When Criticism is Not Constructive
October 14, 2012
Ponderings
I am a big proponent of constructive criticism. Unfortunately, there are many people in this world who don’t understand what that means. There are also many people who, unhappy with their own situations, project how they feel onto others. I am always hoping that everyone can find their happiness — and bliss — in the things they do, but until then, don’t listen to the negativity. Keep on doing what you do and love so much.
The Flowery Depths
August 28, 2012
Inspirational Art
Zuda Gay Pease is a grandmother who lives in Illinois and creates these incredible flowers that seem to have so much depth and complexity to them. But if you look closely, they aren’t so much complex as unexpected.
The caned petals aren’t simply sliced but also cut and sculpted. This gives them a depth and tactile surface I don’t think you’d find anywhere in nature but they seem to be perfectly natural regardless.
Dear Crafters …
August 19, 2012
Ponderings
Anonymous note from one crafter to the world of crafters.
I don’t think there’s anything I need to add except … Amen to that!
Suspended Vessels
August 4, 2012
Inspirational Art
Gera Scott Chandler has lately been working on a concept she calls suspended vessels. They appear more as sculptural pieces than functional decor although they are both.
The central aspect of these pieces is a woven basket suspended between a series of tall thin sculptures that appear, in either an abstract or literal manner, to be figurative totems all facing inward. The impression is that there is a gathering of people with a yet to be filled basket connecting them, giving the open vessel a mysterious importance, as if these people have gathered to either give or receive something very precious.
The photos show rather subdued colors but they are actually quite colorful. Take a closer look here on her blog.
Become a Better Artist: Eight Month Course on Voila!
June 25, 2012
Polymer community news
Starting July 1, Voila.eu.com will be running an eight-month course on “How to Become a Better Artist.” There’s a short post about it on their homepage:
How To Become a Better Artist: An 8-month journey
If you are asking yourself these questions:
- Are my ideas good enough to spend more time on them?
- Why are some pieces “wow” and others “blah”?
- How is my work perceived?
Then this course will help you:
- Identify worthwhile ideas and mature them,
- Ensure that you effectively capture your good ideas,
- Understand how to learn from and accept criticism.
Starting July 1, 2012, the course will build on the wealth of experience and images from the last two years of Polymeristas of the Month competitions.
The course is free and available to all. Only members will have access to the archives.
Sign up on www.voila.eu.com to become a member and join in on this great opportunity! You can read more on Voila in the Summer Issue of The Polymer Arts magazine.
Encouraging Constructive Criticism
June 1, 2012
Polymer issues
Yesterday I posted observations about an organically inspired necklace. Beautifully done, it still had room for improvement and I mentioned my thoughts on that. It felt rather odd to do so. Our community doesn’t really spend a lot of time talking about the missed opportunities in our art work. Usually we praise (and usually deservedly so) the work of our fellow artists which certainly helps bolster confidence and enthusiasm in the artist. But how much does it help them improve their work?
A week or so ago I had a great Skype conversation with Christine Dumont of Voila (see the interview/article on Voila in our latest magazine issue). One of the very unique things about her site is that members get constructive feedback on work they submit in their gallery. Much of the Voila concept is built around ways to help polymer artists improve their work, not just receive confirmation that they are going in the right direction. I think this is a concept we all need to embrace further.
The hard part of with working more constructive feedback into our conversations is that most of us have not been through the training and educational experience of art school or other exposure to critical commentary on our heartfelt work. But in an artistic and educational environment, constructive criticism is a major part of the learning process. Not only does it help to hear other people’s opinions and ideas about how to improve what you do, but honing a critical eye through observing the work of others can help you more readily see ways of improving yours.
I would certainly love to see more of this kind of exchange in the community. Do you think you have a thick enough skin to hear people express what might be done to improve your work so you can learn and grow your artistic skills from it? And can you give others helpful and supportive advice on opportunities you find in their work? If so, perhaps try including small suggestions in your conversations about other artists’ work. And try Voila if you haven’t already done so.
Organic Cohesiveness
May 31, 2012
Inspirational Art, Polymer issues
Nature inspires the art of many of us but how often can you say the entire piece reflects the aesthetics of Mother Nature?
This piece by Beatriz Cominatto is striking not only because of its unexpected and yet still elegant choice of forms for a necklace but because there is no true break from organic construction anywhere along the piece. We are looking at vines twisting down to mature open pods presenting their treasures. From the focal forms all the way around the neckband the piece reflects the shapes and organization of nature.
