The Fear of Being Wrong
February 10, 2013
Ponderings
We are lucky, working in polymer. We have little reason to fear being wrong while creating. We can redo or. worse case, throw out a piece without having lost any significant amount of money in doing so. For us, the harder thing may be just putting our work out there, thinking others will like it enough to give us positive feedback or buy it. We will be wrong sometimes. But that’s alright. It’s how we learn, isn’t it?
Chances are … we are right more often when we just don’t worry about being wrong.
Intricacy is in the Details
February 9, 2013
Inspirational Art
They say it’s all in the details. And in the case of these pieces by Olga Zhukova that couldn’t be more true.
She has a detailed tutorial onher detailed work on her blog. This work would require some patience but even if this approach were used to accent a piece that has a different focal interest, it could be just the right touch of details.
Outside Inspiration: Doubling up the Talent
February 8, 2013
Inspirational Art
So … have you ever given a set of beads or random pieces of your work to someone else and let them create from it? I’ve only done this once with artwork but wish I did it more often. It can be truly eye-opening to see what others envision with your work.
Here is one example using ceramics beads from bead artist “BeadFreaky” on Etsy and the bead artistry of Keirsten Giles
There is something about having the vision and aesthetics of another person applied to your own work. They way they treat it, contrast or highlights it’s aspect and the forms they include it in can be quite exciting.
Do you know any artists who work in a different medium (or work in polymer but in a very different way) that might be up for mixing their work with yours?
How Do You Make Pretty Worms?
February 7, 2013
Inspirational Art
I don’t know that I have ever thought of worms as pretty. Fascinating, yes. But as a subject for a pretty piece of jewelry? Well, maybe not so much.
However, Klavdija Kurent pulled it off quite nicely. I love pieces like this. As a polymer artist, I cannot help but stop and try to figure out how she created the layered effect, especially the worms.
I don’t have it quite down yet. She does a lot of image transfer on other work but it seems more dimensional than that. It does look quite a bit like the wax impression technique we featured in The Polymer Arts magazine a while back. What do you think?
Even if one can’t figure out how an artist accomplished an effect, the exercise can be good for your creative muscle. You might even come up with an idea about how to do something with polymer you hadn’t thought of or seen before. And, besides, it’s just fun to see if you figure it out.
Fun with Leftovers
February 6, 2013
Technique tutorials, Tips and Tricks
I don’t know how many pieces I’ve made resulted from looking over at my scattered scraps and suddenly seeing a new texture, form or design in the randomness. Its kind of like finding animals in the shapes of clouds … you look over and you see shape for a pendant, the texture for necklace or a form that could make an interesting bead.
So when perusing some collected online tutorials, I stopped at this very pretty bit of modified mokume which is pictured in a tutorial titled “How to make faux snake skin or honeycomb veneers” by Desiree McCrorey and really wished I could grab, not a slice from the revealed slab but rather those first holey layers off the top. Wouldn’t they look just so striking pressed onto a sheet of pearl clay, those thin little edges of purple around the circles framing the background color?
I wonder how many other people out there automatically do that as well? I know Helen Breil does … that is how she came up with the curling and frame type shapes which are the basis of her new book Shapes (which we review in the upcoming Spring 2013 issue of The Polymer Arts.) That kind of eye is hard to teach. But I would recommend that before balling up your scraps and tossing them in the scrap bin you look at what you have and see if anything jumps out at you. Just that could send you on a whole new journey and invigorate your line if you are looking for something new. You just never know and all it takes is keeping your eyes wide open.
Perusing Cozzi
February 5, 2013
Inspirational Art
Did you know that Louise Fischer Cozzi works in other forms besides jewelry with etched and colored transluscents? Of course you did or I am sure you suspected. How many of us can stick with just one approach when using polymer?
I always wonder what else people do besides the common work we see from certain artists in books and workshops announcements. Today I landed in Louise’s website and found out she has actually worked in a lot of forms. Even in jewelry she has rings and cuff links along with her well-known necklaces. She has a whole section just on objects including ornaments, boxes and bowls like this one below.
I gravitated back to her jewelry though and was rather taken by this bracelet here. The only problem is the photos on the website are so small! How I would love to see the details.
Louise also does quilts! Quite a range she has. You can go exploring yourself on her website here.
