To Be Inspired By
July 6, 2018
Inspirational Art
Guest Blog Post by Kathleen Nowak Tucci
Inspiration: a feeling of enthusiasm you get from someone or something that gives you new and creative ideas.
When I saw the photo of a fiery-throated hummingbird by Jess Findlay, inspiration struck. On my worktable, there were corrugated recycled aluminum Nespresso coffee capsules in the shape of fans and I finally knew what I would do with them. The idea percolated for months and it wasn’t until I was participating in a residency in Mexico that I had time to work on the idea. In Mexico, I had a full month to experiment and refine a necklace that was inspired by the photo of the hummingbird and a year later I made an entire dress and headpiece using the same inspiration.
Interestingly, another person taken by the same photo recreated it in colored pencils. A different medium was used but it was virtually identical. This was not inspired but rather, everything about it, the color, composition, and position of the image, had been copied. It is not enough to change mediums for it to not be a copy!
So how can you be inspired by another artist’s creations but not copy them? Be inspired by the combination of color, by their balance of color, their arrangement of objects, their use of textures, etc. Pinterest, Instagram, and Facebook have made it very easy to collect images of art but resist the urge to collect images made in the same category that you work. Don’t have a photo of another artist’s work in front of you or study another artist’s work so thoroughly that you reproduce their style or aesthetic. Take your own photos and use them for inspiration. Use a word or feeling and not an image for your next creation. Be inspired!
Copy: to make a similar or identical version of; reproduce.
Kathleen Nowak Tucci’s multimedium jewelry using polymer and recycled materials will be featured on Season 5 of Netflix’s Grace and Frankie. Follow Kathleen on Instagram and Facebook.
Hummingbird dress photo by East Hill Photo.
A Few Touches
May 28, 2018
Inspirational Art
Have you seen what crazy, amazing illustrative cane work people have been doing lately? This work has been absolutely amazing the way the canes take on a painterly look beneath the skillful hands of these particular artists.
The Kingfisher bird in this brooch is a cane by Claire Wallis. Mind-blowing isn’t it? She applied it to a painted background but she didn’t just leave it as a cane blended into a background layer. She was very thoughtful about how it would appear and applied a thin layer of translucent clay to give the edges a soft focus.
She also scratched in a pale border along the edges of the beak and some of the feathers to further blend the cane’s edge. This has the added effect of making the bird image sit on a more definite foreground plane as well as separating the abundance of cool colors in the background and bird feathers which would otherwise visually meld, making the edge of the bird’s head a bit nebulous. These little touches have really made the difference between it just being an amazing cane and creating an overall amazing image and brooch.
Claire’s cane work keeps getting better and better, even when you don’t think it could. You can check out her polymer journey on her Facebook page and Flickr site, and see her finished items in her Etsy shop.
A Bit of Wow Caning
May 6, 2015
Inspirational Art
How about we go from intriguing to just ‘wow!’ today? I don’t know what theme this might fall under, but I had to stop and share this regardless of theme.
I was rather floored by the sight of these beauties when they popped up on my Flickr feed yesterday. These brooches were created by Claire Wallis. Not only are they a beautiful likeness of this bird of prey, but the cane has a striking painterly quality to it. Not being a very accomplished caner myself I may be more often amazed than many by what the talented cane clayers do in our community, but even so, I can’t imagine many of you aren’t at least just a tad impressed.
She’s even given us a peek at her work in progress with this work table shot here. I brought that up on my big screen and got lost in the pattern of the chest feathers. There’s just a beautiful flow to it that would be lovely in any medium.
Claire did a wonderful rooster cane last year that was pretty amazing too, but I think this particular image really shows off her approach with amazing results. She’s been creating wonderful bird canes for a while it seems, but these last too, and this one in particular are just, wow! I can’t wait to see what else she does in canes this year.
You can see more of Claire’s canes and other beautiful creations on her Flickr site.
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.
Polymer in Flight
June 20, 2013
Inspirational Art
I have to confess that the movement idea for this week wasn’t something I came up with on my own. Denise Graham, who works in polymer “clay paintings” and has been very sweet to share work beyond what she has contributed for the Wall Art articles you’ve seen in the present Summer 2013 issue (and will see more of in the upcoming Fall 2013 issue of The Polymer Arts magazine), sent me this intriguing piece you see here. The idea of flight and its emulation in the breezy hanging strands that outline flight’s most iconic creature was what triggered the idea for this week.
The floating dove piece is large — 6′ x 5 1/2 ‘! It’s rare to see something in polymer that big, but why not? Polymer makes wonderful components from which you can create larger work. And with its light weight, it makes a great material for kinetic sculpture that is dependent upon changes in airflow, like this piece.
Denise has been thinking outside the box in polymer ever since she moved from watercolor to this new and amazing medium. She presently has several classes on CraftArtEdu teaching her clay painting techniques. Although these are not classes on kinetic sculpture, they teach you another option for using polymer in a painterly way. From still life to water to clouds & starry skies, Denise’s classes may open up a whole new world for you — and that can be quite ‘moving’!
