The ‘Elements’ in store for Fall 2015
August 3, 2015
Inspirational Art, The Polymer Arts magazine news
As promised … here is the new cover for the Fall 2015 issue due out later this month. Our cover is graced by the soulful work of Ronna Sarvas Weltman who wrote a beautifully honest and heartfelt piece on the whys and hows of teaching art that you won’t want to miss. Among other things!
The Elements theme is all about bringing together the many parts that go into creating in order to make amazing finished pieces of art! Here are some of the inspirational and skill-building articles you can look forward to if you subscribe or pre-order:
- Embellish! The Art of the Accent with Christi Friesen
- Elements of Inspiration: Where Ideas Come From
- It’s a Small World: Micro Mosaics with Karen Mitchell
- Transfer Anything! Easy & Artful Image Transfers
- The Joyous Classroom with Ronna Sarvas Weltman
- Creating Atmosphere: The Elements of Mood
- Strange Beauty: The Art of Celine Charuau
- Alternate Avenues of Artistic Income
- Properly Equipped: Indispensable & Inexpensive Photo Accessories
- The Right Adhesive for the Job
- Fun with Pebeo Paints
- Creative Ear Wires
- … and much more
If you have not pre-ordered your copy or updated your subscription, you will want to do that now to get it hot off the presses! Head over to our website here!
And a HUGE thank you to everyone who took part in the survey. This really helps us to gear our offerings towards what YOU want to read, and this makes ALL of us very happy. Tomorrow, I will pull names for the giveaway and let the lucky ducks know by email, so I can get those physical mailing addresses from you. I’ll also announce it on Wednesday, so you’ll know if you’ve won even if the email gremlins run off with my congratulatory emails as they sometimes like to do.
So, forgive me for all the TPA news, but I need to run off and craft more good stuff for you. We will resume digging up and talking about more admirable polymer pretties on Wednesday!
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.
A Journey in Organic Domes
March 19, 2015
Inspirational Art
Picking items to feature this week was quite diverting. There is so much out there in this form but no easy way to search for it, so I just meandered the polymer highway; very grateful to find such cool things as this highly-organic ring by Tanja of Flickr’s Fantastisch-Plastisch. I actually found it after spotting the domed beads you see below it. They were created six years apart. If you meander through Tanja’s Flickr photostream you can see the journey and exploration she goes through as she returns to variations of this form over and over.
The interesting thing here is, she created these based on the teachings of other artists. The influence is pretty obvious in the ring–she shares that this and the other recent rings in this series were inspired by projects in Ronna Sarvas Weltman‘s book Ancient Modern: Polymer Clay and Wire Jewelry. The beads below were inspired by Grant Diffendaffer. She has other work in domed disks that are wholly her own, as well, but they all look quite different. The one thing that most all of them encompass is an organic quality. Even the Diffendaffer inspired beads with their high shine have distinctly organic textures. Because of the easy way we can form domes and disks on lightbulbs with cookie cutters, it is nice to see them rough and freeform, as well.
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.
;
Bright in Fall
August 5, 2014
Inspirational Art
There is a bright side to fall colors, at least according to the fashion industry. Deep, dark and rich is not for everyone, even when it’s in season, so designers and fashion magazines put together lighter and brighter palettes as well. Pantone released their Fall color forecast several months ago, but I am not as yet seeing many in our community who are following Pantone’s rather vibrant colors. I had to reach back a way to find this lovely piece by Ronna Sarvas Weltman that displays many of the upcoming forecasted colors; the magenta, reds, lavender and yellows.
There is definitely a feel of fall to this necklace. Although, I don’t think Ronna was thinking of the season when she created it. She was thinking about the various design considerations that would make it a necklace different from all the others.
In her words, “This necklace has a bunch of similar disks at the back portion. Looks a bit boring in a photo, as if I stopped being creative and just put a bunch of disks in to finish it up. But, when it is worn, it works beautifully. I knew designing it that it would look better on than off and maybe wouldn’t even be all that advantageous vis-a-vis marketing. Just thought I’d bring it up as another element in the design process. What a piece looks like on a table surface can be entirely different from the way it behaves around a neck.”
