Embellished Hearts
December 28, 2018
Inspirational Art
Now that I am safely ensconced at my sister’s house in Colorado I’ve been catching up on some social media, seeing what other people have been up to this week. I ran across Ron Lehocky’s Facebook page and although I was quite taken by his fabulous “ribbon wrapped” Christmas hearts but I found I most wanted to share these beaded bezel versions of Ron’s hearts created by expert beader Marcia Antle from Atlanta, Georgia, that Ron posted last month.
This is such an excellent pairing of mediums—not that polymer cabochons and beaded bezels are a new thing—but Ron’s hearts are already a collaborative endeavor as he takes scrap canes and surface-treated clay sent to him by other artists to create the majority of his hearts. Then to have a skilled bead artist continue the collaboration with this type of bezel work gives these pendants an unusual richness in their story and creative cooperation. They have a feel-good quality that just fits the season
As you consider your goals and projects for the coming year, perhaps this type of thing will get you thinking about collaboration or mixing mediums. I have a feeling 2019 will be the year of leaps and bounds in mixing or crossing mediums with polymer clay. I know so many people with plans of that sort. It makes you very excited to see what 2019 has to bring.
Don’t forget to jump over to Ron Lehocky’s Facebook page to see the posts of these hearts and his other holiday centric pieces, if you’re not too tired of Christmas motifs and scroll down to November 28th to see more of Marcia’s beaded hearts.
Let it Snow
December 26, 2018
Inspirational Art
I’m getting on the road today, trying to beat a snowstorm so I can spend New Year’s with my family in Colorado, so this is going to be quick.
To stay in the theme of my day today, how about a beautiful Snow Dragon? I don’t recall snow dragons being a thing from my days of collecting and reading about everything having to do with dragons—I had quite the obsession with them in my teenage years. But this is a beautiful idea of one. I just love the serenity of Evgeny Hontor‘s sculptures. Evgeny’s creatures are actually created out of something called velvet clay, not that it matters if this is polymer not. If you want to make a sculpture of this type, you can make it with polymer.
The real takeaway here is seeing how just putting in the eyes keeps the expression of the sculpture quiet and calm. That matches the calm inherent in the color of blue which, in this piece with highlights of white, still harkens to the idea of snow.
So off to see my own snow now. I hope you all enjoyed your holidays and are resting up. I’ll pop in on Friday with something Colorado-inspired, I’m sure. In the meantime, you can check out more of Evgeny’s work on Deviant Art and Etsy.
Enjoy the Season
December 24, 2018
Inspirational Art
Today, I am off to enjoy the season with my family. I thought I’d leave you with an ornament of mine from an exchange I did the year I started The Polymer Arts. It’s been a long time since I’ve had the time to join in an exchange like this but I’m hoping this coming year will prove to be more open to studio time for myself. I hope it is the same for you.
Here is to wishing you a wonderful wrap-up to the holiday season. Regardless of whether you celebrate Christmas or not, I do wish you and yours warmth, inspiration, and joy this holiday season!
Silver Inspired
December 17, 2018
Inspirational Art
So here we are, a week before Christmas and I thought it best if I can share some things to put us in that holiday spirit. As for me, I think I’ve had enough of Santa Clauses, Christmas wreaths, snowmen and candy canes. Not that there’s anything wrong with those motifs but you’re seeing those everywhere right now. So I get to thinking about the season in a more noncommercial way and, perusing through my collection of art to share at a future time I found myself drawn to the silver pieces. There’s something about the stately near whiteness of silver that feel so appropriate for this time of year. Its quiet and yet bright manner are also seen everywhere in silver bells, silver ribbon, silver tinsel, and even outside our windows for those of us who get to admire a snowy night landscape. I don’t know if that wholly explains what I’m doing with silver this week but that’s going to be our theme.
This is a piece that started me thinking on it. It’s a recent necklace by Celine Charuau. I had been thinking stars like on the top of Christmas trees or the radiating ones often found in nativity scenes but this is what I ended up finding. It’s not a star but is a beautiful radiating piece full of texture and still presenting that quiet, stately feel. The lines in the urchin are followed by the lines of the silver pieces radiating from the center and, combining with the silver color, gives us a sense that it is heralding some moment or celebrating an occasion. It may seem like a stretch but it feels a little like Christmas to me.
Of course, Celine’s work is often quiet and stately, using pale or subdued colors and lots of silver. You can see more of her work on her Flickr photostream.
Dragon in a Season’s Greetings
December 25, 2017
Inspirational Art
As with many of you, I will be spending the day with my family but did not want to miss chiming in to send you warm good wishes this holiday season. I am so very grateful for your support of The Polymer Arts projects, both the magazine and the blog. Without you, I would not be able to spend my days entrenched in art and creativity nor would I be able to help so many find new ways to create and be inspired, connecting talented artists to readers in the intimate way we get to in our publications.
