New and Shiny
April 2, 2018
Inspirational Art
Thank you to all you readers who cleared out our damaged stock this past week. We sold out of nearly everything in the first 24 hours but there are a few books left for $10 each and the regular back issue sale of 35% off the cover price is still going on in my Etsy shop through tomorrow, April 3rd. Jump on over to get a great deal on our print edition back issues and book.
In looking around at what people have been creating recently, I’ve noticed a lot of shiny, new work. This piece by Betsy Baker, although recognizable in her grungy but still elegant surface texture, has some added bling not commonly seen in her work.
The luscious variegated green texture is in heavy contrast to the shiny green gems but the consistency of the green color palette inevitably brings it all together. The simple circular form and symmetrical layout of the gems do much to bring calm and serenity to the highly textured composition.
If you’re not familiar with Betsy’s work, you can see many of her lovely pieces on her website and on her Instagram page.
Variation on a Disk
March 18, 2015
Inspirational Art
A week’s exploration of the domed disk form could not be presented without discussing the variations of hollow lentil beads. Especially not those with peek-a-boo windows. This is a popular and rather classic look that is so easily formed in polymer and has so many possible variations. This form has to be Betsy Baker’s favorite. And she does it so well, with tons of variation, especially in the area of layered domes and layered pieces to create domes.
This piece has a dome with a window, as well as another with a window so large as to make it more like a bezel. The interior objects that initially draw our attention reflect the texture and color of the fabric-like central dome, which then brings us back out and around to the outer textured gray that echos the darker gray interior. We find ourselves doing a lot of visual wandering for just a pendant, but that is what makes it such a nice piece.
If you’ve not explored Betsy’s wide range of domed focal beads and other fabulous pieces, you can do so on her beautiful new website.
If you like this blog, support The Polymer Arts projects with a subscription or an issue of The Polymer Arts magazine as well as supporting our advertising partners.
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Arrangements in Layers
July 15, 2014
Inspirational Art
Another collection of work for your consideration of examples in variety are these brooches by Betsy Baker. She takes similarly treated sheets with variations in color and texture, cuts them in an assortment of shapes and layers them to create compositions with different effects and impact.
You could do the same thing with some standard pieces you have been making. Vary the form, imagery, combinations and composition to see what you can come up with. Betsy actually does this quite a bit and shares her results in collages and close-ups on her Stonehouse Studio Flickr pages.
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.
A Touch of Color
May 11, 2013
Inspirational Art
I wanted to take a moment as we wind up this colorful week, to point out a simple fact about color–how you use color is just as important as what colors you choose. I feel this needs to be emphasized because with all the colorful work we’ve been looking at this week you might think you need to get more colorful or bolder. But the use of color is about how it affects the impact of your piece so you can use a lot or just a little and still have a highly impactful piece.
I think Betsy Baker fully realizes the value of color and balancing it for impact. Here is a series of pendants with barely any color visible, yet the color that is there is very dynamic visually because it is not competing with any other colors and is starkly contrasted against white.
These pendants are both calm but bold at the same time. It’s very powerful, really. So, you see it isn’t about how colorful your piece is but what you are trying to convey and how you can use color to help you make a statement or design a piece to come off just the way you intend.
Thank you to all you readers who cleared out our damaged stock this past week. We sold out of nearly everything in the first 24 hours but there are a few books left for $10 each and the regular back issue sale of 35% off the cover price is still going on in my Etsy shop through tomorrow, April 3rd. Jump on over to get a great deal on our print edition back issues and book.
In looking around at what people have been creating recently, I’ve noticed a lot of shiny, new work. This piece by Betsy Baker, although recognizable in her grungy but still elegant surface texture, has some added bling not commonly seen in her work.
The luscious variegated green texture is in heavy contrast to the shiny green gems but the consistency of the green color palette inevitably brings it all together. The simple circular form and symmetrical layout of the gems do much to bring calm and serenity to the highly textured composition.
If you’re not familiar with Betsy’s work, you can see many of her lovely pieces on her website and on her Instagram page.
Read More
A week’s exploration of the domed disk form could not be presented without discussing the variations of hollow lentil beads. Especially not those with peek-a-boo windows. This is a popular and rather classic look that is so easily formed in polymer and has so many possible variations. This form has to be Betsy Baker’s favorite. And she does it so well, with tons of variation, especially in the area of layered domes and layered pieces to create domes.
This piece has a dome with a window, as well as another with a window so large as to make it more like a bezel. The interior objects that initially draw our attention reflect the texture and color of the fabric-like central dome, which then brings us back out and around to the outer textured gray that echos the darker gray interior. We find ourselves doing a lot of visual wandering for just a pendant, but that is what makes it such a nice piece.
If you’ve not explored Betsy’s wide range of domed focal beads and other fabulous pieces, you can do so on her beautiful new website.
If you like this blog, support The Polymer Arts projects with a subscription or an issue of The Polymer Arts magazine as well as supporting our advertising partners.
;
Another collection of work for your consideration of examples in variety are these brooches by Betsy Baker. She takes similarly treated sheets with variations in color and texture, cuts them in an assortment of shapes and layers them to create compositions with different effects and impact.
You could do the same thing with some standard pieces you have been making. Vary the form, imagery, combinations and composition to see what you can come up with. Betsy actually does this quite a bit and shares her results in collages and close-ups on her Stonehouse Studio Flickr pages.
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.
I wanted to take a moment as we wind up this colorful week, to point out a simple fact about color–how you use color is just as important as what colors you choose. I feel this needs to be emphasized because with all the colorful work we’ve been looking at this week you might think you need to get more colorful or bolder. But the use of color is about how it affects the impact of your piece so you can use a lot or just a little and still have a highly impactful piece.
I think Betsy Baker fully realizes the value of color and balancing it for impact. Here is a series of pendants with barely any color visible, yet the color that is there is very dynamic visually because it is not competing with any other colors and is starkly contrasted against white.
These pendants are both calm but bold at the same time. It’s very powerful, really. So, you see it isn’t about how colorful your piece is but what you are trying to convey and how you can use color to help you make a statement or design a piece to come off just the way you intend.
Read More