Standard in Stripes
March 2, 2017 Inspirational Art
So many artists spend an inordinately large amount of time looking for the next really cool and totally different thing that will get them all kinds of attention and make their work stand out. But here is the thing … nothing is really new anymore. It’s just a variation of something that was done before. Thinking and creating with this in mind can be so freeing. It allows you to just create what you love or what you want to express.
And some days you just want to be simple, clean and use some no-fuss forms and applications. Nothing wrong with that. Go for it. You can see how a basic striped composition on a bangle shape and a couple of lentil earrings did for Julia Peker‘s approach. Choosing an array of both visual and tactile textures gives this variation within the limitations of a palette of subdued and tinted cool colors. Nothing crazy or new design wise, but it pulls off a tasteful and understated elegance that most anyone can appreciate.
Julia takes notes from a lot of other polymer artists as can be seen in her work so I suspect she is still working on her voice but I think I see it emerging. Her postings look to be relegated to Instagram for the moment but I would be interested to see how her work develops. We’ll keep an eye out!ow
_________________________________________
Like this blog? Lend your support with a purchase of The Polymer Arts magazine and visit our partners.
_________________________________________
What the Ink Reveals
November 19, 2013 Inspirational Art
Alcohol inks are a fantastic surface treatment, as their transparency can work with the clay rather than just covering it. Use on darker clays to get deep, rich ink colors, or try it on marbled or otherwise mixed clay colors for more variation in the ink applied. Or simply go white so light reflecting off the clay surface can illuminate the ink.
Veronika Sturdy’s textured bangle shows off that translucent color on white clay effect, really making the blues and greens quite juicy.
I really like the way the clay is revealed from beneath the ink colors. The white is not only a great base for the ink but revealing it brings in just the right amount of contrast of no color against bright color.
See more of Veronika’s “colorful, quirky and playful full of fun” pieces (her words) on her website or Flickr pages.
Dots on the Wrist
August 22, 2013 Inspirational Art
Debra DeWolff is all about the dot. Whether it’s in her felted beads or her bead inlaid polymer bangles like you see here, small spots of color or shine dominate her work. This bracelet uses both a congregation of dots in the form of beads to create the color in her flowers as well as having the very enduring polka dot gracing the inside of the bangle to peek out as it moves about the wearer’s wrist.
Debra creates a lot of fun and still very polished and cosmopolitan dotted jewelry. Take a moment to look through her blog and gallery if you are finding yourself dot inspired this week!
Outside Inspiration: Silk and Pearls
May 4, 2013 Inspirational Art
Going to stop being so serious and just enjoy some beautiful work today.
These bangles are the work of Alyson Goldberg (goes by just Alyson G.) They are hand painted and gathered silks with peridot, garnet, aquamarine and pearls tucked into the folds.
I was going to say its an unexpected combination but then I thought of beaded dresses and such. Maybe we don’t get garnets and peridot on our beaded attire much these days but it’s not unheard of. Pearls on wedding dresses are not at all uncommon. What is unexpected is that it’s beading and fabric as a piece of jewelry. But why not? We add beading to clothing as a means of accenting them and jewelry is worn as a kind of accent on our person. Same idea, right? So why not take those lovely designs off the dress and put them on pieces that can be worn and shown off on more than just one ensemble? Makes so much sense.
Alyson actually works with a lot of chain and beads. These bangles are quite a departure from her other jewelry. But there is nothing wrong with exploring something out of your range. From the press she’s gotten, its pretty obvious that these bracelets are now what she’s known for. Understandably. So, yep, don’t be afraid to step outside your usual line of exploration. You just never know what you might find and where it will take you.
The Secret to ‘Charming’ is Variety
March 27, 2013 Inspirational Art
I guess I’m on a variety kick this week. The mixture of color in these bangles by Lauren Abrams are particularly attractive but I think it’s the uneven repetition of the elements that gives them true charm.
