High On Art
June 23, 2019
Inspirational Art
Just flew in from Australia yesterday so I’m a bit jetlagged still but I wrote up some thoughts on the plane and pulled some pretties to demonstrate some more ideas on passion in your art, so here goes.
If you are reading this, chances are, you are passionate about art, either creating it or supporting its creation. Can we take just a few spare seconds to admire and be amazed by that passion of yours? I’d suggest that you stop at this moment and really let the emotion of that passion of yours come to the forefront, letting it blossom in the memory of what drives you to create or be supportive of creativity. Can you feel it? Close your eyes if you don’t feel it yet and just give it a few seconds to come to the surface so I can pose a few questions while that emotion is coursing through you.
Got it now? Okay. So, tell me … what color is your passion? Close your eyes if you need to and see what color blooms in your mind.
Then ask, does your passion have a temperature? Is it cool and constant or warm and rolling? Or something else entirely?
What does it act like? Is it like a soft, persistent wind, or a crashing ocean or something in between?
It doesn’t matter what metaphors you come up with for the feeling, you just want something concrete to hold onto. With those sensations and images in mind now, ask yourself, is that feeling there when you sit down to create? Does that passion spill out onto your worktable and direct your work? Does it drive you to come up with ideas or search out and soak up great art and other inspiring sights and sounds?
With all these metaphors and answers in your mind, I want to ask the core question that just couldn’t be put forth until you were in the right mindset:
Do you like what you create and why you create?
That might sound like a strange question because who would continue to create art while not liking it? Well, many of us do. That’s been at the heart of several conversations I’ve had recently, all related to trying to make a living from creative endeavors. That need to pay one’s bills is not the kind of drive that we really want to direct our work if fulfilling our passion is at all a goal of ours.
The fact is, letting out your passion and letting it guide you feel risky because you are putting a bit of yourself out there into the world in that process. Or a lot of yourself sometimes. It’s scary, isn’t it, putting your latest work out, wondering what people will think, whether it will sell or whether the receiver will like it? But it’s thrilling too, especially when people respond to it, when they connect to your work and to you. It’s a serious high.
You deserve to get that high on art. Don’t you think?
High on Creativity
I bet you can spy those artists who do get that high on a regular basis, people who let their passion run wild and lead their work. Here are just a few of my personal favorites but start thinking of your own as I go through them.
One of the first people that comes to mind is Ellen Jewett. She has worked in polymer, epoxy, and paper clay, using no tools but her hands and a brush, and makes only what she wants to make. Here is but one of her mind-blowing sculptures.
Her work is born of a unique and driving passion. In her own words:
At first glance my work explores the more modern prosaic concept of nature: a source of serene nostalgia but this is balanced with the more visceral experience of ‘wildness’ as remarkably alien and indifferent. Upon closer inspection of each ‘creature’ the viewer may discover a frieze on which themes as familiar as domestication and as abrasive as domination fall into sharp relief. These qualities are not only present in the final work but are fleshed out in the process of building. Each sculpture is constructed using an additive technique, layered from inside to out by an accumulation of innumerable tiny components. Many of these components are microcosmic representations of plants, animals and objects. Some are beautiful, some are grotesque and some are fantastical. The singularity of each sculpture is the sum total of its small narrative structures.
I encourage you to take the time to read her full artist statement. You may be surprised by her approach and amazed by her insights into her own work and purpose.
I have found that many of insanely passionate artists are also similarly intense thinkers. Some of these passionate thinkers take their love of art a step further by sharing their passion through education as a way to spark and inspire the creativity of others. Christine Dumont is just such an artist, giving polymer and mixed media artists a place to push themselves and grow through her website Viola and its related projects.
Her own work comes about as a result of intense exploration. She does not create to sell, and I think this gives her a freedom that an artist dependent on their work for their income may find harder, although not at all impossible, to achieve.
Christine will actually be in Switzerland teaching this mix of polymer and metal September 14-15, 2019. If you are interested in joining the class, you can message her directly through her website.
