Imagining Stone Bones
January 21, 2015
Inspirational Art
Alright, this piece isn’t in itself particularly old-looking, but it does represent another element of time and hide a possible story in its history. Plus, I just think it’s a beautiful piece.
France’s Karine Barrera regularly creates tribal or ethnic pieces, but I don’t think there are any particular civilizations they are drawn from. Rather they seem to be an amalgamation of tribal aesthetics. This one appears to be a most interesting composition of stone, although its form is more reminiscent of bone; the gentle curves recall tusks, claws and ribs.
But if it were stone, what kind of stone would have such layers? Or is the white not supposed to be stone but a material for joining two types of stone? What kind of material is that? What kind of people would find these shapes and the combination of stones meaningful? There are so many possible stories that can be imagined for this piece.
Karine’s work is full of possible stories. Even in her explanation in the blog post, her words are translated from French to say, at one point, that these “are stories designs”. Not sure what that means exactly, but Google Translate creates some pretty wacky text sometimes. In the end, it’s not so much about the story the artist has in her head but what the viewer of the piece comes up with. If your work makes someone stop and consider and create their own little stories and worlds in their mind from what they see, you have succeeded in communicating and maybe even entertaining. And that makes for some pretty good art. See more examples of this kind of thing on Karine’s blog.
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.
Tribal Color
January 9, 2014
Inspirational Art
By adding fluorescent colors to tribal inspired designs, Debbie Jackson brings this ancient art form into the 21st century. Tribal jewelry was traditionally constructed from natural materials, like animal claws and teeth, bone, elephant hair, horns, horse hair, ivory, metal, resin, seeds, shells, stone, and wood. Polymer clay allows us the freedom to create faux natural materials, or use mixed media, to simulate these techniques that date back more than 75,000 years.
African tribal jewelry frequently tells a story. Different colors have different meanings. Blue represents the sky and belief in the gods; green represents the sacred element of grass that nourishes cattle; red represents the blood of the cattle and white represents the milk. Jewelry was also thought to protect the wearer by providing balance between the earth and nature, allowing the wearer to be in harmony with the cycles and rhythms of the natural world.
Challenge yourself to view your work and your designs from a tribal perspective. Pay close attention to the colors you have chosen and ask yourself if they tell the story you are trying to express. Play with color and design elements to energize your work and bring out the tribal influences within you. Add beads or mixed media to enhance your designs and take them to the next level. If you want some in depth help, check out Debbie’s book, “Polymer Clay Jewelry,” for step-by-step instructions.
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.
Alright, this piece isn’t in itself particularly old-looking, but it does represent another element of time and hide a possible story in its history. Plus, I just think it’s a beautiful piece.
France’s Karine Barrera regularly creates tribal or ethnic pieces, but I don’t think there are any particular civilizations they are drawn from. Rather they seem to be an amalgamation of tribal aesthetics. This one appears to be a most interesting composition of stone, although its form is more reminiscent of bone; the gentle curves recall tusks, claws and ribs.
But if it were stone, what kind of stone would have such layers? Or is the white not supposed to be stone but a material for joining two types of stone? What kind of material is that? What kind of people would find these shapes and the combination of stones meaningful? There are so many possible stories that can be imagined for this piece.
Karine’s work is full of possible stories. Even in her explanation in the blog post, her words are translated from French to say, at one point, that these “are stories designs”. Not sure what that means exactly, but Google Translate creates some pretty wacky text sometimes. In the end, it’s not so much about the story the artist has in her head but what the viewer of the piece comes up with. If your work makes someone stop and consider and create their own little stories and worlds in their mind from what they see, you have succeeded in communicating and maybe even entertaining. And that makes for some pretty good art. See more examples of this kind of thing on Karine’s blog.
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.
By adding fluorescent colors to tribal inspired designs, Debbie Jackson brings this ancient art form into the 21st century. Tribal jewelry was traditionally constructed from natural materials, like animal claws and teeth, bone, elephant hair, horns, horse hair, ivory, metal, resin, seeds, shells, stone, and wood. Polymer clay allows us the freedom to create faux natural materials, or use mixed media, to simulate these techniques that date back more than 75,000 years.
African tribal jewelry frequently tells a story. Different colors have different meanings. Blue represents the sky and belief in the gods; green represents the sacred element of grass that nourishes cattle; red represents the blood of the cattle and white represents the milk. Jewelry was also thought to protect the wearer by providing balance between the earth and nature, allowing the wearer to be in harmony with the cycles and rhythms of the natural world.
Challenge yourself to view your work and your designs from a tribal perspective. Pay close attention to the colors you have chosen and ask yourself if they tell the story you are trying to express. Play with color and design elements to energize your work and bring out the tribal influences within you. Add beads or mixed media to enhance your designs and take them to the next level. If you want some in depth help, check out Debbie’s book, “Polymer Clay Jewelry,” for step-by-step instructions.
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.