Bands of color filled with stripes and crackled metallic are repeated but in uneven, varying widths and not predictably ordered. The pin head beads, although of the same shape and size, vary in color and spacing. The bangle underneath boasts but one accent, which if worn alone might seem a bit unbalanced but if worn together, the variation would feel supported. Actually an arm full of them would be truly charming.
I’m not saying orderliness can’t be charming, but quirkiness, unpredictability, and a disregard for expected order is what we find most delightful in children, pets and ourselves when we let go. But even when letting go, there needs to be some underlying order or consistency to keep things from falling into chaos. In the bangles it is a repetition of color and visual texture as well as repetition of common elements including the consistently used bands. A simple device but highly effective and easy to apply when you want to have a little fun.
Mixing with Mokume
January 24, 2013 Inspirational Art
Today we’re going to sit back and admire a great combination of materials. These bracelets are mokume gane polymer bangle bases with moving add-ons in the form of pmc, sterling silver, brass, and bronze rings that transverse the bangle as the wearer moves.
Celie Fago explains her rather lengthy process on the IPCA Synergy 2 page I found these on: “These bracelets evolve, in fits and starts, over the course of years. They mix many media and processes; they are material collaborations. I work in relays: I make the polymer bracelets, then the embellishments: I put them on the bracelets, take them off, move them from one to another …”
This brings up a couple thoughts. One … no work of art is ever really complete, is it? I think we could tweak and changes pieces forever, always seeing ways to improve or change them. The real talent is knowing when to stop.
The other thing that hit me about what she said was that these are “material collaborations”. We think about people collaborating but yes, why not consider how materials can “help” each other not just how they can fit together? In these bracelets, the variety of metal seems to actually increase the flash and depth of texture in the mokume gane. The metals and polymer are working together in a synergistic manner to make the parts, which seen on their own would not be so very impressive, integral and intriguing points in the whole of the composition.
Speaking of Synergy … if you plan on going to Synergy 3 in March, be sure to come and find The Polymer Arts in the vendors room and join me for my workshops and discussions on writing for the craft arts market, centralizing polymer information, and a interview panel of publishers chatting about what we do and why we do it for you. See you there!
So many artists spend an inordinately large amount of time looking for the next really cool and totally different thing that will get them all kinds of attention and make their work stand out. But here is the thing … nothing is really new anymore. It’s just a variation of something that was done before. Thinking and creating with this in mind can be so freeing. It allows you to just create what you love or what you want to express.
And some days you just want to be simple, clean and use some no-fuss forms and applications. Nothing wrong with that. Go for it. You can see how a basic striped composition on a bangle shape and a couple of lentil earrings did for Julia Peker‘s approach. Choosing an array of both visual and tactile textures gives this variation within the limitations of a palette of subdued and tinted cool colors. Nothing crazy or new design wise, but it pulls off a tasteful and understated elegance that most anyone can appreciate.
Julia takes notes from a lot of other polymer artists as can be seen in her work so I suspect she is still working on her voice but I think I see it emerging. Her postings look to be relegated to Instagram for the moment but I would be interested to see how her work develops. We’ll keep an eye out!ow
_________________________________________
Like this blog? Lend your support with a purchase of The Polymer Arts magazine and visit our partners.
_________________________________________
Read MoreAlcohol inks are a fantastic surface treatment, as their transparency can work with the clay rather than just covering it. Use on darker clays to get deep, rich ink colors, or try it on marbled or otherwise mixed clay colors for more variation in the ink applied. Or simply go white so light reflecting off the clay surface can illuminate the ink.
Veronika Sturdy’s textured bangle shows off that translucent color on white clay effect, really making the blues and greens quite juicy.
I really like the way the clay is revealed from beneath the ink colors. The white is not only a great base for the ink but revealing it brings in just the right amount of contrast of no color against bright color.
See more of Veronika’s “colorful, quirky and playful full of fun” pieces (her words) on her website or Flickr pages.