As demonstrated by Christine’s passion for teaching, a creative passion doesn’t have to manifest itself purely in your art. Teaching, which takes a particular passion of its own, is just one alternate avenue to steer one’s creative passions. Giving back to others is another way. We had a whole section of community recognition for polymer artists who give back in our first edition Polymer Journey in 2016. We have so many giving and generous people in this community! One of those beautiful people is Wendy Moore who I had the unparalleled pleasure of staying with this past week in Canberra, Australia.
Her creative passion was intertwined with a passion to give back to others when she founded the Friends of Samunnat alongside Nepalese lawyer Kopila Basnet, to help support and give independence to women who were victims of violence. Wendy’s passion and empathy for others is seen directly in her art as well, including this piece I photographed at her home but which you can also find in the Polymer Journeys 2019 edition. It is a representation of her “confusion and angst relating to issues about how we move forward in relationships with Australia’s indigenous people.”
Wendy’s passion has not gone unnoticed outside the polymer community either. It was recently announced that she has been awarded the 2019 Order of Australia medal by the Australian Governor-General for her contribution to the international community of Nepal! This is one of a set of awards and appointments the Australian government uses as a principal way of recognizing outstanding citizens. Join me in a big congratulations to (a probably very embarrassed and blushing) Wendy Moore. Read more about the award along with her interview in this article here.
And you can also look forward to reading in depth about Wendy, her journey, her work, and her life in issue #4 of The Polymer Studio later this year, so keep up those subscriptions!
Here are a few pics from my time with Wendy. I’ll get more photos of the trip up on Facebook where you are welcome to follow me.
Wendy and I contemplating the insanity of this immense tapestry which recreated a much smaller painting in every nuance. At the Australian Parliament house’s Great Hall.
Forest labyrinth built by some passionate creative person in the bush just beyond Wendy’s house. Wendy and I are walking it with my step-daughter and Wendy’s granddaughter.
Photos by Brett Varon
There are so, so many other artists I could point out as examples of deeply passionate people who let that passion drive the work they do, both in and outside the studio. But this is all I have in me to write just now. Right now, I am very passionate about sleep!
However, I would encourage you to continue this search for passion in your daily perusals of artwork online. I would challenge you to keep an eye out for work in which the artist’s passion is intensely obvious and try to imagine the emotion and drive that they must have to create the wonderful work they share with us.
If you aren’t feeling a glimmer of what you think these dynamos must have, perhaps it’s time to assess what you are doing and why. Perhaps you need to infuse your work with new inspiration and materials (as suggested in last week’s post) or maybe you would be more fulfilled spending some of your time teaching (which might include writing articles for publications like The Polymer Studio. Check out our guidelines.) or maybe you need to step back and ensure you are creating in a fulfilling and meaningful way for you, not just for your customers. If your work is infused with your passion, you’ll sell it and you’ll get noticed. Just note how highly passionate art grabs your attention!
Okay, off for more sleep so I can hit the ground running on Monday as I aim to get Issue #3 off to the printer in early July. It’s shaping up to be a really gorgeous issue but I’m still having my challenges here as the house is still in various stages of construction (the worst of it being there are no working sinks except the one in the garage) but the bones of the kitchen are in so that is awesome! Now I can start working on the back-splash I designed. Well, maybe after this next issue if off to the printer.
In the meantime, have a wonderful, inspired, and passionate week!
The Many Faces of Leaves
January 19, 2018
Inspirational Art
Pattern in nature is everywhere and not just on the surface but in the groupings as well. I know for certain that Wendy Moore, the creator of this lovely riot of red leaves, is heavily influenced by the patterns and energy in nature. You can hear it in the things she writes on her blog and her focus on repetition of natural shapes in her work which you can find on her Instagram account.
This piece was actually a commission but from one of the people most certainly to be a heavy influence on her as well–her mother. I’m thinking now that perhaps this connection to nature is also one her mother has and maybe she influenced Wendy’s appreciation of the natural world. Or maybe it’s Wendy’s life in Australia and her time in the outback or her years in Nepal and her continued visits there to support the Samunnat women‘s project.
