Unintentional Preciousness

February 19, 2016

forditeWhat kind of polymer is this you ask? Well, as much as it looks like a super well polished bit of polymer mokume, it is not. It is a material called Fordite. If you haven’t heard of it before, you’re now probably thinking this is a semi-precious stone, right? Well, precious it is, strangely enough, and although it was created in a process not unlike nature’s layering and compressing, it isn’t stone either. Maybe its other names will give you a hint–it’s also known as Motor Agate, Detroit Agate, or “paint rock”and was mined, not from some exotic mountain region in a little known area of the Amazon but rather, in the depths of automobile manufacturing plants. That’s right, its layered car paint. Pretty wild, huh?

This ‘stone’ is now being traded, sold, carved and set like a semi-precious stone even though it’s a manmade product. The reason it is so special is because it is an unintentional product and some of the paint in those layers are really, really old. As described on www.thenewswheel.com: “It’s created by layer upon layer of slag-like material formed from spray-painting cars by hand. Each time a new car got colored, the oversprayed paint gradually built up on the tracks and skids holding the vehicle’s frame. Those paint layers harden as the cars entered “ovens” to cure the paint on the frame. After being baked hundreds of times, this agate would become an obstruction and had to be removed by hand.”

This meddlesome byproduct was thought to initially be something the plant worker’s pocketed as a curiosity but eventually it found its way into the hands of jewelers. Although there is documented use of this as a kind of stone as much as 30 years ago, it wasn’t until artist Cindy Dempsey of Urban Relic Design was interviewed by The New York Times that it really started to get noticed. And with demand going up but supply being finite (they don’t paint cars that way anymore), it is getting really expensive. There are even people talking about hunting down and mining the sites where the waste materials of the car plants were dumped. How crazy is that?

Okay, so it’s a cool story, but what does that mean for polymer? At the very least, it means that the mokume look is appreciated and in-fashion. We won’t be able to provide the sense of history or be identifiable by car types or time periods as these pieces are, but the way people are working with this and the kind of visual textures they are getting is just one source of inspiration for your own textural explorations. Plus, it’s just a cool story!

I choose this particular piece to share because the artist integrated the drips, rather than grinding them off or using a portion with less variation. The piece was created by a seller on Etsy whose shop is called “Walk On The Moon”. I am unsure if the artists who work in fordite commonly grind the stones from the chunk of compressed paint or if they get the pieces and just decide  how best to present it. In any case, it’s pretty neat stuff for something so wholly unintentional.

Inspirational Challenge of the Day: Take a look at your half-finished pieces or scrap elements and look for the beauty in it that you didn’t see before. If you cut it, grind it down, drill it, add a layer, hang it in a different orientation, or do something completely unintended, can you see the wonderful thing it can become? Study or play with the piece until you find a form or treatment that makes it work.

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Hidden Patterns in the Newly Released Winter 2015 Issue – Hidden

November 23, 2015

lehocky Propaher heart pinThe Winter issue of The Polymer Arts was released yesterday, to much fanfare and much relief from myself and the crew. Thank you so much for the many kind comments and compliments  you’ve already sent in. It’s always great to know we’ve done well for you. Digital access was sent to everyone who subscribed or pre-ordered prior to yesterday and all the print issues are in the mail or will be as of this afternoon.

If you don’t see the digital issue you expected in your inbox, check your spam folder, and if it’s not there, write Kat at connect@thepolymerarts.com and she will look into it.  If you don’t have your copy ordered or an active subscription you can do so on our website here.

I was so thrilled to have the genius of Ellen Prophater in this issue. She doesn’t post her work online, which I keep forgetting, but I’ve had the fortune of getting to see a lot of her work, both finished and in progress, at Creative Journey Studios and at events we’ve both attended, so it feels familiar to me. I thought I’d share a little Ellen that I own today while we wrap up things over here.