Read MoreDebra DeWolff is all about the dot. Whether it’s in her felted beads or her bead inlaid polymer bangles like you see here, small spots of color or shine dominate her work. This bracelet uses both a congregation of dots in the form of beads to create the color in her flowers as well as having the very enduring polka dot gracing the inside of the bangle to peek out as it moves about the wearer’s wrist.
Debra creates a lot of fun and still very polished and cosmopolitan dotted jewelry. Take a moment to look through her blog and gallery if you are finding yourself dot inspired this week!
Read More
Going to stop being so serious and just enjoy some beautiful work today.
These bangles are the work of Alyson Goldberg (goes by just Alyson G.) They are hand painted and gathered silks with peridot, garnet, aquamarine and pearls tucked into the folds.
I was going to say its an unexpected combination but then I thought of beaded dresses and such. Maybe we don’t get garnets and peridot on our beaded attire much these days but it’s not unheard of. Pearls on wedding dresses are not at all uncommon. What is unexpected is that it’s beading and fabric as a piece of jewelry. But why not? We add beading to clothing as a means of accenting them and jewelry is worn as a kind of accent on our person. Same idea, right? So why not take those lovely designs off the dress and put them on pieces that can be worn and shown off on more than just one ensemble? Makes so much sense.
Alyson actually works with a lot of chain and beads. These bangles are quite a departure from her other jewelry. But there is nothing wrong with exploring something out of your range. From the press she’s gotten, its pretty obvious that these bracelets are now what she’s known for. Understandably. So, yep, don’t be afraid to step outside your usual line of exploration. You just never know what you might find and where it will take you.
Read MoreI guess I’m on a variety kick this week. The mixture of color in these bangles by Lauren Abrams are particularly attractive but I think it’s the uneven repetition of the elements that gives them true charm.
Bands of color filled with stripes and crackled metallic are repeated but in uneven, varying widths and not predictably ordered. The pin head beads, although of the same shape and size, vary in color and spacing. The bangle underneath boasts but one accent, which if worn alone might seem a bit unbalanced but if worn together, the variation would feel supported. Actually an arm full of them would be truly charming.
I’m not saying orderliness can’t be charming, but quirkiness, unpredictability, and a disregard for expected order is what we find most delightful in children, pets and ourselves when we let go. But even when letting go, there needs to be some underlying order or consistency to keep things from falling into chaos. In the bangles it is a repetition of color and visual texture as well as repetition of common elements including the consistently used bands. A simple device but highly effective and easy to apply when you want to have a little fun.
Read More
Today we’re going to sit back and admire a great combination of materials. These bracelets are mokume gane polymer bangle bases with moving add-ons in the form of pmc, sterling silver, brass, and bronze rings that transverse the bangle as the wearer moves.
Celie Fago explains her rather lengthy process on the IPCA Synergy 2 page I found these on: “These bracelets evolve, in fits and starts, over the course of years. They mix many media and processes; they are material collaborations. I work in relays: I make the polymer bracelets, then the embellishments: I put them on the bracelets, take them off, move them from one to another …”
This brings up a couple thoughts. One … no work of art is ever really complete, is it? I think we could tweak and changes pieces forever, always seeing ways to improve or change them. The real talent is knowing when to stop.
The other thing that hit me about what she said was that these are “material collaborations”. We think about people collaborating but yes, why not consider how materials can “help” each other not just how they can fit together? In these bracelets, the variety of metal seems to actually increase the flash and depth of texture in the mokume gane. The metals and polymer are working together in a synergistic manner to make the parts, which seen on their own would not be so very impressive, integral and intriguing points in the whole of the composition.
Speaking of Synergy … if you plan on going to Synergy 3 in March, be sure to come and find The Polymer Arts in the vendors room and join me for my workshops and discussions on writing for the craft arts market, centralizing polymer information, and a interview panel of publishers chatting about what we do and why we do it for you. See you there!
Read More