I only ponder this because how much we interact with nature and how connected to it we are has been on my mind lately. I am so immensely lucky to have a wide swath of nature right outside my office and studio here. I have tried to make a point of spending time out there every day. Recent trending reports on “forest bathing” and how short immersive excursions among trees can really help reduce stress has led me to consider how important such moments of connection and relaxation are to creativity. The more I get outside, the more inspired I feel.
So, weather permitting, try to get outside this weekend. If weather is not being cooperative, perhaps there is a greenhouse or enclosed botanical garden not too far away. Or spend some time tending yohouseplantsnts. Notice the textures and patterns in nature, breathe in the smell of the growing things and just connect to the most constant thing we have interacted with in our history as a species–mother nature. I think you’ll find it invigorating, relaxing and inspiring!
Recognizing Inspiration
April 15, 2016
Inspirational Art
I have a little something different for you this morning and I will get to this amazing piece you see here at the end. This announcement will go out on a few channels between yesterday and today so I hope not too many of you get hit over the head with this but … with the Polymer Journeys book coming out next week, we wanted to publicly announce our board’s picks for artists whose work and contribution to polymer art during the years 2014-2015 were particularly significant and inspirational and so were highlighted in the featured sections of the book.
We are certainly not saying our opinions are the end-all and be-all on this subject, but our consideration came from our own vast experience and education as well as gauging the impact and response we have seen in the polymer and craft communities. Although the creation of this book was in no way a contest, we did feel that making specific note of these artists and their work will further help us understand the direction and history of the medium in years to come. Here are our two featured categories:
Best Polymer Art of 2014-2015–these are artists and art that pushed the boundaries of what can be created with polymer. All these artists have been recognized for their masterful skills as well as the messages and vision found in their work.
Recognizing Generosity–We also wanted to recognize the generosity of the artists and the resulting programs that have become such a big part of the community. To that end, we included these amazing people as well as stories on how they have helped others.
So what is this unusual piece I have to show you here? It is a special and rather personal project created by the amazing Wendy Moore, who you see was recognized in the book under the section highlighting our charitable artists. Wendy is a primary force in the success of the Samunnat Nepal project. Bringing polymer clay to the women there gave them a joyful and colorful way to create financial independence when they so desperately needed it. She continues to return to teach and helped the project grow.
Wendy feels like Nepal is as much home to her as her native Australia. This robe of Wendy’s was actually part of processing a farewell to a part of Australia that she had to move away from. I won’t say much more on that, though, so those of you who are waiting on the book can read her short but poignant story.
If you have not pre-ordered your book but would like to, we have extended the 20% off sale until the 20th due to the delay with our printing that put the release of the book off until April 21st. Jump over to the Polymer Journeys website to take advantage of the early discount.
_________________________________________
Like this blog? Lend your support with a purchase of The Polymer Arts magazine and visit our partners:
_________________________________________
Big Friendship
June 3, 2015
Inspirational Art
Now off to the world of big and bold and even a bit of wild; although, this piece is not that wild when it come to the work of polymer artist Sona Grigoryan.
Everything Sona does is big and unabashedly bold. She shares what seems to be a kind of expressive abandon with our Monday artist, Christine Damm, in regards to her approach to form, texture and a loose organic style. Just maybe, that is at the heart of the big and bold, at least with polymer. Being able to be so expressive, to not feel confined by any standards of size or shape, and although I am sure there is a lot more planning than is readily apparent, the forms feel open and free.
It was just really tough to pick just one of Sona’s many bold pieces, but I do like the complexity and arrangement of the elements in this necklace and found the overall form quite intriguing. Plus, you have to like the connection it has to others in our polymer world. This piece was a gift from Sona to Wendy Moore, so she called it an Armenian-Australian Friendship Necklace. I added an image of Wendy wearing it while standing next to Sona, so you can get a better idea of its size. It looks great on Wendy, doesn’t it? Some people can really carry the big and bold jewelry well. They just need a personality, and maybe the stature, to match.
