Rousing Repetition
July 28, 2019 Inspirational Art, Polymer community news, The Polymer Arts magazine news
First of all, thank you to all you amazing, wonderful, caring folks who sent me notes and words of encouragement and offers of help and even a book in one case, all due to my little tendinitis issue. You are the most amazing people. What a fantastic community we have! I expect most of you are dealing with something frustratingly disruptive in your life and things a lot worse than my little annoyance in many cases so know that my heart goes out to you too. Life is challenging. So, let’s go out and wrestle it and show the universe what we’re made of!
I do have more news but I’m going to save the update on my situation until the end so you can enjoy some artwork first.
Okay, on to the contemplation of art!
Rousing Repetition
This week I want to talk about repetition. Do you like heavy repetition in artwork, where a single form, mark, or motif is repeated over and over? Saying it like that makes it sound boring and unimaginative. But I think repetition has gotten a bad rap. I mean, sure, in some circumstances, like when someone says the same thing over and over again in a conversation, it is going to get on your nerves. But when it comes to design, repetition can be mesmerizing, energetic, and downright stunning. The trick is to put some rhythm and variation into that repetition. Or at least, if it’s very static, it’s best if it is obvious that a lack of variation is intentional to convey stillness, poise, or something of that sort.
I thought we’d pull up some really beautiful examples of repetition to prove the point. You’ll note in all these pieces that although form, shape, motif, or other characteristics are repeated, variation in other aspects of the design choices brings in the energy and rhythm that draws us in. The repeating element also serves to create cohesiveness and unity amongst all the other elements
So, as we go through these this week, identify the repeating design elements in each piece and then the variation that makes the repetition so interesting for you. I’ll show the piece first before I talk about it so you have a chance to consider and see what you come up with. Mind you, you will often come up with things that I won’t and that doesn’t mean that I’m right and you’re not. When art is viewed, it has to be fundamentally about personal interpretation so there is a ton of room for your unique point of view. Asking yourself these questions that I periodically challenge you with just gets you to actively think about the work, homes your eye, and, hopefully, gives you the understanding to verbalize those things so you can translate them into aspects of your own work.
So, let’s get to it!
Music in the Monotony
I am going heavy this week on non-polymer artists and I may do a bit more of this going forward too. There is just so much great design amongst craftspeople of other mediums that we could really learn from. I find it refreshing and immensely inspiring to consider how to get the aspects that I enjoy in the artwork of other mediums into my polymer designs. I hope you agree and will stick this out with me! But we’ll start with polymer work.
Here we have some really obvious repetition with a couple of bracelets from Maria Belkomor. A lot of things are being repeated here. How many do you count?
Depending on how you count, there are either two repeated elements– the black carved beads and the disk elements – or maybe four if you count the stacks of beads and the colors. Or maybe you counted more. Everything in these are repeated except for the clasps so pretty much every element can be counted as a repeating one. Variation and, especially, the contrast in the colors and the contrast in the shape between the round beads and the flat disks is what keeps the repetition from being boring. It’s very regular but the bracelets are still fun and visually engaging pieces.
Keep in mind, repetition doesn’t mean it needs to all be lined up to engage repetition. Take a look at the pieces below. Parallel lines are used over and over again but aren’t always the same types of parallel lines nor are they seated in the same orientation.
Anna Nel has a lot of fun with her bouncy graphic look by repeating parallel lines over and over but varying them from solid line sets to lines of blended clay, adding pops of color and focal points with the irregularly placed round cane slices. Her variation in color, going from black-and-white to very saturated hues doesn’t hurt the impact of these pieces either.
Looking outside of polymer, it is not hard to find gorgeous examples of repetition in construction jewelry like beadwork.
Obviously, the repetition here is primarily in the square beads, all lined up with the same orientation, as well as the repeated dangles. The designer, Beth Graham of Semper Fi designs on Etsy, switches up the color in the squares and the length of the dangles for a simple but very effective variation within the design. There are much more intricate bead designs out there, but I like this example because it highlights the concept in an easy to identify way and works to great effect.
I wonder if, in polymer, we might use repetition more often if it was not so easy for us to vary up our elements. I do think there is such a discipline in trying to create dynamic and intriguing pieces without using a wide range of variety to carry it. Just look at this necklace below. It could be polymer but is gorgeously carved, colored, and polished wood.
Liv Blavap’s works are amazing. She works with repetition in a way that it somehow becomes the focal point of her pieces. I think it’s because there’s an almost seamless transition in the variation between one element and the next, making a smooth undulation in the form and, collectively, feeling like one continuous piece even though it is dozens, maybe a couple hundred, individual elements. This approach and her workmanship make you hyper-aware that basic forms are being repeated, if changing along the way. If you’re unfamiliar with Liv’s work, jump over to this site for a quick peek at more of these stunning necklaces of hers.