There are, however, minor breaks from authentic organic here–one that really makes the piece and one that is a departure that could be seen as a missed opportunity.
First the interior of the pods and seeds are metallic–this isn’t a natural version of seed pods but it works because it puts emphasis on the ‘treasure’ aspect of the organic forms, mixing our sense of what treasure is with what nature holds as its most precious gifts. This juxtaposition is what takes this form being just a direct translation of seed pods into something with instilled meaning and added beauty.
The other break from nature is in how the vines are twisted. They are very uniform. This is not normal in nature–not unheard of but not as organic as we usually encounter. A slight variation in the plaiting of the vine forms would have added to the organic theme and interest of the piece. I think it can be helpful to stop before completing a piece and ask if it can be pushed just a little and in this case, it probably could have been. The trick is to know when to stop pushing it. And for this piece, its final form is actually a decent stopping point.
What do you think? And how do you feel about a blog post that both praises and presents constructive criticism of a piece like this?
Beatriz Cominatto hails from São Paulo, Brasil. You can find more of her work on her Flickr page and her website.
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Some time back, I saw these little bowls by the wonderful Emily Squires Levine, but suddenly they were the one thing that really stood out to me in my collection of images I want to share soon. The energy of the patterns, the simplicity of the form, the variety of the composition … not sure which is really drawing me the most, but it really felt like a good Monday kind of visual to share. Also, they serve as an inspiration of something useful and cheerful that can be created when one finds it hard to get into the studio.
This photo was actually found on Veru’s Design blog on an“Art Crush” postings, this one obviously about Emily. Apparently Veruschka Stevens has a serious creative crush on Emily Squires Levine’s work and spent a day with her, snapping shots of Emily’s work, her studio and also the pages of The Polymer Arts that Emily has been in, which was fun for us to see. It’s a very cute and insightful post–go take a look and get the full story on what Veru saw when she visited Emily. And if you want more color and fun for your Monday, see what else Emily has been up to on her website.
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First, thank you to every one who wrote me offline, in the comments or on Facebook about the last post. I have to say, this is one brave community! It was lovely to hear affirmation that constructive criticism and encouragement to push oneself is something many of you would really like to see more of. Because this blog is so public, I won’t be changing up what I do here, but that has resurrected an idea I had a few years ago that was shelved because Voila was covering the peer critiques quite well ,and I was otherwise occupied too. Not that I’m not overly occupied right now, but when things slow down a little, I have some ideas that I’ll explore concerning ways to get honest feedback. If anyone has their own ideas and you think we can help, do let us know!
In the meantime, let’s explore that idea of doing something unusual, of pushing oneself into trying something new. In this case, we are looking at jewelry artist Chris Carlson, who worked in traditional and natural materials for many years before finally making the leap to polymer after a period of uncertainty. In her own words:
“After years of using only the most beautiful stones, pearls, bone and other natural materials, it took more than a little soul-searching to take the leap to incorporate a material as different from those as polymer. I hope you’ll agree that while the materials may be radically different, the designs are true to the philosophy I’ve held from the beginning.”
Her philosophy encompasses the idea of working in a primitive spirit with a contemporary simplistic approach. If you take a look at her work in natural materials and then in her polymer work, you’ll see the leap she took and the freedom of form she has embraced with polymer, but you’ll also see she doesn’t stray from her own aesthetic approach to do so. Her inspiration for her polymer looks to be her own prior work and love of the “spirit of primitive tribal and ethnographic artifacts that touch the soul.”
“Bravo” to another brave soul.
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The one article in the Winter 2014 issue of The Polymer Arts that seemed to greatly affect both the readers and the participants in the creation of its writing was the piece by Anke Humpert, “1,700 Pieces of Jewellery“. If you haven’t read it, you really need to. Anke developed a game based on limitation and a challenging process rather than a single challenge concept, and she invited several dozen artists to participate in her first run of it. That alone is a reason to read this; perhaps, in order to get ideas about developing more in-depth challenges for yourself or for your guild.
The thing that struck me, and I’ve had numerous comments back from readers on this and it obviously struck the artists that participated, was the step that required the participants to re-do the piece they made for the challenge. Yes … after the participating artists completed their piece, Anke asked that each of them make their piece again with changes and adjustments that came about from an evaluation of the initial piece. There was something about being given that bit of instruction, or, as I’ve been thinking of it, permission to start over and try again, that was a key illuminating moment for most of the artists. I know for myself, I plan on doing that exact thing when I get into the studio here shortly, maybe even making the same piece 3 or 4 times to see what I come up with. Many of us make just one piece, and then after that attempt move on, especially when it doesn’t work; when really, we could learn so much from trying to create a better version; to evaluate our work with a purpose; to see if we can create the improvements considered in that critique.