I’d give you all a little something sweet in thanks if I could but since I can’t reach you all, I am soliciting the help of Becca Golins who creates these adorable dragons and other fantastical beasts. These big-eyed beasties so readily bring a smile to my face and so, I hope they do for you as well.
You can find more of Becca’s cute creatures on her Facebook page and her coloring books inspired by them in her Etsy shop.
Enjoy the season and the chance to be closer to the ones you love. A Merry Christmas to those celebrating and happy holidays to you all.
A Little Sunday Sugar
October 20, 2013
Technique tutorials
Instead of a quote this Sunday, how about a free tutorial instead? No objections out there? I thought not. First let me introduce you to the collection from which this free tutorial has been plucked, and then at the end here we’ll get to the freebie as well as news about deep discounts on The Polymer Arts magazine.
Have you ever wondered if sugar and clay mix? Well, perhaps you haven’t yet–but Iris Mishly, polymer artist and instructor extraordinaire, certainly did. That question led to her mixing talents with Sharon Peled, a master cake decorator and sugar flower artist; together they created “The Flower Academy,” a full scale polymer clay encyclopedia and tutorial.
This is not your average tutorial–it’s actually a collection covering 26 types of flowers with 29 videos and 325 pages of step-by-step instructions to help you along. The collection features more than 40 final projects including jewelry, head bands, hair pins, table centerpieces, bridal bouquets, and more. They have included some rather innovative techniques that will help you create polymer clay flowers and foliage with a very striking, lifelike appearance, like these here:
My favorites are actually the tulips and they have some wonderful designs for men’s lapel pieces. But you’ll have to get the tutorial to see them.
The Freebie!
As promised though, Iris has set aside a free tutorial as a sample of what is in the collection. With the holidays fast approaching, the ladies thought a bit of Mistletoe creating would be in order. To get this free mistletoe tutorial and more information on the Flower Academy collection, go to Iris’s Polypedia website.
The Sale!
And if you have been looking to get the couple of issues you’ve missed of The Polymer Arts magazine, or get digital but have often thought it would be nice to have your favorite issues (or all of them!) in print, right now we are having a HUGE Print Back Issue Sale!
All back issue Singles & Packages are discounted, only through Tuesday!
$3 off 2011 Back Issues
$2 off 2012 Back Issues
$1 off 2013 Back Issues
PSST! Biggest discounts EVER on International Packages
Last 4 Issues Package (Winter ’12, Spring ’13, Summer ’13, & Fall ’13) Save up to $11 on this package.
All 8 Back Issues Package (Everything from Fall 2011 – Summer 2013) Save up to $32 on this package!
Just go to the website to get your back issues at the best discounted price we’ve ever offered!
Now that I am safely ensconced at my sister’s house in Colorado I’ve been catching up on some social media, seeing what other people have been up to this week. I ran across Ron Lehocky’s Facebook page and although I was quite taken by his fabulous “ribbon wrapped” Christmas hearts but I found I most wanted to share these beaded bezel versions of Ron’s hearts created by expert beader Marcia Antle from Atlanta, Georgia, that Ron posted last month.
This is such an excellent pairing of mediums—not that polymer cabochons and beaded bezels are a new thing—but Ron’s hearts are already a collaborative endeavor as he takes scrap canes and surface-treated clay sent to him by other artists to create the majority of his hearts. Then to have a skilled bead artist continue the collaboration with this type of bezel work gives these pendants an unusual richness in their story and creative cooperation. They have a feel-good quality that just fits the season
As you consider your goals and projects for the coming year, perhaps this type of thing will get you thinking about collaboration or mixing mediums. I have a feeling 2019 will be the year of leaps and bounds in mixing or crossing mediums with polymer clay. I know so many people with plans of that sort. It makes you very excited to see what 2019 has to bring.
Don’t forget to jump over to Ron Lehocky’s Facebook page to see the posts of these hearts and his other holiday centric pieces, if you’re not too tired of Christmas motifs and scroll down to November 28th to see more of Marcia’s beaded hearts.
Read More
I’m getting on the road today, trying to beat a snowstorm so I can spend New Year’s with my family in Colorado, so this is going to be quick.
To stay in the theme of my day today, how about a beautiful Snow Dragon? I don’t recall snow dragons being a thing from my days of collecting and reading about everything having to do with dragons—I had quite the obsession with them in my teenage years. But this is a beautiful idea of one. I just love the serenity of Evgeny Hontor‘s sculptures. Evgeny’s creatures are actually created out of something called velvet clay, not that it matters if this is polymer not. If you want to make a sculpture of this type, you can make it with polymer.
The real takeaway here is seeing how just putting in the eyes keeps the expression of the sculpture quiet and calm. That matches the calm inherent in the color of blue which, in this piece with highlights of white, still harkens to the idea of snow.
So off to see my own snow now. I hope you all enjoyed your holidays and are resting up. I’ll pop in on Friday with something Colorado-inspired, I’m sure. In the meantime, you can check out more of Evgeny’s work on Deviant Art and Etsy.