Okay, one more piece that is not polymer but so readily could be and I think will be quite inspiring for those of you who like to work with sheets of thin polymer or, looking at the pattern only, cool geometric cane work. Paper does really lend itself to repetition as seen by this and the paper necklace of the opening image.
This is paper jewelry by Dutch artists Nel Linssen. Paper quite readily, and beautifully, lends itself to dynamic repetition. The energy here comes with the variation within each element that has been repeated. It doesn’t hurt that they’re basically arrow shapes all pointing inwards making it feel like all the movement is strongly and persistently moving towards the center. Yes, there is strength in repetition as well!
Meanwhile, back at the ranch (as they used to say) …
Okay, so, a little bit of an update on the situation over here at Tenth Muse Arts headquarters:
The not so great news is that the conclusion about my tendinitis progressed into something called tendinosis which takes a lot longer to heal and is why I am still dealing with it. On top of that, I have some possible physiological issues which may be the cause of my slow healing (on top of working too much, of course!) The good news is it is all fixable. However, I am going to have to disrupt my usual schedule to deal with this and, with the tendinosis, I am being told that I should stay off my keyboard as much as possible for the next 3-6 months. Ack! That means I can’t do layout, photo adjustments, or anything else that takes just a ton of mouse clicking and keyboard shortcuts. I can still write thanks to speech to text software but not much of anything else.
Translation… I have had to make the decision to halt production on The Polymer Studio magazine for the time being. I’ve also decided subscription purchases will not be available during this time because I just can’t take money for something that isn’t actively in process. That just feels wrong. And yes, I considered bringing on people to help but it would take a while to get anyone up to speed on graphics and editing work and if I’m going to work on myself, I can’t add to my schedule. My crazy long workdays are why I’m having the physiological issues, so I really have to take a pretty full break.
So, I’m making plans to play around with creating some other stuff that would be doable with written, spoken, or videotaped content because I am just not good at not being productive. But without deadlines, I can take my time. And, yes, I do plan to continue to post the blog. I like chatting with you all too much to stop if I don’t really have to!
So, some weeks I might have to go a little bit light, but I do plan to be here to join you on Sunday mornings for low contemplative art. Do please join me next Sunday – I’m putting together a survey to see what you all would like me to talk about on the blog and my other possible projects. I’m working on gathering goodies for a giveaway to go with the survey so don’t miss that!
Have a wonderful, creative, healthy, and inspiring week!
Random Lines
December 2, 2014 Inspirational Art
Our piece today is not dissimilar from yesterday’s piece, but it’s differences delineate another approach to the simple application of elements.
A large swath of continuous color is halted by a mix of color here as well, only in this vase by China’s Frank Khow (known as Beefball Papa on Flickr),the feel is crowded and energetic instead of being quiet and still. Yesterday’s work was simple and sparse, but today’s is more about abundance. As you can see, abundance doesn’t have to be complicated. In fact, abundance is an easily visible proliferation of one thing, which in this case is a series of revealed extrusions. The draw to this comes from the impact of textural contrast–busy visual texture against a smooth and solid visual texture.
The effect is so strong here that the same busy versus quiet application can be presented with different color combinations or forms, and you’ll still have a similar feel and impact. You can see what I mean simply by visiting Frank’s Flickr photostream where he has several examples of this technique to compare.
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.
Movement in Form
June 22, 2013 Inspirational Art
Although I didn’t emphasize this, yesterday’s glass artist was big on form as a means of expression, and the sense of movement she conveys is rather dependent on the forms she chooses. I find this to be true with polymer artist Jana Roberts Benzon as well. She creates a sense of flowing, staccato, or ebbing visual movement by building forms that change through the space they occupy in undulating or precise steps
Jana is well known for her laser cut technique, which can create an enthralling texture as well as a visually active form. Her pendant, Zorro, shows how the laser cut texture is used to create change across the surface of the piece, giving it a lot of energy. The technique also allows her to create a very active form, building the zig-zag through the shifting of slices already needed to create the texture.
It doesn’t hurt that there is also a progressive change in the dominance of colors from the top to the bottom. Any kind of gradual change will relay movement because that is what movement is perceived as: a series of related changes.
Enjoy more of Jana’s moving work on both her website and her Flickr pages.
