Textural Enticements
October 8, 2018
Inspirational Art
First of all, don’t forget you have a couple more days to get in your pre-order for the new Polymer Art Projects—Organics book due out at the end of the month. Heavily discounted pre-sale pricing ends this Wednesday, October 10th. Go to our website here to reserve your copy with a pre-order.
I know I have done dot-themed weeks a couple of times before but hopefully you are tired of them because we are going to focus on another type of dot this week although this is really more about texture than dots. There has been so much popping up out there in terms of heavily textural dots and this bracelet and earrings set by Sylvie Peraud led the pack this last week.
Why is this so enticing? I mean, this type of texture is reminiscent of reptilian skin and, for those of us with stupidly sensitive skin, certain types of hives and other reactions that result in a bunch of bumpy dots that are none too pretty. And yet this texture is something most of us find almost irresistible to touch. Rubbing our fingers over a surface like this is a feast for our fingertips. There’s also a certain richness to the density of this type of texture. Sylvie has added to this enticement with a gorgeous gradation of fiery warm colors. But the organic-looking texture and varied coloration contrasts starkly with the sharp geometric angles of these forms. This kind of high contrast adds energy and strength to this design.
She’s created bracelets in black-and-white as well as played with other surface applications on this form for at least a couple of weeks now with stunning results. Take a look at her photos on Facebook and hop over to her website for more on Sylvie and her work.
Eliciting a Response
August 27, 2018
Inspirational Art
I decided this week I would like to talk about work that speaks to me. Well, I don’t mean that I want to talk about me so much as use pieces that do speak to me as examples of what it means when a piece of artwork elicits a response from the viewer.
For various reasons, I ended up thinking and talking a lot about how we define art this past week. I have long felt that art should be defined as work that is made with expression and intention, with a goal of eliciting an intellectual or emotional response. Yes, I know a lot of people will say that it is the individual who should determine what art is to them but I would like to suggest that such a statement is not quite the right phrase. Each of us can determine what is good art or what is bad art—to that I absolutely agree. But shouldn’t a label such as “art” have a more specific definition than just whatever someone thinks is art, or just something that is made by hand, as the definition would seem to be nowadays?
I am guilty of this broad use as well so I’m not pointing fingers, I’m just a big proponent of using language to effectively communicate and I think it would be great if the English language had a well-defined use of the word “art” that allowed us to talk about work born of self-expression versus craftwork or artisan work created from skilled hands.
My definition also brings up the question of what does it mean to elicit a response? It is not as confined a concept as it might sound like so I thought I’d try to define that a little this week.
For a piece of work to elicit a response all it has to do is make the viewer stop and feel something, or stop and think. It could be something as simple as making them smile or as complex as questioning societal norms. It can be positive such as emitting a sense of peacefulness or negative such as work with a high shock value geared to make you appalled or angry. If the piece is made with intention, part of that intention will, consciously or unconsciously, be to communicate with the viewer, and if the artist is communicating then they are attempting to elicit a response. Good art accomplishes this. Bad art is too distracting in its failings to communicate or illicit anything of value.
This piece here feels like a very personal piece for Shannon Tabor who commented on her Instagram post of this that “I’m back to my roots in design with ‘Compass’. My Back To Basics study is over and I’m anxious to get all these design ideas out of my head and onto my clay!”
I can feel her excitement for this new work in the composition and surface treatment of this necklace. There is a buzzing kind of energy from the scratches and the asymmetrical placement of elements but there’s also a reservedness in the basic geometric shapes and the subdued and shaded palette. I found that I was drawn to the contrast between that reserved feeling and that feeling of excitement. It reminds me of that point in time right before things really take off in some exciting new venture, which I love, and so that must be what made me stop and spend time with this piece.
So, you see, Shannon may have been working on something specific to what she wanted to explore but the intention in her skilled design choices allowed me to connect with her emotion, or at least my sense of what her emotion must’ve been. That’s eliciting a response. And to me, that’s what makes it art.
See what else Shannon is up to by following her on Instagram or hopping over to her website.
Mix and Match Stone
August 22, 2018
Inspirational Art
As I’ve said many times, you can have all types of contrast as long as there is some commonality in some aspect that will create a relationship between the disparate parts. Olga Ledneva is quite adept at this as you’re certain to see in this piece here.
What Olga had done to bring all these disparate pieces together was create a variety of faux stone and other natural and inherently solid-looking faux materials, all finished with a smooth surface and in relatively geometric shapes. That tied most of the bead elements together. But then there’s this flower, a delicate object with an uneven shape and a rippling surface. It’s completely different from everything else but it works, doesn’t it? Why would that be?