Excellent point. Ideally, necklaces would all be photographed while being worn in order to show how they fall and lay. This would also display which portions of the design are visible and whether they stand out as designed.
Because of Ronna’s organic and often antiqued look, much of her art jewelry would fit in wonderfully all throughout the fall season. For more ideas and other color palettes to ponder, take a look at Ronna’s work on her Facebook page and her website.
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.
Remembering Gwen Gibson
September 26, 2013
Inspirational Art
I interrupt this week’s theme to acknowledge the passing of one of our more influential artists, Gwen Gibson. She passed away peacefully just this past Tuesday.
Some of you may not find her name familiar. She had been focusing on painting and mixed media wall art in recent years so was not front and center in the polymer limelight but her influence has been wide ranging nonetheless.
Gwen started working with polymer in the late 80s and developed ways of working with polymer yet unseen. In her words, “Partly because I didn’t know anyone else working in polymer clay, and partly because I had spent time painting, my work took its own direction from the beginning. My main departure was the use of paint for surface effects rather than the color of the clay.”
Her paint and silk screening work in polymer pushed many artists to move past creating effects with polymer alone and try integrating paint and then other materials into their polymer work. Her philosophy about creativity influenced the direction and ability of many artists to grow their own style and find their own artistic voice. It was also her vision that made La Cascade, the workshop center in France, a reality.
We were lucky enough to have some of her thoughts and influences described and acknowledged in our last issue of The Polymer Arts. The simple but rather moving words i our Fall 2013 issue, written by Ronna Sarvas Weltman for our Muse’s Corner section (the back page) garnered quite a few comments and notes of appreciation from our readers, some who had the pleasure of meeting Gwen and expressed just how much she touched them with her gentle ways and simple but profound philosophies about creating art.
Gwen Gibson with her 3 wall pieces in the MIPCES exhibition, 199.7 (Image and the above quote from Polymer Art Archive–click image to read the associated article.)
I’d like to suggest we all take a moment to look through Gwen’s gallery, to appreciate what she brought to our medium and because her work, especially if you haven’t seen much of it yet, is still inspiring and beautiful as is the work of any great artist.
The Challenge of Change
August 17, 2013
Inspirational Art
In the back of every issue of The Polymer Arts is a wonderful one-page article in which someone tells the story of their life as an artist, or of another artist (or artists). I hold a particularly special fondness for this section because it’s the one area in which artists get personal with us as readers. It’s not a setup to teach or preach or help expand your business or make you a better artist; it’s just stories. We can certainly learn from them (what can’t we learn from?), but they are still just artists sharing their story, or the story of other artists.
In this Fall issue, Ronna Sarvas Weltman talks about Gwen Gibson, a polymer pioneer who has moved largely from polymer to work on mixed media in collage and acrylics. Ronna writes about Gwen’s view on the creative process and the patience we must have with ourselves and our medium. It’s a beautiful little article that I would encourage you all to read at least a couple times to really let the ideas sink in.
The article in hand, Ronna and I only had to gather a few images of Gwen’s work before it would be ready to send to layout; but getting artwork of Gwen’s that was of a size we could print turned out to rather difficult. When she was creating beautiful earrings like these from 15 years ago, she had photos taken; but as the years went on and her direction in art changed, the original images got shuffled away. I guess things like that are bound to happen when you buy a 300 year old house in a tiny medieval French village desperately in need of repair and turn it into a creative retreat; I can see where you might have other priorities.
La Cascade is now a beautiful center for art workshops and time out of your normal world to learn a little bit more about yourself as an artist. The story of the La Cascade renovation adventure and charming descriptions and photos of the place can be found on the website along with information about the workshops, should you be interested in attending any one of them.