The image here is Sonya Girodon’s two pieces and her evaluation notes. There are more comparisons, notes and comments in the article that will get you thinking. Would you be up for challenging yourself to re-do a piece in this fashion as well?
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 just love what Ginger found for us today as an outside inspiration. A scene created with tiles, a kind of bas relief where the elements create the imagery and depth from how they are layered and arranged. This is not so very different from some of the polymer scenes we’ve seen this week. The primary difference is that the imagery is created with large swaths of color and texture to create a piecework landscape scene but one that is cohesive and pulls you in.
The wall hanging was created by Chris Sumka, a tile artist. This is the piece’s description:
“The old Palmer place”, 2014, 21″X42″, 237 hours, composed entirely of 12″X12″ r/c porcelain, ceramic and slate floor tile, mounted on r/c 3/4 inch plywood, green, eco friendly art. Large amounts of white grout were left behind to add to the snow effect.”
Now he actually cuts each of these shapes to fit the image from some pretty hard material. If you’ve ever worked with tile, then you know how hard this is and just how tricky it can be to make the right cut and not actually break the tile. I’ve done more than my share of tiling. I’m impressed. We can–and a number of people do–create polymer imagery in a similar fashion. With some pretty darn simple cutting work compared to this!
You can see further detail of this piece on Chris’ Facebook page here and more of his fascinating work including photos of pieces in progress on his Facebook timeline as well.
Our guest blogger partner, Ginger Davis Allman lives in Springfield, Missouri with her husband Gary, her three kids and her many craft obsessions. Subscribe to her blog and look around her website for her well-researched and in-depth posts and articles on polymer related subjects. Support her great information and research as well as treating yourself by purchasing a tutorial or two from this talented lady.
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.
Translucent layering is a wonderful way to add depth to a bead or, in the case of this piece below, a little polymer painting.
Roberta Warshaw isn’t too happy with this polymer painting but I think she has accidentally ended up with a better design than she might have if she had been able to fully control the process.
Her process here includes marker ‘painting’ on the clay, layers of translucent polymer lamella (a technique using very thin translucent layers embedded with metal leaf as developed by Kathleen Dustin) and a little carving of the clay. She professes to have laid a layer of lamella the wrong direction thus losing the “golden glow”. She doesn’t say where this mistake is and I can’t see it or maybe the photograph doesn’t show it. Regardless, any misdirected layer is not affecting the end result in any negative way. And what is wrong with a glow-less layer? A little contrast between glow and no-glow could add dimension … an expanse of matte color among the glittering lamella sea. Sounds a bit dramatic but, hey, it’s true–uninterrupted shine will often have less impact than shine interrupted and contrasted with a little dull or subdued mixed in.
Her other disappointment was stated to be in her carving skills. The leaf stem on the left is wider than she intended. However, stop and imagine if the stem was as slim as the rest (see the photoshop version below). Do you see how it changes the balance and the movement in the piece? In the one above, the heavier leaf on the left pulls the balance towards the outside and the stems going from a barely there slimness on the right to a heavy, robust leaf on the left suggests growth (which is often what we sense in a graduated scale of size … from small like a sapling to large like a full grown tree.) Between the pull to the side and the sense of growth, there is a feeling of movement, something more dynamic than the pretty but comparatively static feel of what I think she was after.
I can’t disagree with her on wanting more control with her carving. Even though I like the composition better the way it ended up, you can kind of tell the larger leaf was not intended, that the carving of it may have been worked over a couple times or was done with a heavy hand unlike the other two. Often, a large part of the beauty we perceive in a piece of art is the sense that the work done was wholly intentional and under the artist’s control. You can have good composition, excellent color choices and an intriguing form but if it is created without skill, it is very difficult to enjoy the other aspects. Do you agree?
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The quote below came to mind when I got, for the third time in as many weeks, a kind note from a reader telling me how much they enjoy the blog even though they don’t always agree with what I say. I so enjoy these comments. It means people are stopping to think.
I certainly can’t claim that what I say is “right” or gospel in any manner. We are talking about art here–a subjective matter with many right answers. The fun part is actually being deemed “wrong” and having people stop to say so. It means that whatever was said, whatever was done, was interesting enough to make someone stop and consider. And at the end of the day, that is truly the purpose of art, even when (or especially when) the observer thinks it should have been done differently.
