Making Happiness
November 25, 2012
Ponderings
This holiday season, make your happiness. As creatives, we can be particularly good at this. If you can create something beautiful from a boring lump of clay, you can take something dull or difficult and create the joy we know exists in everything.
The Universe in a Dish
November 24, 2012
Inspirational Art
It’s surprising; with the ease and beauty of polymer that more artists in other mediums don’t look to polymer to add color, texture and forms that won’t require extensive or complicated work. It may be simply that they don’t know how easy it is to combine it with other materials. But when a talented artist of a traditional medium meets up with a talented polymer artist … well, there would be tremendous potential for some truly beautiful and original art.
This is the story behind the piece below. Victoria Altepeter & Judy Belcher meet at Arrowmont where Victoria is the resident metals artist and soon thereafter combined talents to make this subtle but intriguing piece.
I found this piece on the IPCA website in connection with the last Synergy conference. There is a very nice explanation of the concept behind this piece on the page:
“The metalwork Victoria creates is inspired by the universe and the events occurring therein. It is her goal to make comprehensible the vastness of our universe. Intimate portraits of cosmic existence allow us to quietly ponder our own place in the universe. That connection spoke to Judy and she created her pieces that Victoria incorporated. Patination conveys a sense of time and place. It keeps forms as simple as possible creating calm and balance.”
With these last busy days and with the holidays here in the US, I’m all for simple, calm and balance. I hope you are able to enjoy your weekend with a little calm and balance of your own.
Outside Inspiration: Nifty Magnetics
November 23, 2012
Inspirational Art, Supplies & other fun stuff
Ever wish there was a way you could turn a single sale into a sale of two pieces? Wish you had a few pieces that were versatile and clever enough to draw the attention of the more skeptical buyers as they look over your booth? Well, when I saw these two beaded magnetic bracelets below, so easily turned into an interesting neck piece I couldn’t help but imagine all the configurations (and extra sales) a polymer jewelry artist could come up with.
These beaded beauties were created by Hildegund llkerl of Austria. I did wonder at what looks to be plastic ends on these very expensive pieces ($440). But they sold. On the other hand, just think of what beautiful covered connections a clayer could come up with?
The magnetic clasps are a pretty familiar finding now a days but I do wonder that more people haven’t considered how to use them to expand a piece. You could make beaded bracelets that fit together as a necklace, necklaces that can be adjusted to be different lengths by removing a magnetically attached section or make a short necklace with matching earrings that are magnetically attached to earring wires or post but could be pulled to grow the length of the necklace. Or make interchangeable sections of different colors or patterns for a necklace or bracelet. My mind is just whirling. Isn’t yours?
Thankful for You
November 22, 2012
Inspirational Art, Polymer community news
Today in the USA we observe Thanksgiving Day, a day most notably associated with turkey, pumpkin pie, and generally eating way, way too much. I’m not sure why we celebrate a day that is suppose to be one of contemplation for all we have to be thankful for by putting ourselves into a food coma. Maybe the food coma is a way of slowing us down so we have time to think and be thankful. Or we’re just being typical crazy Americans.
In any case, this is my opportunity to stop and say thank you to all the readers throughout the world and artists in the polymer community that have helped to make my life so full and so inspired. I am grateful for each and every email, note card and online post that encourages and comments on my efforts with the magazine and this blog. Not only couldn’t I do this without the support of all of you but, in truth, it really has become a set of projects about and by you. And I feel like the luckiest woman in the world to be facilitating the exchange of knowledge and beauty in this community. Thank you all for keeping this going.
Of course, polymer would not be what it is today without the immense contribution of the pioneers of our medium. We should all be immensely grateful for their efforts to spread the word and share emerging techniques. One of the first and most inspiring of the pioneers was and is Nan Roche. Her groundbreaking book The New Clay was the seed that got the obesession going for many of us. And we are so lucky that she is still out and about teaching and sharing.
This next year at Cabin Fever Clay Festival, Nan Roche will be present, teaching her loop-in-loop chaining using extruded clay “wire” used to make pieces like the one below.
If interested in this class and the CFCF event, here is the link to more information about the plethora of artists and classes at the 2013 event being held Feb 15-20 in Laurel, MD. www.polymerclayfests.wordpress.com
In the meantime, don’t overstuff yourselves if off to Thanksgiving dinner but do have a beautiful and loving day with family and friends. Feel free to share this with your friends, polymer or not.
Mesmerizing Scales
November 21, 2012
Inspirational Art
Before pixilated retro blends there were just retro canes. And what fun you can have with them.
Here England’s Debbie Carlton, who creates a visually mesmerizing look with a minimal palette and extruded canes. The scale like pattern has a certain movement to it due to the shift in balance of white and gray to brown and black that changes gradually across the surface of the bangle. Kind of mesmerizing, isn’t it?