For one, she’s made this flower element the focal point by making it so completely different. Just its hugely different look actually ties it to the rest with its high contrast. But she sneaks in one subtle characteristic that makes it work with the other beads— she makes it approximately the same size as all the center stone beads. Similarly sized objects will seem to belong together when they are surrounded by a variety of other sized objects. This can be a tricky thing to pull off well but I think Olga did it wonderfully here.
Olga’s work has grown in leaps and bounds since I last posted her work in early 2015, a post that caused little bit of a stir because she was combining elements, forms, and techniques learned in classes from master polymer artists, which I pointed out while noting the original, completely valid and successful way she applied them. Not everyone was comfortable with comments that might be perceived as anything less than glowingly positive but, as I replied in the comments then, I feel that I am a funnel for the community and our thoughts and concerns. So, I wanted to present the piece as a great example of taking what you learn and making it your own.
Some people were actually mad about what I wrote but Olga, to her credit, saw this as supportive and positive. That kind of openness to constructive commentary on one’s work is an important element in an artist’s growth. It shows a sincere desire to better one’s skills and designs and I think we really see that in Olga’s work.
You can watch her growth over time and see more of her beautiful work by looking through her photos on her Facebook page and Flickr photostream.
Looking Back at Faux Glass
July 18, 2018
Inspirational Art
Although I did not plan on the theme this week, apparently we are focused on glass. I remember seeing this pendant years ago and I thought it was made of little glass mosaic tiles. But no, it’s polymer with a resin top but it’s beautifully done, with a great color palette that jazzes up the repetition of basic geometric shapes.
The work, created some eight years ago, is by Christi Uliczny. You can find Christi under the moniker of either Cabin Fever Clay or River Valley Design. Her recent work has moved quite a ways from this orderly geometric type of design. She’s gone quite organic in both form and color application. If you find the progression and change of an artist as fascinating as I do, you can find a timeline of Christi’s progress as an artist on her Flickr photostream as well as find her recent work in her Etsy shop or on Instagram.
Thread and Clay
July 2, 2018
Inspirational Art
Guest Blog Post by Stéphanie Kilgast
Justyna Wołodkiewicz mixes embroidery with polymer clay in an always poetic way.
She seamlessly binds traditional arts to very contemporary ones, resulting in often abstract and always mesmerizing works of art.
Her work vacillates between organic shapes and precise geometry with a dash of oddity. Eyes and sad or sleepy faces often inhabit her embroidery hoops.
Her world is one of colors, and she effortlessly mixes hues and shades, giving each sculptural work a different set of emotions.
Her artist’s name, “Nibyniebo,” translates into “just like the sky,” and just like the sky, her work is an evidence of poetry that will resonate within you.
You can follow her artistic journey on Instagram and also buy certain of her pieces on her website.
Stéphanie Kilgast shares and teaches her craft through video and online tutorials. Find them at www.petitplat.fr and follow her on Instagram @petitplat.
Colors of the Subtropics
March 12, 2018
Inspirational Art
Creating variations on a theme is one very good way to really understand and perfect a design, plus you often end up with a lot of work to sell!
This set was one I was actually going to talk about the week before last, as another example of how to work paint into polymer in a way that polymer alone can’t accomplish. Yes, Genevieve Williamson uses an antiquing process but instead of just trying to give the work an antique look, the technique really feels like it is more about softening the colors and bringing out the scratched up surfaces that are her signature texture.
The look is a bit grungy but definitely sophisticated. The effect transcends the materials used so that the look is all about the color and style and what they are made of is of no consequence. The quiet affinity Genevieve shows for the organic is rather remarkable in that all that her shapes are primarily geometric, however loosely cut and carved. Her colors are usually more subdued as well but these subtropical colors are a pleasant departure, still keeping all her signature marks and shapes but giving the work a sunny and fun look and creating variation within her own style as well as this line of subtropic earrings.
Genevieve’s style is unique as is how much she shares about her life and process online. If you read her blog, you do really feel like you know and understand where her work is coming from. It’s a pleasure to read her posts, however few and far between they are. You can find those posts and a gallery of her work on her website as well as work for sale in her Etsy shop.
Quick and Colorful Geometry
December 21, 2013
Inspirational Art
This piece and the accompanying tutorial don’t really lean organic except maybe in the color choices but they are certainly geometric and it looks like such a fun and easy technique that I just had to share it.
Magali Chauveau is a French artist who uses a cookie cutter or punch to cut out shapes and apply them to a base sheet in order to create the surface design for beads like the ones on the necklace pictured here.