If you like this, then be prepared to see bigger and bolder on Sona’s Flickr page and on her website where you should spend a bit of your day pouring over her unique work.
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.
Just flew in from Australia yesterday so I’m a bit jetlagged still but I wrote up some thoughts on the plane and pulled some pretties to demonstrate some more ideas on passion in your art, so here goes.
If you are reading this, chances are, you are passionate about art, either creating it or supporting its creation. Can we take just a few spare seconds to admire and be amazed by that passion of yours? I’d suggest that you stop at this moment and really let the emotion of that passion of yours come to the forefront, letting it blossom in the memory of what drives you to create or be supportive of creativity. Can you feel it? Close your eyes if you don’t feel it yet and just give it a few seconds to come to the surface so I can pose a few questions while that emotion is coursing through you.
Got it now? Okay. So, tell me … what color is your passion? Close your eyes if you need to and see what color blooms in your mind.
Then ask, does your passion have a temperature? Is it cool and constant or warm and rolling? Or something else entirely?
What does it act like? Is it like a soft, persistent wind, or a crashing ocean or something in between?
It doesn’t matter what metaphors you come up with for the feeling, you just want something concrete to hold onto. With those sensations and images in mind now, ask yourself, is that feeling there when you sit down to create? Does that passion spill out onto your worktable and direct your work? Does it drive you to come up with ideas or search out and soak up great art and other inspiring sights and sounds?
With all these metaphors and answers in your mind, I want to ask the core question that just couldn’t be put forth until you were in the right mindset:
Do you like what you create and why you create?
That might sound like a strange question because who would continue to create art while not liking it? Well, many of us do. That’s been at the heart of several conversations I’ve had recently, all related to trying to make a living from creative endeavors. That need to pay one’s bills is not the kind of drive that we really want to direct our work if fulfilling our passion is at all a goal of ours.
The fact is, letting out your passion and letting it guide you feel risky because you are putting a bit of yourself out there into the world in that process. Or a lot of yourself sometimes. It’s scary, isn’t it, putting your latest work out, wondering what people will think, whether it will sell or whether the receiver will like it? But it’s thrilling too, especially when people respond to it, when they connect to your work and to you. It’s a serious high.
You deserve to get that high on art. Don’t you think?
High on Creativity
I bet you can spy those artists who do get that high on a regular basis, people who let their passion run wild and lead their work. Here are just a few of my personal favorites but start thinking of your own as I go through them.
One of the first people that comes to mind is Ellen Jewett. She has worked in polymer, epoxy, and paper clay, using no tools but her hands and a brush, and makes only what she wants to make. Here is but one of her mind-blowing sculptures.
Her work is born of a unique and driving passion. In her own words:
At first glance my work explores the more modern prosaic concept of nature: a source of serene nostalgia but this is balanced with the more visceral experience of ‘wildness’ as remarkably alien and indifferent. Upon closer inspection of each ‘creature’ the viewer may discover a frieze on which themes as familiar as domestication and as abrasive as domination fall into sharp relief. These qualities are not only present in the final work but are fleshed out in the process of building. Each sculpture is constructed using an additive technique, layered from inside to out by an accumulation of innumerable tiny components. Many of these components are microcosmic representations of plants, animals and objects. Some are beautiful, some are grotesque and some are fantastical. The singularity of each sculpture is the sum total of its small narrative structures.
I encourage you to take the time to read her full artist statement. You may be surprised by her approach and amazed by her insights into her own work and purpose.
I have found that many of insanely passionate artists are also similarly intense thinkers. Some of these passionate thinkers take their love of art a step further by sharing their passion through education as a way to spark and inspire the creativity of others. Christine Dumont is just such an artist, giving polymer and mixed media artists a place to push themselves and grow through her website Viola and its related projects.
Her own work comes about as a result of intense exploration. She does not create to sell, and I think this gives her a freedom that an artist dependent on their work for their income may find harder, although not at all impossible, to achieve.
Christine will actually be in Switzerland teaching this mix of polymer and metal September 14-15, 2019. If you are interested in joining the class, you can message her directly through her website.