This is Ellen’s mokume, but it’s a Ron Lehocky heart pin (like you couldn’t guess that!) and the only reason it’s available is because it happens to be in my collection, a kindly gift from Ron. This is an example of my favorite of Ellen’s mokume methods where she uses embossing powder to create a beautiful granite-like look. She has so, so many methods and combinations for mokume, though. And we are such lucky kids that she shared nearly two dozen of her ideas in the Variations in Mokume article in the new issue. It’s not a step-by-step, but after the three sections that precede it – important secrets to great mokume, a very detailed tutorial by Angela Barenholtz on creating contour line mokume (sometimes referred to as impression mokume), and the new wild and twisted mokume Anke Humpert created a tutorial for – you’ll pretty much be ready to venture out on your own and try Ellen’s methods by recipe.

If you aren’t familiar with Ellen’s biggest creation, Creative Journey Studios, which she runs with the very kindly Sue Sutherland, do go over and take a look at all they do and have for you. They are a polymer supplier, but they also have one of the largest retail collections of filigree findings, and they are an absolute must as a place to visit on any polymer person’s bucket list as the studios house the most extensive retrospective collection of polymer art in the world. It’s amazing. If you are ever anywhere near Buford, Georgia (just north of Atlanta), you have to go there. It will knock your socks off. Or, you can make it a destination … they also do workshops all year long with some of the biggest names in the community, so take a look at their schedule and start planning!

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  PCA Nov 15 Blog    

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Out Of Hiding: The Winter 2015 Cover of The Polymer Arts

October 28, 2015

TPA Winter 15-P4 cover webFor our Winter issue, we present to you this dramatic cover with a beautiful piece by the very talented Jeffrey Lloyd Dever. As you see here, the theme for Winter is ‘Hidden’. We’ve been super excited about this issue and got started on it early in the year, actually. There are a lot of techniques and tips in this issue. We wanted to give you a lot of juicy ideas to work on over the Winter (or while escaping the heat down in the southern hemisphere) and for the New Year.

Articles will include things to create:
–Hidden Patterns: Variations in Mokume
–Hidden Composition: Creating Unity with Geometry
–Concealed Light: Polymer LED Jewelry
–Hidden in Plain Sight: Seamless Front Closures
–Secret Spaces: Polymer Box Construction
–Hiding Loose Ends: Finishing Options for Stringing

And things to ponder:
–Of Values and Intentions: The Art of Jeffrey Lloyd Dever
–Behind the Wall: Breaking Through Artistic Blocks
–The Hidden Cost of Doing Business
–Muse’s Corner: A Hidden Polymer Pioneer

… and so much more. Due out November 22nd.

I’m still on the road here, so my apologies for the brevity of this post. I’ll get more information out in our newsletter Thursday or Friday and we’ll get pre-orders going by then, as well. We’ll confirm that here on Friday, too!

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Mokume in all its Hidden Glory

August 21, 2015

platshpinFinally got the Fall issue wrapped up as far as the printer is concerned, but I am already knee deep in plans for the Winter issue whose theme is “Hidden”, which is coincidentally related to what we’ve been chatting about this week. What a great theme idea–it came from a few reader’s last year, and we were all too excited at the possibilities. Mokume is one such possibility to fulfill the theme, and we are working on getting you some amazing mokume techniques to try, but in the meantime, how about a little mokume education?

You probably already know that mokume gane is an ancient folded metal technique. You will often see me refer to it only as mokume since that means wood grain and gane means metal. And we are giving metal a woodgrain look. It’s kind of ironic that mokume gane is really faux wood in metal and mokume nendo–which means plastic–is the faux of a faux woodgrain. We ALL borrow from from other art forms including that which nature creates.

Mokume gane is not the most popular metal technique, but it does seem to be having a resurgence. And I have to say that the restrictions and control necessary really give the metal technique just gorgeous lines and sophistication. I think because it is too easy to just push it any which way with polymer we have some pretty blobby versions out there. Nothing wrong with nicely done ‘blobs’. Any form can be beautiful, right? But let’s just sit back today and enjoy the beauty of the form we borrowed from as it is seen in the metal arts of Steve Midgett.