Outside Inspiration: A Twist in Glass
June 21, 2013 Inspirational Art
Of course, movement in art can be achieved in any material if worked correctly. Because glass lends itself so nicely to beads, options for creating visual or actual movement in glass artwork is not that different from some of the more common options for polymer.
Joyce Roessler is master glass artist whose work is heavily entrenched in the concept of movement. Dangles, swirls, twists, flowing lines, gradation of color and multiple joints in her pieces create very active visuals in her work. Her Grey Glass Twist Necklace uses several of these approaches to create a piece that seems almost alive.
The twists, varying thickness as they move around each other, create much of the sense of movement; but the lines within them serve to accentuate the turning points, giving the tighter turns a sense of speed. Just look at the calm turn of the lines in the backside beads, then look at the point in the curled beads in front, where the glass curves back or comes forward–can you sense that difference in ‘speed’ visually? Pretty cool, isn’t it?
I would love to see someone wearing this, too. There are multiple joints that, due to the unevenness of the beads, would certainly shift the balance of the beads and the composition of them as the wearer moves. A very active piece indeed.
If you are intrigued by the possibilities of adding movement to your own work, you have to take a moment to look through Joyce’s gallery on her website. Her jewelry and sculpture are gorgeous and a definite source of inspiration for creating movement in art.
Mesmerizing Movement
June 18, 2013 Inspirational Art
Visual movement usually consists of some kind of directional lines. These lines don’t have to be straight. They don’t have to all be the same. They don’t even have to be repeated. But what they do need is to be emphasized in some manner that makes the viewer focus in on them.
Swirls as well as lines that meet at a point are very strong components for creating visual movement because they highlight a single point of focus where the swirl ends or the lines meet. In other words, the line draws your view, making your gaze ‘move’ across the piece to those single points. And your eyes will keep wanting to do that. This is where the sense of movement comes from. You can see both these in Keila Hernandez‘s beautiful Plum Blossom necklace.
In Keila’s flowers, the points of focus are in the middle where the lines of the caning bring us. These centered focal points give us reassuring positions of stability, but the swirls on the outside keep pulling the eye back out and actually create repeated points of tension where the paired swirls meet. It makes the flowers feel very lively.
Repetition is another way to increase the visual effect of lines suggesting movement. One flower would still give a sense of movement because of the lines used, but seeing this effect repeated across the necklace compounds it. Do you get a sense the flowers are almost swirling themselves?
If you are interested in the effect of line on the sense of movement, be sure to read last year’s Fall issue articles on Rhythm and Repetition.
First of all, thank you to all you amazing, wonderful, caring folks who sent me notes and words of encouragement and offers of help and even a book in one case, all due to my little tendinitis issue. You are the most amazing people. What a fantastic community we have! I expect most of you are dealing with something frustratingly disruptive in your life and things a lot worse than my little annoyance in many cases so know that my heart goes out to you too. Life is challenging. So, let’s go out and wrestle it and show the universe what we’re made of!
I do have more news but I’m going to save the update on my situation until the end so you can enjoy some artwork first.
Okay, on to the contemplation of art!
Rousing Repetition
This week I want to talk about repetition. Do you like heavy repetition in artwork, where a single form, mark, or motif is repeated over and over? Saying it like that makes it sound boring and unimaginative. But I think repetition has gotten a bad rap. I mean, sure, in some circumstances, like when someone says the same thing over and over again in a conversation, it is going to get on your nerves. But when it comes to design, repetition can be mesmerizing, energetic, and downright stunning. The trick is to put some rhythm and variation into that repetition. Or at least, if it’s very static, it’s best if it is obvious that a lack of variation is intentional to convey stillness, poise, or something of that sort.
I thought we’d pull up some really beautiful examples of repetition to prove the point. You’ll note in all these pieces that although form, shape, motif, or other characteristics are repeated, variation in other aspects of the design choices brings in the energy and rhythm that draws us in. The repeating element also serves to create cohesiveness and unity amongst all the other elements
So, as we go through these this week, identify the repeating design elements in each piece and then the variation that makes the repetition so interesting for you. I’ll show the piece first before I talk about it so you have a chance to consider and see what you come up with. Mind you, you will often come up with things that I won’t and that doesn’t mean that I’m right and you’re not. When art is viewed, it has to be fundamentally about personal interpretation so there is a ton of room for your unique point of view. Asking yourself these questions that I periodically challenge you with just gets you to actively think about the work, homes your eye, and, hopefully, gives you the understanding to verbalize those things so you can translate them into aspects of your own work.
So, let’s get to it!