Layer, Cut, Roll, Repeat and … Wow
February 4, 2013
Inspirational Art
Repeating elements can add such energy to a piece. Especially if you push the elements just a little and add some contrast to make it pop.
Here Eva Ehmeier uses her small layered and rolled elements repeated across a donut form to create a piece that almost looks alive. I don’t think it would have quite the impact if it weren’t for the little details each element has … the subtle stripes in the purple layers, the layering you can see in the sides of the elements and that yellow boldly peeking out from within the rolls. The deep texture these elements create are contrasted with a silver band following the same form. I’m not sure the texture on the silver was needed but the contrast of materials really makes the polymer stand out and adds elegance.
If you work with repeated elements a lot (or would like to) how can you add extra interest to the elements themselves? Its something to ponder.
And if you are intrigued by the possibilities of using layered edges, make sure you get a copy of our Spring issue of The Polymer Arts due out on the 18th of this month. Susan O’Neill offers a plethora of ideas on using visual and structural aspects of layering in polymer. It’s great stuff.
Remember Why We Do What We Do
February 3, 2013
Ponderings
Publishing is a rough business. So is writing. And, as most of you know, so is being an artist! In what I do, there are so many people I work with, have to contact daily and have to count on and I do it all from a home office with virtual staff … it can make it very trying sometimes. But then I get some wonderful random email from someone saying “I just wanted you to know how much I appreciate what you are doing …” and suddenly everything is wonderful again because, first of all, someone took the time out of their busy lives to write me and secondly, I am reminded that what I do matters.
Its actually mind-blowing how often I get emails like that. What wonderful, thoughtful people there are out there in the world. I have not, I have to admit, been one of those who has done such things very often. Until the last couple years. All these kind, considerate people have gotten me to stop regularly and let others know that what they do matters. And when you work alone in the studio all day, or in solitary on your computer at home, editing photos, listing work for sale, writing a blog, it can be hard to imagine that what you do matters to much of anyone else but you. But then you get a grateful note from a customer, an enthusiastic comments on your blog, or see someone singing your praises in a forum. That makes all the difference.
Since we work online so much now and aren’t in touch with people quite the way we used to be, we’re not getting or giving that kind of feedback as often as we used to since its much more automatic and expected when we are face to face. So I would like to make a suggestion … this week, every day, write one person, one business, one friend or relative and let them know how much what they do matters to you and/or to other people. Just a few lines can be immensely impactful for the person on the receiving end and in this world, I think it tremendously important to encourage kind and truly meaningful things.
Scrap Clay Caning
February 2, 2013
Technique tutorials
I broke away from the magazine madness for a moment today to relax with some perusing through Pinterest. While everyone else gets sucked into Facebook, artists get inexorably pulled into Pinterest. It can’t be helped. It’s kicks in a kind of visual ADD. Oh, shiny … and colorful … and creative and … oh, how did they do that! Its terrible.
Luckily, the spell is broken and I manage to escape when I see something too cool not to run over and share here on the blog. Today it was yet another way to take scraps and make something amazing with it. This cane component and the intermediate steps to a scrap clay cane below were created by Ronit Golan. And no, this is not scrap canes as in Alice Stroppel’s approach, although the first half of the process isn’t too far off from hers, but just scrap bits and pieces of clay.
The big difference between this and the Stroppel cane is that you can use this approach to create a kaleidoscope cane. Isn’t that cool?
Check out the full tutorial and examples on Ronit’s blog here. Thanks goes out to Karin Ashdown for pinning this from Ronit’s blog for us to discover.
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As you know, polymer is particularly popular among figurine and art doll sculptors. And so is the passive stance of the figures. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this … a figure posed standing still and looking off into the distance is often the best way to show the character and emotive facial expressions of the subject. When sculptures convey actual movement though, the effect can be almost mesmerizing.
Mark A Dennis is an accomplished doll sculptor with a tendency towards dynamic, movement based compositions. This piece below, “Sky Dancers” is a gorgeous example of instilling a kinetic feel to stationary figures.
Movement in sculpture is all about the lines. The lines in this case are in the bend and flow of the figures’ torsos and limbs with emphasis and focus brought to this through the the swirl of the fabric. Establishing single or connected flowing lines gives us the sense that the single moment portrayed keeps going, off the composition into the surrounding space and off into that next moment of time we easily imagine follows this frozen one.