And don’t forget to get your copy of the Fall issue ordered if you haven’t done so already, as they will all be out and on their way this coming week!
Covering the Original Artistic Voice
April 30, 2013
Inspirational Art
Since there seems to be a lot of conversation about originality lately, I thought we’d focus on that idea for a bit this week (which is a great excuse to just bring the most stunning work I can find to post for you!) Finding your own original voice versus copying or following trends has been a point of discussion since Synergy 3 with the widely shared talk, The Good, The Bad & The Ugly in the Age of the Internet given by Harriete Berman, to comments and links here, to other articles and posts making the rounds like this one regarding copying posted by Ronna Sarvas Weltman on her Facebook page over the weekend. Originality is a very hard thing to teach. But awareness of what it is may be the first step in finding your own original artistic voice.
Covering objects with cane slices is in no way an original idea. But if someone did it for the first time today and for weeks after other people started doing it, would they be copying this innovative artist? Not necessarily. It is not the process or the skill that makes a piece unoriginal but the ability for a person to make what they see or learn their own personal expression (see Sunday’s post for the more in depth philosophical discussion on this). There are techniques, concepts and approaches to making art with your material of choice. Learned well, they become a skill. This will not make one an artist. It is what you do with it, how you make it your own, let it express what you see and care about. So … how can covering with cane slices be wholly original?
This frog is a Jon Anderson piece (see the Spring 2012 issue of The Polymer Arts for a gallery of his work and bio based on the only interview he has ever given.) It is completely covered with cane slices. However, every slice has been placed with purpose and as a way to express what Jon wants to portray about this creature and the colors and patterns he has been inspired by throughout his life.
Jon chooses the patterns on his slices, the colors and the way he lays them out to emphasize the form of the frog as well to embody his sense of what is beautiful. He also embeds symbols such as the moth on the frog’s head that give you reason to pause and wonder what else this is about besides the frog. There are a few other artists that use the same patterned approach to covering forms with cane slices but I have never seen any of their pieces that could be mistaken for Jon Anderson’s. His approach is a reflection of himself, the individual, the original person that his life and experience has formed.
Who would you consider the most original artist that works in the forms, techniques and/or approaches that you do? (And it’s okay if you think it’s you. It may very well be!)
As promised … here is the new cover for the Fall 2015 issue due out later this month. Our cover is graced by the soulful work of Ronna Sarvas Weltman who wrote a beautifully honest and heartfelt piece on the whys and hows of teaching art that you won’t want to miss. Among other things!
The Elements theme is all about bringing together the many parts that go into creating in order to make amazing finished pieces of art! Here are some of the inspirational and skill-building articles you can look forward to if you subscribe or pre-order:
- Embellish! The Art of the Accent with Christi Friesen
- Elements of Inspiration: Where Ideas Come From
- It’s a Small World: Micro Mosaics with Karen Mitchell
- Transfer Anything! Easy & Artful Image Transfers
- The Joyous Classroom with Ronna Sarvas Weltman
- Creating Atmosphere: The Elements of Mood
- Strange Beauty: The Art of Celine Charuau
- Alternate Avenues of Artistic Income
- Properly Equipped: Indispensable & Inexpensive Photo Accessories
- The Right Adhesive for the Job
- Fun with Pebeo Paints
- Creative Ear Wires
- … and much more
If you have not pre-ordered your copy or updated your subscription, you will want to do that now to get it hot off the presses! Head over to our website here!
And a HUGE thank you to everyone who took part in the survey. This really helps us to gear our offerings towards what YOU want to read, and this makes ALL of us very happy. Tomorrow, I will pull names for the giveaway and let the lucky ducks know by email, so I can get those physical mailing addresses from you. I’ll also announce it on Wednesday, so you’ll know if you’ve won even if the email gremlins run off with my congratulatory emails as they sometimes like to do.
So, forgive me for all the TPA news, but I need to run off and craft more good stuff for you. We will resume digging up and talking about more admirable polymer pretties on Wednesday!
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.
