A Dusting of Design

January 12, 2015

16fba9e731b0aeb456f51426f816ed9c

So, I thought this week I’d simply do what is trending for the new year on Pinterest. Turns out tutorials and how-to tips are the big thing right now. That was rather heartening to see really. Its great that so many people are looking for ideas to expand and explore. So this week will pretty much be that … showing some of the better tutorials and resources for you to expand your polymer knowledge base.

Iris Mishly’s website, PolyPediaOnline, is a wealth of wonderful, easy to follow tutorials. The PDF and video formats explore all kinds of techniques and forms. This stencil tutorial looks a lot like silk screen, but the look is actually created with easy-to-use pastel chalk and craft stencils; you can find them at pretty much any large craft store. Not only that, this tutorial is free!

Like silk screen (which I still would encourage you try at some point — we have all the tips and resources you might need in the The Polymer Arts‘ 2014 Winter issue), this stencil method gives you quickly patterned surfaces that can add visual texture and contrast to your pieces, without the mess of paint. While the lines may not be quite as clean and some of the application looks lighter than with silk screen, that could be more desirable since it can give an aged or rough look. The only thing Iris doesn’t mention is sealing the chalk. You can use any polymer-compatible sealer, but spray sealers such as PYMII or water based Varathane would likely be best so as to not dislodge any chalk while sealing.

You can find this tutorial on YouTube and on Iris’ website, but be sure to check out what other goodies, free and otherwise, she has waiting for you on PolyPedia Online and PolyPedia Online Express.

 

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.

businesscard-3.5inx2in-h-front    PolymerArts Kaleidoscope     sfxpaad

Print on Textured Weave

April 15, 2014

Boldly printed cotton fabrics were rather popular when I was growing up but the patterns were not very exciting. In art school I jumped at the chance to take a silk screen printing class and create my own. It was great fun but a ton of work. So much so that I never made anything with the fabrics I printed. I had a horrible aversion to cutting into the fabric that had taken so long to create! But now I’m trying my hand at creating and transferring patterns to polymer as well as exploring silk screen printing. Making your own screens is still pretty labor intensive but screen printing stencils are now available in various places as are kits and online instruction (just Google it!) so anyone can now explore the process before committing the time and expense to creating original screens.

Both silk screen printing and transfer images are decorative fabric techniques easily adapted for use with polymer. This pendant by Noelia Contreras, along with much of the rest of her work, looks to be highly inspired by fabrics–from graphical image transfer to screen printing to bargello, she explores the wide variety of fabric based inspirations in polymer. In this playful piece she transferred hand drawn designs based on the art of zentangles to create black patterns that are then transferred to white polymer textured with a woven fabric look.

61abc13418fe1c26a90e62a0a5d12ba7

If you are lucky enough to be in Spain or nearby  European countries, look her up to see what classes she has coming up. You can find announcements on her classes as well as more of her artwork on her blog and in her shop as well as her Flickr photostream.

 

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.

Blog2 -2014-02Feb-5   Millefiori eggs   14P1 cover Fnl

 

Remembering Gwen Gibson

September 26, 2013

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.”

1999-geisha-flat-pen_fs

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.

gibson97-mipces-portrait-with-work

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.

 

Silk Screening Anyone?

Have you been curious about what it would take to try out silk screening on polymer? I can tell you the whole process is relatively simple. You need a few specialty supplies (but who doesn’t like having to get a few new supplies!) and a little practice. Once you get it down it can be quite addictive.

Here are few pins by Karen Woods with lots of silk screening textures to intrigue you.

If you want to look into it further, Polymer Clay Express has both a tutorial posted as well as supplies to get you started.

And our friends over at Polymer Clay Productions have a great video on polymer silk screening with lots of good tips to get you started: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJZ8ec8NAko

A Dusting of Design

January 12, 2015
Posted in

16fba9e731b0aeb456f51426f816ed9c

So, I thought this week I’d simply do what is trending for the new year on Pinterest. Turns out tutorials and how-to tips are the big thing right now. That was rather heartening to see really. Its great that so many people are looking for ideas to expand and explore. So this week will pretty much be that … showing some of the better tutorials and resources for you to expand your polymer knowledge base.

Iris Mishly’s website, PolyPediaOnline, is a wealth of wonderful, easy to follow tutorials. The PDF and video formats explore all kinds of techniques and forms. This stencil tutorial looks a lot like silk screen, but the look is actually created with easy-to-use pastel chalk and craft stencils; you can find them at pretty much any large craft store. Not only that, this tutorial is free!

Like silk screen (which I still would encourage you try at some point — we have all the tips and resources you might need in the The Polymer Arts‘ 2014 Winter issue), this stencil method gives you quickly patterned surfaces that can add visual texture and contrast to your pieces, without the mess of paint. While the lines may not be quite as clean and some of the application looks lighter than with silk screen, that could be more desirable since it can give an aged or rough look. The only thing Iris doesn’t mention is sealing the chalk. You can use any polymer-compatible sealer, but spray sealers such as PYMII or water based Varathane would likely be best so as to not dislodge any chalk while sealing.

You can find this tutorial on YouTube and on Iris’ website, but be sure to check out what other goodies, free and otherwise, she has waiting for you on PolyPedia Online and PolyPedia Online Express.

 

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.

businesscard-3.5inx2in-h-front    PolymerArts Kaleidoscope     sfxpaad

Read More

Print on Textured Weave

April 15, 2014
Posted in

Boldly printed cotton fabrics were rather popular when I was growing up but the patterns were not very exciting. In art school I jumped at the chance to take a silk screen printing class and create my own. It was great fun but a ton of work. So much so that I never made anything with the fabrics I printed. I had a horrible aversion to cutting into the fabric that had taken so long to create! But now I’m trying my hand at creating and transferring patterns to polymer as well as exploring silk screen printing. Making your own screens is still pretty labor intensive but screen printing stencils are now available in various places as are kits and online instruction (just Google it!) so anyone can now explore the process before committing the time and expense to creating original screens.

Both silk screen printing and transfer images are decorative fabric techniques easily adapted for use with polymer. This pendant by Noelia Contreras, along with much of the rest of her work, looks to be highly inspired by fabrics–from graphical image transfer to screen printing to bargello, she explores the wide variety of fabric based inspirations in polymer. In this playful piece she transferred hand drawn designs based on the art of zentangles to create black patterns that are then transferred to white polymer textured with a woven fabric look.

61abc13418fe1c26a90e62a0a5d12ba7

If you are lucky enough to be in Spain or nearby  European countries, look her up to see what classes she has coming up. You can find announcements on her classes as well as more of her artwork on her blog and in her shop as well as her Flickr photostream.

 

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.

Blog2 -2014-02Feb-5   Millefiori eggs   14P1 cover Fnl

 

Read More

Remembering Gwen Gibson

September 26, 2013
Posted in

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.”

1999-geisha-flat-pen_fs

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.

gibson97-mipces-portrait-with-work

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

Silk Screening Anyone?

July 17, 2012
Posted in ,

Have you been curious about what it would take to try out silk screening on polymer? I can tell you the whole process is relatively simple. You need a few specialty supplies (but who doesn’t like having to get a few new supplies!) and a little practice. Once you get it down it can be quite addictive.

Here are few pins by Karen Woods with lots of silk screening textures to intrigue you.

If you want to look into it further, Polymer Clay Express has both a tutorial posted as well as supplies to get you started.

And our friends over at Polymer Clay Productions have a great video on polymer silk screening with lots of good tips to get you started: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJZ8ec8NAko

Read More
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