If you want to learn more about using lines to convey movement and direction, see the Fall 2012 issue of The Polymer Arts where both flow and repetition are discussed at length. You can also check out more of Mark’s work on his website here.
Read MoreEven if you are not into making rings, you will want to take a look through this series of tutorials by Bobrotermit (on Livejournal). His planning, carving, and especially his back-fill methods could lead you to do some experimenting with other forms if not with rings.
This ring was formed, carved and back-filled. All the designs are back-fill color, no painting or caning.
He also treats us to tutorials for two other rings, one primaily carved, the other primarily back-filled. Take a moment to look through his tutorials. They are full of great ideas that can be applied to your favorite form.
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Sophy Dumoulin uses a plethora of different textures in these contemporary pendants but somehow they all work together without any sense of chaos or clashing. Why does this work?
As long as there is consistency and cohesion in the rest of the piece, a great variety in one aspect will be balanced out. In these pendants, the muted tones in gradated reds, grayed whites, and dusty blacks bring a cohesive calm to the pieces. That along with the simplicity of the shapes–rectangles and dots with even the dots arranged in rectangular patterns–makes these orderly and pleasing even with the variety of textures.
Now if these had been done with bright colors, it probably would not work as well. Instead of a calm orderliness, we’d feel high energy and maybe a little tension as the bright colors accentuate the many different textures. Cohesiveness has as much to do with matching the tone and feel of the rest of the components as it does with the more tangible characteristics.
Sophy Dumoulin plays quite a bit with texture and more often with brighter colors. Flip through her blog if you have a moment. Her work is delightful. She is also a Craft Art Edu instructor now with a couple of her classes up and ready to learn from in English and her native French.
Read MoreThe bracelet is such an fantastic form to work with in polymer clay simply because of the range of possibilities. It can be small and dainty or big and bold. It can consist of beads of nearly any shape and size or be laid like a broad canvas around the wrist for showcasing favorite surface treatments or even a narrative scene. And best of all, you can wear bracelets with anything, anytime.
So I was definitely excited to see Bettina Welker’s new book Polymer Clay Bracelets come out late last year. You’ll see a review of the book and some sample interior pages in the new Spring 2013 issue of The Polymer Arts magazine. I really like that she address ways to make bangle bracelets without having to make them so big just to get over one’s hands. She has a couple solutions in the book but since I can’t show you that, how about this simple solution in a bracelet shown in the Shout! online exhibition. Its made with a spring hinge.
This is such a beautiful piece with the subtle texture and then just the small spots of brilliant green peeking through. And with the simple embedded hinge the construction of such a piece can keep it slimmer than a traditional slip on bangle. The lower profile of the bracelet makes it more wearable in more situations. There is nothing wrong with big and bold but if you just want to jazz things up a bit while you run errands or go out for a casual lunch, you don’t want your jewelry to get in the way of rummaging through the bargain bins or have it dipping into your soup. Or is that just me that has those problems?
If you’d like to order Bettina’s book, you can do so from her website here.
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You might not consider Einstein as someone who values imagination over logic, not initially. But science is as much about imagination as logic. Science is about possibilities and the only way to come up with the suppositions and theories that are tested through science is by using the imagination. Einstein was famous for his thought experiments, a process in which one goes through a process by imagining the steps and the consequences of each as a method for determining the legitimacy of an idea. It is an imagination experiment.
How is this relevant to you and your art? When you design a piece of art, it is really a thought experiment. You imagine what it might look like, what components it would need, what steps you need to take and you determine the likelihood of being able to create it as you see it in your mind. Einstein’s saying becomes particularly relevant at this point … lean on your imagination more than your logic as you think through what you create. Logic will only take you so far. Imagination will take you to places you, well, didn’t imagine you could go.
Read MoreIf you’ve gotten your latest issue of The Polymer Arts magazine (yes, I know many of you are still waiting for it to come in the mail … they just went out this past week so give them a little time but they will be there soon!) you probably saw the article “Back Stories” which Jan Montarsi put together, soliciting a number of artists to tell why and how they treat the back sides of their work for a professional and well finished look. Jan’s penchant for doing all things well shows in his own carefully finished pieces and simple but elegant ideas such as these backside bails.