The one on the left is actually a pin and was oriented horizontally on his website, but I think it has such beautiful power in the vertical position. We have quite the in-depth article on creating mood with color, shape and orientation in the upcoming Fall 2015 issue of The Polymer Arts–be sure to get your copy and you’ll understand more what I’m talking about after you read it. However, you can feel how that shape still feels so powerfully elegant in the pendant of the same basic shape on the right.

Take a peak at more of these hidden layers and Steve’s beautiful application of mokume gane on his website.

 

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Vintaj Patina Time

January 14, 2015

Who here likes mokume and also likes working with inks? I bet I’d see a lot of hands raised if I could actually see you all. This link will send you to a kind of exploration, that doubles as a tutorial, on working with Vintaj inks with a mokume technique. Vintaj is an opaque ink created to be used with metals, but Amy Crawley decided to try it out with polymer.

What I’m getting from her experiments is that this is a good alternative for opaque color layers. We already have metallic foils and gilder’s paste, and you can use oil paints or alcohol inks for varying levels of transparency, but we don’t have any good opaque options. Acrylic paints, because they become a stretchy plastic when dried, stretches when cut, so it makes a rather funky color layer that can also pull your layers apart when cutting. Trust me, I tried, and it was a mess. But the Vintaj ink doesn’t stretch. It will crack, though, which is actually kind of cool.

So I thought I’d share this with you all as an alternative idea for mokume layers. It made me think that maybe tempura paints would work in a similar manner — crackling, not stretching, when manipulated and cut. In any case, if you are up for exploring mokume layer options, this set of three blog entries and her results may get you thinking and get you playing.

Her original experiments with Vintaj just on the surface of clay is the first post Amy write on Vintaj. Then go here for the first half of her mokume and Vintaj process, and here for the final steps.

 

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Outside Inspiration: Shades of Metal

November 28, 2014

alex horst  collageAlex Horst’s pieces are gorgeous, traditional mokume gane metal work, but being limited to metals doesn’t mean being limited in color. When given a limitation, use it to find new, creative additions and alternatives, like how to gain more color if that is what you want in a piece. Alex brings in color and a range of texture with variations in metal treatments and the addition of complimentary gemstones.

My one complaint… his online images are so small! This is why you are seeing a collage of his necklaces. They are actually each pretty impressive, but how wonderful in a collection like this. Still, as a curious buyer or an artist, it would be immensely helpful to see more detail here. It is an intriguing tease to get a glimpse of the beauty, but  as a buyer I might wonder if it’s even worth the time to write and see if there are better images to be had, and so I might not take the time. Keep that in mind if you depend on online sales. Clear, large photos and detail shots can really make the difference between getting that sale or not!

Have you ever wondered how the metal mokume process differs from what we do in polymer? Well, you can see it on Alex’s website, in this step by step outline of his mokume approach. While you are there, take a look at his other jewelry designs. Just beautiful pieces all the way around!

 

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Blended Approaches

November 26, 2014

befuddled broochThis gorgeous brooch, created by polymer and precious metal clay artist Kelly Russell, is actually a combination of techniques, with mokume being one of the primary ones. Do you actually see the mokume as mokume when you first look at it, or do you see the sections as kind of blending together like a series of textures and melding of color?

It’s probably obvious from the length of that second question that I think the choice of components are pretty synergistic so that no one technique stands out. The  jewel tones, subdued to bright pastels, run through all the components for cohesiveness. It’s also not that heavy on contrast, but rather sticks with a light to mid-range set of values, which makes it feel calm and serene.

I like that Kelly does not restrict her materials or her techniques in her pieces. She mixes it up while keeping it unified through color palette choices. Take a look a more of her lovely work on her blog and website.