Music in the Monotony
I am going heavy this week on non-polymer artists and I may do a bit more of this going forward too. There is just so much great design amongst craftspeople of other mediums that we could really learn from. I find it refreshing and immensely inspiring to consider how to get the aspects that I enjoy in the artwork of other mediums into my polymer designs. I hope you agree and will stick this out with me! But we’ll start with polymer work.
Here we have some really obvious repetition with a couple of bracelets from Maria Belkomor. A lot of things are being repeated here. How many do you count?
Depending on how you count, there are either two repeated elements– the black carved beads and the disk elements – or maybe four if you count the stacks of beads and the colors. Or maybe you counted more. Everything in these are repeated except for the clasps so pretty much every element can be counted as a repeating one. Variation and, especially, the contrast in the colors and the contrast in the shape between the round beads and the flat disks is what keeps the repetition from being boring. It’s very regular but the bracelets are still fun and visually engaging pieces.
Keep in mind, repetition doesn’t mean it needs to all be lined up to engage repetition. Take a look at the pieces below. Parallel lines are used over and over again but aren’t always the same types of parallel lines nor are they seated in the same orientation.
Anna Nel has a lot of fun with her bouncy graphic look by repeating parallel lines over and over but varying them from solid line sets to lines of blended clay, adding pops of color and focal points with the irregularly placed round cane slices. Her variation in color, going from black-and-white to very saturated hues doesn’t hurt the impact of these pieces either.
Looking outside of polymer, it is not hard to find gorgeous examples of repetition in construction jewelry like beadwork.
Obviously, the repetition here is primarily in the square beads, all lined up with the same orientation, as well as the repeated dangles. The designer, Beth Graham of Semper Fi designs on Etsy, switches up the color in the squares and the length of the dangles for a simple but very effective variation within the design. There are much more intricate bead designs out there, but I like this example because it highlights the concept in an easy to identify way and works to great effect.
I wonder if, in polymer, we might use repetition more often if it was not so easy for us to vary up our elements. I do think there is such a discipline in trying to create dynamic and intriguing pieces without using a wide range of variety to carry it. Just look at this necklace below. It could be polymer but is gorgeously carved, colored, and polished wood.
Liv Blavap’s works are amazing. She works with repetition in a way that it somehow becomes the focal point of her pieces. I think it’s because there’s an almost seamless transition in the variation between one element and the next, making a smooth undulation in the form and, collectively, feeling like one continuous piece even though it is dozens, maybe a couple hundred, individual elements. This approach and her workmanship make you hyper-aware that basic forms are being repeated, if changing along the way. If you’re unfamiliar with Liv’s work, jump over to this site for a quick peek at more of these stunning necklaces of hers.
Okay, one more piece that is not polymer but so readily could be and I think will be quite inspiring for those of you who like to work with sheets of thin polymer or, looking at the pattern only, cool geometric cane work. Paper does really lend itself to repetition as seen by this and the paper necklace of the opening image.
This is paper jewelry by Dutch artists Nel Linssen. Paper quite readily, and beautifully, lends itself to dynamic repetition. The energy here comes with the variation within each element that has been repeated. It doesn’t hurt that they’re basically arrow shapes all pointing inwards making it feel like all the movement is strongly and persistently moving towards the center. Yes, there is strength in repetition as well!
Meanwhile, back at the ranch (as they used to say) …
Okay, so, a little bit of an update on the situation over here at Tenth Muse Arts headquarters:
The not so great news is that the conclusion about my tendinitis progressed into something called tendinosis which takes a lot longer to heal and is why I am still dealing with it. On top of that, I have some possible physiological issues which may be the cause of my slow healing (on top of working too much, of course!) The good news is it is all fixable. However, I am going to have to disrupt my usual schedule to deal with this and, with the tendinosis, I am being told that I should stay off my keyboard as much as possible for the next 3-6 months. Ack! That means I can’t do layout, photo adjustments, or anything else that takes just a ton of mouse clicking and keyboard shortcuts. I can still write thanks to speech to text software but not much of anything else.
Translation… I have had to make the decision to halt production on The Polymer Studio magazine for the time being. I’ve also decided subscription purchases will not be available during this time because I just can’t take money for something that isn’t actively in process. That just feels wrong. And yes, I considered bringing on people to help but it would take a while to get anyone up to speed on graphics and editing work and if I’m going to work on myself, I can’t add to my schedule. My crazy long workdays are why I’m having the physiological issues, so I really have to take a pretty full break.
So, I’m making plans to play around with creating some other stuff that would be doable with written, spoken, or videotaped content because I am just not good at not being productive. But without deadlines, I can take my time. And, yes, I do plan to continue to post the blog. I like chatting with you all too much to stop if I don’t really have to!