Real Leaves, Real Easy
November 20, 2012
Technique tutorials, Tips and Tricks
The leaves in the brooches below look deceptively real. For good reason. They are the result of direct impressions from real leaves. That and a little paint to bring out the veins. It doesn’t get much more real than that. Except for the real thing of course.
The clay used by artist Camille Young here is actually Lumina. It’s a translucent polymer resin clay that air dries. You color it with acrylic or oil based paints. But, this is just as easy to replicate in polymer and there’s no mixing in of paint into the clay. Choose a leaf color or skinner blend a few colors of clay together, then press in a real leaf, bake, apply acrylic paint to get it into the veins and then wipe off the paint on the raised surface.
Camille documents her creation of these leaves in Lumina on her blog here (scroll down when you get to the page … she has a large header). Just follow the steps except bake the polymer where she says “let it dry thoroughly”.
Grand idea!
Amazing Cane
November 19, 2012
Inspirational Art, Technique tutorials
There are many amazing, detailed canes out there by some incredibly talented artists. But there are some that just amaze and stay with you. When I saw this caned butterfly by Jane Zhao it was simply hard to believe it was a cane.
The details are really quite incredible … well thought out and executed. The best part is, I found this on CraftArtEdu … as a class. So if you’re intrigued, you can check out the class which promises many a tip and trick for great canes, here on CraftArtEdu.
Create Yourself
November 18, 2012
Ponderings
I particularly like this quote because it promotes the idea that you decide who you are, not your circumstances, your upbringing or your genes. Who do you want to be? It doesn’t matter what your age; you are forever growing and changing so why not direct those changes rather than let life determine who you are for you?
Textured Teardrops
November 17, 2012
Inspirational Art
Here’s one for a straight forward weekend project if so inspired. Textured tear drops.
There is just something so enticing about the teardrop shape. A little texture framed with silver caps and you have a wonderful little charm that needs nothing more.
These beauties were created by polymer artist Janine Muller. She has quite the collection of creative polymer pieces on her Flickr page. It would be minutes well spent to peruse her pages.
With the New Year now upon us, I thought I’d take a moment to share a blog I’ve found rather enlightening over the last few years.
When one gets serious about art, that business aspect almost always creeps in. To sustain our art (or obsession as it often is), selling our work becomes a necessity. Artists are usually business minded so it is very helpful to have a helping hand in that area.
The Craft Business Biz blog written by Terri Belford covers that one area of arts and crafts that most of us would prefer to think about as little as possible. It can be a bit heavy on the dramatic marketing in the way the blog is set up, but the advice is generally pretty good. For example, his post earlier this month on making your business stand out is just a short list of common sense things you can do to help boost your business. Terri only posts a few times each month so it’s not stuff you’ll be getting hit over the head with. But it is great to get those little reminders to think about improving your business on a regular basis.
The New Year should not be the only time you work on improving what you do, but it is a good place to start.
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When I first saw this array, I thought it was polymer and ingenuous work at that. But no … it turns out to be leaves. Beautifully painted details on dead leaves by Elena Nuez of Spain. But its not the painting of each leaf that is so enticing, rather it is the arrangement, the collective impact that gives this image it’s impact.
Even more wonderful is the variety of ways Elena photographs these. On her web post she has several different arrangements and angles from which she photographs them. The photos–the compostition and view–are the art.
In terms of how we can translate this into polymer, there are several things you can take from this. One, the shapes and colors are perfect for polymer and these patterns could be easily reproduced. It also might give you ideas for making a batches of forms and then playing with the arrangement of them until you either find an arrangement you like for a brooch or wall piece or as a collection you can continue to play with for your own enjoyment. Also, consider that the photography of your work can in itself be art with polymer the subject that helps create the images rather than the polymer being the end product alone. Just a lot to ponder. And enjoy.
Read MoreI couldn’t let the last days of the year go by without stopping to admire a little crackle. These sumptuous discs here are the work of Barbara Fajardo. She developed a technique that layers alcohol inks to get a multi-dimensional texture with, of course, lots of fine crackle.
In this case, the polymer is a carrier rather than visual element, but even without knowing the particulars of Barbara’s technique, it’s unlikely that there is another material that could be paired with the inks and manipulated so as to develop the light crackling effect. These are some of the most magical aspects of our medium–the plasticity and ability of polymer to take on a wide variety of other mediums.
Even though color is what often draws us to polymer, it’s the physical characteristics of the material that make it so versatile. One of these days I’m going to count how many ways we can use it just for crackling.
In the meantime, we hope Barbara has the opportunity to develop a class for CraftArtEdu on this beautiful technique. She has four other classes available there right now. If you want to see more applications of Barbara’s crackly goodness, take some time to look through her Flickr page.
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Have you ever wondered why certain colors become favorites for a period and then are abandoned almost overnight? The predominance of colors is often a result of social or global circumstances. I found this chart below and the accompanying post highlighting the change in fashionable colors over the decades quite interesting.