 

 

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Limited Mokume

November 25, 2014

jan montarsi extruded mokumeAnother classic color palette that works really well with mokume is the limited color palette. Limiting the colors to just two or three (and keeping them either analogous or give one a real contrast from the rest) will force you to work with value (how light or dark a color is)  and composition. Too much color can be distracting in your composition and overpower your other other design elements.

In this extruded polymer mokume, Jan Montarsi uses a pink and peach color with white. There is very little contrast in the couple of colors. The colors are analogous, and the most value contrast is with the white, which is not a color at all. This minimal color set forces Jan to work with other elements like the intriguing layering and shapes within his pendant here.

The extruded mokume technique offers a lot of opportunity for the exploratory clayer. If you haven’t worked with it, it’s great fun, it can use up scrap clay if you like and creates a more definite and more controllable pattern. For a tutorial on the extruded mokume method, take a look at Kristie Foss’ nice tutorial here. And for more great mokume and beautiful finishes, have fun roaming Jan’s Flickr pages.

 

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Mokume Color & Contest Winner

November 24, 2014

???????????????????????????????I know we’ve looked at mokume before, but I have quite a few pieces that I’ve been storing up and want to share. Since the question of color palettes came up almost every day last week, let’s look at mokume and the chosen colors palettes as a jumping off point for this week’s discussion.

This set of mokume pieces was created by Carrie Harvey using a tutorial by Albina called “Hidden Flowers” (find it on Clay Lessons here.) I don’t usually post student renditions of other people’s techniques, but I think this was well done, and the color palette and shapes were a decent departure from that in the tutorial (as least as far as I can tell), which is as it should be. And the technique is really a take on mokume polymer, so it’s not particularly exclusive. It does, however, offer us an opportunity to talk about color choices.

This palette is pretty straight-forward, but can you recognize right off why it works? You have a sky blue, a coppery brown and a rust red. The blue and copper (basically orange for the sake of this conversation) are color opposites while the rust red is analogous to the orange (next to each other on the color wheel), which makes it a close contrast to the blue. In other words, all the colors have a relationship to each other, either contrasting or close enough to give the color palette cohesiveness. Although, this is a rather scientific look at these color choices, the instinctive connection comes from nature. The copper and rust red are fall leaf colors you might commonly see against a clear blue autumn sky. Nature knows how to use colors well herself, so if you are every stumped, take a look outside!

 

And drum roll please … The winner of our active critique week is Debbie Goodrow. Congrats Debbie. You should have an email in your inbox to let you know how to claim your giveaway. Thank you all so much for commenting. I think you all win in this little contest–the comments were incredibly insightful, and the varied point of you certainly demonstrates how much of art is really in the eye of the beholder. I hope you all found that it helped inform your view of the work and that you will keep it up, if not posting comments (and I would love to see more comments just any time), at least in your own viewing of the posts and art work. I give my opinion and my view, but as you saw last week, there are many, many ways to see a work of art.

 

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The Contrast Conundrum

March 31, 2019
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What would you say is the area of your craft that you most need to work on? Is it a skill that you want to acquire or improve? Is it simply getting yourself to do more work more often? (I know that’s one of mine!) Or is it some particular approach to the work that regularly seems to baffle you?

For me, I have always struggled with contrast. It’s not that I don’t like contrast, I just tend to like it done subtly. But if I am too subtle, the work lacks energy. On the other hand, if I consciously push it too far, it doesn’t feel like a genuine expression of mine. So, the idea of contrast is often on my mind when I am working.

First, let me correct a misconception that some people have. You do not have to have a high contrast in your work to create a good design. There can be little to no contrast in a piece and it can still have a beautiful design. Contrast is about the degree to which elements such as color, texture, pattern, shape, size, etc. are dissimilar or alike. Like anything else in design, good use of contrast comes down to making an intentional decision about how you will use it in your work.

