudos to all artists that push their medium to create more beauty in the world!
If you read the in-depth design articles in this latest issue, here is an opportunity to practice your new analytical skills for identifying types of repetition and rhythm. And to see just how much beauty these design concepts can add to a piece.
Look at the piece below. Draws you in immediatly doesn’t it? But why? Seems straight-forward, maybe even rather basic at first glance. However, this is anything but simple and is a sterling example of what makes good art great — it makes you keep looking at it. After a minute or two of surveying this mosaic wall piece — and especially if you have an appreciation for the roles that repetition and rhythm play in art — you’ll really begin to appreciate the complexity of the design choices.
Ponsawan Sila created this piece with mosaic polymer pieces 1cmx1cm — nothing more representative of repetition than a shape repeated over and over but … the visual textures in each shape are all different or rarely repeated, incorporating random (textures) and regular (shape) repetition. She uses progressive rhythm in the color changes that occur in each waving layer as it moves horizontially across. There is also repetition of line in the waves, which consistently create the space for each color palette, creating soft slow rhythm established in the reserved undulations of those lines.
All on a 6″x12″ tile. That’s pretty impressive.
Read More
I’ve been drawn to stripes a lot lately … we have a cool striping tutorial in the latest issue — a simple, fun technique from Donna Greenberg that you can add to your approach to any practice in rhythm and repetition you might be inspired to try from the articles focused on those design concepts — as well as a lot of sample art in the Fall 2012 issue that uses lines as a primary design elements.
So a set of striped nails attracted me like a magnet. Polymer nail art has so much potential and not just the cane accents that have become so popular.
Claire Wallis’ Facebook tutorial with the steps on how to make your own fake nails with polymer is terrific. After you have looked at the tutorial, buzz over to her site to check out more hyponotizing stripes in her work, especially her beautiful bangles.
Read More
This is my day … pack, peel, and stick… repeat. This is the day I get to do all the international mailing and distribution packs for the newest issue Fall 2012: Rhythm and Flow. It involves packing envelopes and clear mailers, sealing them, sticking on the labels and doing this over and over again. The repetition gets one into a nice rhythm well-accompanied by some good sing-a-long music.
Which of course brings us to this issue’s theme and the desire to find something to counter the regular rhythm of my work. Here is a just amazing wall piece by those great innovators Ford and Forlano called “Pebbles Galaxy”.
There is definitely repetition of all kinds here — color, form, motif and texture. But the rhythm is utterly random, quite child-like in its placement yet reminiscent of rocks at the bottom of a river eddy — reminding us that there is an underlying reason for every arrangement in nature and created by a child’s hand. The caption says it has a removable pin. It is 13″ high so I’m thinking there could have been multiple pins, a pendant, a pair of earrings and a belt buckle if they worked it right. I really do like the idea of wall art that you can take pieces of to wear and share outside the place it is housed.
Well, for now, I have but another issue to share with you, to send off beyond TPA headquarters. I do hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed putting it together for you!
This above inspiring image is brought to you by the Ganoksin project, a jeweler’s resource site. The link takes you to their archive of an article by Marjorie Simon for Metalsmith Magazine (Winter 2003) about Ford and Forlano.
Read MoreToday just a simple announcement … finally have the cover for the Fall 2012 issue of The Polymer Arts ready for prime time!
Don’t forget to subscribe, renew or pre-order your copy! http://thepolymerarts.com/Subscribe.html
a
Read More