Jan has several shots of what he does with just a jump ring and a little clay on his Flickr page. Heading on over to his pages also gives you a chance to ogle his beautiful mica mush pendants (seen here) and other beauties. Don’t you just love the colors and shimmer? Jan’s Flickr pages are a treasure of color and fun pieces so hopefully you can take a little time to wander around there and check out his work.
If you haven’t received your latest issue of The Polymer Arts as a digital subscriber, check your spam/junk mail folders first as they do sometimes get shuffled off there. You can also write me at connect@thepolymerarts.com to inquire. Please be patient about print issues arriving … they are on thier way. If you need to order yourself a digital or print copy of the Spring 2013 Stories themed issue or would like a subscription, that can all be done here: http://www.thepolymerarts.com/Subscribe.html
Read MoreThe reason a work of art has impact, draws our attention and/or fascinates us can vary greatly from piece to piece. I think we assume it is the whole composition that, in the end, is what makes us stop and examine the work. Essentially it has to be–if all the elements of a piece don’t work together every element is diminished by this failure. Yet it is often one part of the piece that grabs us in the first place and is usually what also holds our attention. Sometimes it is the color, the dazzling quality of the texture, the enticing shape of the form … but it can also be a single, small point that on its own would be nothing and mean nothing yet in the context of the work, it can be everything.
In Julia Turner’s mixed media jewelry, she uses these single points of interest to draw and hold the attention of the viewer. In the two pieces below, it is the smallest thing … an enameled staple in one, a square pin in the other. Take out these single points and neither of these brooches would be nearly as fascinating.
Julia’s work is a mixture of wood, steel, enamel and paint. Most are very sparse in detail (the brooch above is about as detailed and colorful as they come) which leaves a kind of muted canvas on which to set a small focal point. These points are like seeing a single sail board out on a still ocean or a lone tree on a snow covered slope. There is something about the lone point in a space of ‘otherness’ that we feel an affinity for. Not to get overly deep here but we all know what loneliness and isolation feels like, being that one point of difference in a sea of people or the only soul in a big quiet house. Images that are like that tug at us. Not to mention the contrast of a single element unlike it’s surroundings will always be the strongest visual in any piece or scene.
A simple point of interest is something to consider when working on pieces that have large swathes of texture or color. The surface design might be quite beautiful on its own but a single point of contrasting interest can emphasis the beauty of it and give the viewer a place to focus and a visual “home base” from which to explore the piece as a whole.
Read MoreI wanted to get some sculpture in on the blog this week although what I found myself fascinated by was a bit unexpected. I couldn’t pass up sharing this if for no other reason than to bring something bright and shiny to all you who are getting through some gray wintry weather today.
One does needs to be careful when using a lot of glitz and shimmer but then again, if you are going to use a lot, don’t do it halfway. CityZenKane really does push the glitz on this large wall sculpture. There is no indication of exactly how large this is but looking at videos of other pieces being built, I’m thinking it’s more than a foot long. That’s a lot of reflective surface.
This sculpture is a mixed medium piece using nearly every sparkly, metallic and color saturated material that will reflect light. Besides polymer, the list found on the Flickr post says it includes “dichroic glass, Swarovski crystals, glitter, Metal leaf, holographic glitter. Most sculptures, fluoresce in UV light and glow in the dark. They sparkle in the sun and under a hard light source.”
What do you think? Is it too much? Or do you enjoy the eye candy (emphasis on the candy metaphor)? There certainly is a lot to investigate and I admire the fearlessness of CityZenKane’s going into reflective overload. This artist has quite the imagination. Want to see more? Check out the videos on the YouTube page. It’s pretty interesting and definitely different.
Read MoreHow about today, while I wind up the release of the latest issue of The Polymer Arts, we turn to the thoughts and detailed process of Carol Simmons as she worked through some experimentation with mokume a couple years ago.
This beautiful metallic mokume is the result of Carol’s experimentation with arranging mokume strips in patterns as well as additional layers built from punched out shapes from the mokume sheet.
It’s a nice reminder that even something as intricate as mokume can be pushed just a little farther for new and interesting effects. Read about her process on Carol’s blog here.
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