For instance, high contrast tends to be high-energy and bold while moderate contrast comes across often as refined or restrained, and little to no contrast tends to be quiet and reserved. These descriptors are not always true because the level of contrast plays differently depending on what design element is being contrasted and how it works with (or against) other characteristics in the work.

Okay, enough jabbering on about these abstract concepts. Let’s look at some examples and get those little gears in your head turning as you ponder how you use contrast now, or how you would like to be using it.

Compare and Contrast

One of the most common ways to develop high contrast, especially in polymer, is with color. From canes to mokume to silkscreened veneers, high color contrast is the only way to have the effect of some techniques even show. But at the same time, minimal color contrast with little value change can result in lovely but subtle marbling, it helps support the dreamy feel of blended alcohol ink techniques, or allows us to showcase texture or form while color is relegated to a supporting role.

One of the most foolproof ways to use color for contrast is to go black and white. But if you go that extreme, you will probably need to heavily play up other design elements such as form, pattern, line, or texture. Or, you can put other colors into play.

That’s basically what Lynn Yuhr did with this earring and pendant set. The primary high contrast is a black border surrounding a white background. That’s simple enough, but then she throws a variety of colors in there, both warm and cool ones from across most of the color wheel. Then she goes for contrasting shapes by including both the softness of circles and the sharp angularity of triangles. Not only that, (this is really a piece all about high contrast!) she includes both solid shapes and thin lines. Some shapes are floating and unattached while others are overlapping, and some lines are solid while others are dashed. Often, this much variation can become chaotic and ungrounded but everything here has clean, defined and very graphic edges and she only chooses 2-3 variations of each design element. But the most grounding aspects are the black frame holding it all in and the swath of white being the common “floor” that this is all scattered on. It is energetic and yet contained, fun but still sophisticated. You can see, in the opening image, that she uses a similar approach but goes for full washes of color as the background, for slightly less dramatic contrast.

 

Have you ever been told to not wear plaid with polka dots at the same time? Well, you can if you play it right, pushing the contrast by adding even more pattern to your outfit so that is an obvious intentional choice. You’ll often find this approach in the work of Louise Fisher Cozzi. This necklace below has many different patterns. Some are very regular, while others are more organic. Most are rather busy but then there are those strings of solid pieces with nearly no pattern but for a slightly uneven glaze of color. Regardless of all these contrasting patterns, they have a connecting commonality in their circle form as well as being in a limited range of color saturation (pureness of color), giving what would otherwise be a cacophony of visual texture, a necessary cohesiveness. The result is a sophisticated kind of fun, sure to draw a bold, gregarious, and fun-loving buyer to this work.

 

Tactile texture can also be used as a contrasting mechanism in your design. An easy way to achieve contrast with texture is to have a smooth surface and a rough surface. It could be as simple as part of the work being highly polished and part of it sporting a matte finish. You can create textural contrast without going for the smooth versus rough by having two types of rough surfaces. That still contrasts if a bit more subtle.

The gorgeous Jenny Reeves earrings below, a metal, rather than polymer example (although there are plenty of folks who do similar texturing in polymer) has plenty of contrast although it does not jump out at you. The matte silver on the sides of each circle contrasts with the rough reticulated metal but not jarringly so. The matte finished silver moves to rough silver moves to rough gold so that there is only one level of change between each of those three treated sections of the circles. This somewhat gradual change diminishes the impact of the contrast resulting in a softer feel. Imagine how this would have looked if it went from matte silver to rough gold without the transitional section? It would have a very different feel.

As I mentioned, going for low contrast has its place and advantages. Dorota Kaszczyszyn doesn’t generally go for high contrast, but that is probably because she focuses primarily on her imagery and creating the forms and textures to bring her fantastical adornment to life, as is evident in her Water Dragon necklace here.