I don’t know that anyone can actually guess what colors will come from a change in global or local circumstances, but a historical view could give you a direction if you are looking to change up your line this coming year. Even if not, it is rather fun to see where we have been and where we’ve come to over the years in our society’s color preferences.
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I know, I know … many of you are resting up after a long, well-fought holiday season. The rest is certainly deserved. But there is no rest for the wicked. Especially if you or your customers have big New Year’s plans!
I actually look forward to dressing up for New Year’s more than for Christmas gatherings. New Year’s is a time for pizzazz, a time for glamor and glitz (without over doing it of course!) and a time to shine.
The first day of the year is a day of hope and high energy, so why not dress to reflect the sentiment of a new start? It doesn’t have to be all jewels and gold, either. Certain color combinations, not to mention visual textures, can really add energy to an outfit. This piece by Two Good Claymates (Carolyn and Dave Good) has a little bit of all of this. Purple and green, a very energetic color combination, set off with the hypnotic look of Damascus canes and faceted beads. That’s dressing it up.
I haven’t decided what to do for this New Year’s eve, so I need to get myself into the studio and whip up something for myself … for a change. Why not put some time aside in the studio to make yourself something wonderful for the new year?
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Perhaps you are all a bit tired of Christmas, but I only just found this beautiful set late last night and thought one more holiday piece could be shared.
Leah Hagen of LeeLee Beads is a polymer filigree fanatic. She seems to have explored every possible approach for winding thin snakes of clay about a bead. These “Vintage Christmas” beads are a charming example of Leah’s varied filigree approach.
If you have an interest in polymer filigree, embroidery, or lace like applications take a look at Leah’s Flickr page.
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… I already had.
I am blessed with the most wonderful family anyone could ever wish for. We all actually really get along, respect each other, and encourage each other’s dreams. I also have many amazing, dear, and caring friends, some that I’ve known for ages, some quite new, not to mention the wonderful network of acquaintances and colleagues I can always count on to keep me on track and make me feel useful and needed by coming to me for help, as well.
And on top of all that–already more than any one person could possibly hope for–I have the most supportive, generous, and helpful readers, both here on the blog and at The Polymer Arts magazine. What more could a girl ask for?
I do hope all of you, whether you celebrate Christmas today or not, are surrounded by your dearest ones and are able to take time to truly enjoy and appreciate the season with all it’s many blessings.
Our cute little Christmas tree trio was created by Afsaneh Tajvidi of JooJooLand and was her Christmas blog greeting a couple years back. Thanks to her and all of you who share your gifts with all of us.
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I know I usually do outside inspirations on Fridays, but let’s face it … most of us are probably not in the studio today. Many of us are in the kitchen. So here’s a thought. Where I usually stop to point out how something made in another medium can be translated into polymer, how about we take our skills and creativity we hone in our studios to the kitchen with us?
There are many culinary items that can be made more appealing and get you that desired “wow” factor by applying techniques and design ideas you already employ in polymer. Design elements like color, balance, line, texture, etc are all applicable to food. The area with the widest opportunities are in the sweets. Just look at these adorable cookies. Cut and stacked shapes, small dots and lines of detail … you’ve probably done something very similar with polymer. So you can see how simple it would be to do the same with frosting or fondant? These fun cookies are by Naomi of HelloNaomi.com.au of New Castle, Australia. (Could you even eat these?! They’re so cute!)
Cookies and cakes have an easy and direct translation for polymer art, but don’t hold back when it comes to be creative and colorful in the kitchen. Appetizers can be so much fun, too. For instance, arrange that ubiquitous veggie tray into something more enticing by making a Christmas tree shape out of the broccoli with carrot chips and cherry tomato ‘ornaments’ and sliced sweet pepper ‘garlands’. Wrap that soft cheese block with a peeled celery bow (or real ribbon … I’m sure no one will try to eat it … right?) Or instead of a nut and cheese log, how about a nut and cheese wreath?
I just think we, as creative people, should never limit ourselves by putting all of our creative energy into our primary material. There are all kinds of materials and moments your skills can be applied, where you can be creative and delight the people around you, not to mention the fun you can have yourself. There is no better time (or excuse) to do so than during the holiday season.
Now go ahead, go get crazy creative in the kitchen today!
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I have somehow managed to avoid most of the trials and tribulations that are usually a part of the holiday season. Not that there aren’t other non-holiday tribulations putting up hurdles before me but I am very grateful for being an artist and for being able to make, with tons of love and caring, gifts for the people on my list. I am also so grateful for the internet … for letting me shop from home for all those things on my list that just can’t–for some silly reason–be made from polymer clay!
But I do see the hectic lines in the face of my friends and family. I’m sure many of you have or are having those kind of moments. So here is a holiday thought for you. Just remember why you go through all you go through during the holiday season. And who benefits from all you do.
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