So, some weeks I might have to go a little bit light, but I do plan to be here to join you on Sunday mornings for low contemplative art. Do please join me next Sunday – I’m putting together a survey to see what you all would like me to talk about on the blog and my other possible projects. I’m working on gathering goodies for a giveaway to go with the survey so don’t miss that!
Have a wonderful, creative, healthy, and inspiring week!
Read MoreOur piece today is not dissimilar from yesterday’s piece, but it’s differences delineate another approach to the simple application of elements.
A large swath of continuous color is halted by a mix of color here as well, only in this vase by China’s Frank Khow (known as Beefball Papa on Flickr),the feel is crowded and energetic instead of being quiet and still. Yesterday’s work was simple and sparse, but today’s is more about abundance. As you can see, abundance doesn’t have to be complicated. In fact, abundance is an easily visible proliferation of one thing, which in this case is a series of revealed extrusions. The draw to this comes from the impact of textural contrast–busy visual texture against a smooth and solid visual texture.
The effect is so strong here that the same busy versus quiet application can be presented with different color combinations or forms, and you’ll still have a similar feel and impact. You can see what I mean simply by visiting Frank’s Flickr photostream where he has several examples of this technique to compare.
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 MoreAlthough I didn’t emphasize this, yesterday’s glass artist was big on form as a means of expression, and the sense of movement she conveys is rather dependent on the forms she chooses. I find this to be true with polymer artist Jana Roberts Benzon as well. She creates a sense of flowing, staccato, or ebbing visual movement by building forms that change through the space they occupy in undulating or precise steps
Jana is well known for her laser cut technique, which can create an enthralling texture as well as a visually active form. Her pendant, Zorro, shows how the laser cut texture is used to create change across the surface of the piece, giving it a lot of energy. The technique also allows her to create a very active form, building the zig-zag through the shifting of slices already needed to create the texture.
It doesn’t hurt that there is also a progressive change in the dominance of colors from the top to the bottom. Any kind of gradual change will relay movement because that is what movement is perceived as: a series of related changes.
Enjoy more of Jana’s moving work on both her website and her Flickr pages.
Read More
Of course, movement in art can be achieved in any material if worked correctly. Because glass lends itself so nicely to beads, options for creating visual or actual movement in glass artwork is not that different from some of the more common options for polymer.
Joyce Roessler is master glass artist whose work is heavily entrenched in the concept of movement. Dangles, swirls, twists, flowing lines, gradation of color and multiple joints in her pieces create very active visuals in her work. Her Grey Glass Twist Necklace uses several of these approaches to create a piece that seems almost alive.
The twists, varying thickness as they move around each other, create much of the sense of movement; but the lines within them serve to accentuate the turning points, giving the tighter turns a sense of speed. Just look at the calm turn of the lines in the backside beads, then look at the point in the curled beads in front, where the glass curves back or comes forward–can you sense that difference in ‘speed’ visually? Pretty cool, isn’t it?
I would love to see someone wearing this, too. There are multiple joints that, due to the unevenness of the beads, would certainly shift the balance of the beads and the composition of them as the wearer moves. A very active piece indeed.
If you are intrigued by the possibilities of adding movement to your own work, you have to take a moment to look through Joyce’s gallery on her website. Her jewelry and sculpture are gorgeous and a definite source of inspiration for creating movement in art.
Read More
Visual movement usually consists of some kind of directional lines. These lines don’t have to be straight. They don’t have to all be the same. They don’t even have to be repeated. But what they do need is to be emphasized in some manner that makes the viewer focus in on them.
Swirls as well as lines that meet at a point are very strong components for creating visual movement because they highlight a single point of focus where the swirl ends or the lines meet. In other words, the line draws your view, making your gaze ‘move’ across the piece to those single points. And your eyes will keep wanting to do that. This is where the sense of movement comes from. You can see both these in Keila Hernandez‘s beautiful Plum Blossom necklace.
In Keila’s flowers, the points of focus are in the middle where the lines of the caning bring us. These centered focal points give us reassuring positions of stability, but the swirls on the outside keep pulling the eye back out and actually create repeated points of tension where the paired swirls meet. It makes the flowers feel very lively.
Repetition is another way to increase the visual effect of lines suggesting movement. One flower would still give a sense of movement because of the lines used, but seeing this effect repeated across the necklace compounds it. Do you get a sense the flowers are almost swirling themselves?
If you are interested in the effect of line on the sense of movement, be sure to read last year’s Fall issue articles on Rhythm and Repetition.
Read More