Read MoreToday, I am off to enjoy the season with my family. I thought I’d leave you with an ornament of mine from an exchange I did the year I started The Polymer Arts. It’s been a long time since I’ve had the time to join in an exchange like this but I’m hoping this coming year will prove to be more open to studio time for myself. I hope it is the same for you.
Here is to wishing you a wonderful wrap-up to the holiday season. Regardless of whether you celebrate Christmas or not, I do wish you and yours warmth, inspiration, and joy this holiday season!
Read More
So here we are, a week before Christmas and I thought it best if I can share some things to put us in that holiday spirit. As for me, I think I’ve had enough of Santa Clauses, Christmas wreaths, snowmen and candy canes. Not that there’s anything wrong with those motifs but you’re seeing those everywhere right now. So I get to thinking about the season in a more noncommercial way and, perusing through my collection of art to share at a future time I found myself drawn to the silver pieces. There’s something about the stately near whiteness of silver that feel so appropriate for this time of year. Its quiet and yet bright manner are also seen everywhere in silver bells, silver ribbon, silver tinsel, and even outside our windows for those of us who get to admire a snowy night landscape. I don’t know if that wholly explains what I’m doing with silver this week but that’s going to be our theme.
This is a piece that started me thinking on it. It’s a recent necklace by Celine Charuau. I had been thinking stars like on the top of Christmas trees or the radiating ones often found in nativity scenes but this is what I ended up finding. It’s not a star but is a beautiful radiating piece full of texture and still presenting that quiet, stately feel. The lines in the urchin are followed by the lines of the silver pieces radiating from the center and, combining with the silver color, gives us a sense that it is heralding some moment or celebrating an occasion. It may seem like a stretch but it feels a little like Christmas to me.
Of course, Celine’s work is often quiet and stately, using pale or subdued colors and lots of silver. You can see more of her work on her Flickr photostream.
Read More
As with many of you, I will be spending the day with my family but did not want to miss chiming in to send you warm good wishes this holiday season. I am so very grateful for your support of The Polymer Arts projects, both the magazine and the blog. Without you, I would not be able to spend my days entrenched in art and creativity nor would I be able to help so many find new ways to create and be inspired, connecting talented artists to readers in the intimate way we get to in our publications.
I’d give you all a little something sweet in thanks if I could but since I can’t reach you all, I am soliciting the help of Becca Golins who creates these adorable dragons and other fantastical beasts. These big-eyed beasties so readily bring a smile to my face and so, I hope they do for you as well.
You can find more of Becca’s cute creatures on her Facebook page and her coloring books inspired by them in her Etsy shop.
Enjoy the season and the chance to be closer to the ones you love. A Merry Christmas to those celebrating and happy holidays to you all.
Read MoreInstead of a quote this Sunday, how about a free tutorial instead? No objections out there? I thought not. First let me introduce you to the collection from which this free tutorial has been plucked, and then at the end here we’ll get to the freebie as well as news about deep discounts on The Polymer Arts magazine.
Have you ever wondered if sugar and clay mix? Well, perhaps you haven’t yet–but Iris Mishly, polymer artist and instructor extraordinaire, certainly did. That question led to her mixing talents with Sharon Peled, a master cake decorator and sugar flower artist; together they created “The Flower Academy,” a full scale polymer clay encyclopedia and tutorial.
This is not your average tutorial–it’s actually a collection covering 26 types of flowers with 29 videos and 325 pages of step-by-step instructions to help you along. The collection features more than 40 final projects including jewelry, head bands, hair pins, table centerpieces, bridal bouquets, and more. They have included some rather innovative techniques that will help you create polymer clay flowers and foliage with a very striking, lifelike appearance, like these here:
My favorites are actually the tulips and they have some wonderful designs for men’s lapel pieces. But you’ll have to get the tutorial to see them.
The Freebie!
As promised though, Iris has set aside a free tutorial as a sample of what is in the collection. With the holidays fast approaching, the ladies thought a bit of Mistletoe creating would be in order. To get this free mistletoe tutorial and more information on the Flower Academy collection, go to Iris’s Polypedia website.
The Sale!
And if you have been looking to get the couple of issues you’ve missed of The Polymer Arts magazine, or get digital but have often thought it would be nice to have your favorite issues (or all of them!) in print, right now we are having a HUGE Print Back Issue Sale!
All back issue Singles & Packages are discounted, only through Tuesday!
$3 off 2011 Back Issues
$2 off 2012 Back Issues
$1 off 2013 Back Issues
PSST! Biggest discounts EVER on International Packages
Last 4 Issues Package (Winter ’12, Spring ’13, Summer ’13, & Fall ’13) Save up to $11 on this package.
All 8 Back Issues Package (Everything from Fall 2011 – Summer 2013) Save up to $32 on this package!
Just go to the website to get your back issues at the best discounted price we’ve ever offered!
Read More