A large part of the conversation this week at Synergy had to do with our avoidance of constructive criticism. The consensus was unanimous – criticism is necessary to our growth and improvement as artists and community, but the hurdles we have to overcome to change a culture of “Like” into a supportive culture of thoughtful examination are huge. According to surveys conducted for this convention, the vast majority of polymer artists create because it is a source of enjoyment, not because they are trying to make a living off of it or get into galleries or museums. With such a base and the pervasive nature of our internet dependent community, it will be difficult for us to get even a fraction of our folks into a habit of giving and graciously accepting criticism of our artwork.
However, avoiding criticism does reduce the effectiveness of our efforts to grow the polymer image from hobbyist craft medium, to a serious fine art form. More so, we still need our hobbyists, and the criticism is not going to be – and should not be – an integral part of their process. Sometimes we should just enjoy the process of creating. But for the serious artists in our community, criticism needs to be seen as essential and, someday, common. Because the inverse of the quote above is true … what we do will mean next to nothing if we avoid criticism and the opportunity to improve our visual communication with the world we present our work to.
Okay … I got all kinds of serious. Perhaps its because last night was so not serious. Our closing banquet was fraught with silliness, innuendo, and wonderfully warm camaraderie. Our sides and faces hurt from laughing but the conviviality assisted the auction raising efforts. I don’t have the numbers, but I hear we raised a record amount to help the IPCA continue its efforts and changes we are hearing about.
Now off to the American Craft Council show to see what else is going on in the craft world.
Read MoreI’m going to put this out there so no one has to feel like they are the odd one out. The art piece I am posting today by German artist Angelika Arendt is not something I find particularly beautiful. There you go … I said it. So if you like the piece, great. If you don’t really care for it, just read on. Let’s talk about why we might want to take a closer look at work we may not personally find aesthetically pleasing.
We don’t have to find something beautiful or visually pleasing to appreciate, learn something from, or be drawn to it. I’m drawn to this piece even though I would not consider having it adorn a shelf in my home. Being a texture junkie, I can’t help but be drawn to the visual and tactile nature of this sculpture. The piece is kind of nuts. Not in any derogatory way … I just imagine the painstaking hours it took to apply and pattern a piece like this. It’s really rather amazing on that point alone. But why share a piece if I don’t find it aesthetically pleasing?
Well, of course there is the “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” thing. I can’t just post what I like. But I think the real point is that accomplished work isn’t always going to be found beautiful. It is, however, always something that makes a good majority of people stop and contemplate it. Don’t tell me you don’t keep looking back at this undulation of color and dots. It’s kind of unnerving how visually magnetic it is. And for us as artists, knowing what kind of work went into this, we may be in awe or at least garner some serious respect for the effort involved.
So what makes this piece accomplished? It’s the fact that it does draw your attention. Its not the busy nature of the texture or color either … anyone can slap a lot of tiny bits onto a form–but there is the choice of colors mixed across the surface. We recognize that the colors do belong together, that there was thought that went behind the choices. In a less accomplished work where conscious decisions aren’t made about color and placement, that lack of planning is usually pretty obvious. What’s hard is making something look random and even chaotic but still whole and ‘right’.
Bottom line here … a variety of shapes, colors, patterns and applications can be used to create an accomplished piece of art. It just needs some intelligence and intention behind it. Even with that, you don’t have to like it but it is worthwhile to see and appreciate it.
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We interrupt this week’s Outside Influence installment with an important announcement … If you have not already seen the announcement, the IPCA opened registration for entry into the Progress and Possibilities juried online exhibition. It’s one of the biggest events of its kind in our community so well worth looking into. There are categories for every level of polymer artists too.
If you are unfamiliar with this annual event, you can check out last year’s exhibition art here: http://theipca.org/gallery/index.php/Progress-Possibilities-2011 Below is the winning piece for the professional category in sculpting. Fox and Grapes is a piece by Doreen Kassel (an artist who was also featured in The Polymer Art’s Fall 2012 Mentor Artist’s Gallery)
Here is the official announcement information:
“Progress & Possibilities 2012,” an online juried exhibition of polymer clay art is open to IPCA members only. The purpose of Progress & Possibilities is to encourage and acknowledge promise, innovation, and individuality in the work of individual polymer clay artists, at all stages of professional development, and to advance public awareness of and appreciation for the fine craft of polymer clay. This official online exhibition of the International Polymer Clay Association will showcase the finest work completed this year by our members throughout the world.
Go to the IPCA’s website for more info and get your work ready!
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