Picking items to feature this week was quite diverting. There is so much out there in this form but no easy way to search for it, so I just meandered the polymer highway; very grateful to find such cool things as this highly-organic ring by Tanja of Flickr’s Fantastisch-Plastisch. I actually found it after spotting the domed beads you see below it. They were created six years apart. If you meander through Tanja’s Flickr photostream you can see the journey and exploration she goes through as she returns to variations of this form over and over.
The interesting thing here is, she created these based on the teachings of other artists. The influence is pretty obvious in the ring–she shares that this and the other recent rings in this series were inspired by projects in Ronna Sarvas Weltman‘s book Ancient Modern: Polymer Clay and Wire Jewelry. The beads below were inspired by Grant Diffendaffer. She has other work in domed disks that are wholly her own, as well, but they all look quite different. The one thing that most all of them encompass is an organic quality. Even the Diffendaffer inspired beads with their high shine have distinctly organic textures. Because of the easy way we can form domes and disks on lightbulbs with cookie cutters, it is nice to see them rough and freeform, as well.
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.
;
There is a bright side to fall colors, at least according to the fashion industry. Deep, dark and rich is not for everyone, even when it’s in season, so designers and fashion magazines put together lighter and brighter palettes as well. Pantone released their Fall color forecast several months ago, but I am not as yet seeing many in our community who are following Pantone’s rather vibrant colors. I had to reach back a way to find this lovely piece by Ronna Sarvas Weltman that displays many of the upcoming forecasted colors; the magenta, reds, lavender and yellows.
There is definitely a feel of fall to this necklace. Although, I don’t think Ronna was thinking of the season when she created it. She was thinking about the various design considerations that would make it a necklace different from all the others.
In her words, “This necklace has a bunch of similar disks at the back portion. Looks a bit boring in a photo, as if I stopped being creative and just put a bunch of disks in to finish it up. But, when it is worn, it works beautifully. I knew designing it that it would look better on than off and maybe wouldn’t even be all that advantageous vis-a-vis marketing. Just thought I’d bring it up as another element in the design process. What a piece looks like on a table surface can be entirely different from the way it behaves around a neck.”
Excellent point. Ideally, necklaces would all be photographed while being worn in order to show how they fall and lay. This would also display which portions of the design are visible and whether they stand out as designed.
Because of Ronna’s organic and often antiqued look, much of her art jewelry would fit in wonderfully all throughout the fall season. For more ideas and other color palettes to ponder, take a look at Ronna’s work on her Facebook page and her website.
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
I interrupt this week’s theme to acknowledge the passing of one of our more influential artists, Gwen Gibson. She passed away peacefully just this past Tuesday.
Some of you may not find her name familiar. She had been focusing on painting and mixed media wall art in recent years so was not front and center in the polymer limelight but her influence has been wide ranging nonetheless.
Gwen started working with polymer in the late 80s and developed ways of working with polymer yet unseen. In her words, “Partly because I didn’t know anyone else working in polymer clay, and partly because I had spent time painting, my work took its own direction from the beginning. My main departure was the use of paint for surface effects rather than the color of the clay.”
Her paint and silk screening work in polymer pushed many artists to move past creating effects with polymer alone and try integrating paint and then other materials into their polymer work. Her philosophy about creativity influenced the direction and ability of many artists to grow their own style and find their own artistic voice. It was also her vision that made La Cascade, the workshop center in France, a reality.
We were lucky enough to have some of her thoughts and influences described and acknowledged in our last issue of The Polymer Arts. The simple but rather moving words i our Fall 2013 issue, written by Ronna Sarvas Weltman for our Muse’s Corner section (the back page) garnered quite a few comments and notes of appreciation from our readers, some who had the pleasure of meeting Gwen and expressed just how much she touched them with her gentle ways and simple but profound philosophies about creating art.
Gwen Gibson with her 3 wall pieces in the MIPCES exhibition, 199.7 (Image and the above quote from Polymer Art Archive–click image to read the associated article.)