It’s not that contrast doesn’t exist in this piece – there is certainly contrast in texture, especially on the wings, going from a dimpled cap to a feathery brush below. However, all the surfaces have some kind of hand tooled texture, minimizing the contrast in that regard. The colors also have a minimal contrast, going from silver to a similarly shimmery brush of color using an interference green/purple powder, a color scheme echoed even in the focal shell on the dragon’s back. This low contrast gives the necklace, and her creature, a quiet grandeur, but it is not bereft of energy, instilled with a light but rippling liveliness through the texture and the flow of the shapes.

 

A Contrasting Evaluation

If, after seeing the ways you can work with contrast, you feel inclined to play with the way you use this design element, you can do so with some simple exercises.

Color is pretty easy to start with. Starting with a color combination you commonly use or tend towards, replace each color with the same hue but choose colors that are much darker, brighter, lighter, or subdued than the other colors. You will want the colors to have at least one characteristic in common (like they could all be very saturated or all be very light or they could all have a bit of black added to them) to keep the combination cohesive. You could also simply take out a bunch of blocks of clay and create several color pallets by shuffling them around – one high contrast, one meeting contrast in one low contrast. See which one you like the best.

If you want to better understand your options in color, grab Maggie Maggio and Lindly Haunani’s Color Inspiration book, or for a more condensed overview, grab your copy or get the Summer 2017 issue of The Polymer Arts which is all about Color! (We still have that 33% off 3 or more magazines sale going on and you don’t need a promo code for it now.)

You also can do a self-evaluation by grabbing a few of your favorite pieces, as well as a few pieces that weren’t successful, and looking at the difference in contrasts in the following areas:

  • Color
  • Texture
  • Shape/form
  • Size of forms or motifs
  • Pattern

See if you can identify where contrast worked well in the successful pieces and maybe where it could have been improved in the less successful ones by simply imagining increasing or decreasing contrast in each of the design elements listed above.

If you’re one of those who likes to make lists, copy these five design items out onto a piece of paper (or into an Excel sheet if you like those) and for each piece you have, identify whether the contrast is low, medium, or high for each design element. Then if you look at your evaluation list, you may find that you always have low contrasting color or high contrast in pattern, or vice versa or that, in general, you don’t work in high contrast or you never try low contrast. Whatever you’re not seeing a lot of, try to consciously create designs that push you out of your comfort zone.

Now, as I mentioned at the beginning, I don’t like to push high contrast in my work so it may seem funny for me to ask you to do something that goes against your norm, but I was only able to determine my preference because I did exercises like this. Push yourself like this can really help you discover a lot about yourself as an artist.

But if you’re more of the low-key, intuitive type, just keep contrast in mind next time you’re at the studio table. Like any design consideration, your work can be improved simply by being aware of whether you are making conscious decisions about design. If you are now more aware of contrast, you may find you’re able to more easily identify why a piece may not be working by checking the contrast and asking yourself whether low or high contrast or something in the middle would best serve what you’re trying to express or the type piece you are trying to create.

From Behind the Scenes

On that note, I am going to go work on the contrast that exists in my life between having a normal living situation and figuring out how to work and live in the beginnings of a halfway gutted house. But I always like a challenge!

I almost have my makeshift outdoor kitchen ready! Grill cleaned and ready for action. Check. Camp stove hooked up to grill size propane tank. Check. Camp table/sink with an actual running faucet via my garden hose set up. Check. Yep … no crazy construction is going to keep me from my creative cooking!

Now I just need to make covers/cozies for my instant pot and my non-polymer countertop oven so they can sit outside more or less protected from the elements. Then … I need to clear space in the studio for the refrigerator. I have always said that one’s studio or office should be as far away from the refrigerator as possible to discourage unintentional grazing so I’m seriously breaking my own rules here! Didn’t I just say I like a challenge? Maybe I should have clarified how much of a challenge I like. *sigh*

I’ll be juggling all this while I am in the midst of polishing up the next issue of The Polymer Studio but have thus far been able to stay more or less on schedule. Just don’t miss out on this next issue!