As demonstrated by Christine’s passion for teaching, a creative passion doesn’t have to manifest itself purely in your art. Teaching, which takes a particular passion of its own, is just one alternate avenue to steer one’s creative passions. Giving back to others is another way. We had a whole section of community recognition for polymer artists who give back in our first edition Polymer Journey in 2016. We have so many giving and generous people in this community! One of those beautiful people is Wendy Moore who I had the unparalleled pleasure of staying with this past week in Canberra, Australia.
Her creative passion was intertwined with a passion to give back to others when she founded the Friends of Samunnat alongside Nepalese lawyer Kopila Basnet, to help support and give independence to women who were victims of violence. Wendy’s passion and empathy for others is seen directly in her art as well, including this piece I photographed at her home but which you can also find in the Polymer Journeys 2019 edition. It is a representation of her “confusion and angst relating to issues about how we move forward in relationships with Australia’s indigenous people.”
Wendy’s passion has not gone unnoticed outside the polymer community either. It was recently announced that she has been awarded the 2019 Order of Australia medal by the Australian Governor-General for her contribution to the international community of Nepal! This is one of a set of awards and appointments the Australian government uses as a principal way of recognizing outstanding citizens. Join me in a big congratulations to (a probably very embarrassed and blushing) Wendy Moore. Read more about the award along with her interview in this article here.
And you can also look forward to reading in depth about Wendy, her journey, her work, and her life in issue #4 of The Polymer Studio later this year, so keep up those subscriptions!
Here are a few pics from my time with Wendy. I’ll get more photos of the trip up on Facebook where you are welcome to follow me.
Wendy and I contemplating the insanity of this immense tapestry which recreated a much smaller painting in every nuance. At the Australian Parliament house’s Great Hall.
Forest labyrinth built by some passionate creative person in the bush just beyond Wendy’s house. Wendy and I are walking it with my step-daughter and Wendy’s granddaughter.
Photos by Brett Varon
There are so, so many other artists I could point out as examples of deeply passionate people who let that passion drive the work they do, both in and outside the studio. But this is all I have in me to write just now. Right now, I am very passionate about sleep!
However, I would encourage you to continue this search for passion in your daily perusals of artwork online. I would challenge you to keep an eye out for work in which the artist’s passion is intensely obvious and try to imagine the emotion and drive that they must have to create the wonderful work they share with us.
If you aren’t feeling a glimmer of what you think these dynamos must have, perhaps it’s time to assess what you are doing and why. Perhaps you need to infuse your work with new inspiration and materials (as suggested in last week’s post) or maybe you would be more fulfilled spending some of your time teaching (which might include writing articles for publications like The Polymer Studio. Check out our guidelines.) or maybe you need to step back and ensure you are creating in a fulfilling and meaningful way for you, not just for your customers. If your work is infused with your passion, you’ll sell it and you’ll get noticed. Just note how highly passionate art grabs your attention!
Okay, off for more sleep so I can hit the ground running on Monday as I aim to get Issue #3 off to the printer in early July. It’s shaping up to be a really gorgeous issue but I’m still having my challenges here as the house is still in various stages of construction (the worst of it being there are no working sinks except the one in the garage) but the bones of the kitchen are in so that is awesome! Now I can start working on the back-splash I designed. Well, maybe after this next issue if off to the printer.
In the meantime, have a wonderful, inspired, and passionate week!
Read MorePattern in nature is everywhere and not just on the surface but in the groupings as well. I know for certain that Wendy Moore, the creator of this lovely riot of red leaves, is heavily influenced by the patterns and energy in nature. You can hear it in the things she writes on her blog and her focus on repetition of natural shapes in her work which you can find on her Instagram account.
This piece was actually a commission but from one of the people most certainly to be a heavy influence on her as well–her mother. I’m thinking now that perhaps this connection to nature is also one her mother has and maybe she influenced Wendy’s appreciation of the natural world. Or maybe it’s Wendy’s life in Australia and her time in the outback or her years in Nepal and her continued visits there to support the Samunnat women‘s project.