I’d like to suggest we all take a moment to look through Gwen’s gallery, to appreciate what she brought to our medium and because her work, especially if you haven’t seen much of it yet, is still inspiring and beautiful as is the work of any great artist.
Read More
In the back of every issue of The Polymer Arts is a wonderful one-page article in which someone tells the story of their life as an artist, or of another artist (or artists). I hold a particularly special fondness for this section because it’s the one area in which artists get personal with us as readers. It’s not a setup to teach or preach or help expand your business or make you a better artist; it’s just stories. We can certainly learn from them (what can’t we learn from?), but they are still just artists sharing their story, or the story of other artists.
In this Fall issue, Ronna Sarvas Weltman talks about Gwen Gibson, a polymer pioneer who has moved largely from polymer to work on mixed media in collage and acrylics. Ronna writes about Gwen’s view on the creative process and the patience we must have with ourselves and our medium. It’s a beautiful little article that I would encourage you all to read at least a couple times to really let the ideas sink in.
The article in hand, Ronna and I only had to gather a few images of Gwen’s work before it would be ready to send to layout; but getting artwork of Gwen’s that was of a size we could print turned out to rather difficult. When she was creating beautiful earrings like these from 15 years ago, she had photos taken; but as the years went on and her direction in art changed, the original images got shuffled away. I guess things like that are bound to happen when you buy a 300 year old house in a tiny medieval French village desperately in need of repair and turn it into a creative retreat; I can see where you might have other priorities.
La Cascade is now a beautiful center for art workshops and time out of your normal world to learn a little bit more about yourself as an artist. The story of the La Cascade renovation adventure and charming descriptions and photos of the place can be found on the website along with information about the workshops, should you be interested in attending any one of them.
And don’t forget to get your copy of the Fall issue ordered if you haven’t done so already, as they will all be out and on their way this coming week!
Read MoreSince there seems to be a lot of conversation about originality lately, I thought we’d focus on that idea for a bit this week (which is a great excuse to just bring the most stunning work I can find to post for you!) Finding your own original voice versus copying or following trends has been a point of discussion since Synergy 3 with the widely shared talk, The Good, The Bad & The Ugly in the Age of the Internet given by Harriete Berman, to comments and links here, to other articles and posts making the rounds like this one regarding copying posted by Ronna Sarvas Weltman on her Facebook page over the weekend. Originality is a very hard thing to teach. But awareness of what it is may be the first step in finding your own original artistic voice.
Covering objects with cane slices is in no way an original idea. But if someone did it for the first time today and for weeks after other people started doing it, would they be copying this innovative artist? Not necessarily. It is not the process or the skill that makes a piece unoriginal but the ability for a person to make what they see or learn their own personal expression (see Sunday’s post for the more in depth philosophical discussion on this). There are techniques, concepts and approaches to making art with your material of choice. Learned well, they become a skill. This will not make one an artist. It is what you do with it, how you make it your own, let it express what you see and care about. So … how can covering with cane slices be wholly original?
This frog is a Jon Anderson piece (see the Spring 2012 issue of The Polymer Arts for a gallery of his work and bio based on the only interview he has ever given.) It is completely covered with cane slices. However, every slice has been placed with purpose and as a way to express what Jon wants to portray about this creature and the colors and patterns he has been inspired by throughout his life.
Jon chooses the patterns on his slices, the colors and the way he lays them out to emphasize the form of the frog as well to embody his sense of what is beautiful. He also embeds symbols such as the moth on the frog’s head that give you reason to pause and wonder what else this is about besides the frog. There are a few other artists that use the same patterned approach to covering forms with cane slices but I have never seen any of their pieces that could be mistaken for Jon Anderson’s. His approach is a reflection of himself, the individual, the original person that his life and experience has formed.
Who would you consider the most original artist that works in the forms, techniques and/or approaches that you do? (And it’s okay if you think it’s you. It may very well be!)
Read More