Magali generously shares tutorials on her blog as well as having several books available. To see more of her work, take a look at her Facebook page or view her books on Amazon.
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.
First of all, don’t forget you have a couple more days to get in your pre-order for the new Polymer Art Projects—Organics book due out at the end of the month. Heavily discounted pre-sale pricing ends this Wednesday, October 10th. Go to our website here to reserve your copy with a pre-order.
I know I have done dot-themed weeks a couple of times before but hopefully you are tired of them because we are going to focus on another type of dot this week although this is really more about texture than dots. There has been so much popping up out there in terms of heavily textural dots and this bracelet and earrings set by Sylvie Peraud led the pack this last week.
Why is this so enticing? I mean, this type of texture is reminiscent of reptilian skin and, for those of us with stupidly sensitive skin, certain types of hives and other reactions that result in a bunch of bumpy dots that are none too pretty. And yet this texture is something most of us find almost irresistible to touch. Rubbing our fingers over a surface like this is a feast for our fingertips. There’s also a certain richness to the density of this type of texture. Sylvie has added to this enticement with a gorgeous gradation of fiery warm colors. But the organic-looking texture and varied coloration contrasts starkly with the sharp geometric angles of these forms. This kind of high contrast adds energy and strength to this design.
She’s created bracelets in black-and-white as well as played with other surface applications on this form for at least a couple of weeks now with stunning results. Take a look at her photos on Facebook and hop over to her website for more on Sylvie and her work.
Read More I decided this week I would like to talk about work that speaks to me. Well, I don’t mean that I want to talk about me so much as use pieces that do speak to me as examples of what it means when a piece of artwork elicits a response from the viewer.
For various reasons, I ended up thinking and talking a lot about how we define art this past week. I have long felt that art should be defined as work that is made with expression and intention, with a goal of eliciting an intellectual or emotional response. Yes, I know a lot of people will say that it is the individual who should determine what art is to them but I would like to suggest that such a statement is not quite the right phrase. Each of us can determine what is good art or what is bad art—to that I absolutely agree. But shouldn’t a label such as “art” have a more specific definition than just whatever someone thinks is art, or just something that is made by hand, as the definition would seem to be nowadays?
I am guilty of this broad use as well so I’m not pointing fingers, I’m just a big proponent of using language to effectively communicate and I think it would be great if the English language had a well-defined use of the word “art” that allowed us to talk about work born of self-expression versus craftwork or artisan work created from skilled hands.
My definition also brings up the question of what does it mean to elicit a response? It is not as confined a concept as it might sound like so I thought I’d try to define that a little this week.
For a piece of work to elicit a response all it has to do is make the viewer stop and feel something, or stop and think. It could be something as simple as making them smile or as complex as questioning societal norms. It can be positive such as emitting a sense of peacefulness or negative such as work with a high shock value geared to make you appalled or angry. If the piece is made with intention, part of that intention will, consciously or unconsciously, be to communicate with the viewer, and if the artist is communicating then they are attempting to elicit a response. Good art accomplishes this. Bad art is too distracting in its failings to communicate or illicit anything of value.
This piece here feels like a very personal piece for Shannon Tabor who commented on her Instagram post of this that “I’m back to my roots in design with ‘Compass’. My Back To Basics study is over and I’m anxious to get all these design ideas out of my head and onto my clay!”
I can feel her excitement for this new work in the composition and surface treatment of this necklace. There is a buzzing kind of energy from the scratches and the asymmetrical placement of elements but there’s also a reservedness in the basic geometric shapes and the subdued and shaded palette. I found that I was drawn to the contrast between that reserved feeling and that feeling of excitement. It reminds me of that point in time right before things really take off in some exciting new venture, which I love, and so that must be what made me stop and spend time with this piece.
So, you see, Shannon may have been working on something specific to what she wanted to explore but the intention in her skilled design choices allowed me to connect with her emotion, or at least my sense of what her emotion must’ve been. That’s eliciting a response. And to me, that’s what makes it art.
See what else Shannon is up to by following her on Instagram or hopping over to her website.
Read More
As I’ve said many times, you can have all types of contrast as long as there is some commonality in some aspect that will create a relationship between the disparate parts. Olga Ledneva is quite adept at this as you’re certain to see in this piece here.
What Olga had done to bring all these disparate pieces together was create a variety of faux stone and other natural and inherently solid-looking faux materials, all finished with a smooth surface and in relatively geometric shapes. That tied most of the bead elements together. But then there’s this flower, a delicate object with an uneven shape and a rippling surface. It’s completely different from everything else but it works, doesn’t it? Why would that be?