I only ponder this because how much we interact with nature and how connected to it we are has been on my mind lately. I am so immensely lucky to have a wide swath of nature right outside my office and studio here. I have tried to make a point of spending time out there every day. Recent trending reports on “forest bathing” and how short immersive excursions among trees can really help reduce stress has led me to consider how important such moments of connection and relaxation are to creativity. The more I get outside, the more inspired I feel.
So, weather permitting, try to get outside this weekend. If weather is not being cooperative, perhaps there is a greenhouse or enclosed botanical garden not too far away. Or spend some time tending yohouseplantsnts. Notice the textures and patterns in nature, breathe in the smell of the growing things and just connect to the most constant thing we have interacted with in our history as a species–mother nature. I think you’ll find it invigorating, relaxing and inspiring!
Read MoreI have a little something different for you this morning and I will get to this amazing piece you see here at the end. This announcement will go out on a few channels between yesterday and today so I hope not too many of you get hit over the head with this but … with the Polymer Journeys book coming out next week, we wanted to publicly announce our board’s picks for artists whose work and contribution to polymer art during the years 2014-2015 were particularly significant and inspirational and so were highlighted in the featured sections of the book.
We are certainly not saying our opinions are the end-all and be-all on this subject, but our consideration came from our own vast experience and education as well as gauging the impact and response we have seen in the polymer and craft communities. Although the creation of this book was in no way a contest, we did feel that making specific note of these artists and their work will further help us understand the direction and history of the medium in years to come. Here are our two featured categories:
Best Polymer Art of 2014-2015–these are artists and art that pushed the boundaries of what can be created with polymer. All these artists have been recognized for their masterful skills as well as the messages and vision found in their work.
Recognizing Generosity–We also wanted to recognize the generosity of the artists and the resulting programs that have become such a big part of the community. To that end, we included these amazing people as well as stories on how they have helped others.
So what is this unusual piece I have to show you here? It is a special and rather personal project created by the amazing Wendy Moore, who you see was recognized in the book under the section highlighting our charitable artists. Wendy is a primary force in the success of the Samunnat Nepal project. Bringing polymer clay to the women there gave them a joyful and colorful way to create financial independence when they so desperately needed it. She continues to return to teach and helped the project grow.
Wendy feels like Nepal is as much home to her as her native Australia. This robe of Wendy’s was actually part of processing a farewell to a part of Australia that she had to move away from. I won’t say much more on that, though, so those of you who are waiting on the book can read her short but poignant story.
If you have not pre-ordered your book but would like to, we have extended the 20% off sale until the 20th due to the delay with our printing that put the release of the book off until April 21st. Jump over to the Polymer Journeys website to take advantage of the early discount.
_________________________________________
Like this blog? Lend your support with a purchase of The Polymer Arts magazine and visit our partners:
_________________________________________
Read More
Now off to the world of big and bold and even a bit of wild; although, this piece is not that wild when it come to the work of polymer artist Sona Grigoryan.
Everything Sona does is big and unabashedly bold. She shares what seems to be a kind of expressive abandon with our Monday artist, Christine Damm, in regards to her approach to form, texture and a loose organic style. Just maybe, that is at the heart of the big and bold, at least with polymer. Being able to be so expressive, to not feel confined by any standards of size or shape, and although I am sure there is a lot more planning than is readily apparent, the forms feel open and free.
It was just really tough to pick just one of Sona’s many bold pieces, but I do like the complexity and arrangement of the elements in this necklace and found the overall form quite intriguing. Plus, you have to like the connection it has to others in our polymer world. This piece was a gift from Sona to Wendy Moore, so she called it an Armenian-Australian Friendship Necklace. I added an image of Wendy wearing it while standing next to Sona, so you can get a better idea of its size. It looks great on Wendy, doesn’t it? Some people can really carry the big and bold jewelry well. They just need a personality, and maybe the stature, to match.
If you like this, then be prepared to see bigger and bolder on Sona’s Flickr page and on her website where you should spend a bit of your day pouring over her unique work.
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.
Read More