Guest Blog Post by Kathleen Nowak Tucci
Inspiration: a feeling of enthusiasm you get from someone or something that gives you new and creative ideas.
When I saw the photo of a fiery-throated hummingbird by Jess Findlay, inspiration struck. On my worktable, there were corrugated recycled aluminum Nespresso coffee capsules in the shape of fans and I finally knew what I would do with them. The idea percolated for months and it wasn’t until I was participating in a residency in Mexico that I had time to work on the idea. In Mexico, I had a full month to experiment and refine a necklace that was inspired by the photo of the hummingbird and a year later I made an entire dress and headpiece using the same inspiration.
Interestingly, another person taken by the same photo recreated it in colored pencils. A different medium was used but it was virtually identical. This was not inspired but rather, everything about it, the color, composition, and position of the image, had been copied. It is not enough to change mediums for it to not be a copy!
So how can you be inspired by another artist’s creations but not copy them? Be inspired by the combination of color, by their balance of color, their arrangement of objects, their use of textures, etc. Pinterest, Instagram, and Facebook have made it very easy to collect images of art but resist the urge to collect images made in the same category that you work. Don’t have a photo of another artist’s work in front of you or study another artist’s work so thoroughly that you reproduce their style or aesthetic. Take your own photos and use them for inspiration. Use a word or feeling and not an image for your next creation. Be inspired!
Copy: to make a similar or identical version of; reproduce.
Kathleen Nowak Tucci’s multimedium jewelry using polymer and recycled materials will be featured on Season 5 of Netflix’s Grace and Frankie. Follow Kathleen on Instagram and Facebook.
Hummingbird dress photo by East Hill Photo.
Read More
Have you seen what crazy, amazing illustrative cane work people have been doing lately? This work has been absolutely amazing the way the canes take on a painterly look beneath the skillful hands of these particular artists.
The Kingfisher bird in this brooch is a cane by Claire Wallis. Mind-blowing isn’t it? She applied it to a painted background but she didn’t just leave it as a cane blended into a background layer. She was very thoughtful about how it would appear and applied a thin layer of translucent clay to give the edges a soft focus.
She also scratched in a pale border along the edges of the beak and some of the feathers to further blend the cane’s edge. This has the added effect of making the bird image sit on a more definite foreground plane as well as separating the abundance of cool colors in the background and bird feathers which would otherwise visually meld, making the edge of the bird’s head a bit nebulous. These little touches have really made the difference between it just being an amazing cane and creating an overall amazing image and brooch.
Claire’s cane work keeps getting better and better, even when you don’t think it could. You can check out her polymer journey on her Facebook page and Flickr site, and see her finished items in her Etsy shop.
Read MoreHow about we go from intriguing to just ‘wow!’ today? I don’t know what theme this might fall under, but I had to stop and share this regardless of theme.
I was rather floored by the sight of these beauties when they popped up on my Flickr feed yesterday. These brooches were created by Claire Wallis. Not only are they a beautiful likeness of this bird of prey, but the cane has a striking painterly quality to it. Not being a very accomplished caner myself I may be more often amazed than many by what the talented cane clayers do in our community, but even so, I can’t imagine many of you aren’t at least just a tad impressed.
She’s even given us a peek at her work in progress with this work table shot here. I brought that up on my big screen and got lost in the pattern of the chest feathers. There’s just a beautiful flow to it that would be lovely in any medium.
Claire did a wonderful rooster cane last year that was pretty amazing too, but I think this particular image really shows off her approach with amazing results. She’s been creating wonderful bird canes for a while it seems, but these last too, and this one in particular are just, wow! I can’t wait to see what else she does in canes this year.
You can see more of Claire’s canes and other beautiful creations on her Flickr site.
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
I have to confess that the movement idea for this week wasn’t something I came up with on my own. Denise Graham, who works in polymer “clay paintings” and has been very sweet to share work beyond what she has contributed for the Wall Art articles you’ve seen in the present Summer 2013 issue (and will see more of in the upcoming Fall 2013 issue of The Polymer Arts magazine), sent me this intriguing piece you see here. The idea of flight and its emulation in the breezy hanging strands that outline flight’s most iconic creature was what triggered the idea for this week.
The floating dove piece is large — 6′ x 5 1/2 ‘! It’s rare to see something in polymer that big, but why not? Polymer makes wonderful components from which you can create larger work. And with its light weight, it makes a great material for kinetic sculpture that is dependent upon changes in airflow, like this piece.
Denise has been thinking outside the box in polymer ever since she moved from watercolor to this new and amazing medium. She presently has several classes on CraftArtEdu teaching her clay painting techniques. Although these are not classes on kinetic sculpture, they teach you another option for using polymer in a painterly way. From still life to water to clouds & starry skies, Denise’s classes may open up a whole new world for you — and that can be quite ‘moving’!