For one, she’s made this flower element the focal point by making it so completely different. Just its hugely different look actually ties it to the rest with its high contrast. But she sneaks in one subtle characteristic that makes it work with the other beads— she makes it approximately the same size as all the center stone beads. Similarly sized objects will seem to belong together when they are surrounded by a variety of other sized objects. This can be a tricky thing to pull off well but I think Olga did it wonderfully here.
Olga’s work has grown in leaps and bounds since I last posted her work in early 2015, a post that caused little bit of a stir because she was combining elements, forms, and techniques learned in classes from master polymer artists, which I pointed out while noting the original, completely valid and successful way she applied them. Not everyone was comfortable with comments that might be perceived as anything less than glowingly positive but, as I replied in the comments then, I feel that I am a funnel for the community and our thoughts and concerns. So, I wanted to present the piece as a great example of taking what you learn and making it your own.
Some people were actually mad about what I wrote but Olga, to her credit, saw this as supportive and positive. That kind of openness to constructive commentary on one’s work is an important element in an artist’s growth. It shows a sincere desire to better one’s skills and designs and I think we really see that in Olga’s work.
You can watch her growth over time and see more of her beautiful work by looking through her photos on her Facebook page and Flickr photostream.
Read MoreAlthough I did not plan on the theme this week, apparently we are focused on glass. I remember seeing this pendant years ago and I thought it was made of little glass mosaic tiles. But no, it’s polymer with a resin top but it’s beautifully done, with a great color palette that jazzes up the repetition of basic geometric shapes.
The work, created some eight years ago, is by Christi Uliczny. You can find Christi under the moniker of either Cabin Fever Clay or River Valley Design. Her recent work has moved quite a ways from this orderly geometric type of design. She’s gone quite organic in both form and color application. If you find the progression and change of an artist as fascinating as I do, you can find a timeline of Christi’s progress as an artist on her Flickr photostream as well as find her recent work in her Etsy shop or on Instagram.
Read More
Guest Blog Post by Stéphanie Kilgast
Justyna Wołodkiewicz mixes embroidery with polymer clay in an always poetic way.
She seamlessly binds traditional arts to very contemporary ones, resulting in often abstract and always mesmerizing works of art.
Her work vacillates between organic shapes and precise geometry with a dash of oddity. Eyes and sad or sleepy faces often inhabit her embroidery hoops.
Her world is one of colors, and she effortlessly mixes hues and shades, giving each sculptural work a different set of emotions.
Her artist’s name, “Nibyniebo,” translates into “just like the sky,” and just like the sky, her work is an evidence of poetry that will resonate within you.
You can follow her artistic journey on Instagram and also buy certain of her pieces on her website.
Stéphanie Kilgast shares and teaches her craft through video and online tutorials. Find them at www.petitplat.fr and follow her on Instagram @petitplat.
Read More
Creating variations on a theme is one very good way to really understand and perfect a design, plus you often end up with a lot of work to sell!
This set was one I was actually going to talk about the week before last, as another example of how to work paint into polymer in a way that polymer alone can’t accomplish. Yes, Genevieve Williamson uses an antiquing process but instead of just trying to give the work an antique look, the technique really feels like it is more about softening the colors and bringing out the scratched up surfaces that are her signature texture.
The look is a bit grungy but definitely sophisticated. The effect transcends the materials used so that the look is all about the color and style and what they are made of is of no consequence. The quiet affinity Genevieve shows for the organic is rather remarkable in that all that her shapes are primarily geometric, however loosely cut and carved. Her colors are usually more subdued as well but these subtropical colors are a pleasant departure, still keeping all her signature marks and shapes but giving the work a sunny and fun look and creating variation within her own style as well as this line of subtropic earrings.
Genevieve’s style is unique as is how much she shares about her life and process online. If you read her blog, you do really feel like you know and understand where her work is coming from. It’s a pleasure to read her posts, however few and far between they are. You can find those posts and a gallery of her work on her website as well as work for sale in her Etsy shop.
Read MoreThis piece and the accompanying tutorial don’t really lean organic except maybe in the color choices but they are certainly geometric and it looks like such a fun and easy technique that I just had to share it.
Magali Chauveau is a French artist who uses a cookie cutter or punch to cut out shapes and apply them to a base sheet in order to create the surface design for beads like the ones on the necklace pictured here.
Magali generously shares tutorials on her blog as well as having several books available. To see more of her work, take a look at her Facebook page or view her books on Amazon.
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.