Issue number two of The Polymer Studio has a wonderful collection of projects for you as well as a tour of Christine Dumont’s studio (so exciting!), an interview with the uniquely creative Cynthia Tinapple, stencil explorations with Debbie Crothers and much more! We would love for you to join us in The Polymer Studio… Just subscribe to get your plethora of polymer fun and inspiration. Your subscription also supports this blog and all the polymer obsessed artists that have helped to create the beautiful content of our publications.

Thank you for your continued support! Enjoy the rest of your Sunday and have a creative and inspiring week!

 

 

 

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Mixing and Mingling, New Cover, & 33% off Back issues

March 24, 2019
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We have a bit of business to do first today but it’s exciting business! I wanted to share with you the next cover of The Polymer Studio, coming late April.

We are thrilled to include projects from Cynthia Tinapple, our featured and interviewed artist for this issue, as well as Christi Friesen, Kathy Koontz, Elena Mori, the Mitchell sisters, Deb Hart, and Wendy Moore. Also, tips, tricks, and other bits of wisdom from Debbie Crothers, Ginger Davis Allman, and little old me. And you won’t want to miss the tour of Christine Dumont’s studio, complete with a conversation about her space and process, which I think you’ll find very intriguing.

All this and more, just a month away! Support our projects, this blog, and the betterment of your own polymer journey, of course, or just because you’d like to look at all the pretty things tucked into those pages, by subscribing to The Polymer Studio here.

(Be sure to scroll down to the last section for the 33% off sale stuff.)

A Fine Mix-up

So, did you get a chance to look through the winning entries for the IPCA awards? Here’s the link again if you didn’t see them. The winning entries are just beautiful and maybe even a bit surprising. If you saw it, did you notice any trends or changes in trends and what was presented? I thought it was interesting that there were a lot of mixed-media pieces where polymer clay might have been the focus, but other materials played large roles in important design aspects and visual impact of the work.

One of the reasons I find this so interesting is that the idea of expanding into other materials seems to be a regular conversation myself and many other people are having. I couldn’t say exactly what that means but I do believe that polymer, with its unparalleled flexibility for combining with other materials, has kind of come of age where our exploration of what it can do is being placed on the back burner in order to focus on artistic expression. I look at these mixed-media pieces in the awards and other pieces I find during my research and general perusing online, and it seems that we are seeing more instances where polymer centric artists decide what they want to make and then determine the best materials for the work rather than push to see if polymer can be used for most, if not all, of the components of a piece. Or perhaps I am just hoping this is the case because I would love to see more folks focused on personal expression will rather than letting our obsessive, but understandable, infatuation with the material determine our creative parameters.

Of course, for most of us who work in polymer now, this colorful, durable, and chameleon material will remain our primary love and, regardless of other options, we will often still try to do as much as we can with polymer, if just to see if we can push it a little bit farther. But, opening oneself up to the possibilities of combining it with other materials in major ways will allow us, and even the viewer, to focus more on the design and expression and less on the material itself, which will let the artist’s expression, vision, creativity, and aesthetic really shine. I find this very exciting!

So, this week, let’s look at some of the mixed-media pieces where other materials play a primary role alongside polymer. This could be very helpful for you if you have felt like you’re in a rut or are too often hitting technical or design walls in your work. Trying out a different material may just be the thing to inject you with new enthusiasm and, possibly, send you down a new path with your artwork.

Mixed Directions

Let’s first look at some of the winners of the IPCA awards and in many ways that other materials have been mixed in.

This first piece is both a mixed-media and a mixed artist piece. Ellen Prophater or worked with Sherry Mozer, a glass artist, led to the use of the black glass piece with its shades of green within reflected in the mokume polymer it sits upon. It is set in a silver bezel and accented with Swarovski crystals. Both the mokume and the glass show off a subtle transparency, drawing the connection between the two along with the green cast colors. It’s a nice reminder that collaboration can also push us in new directions making new discoveries in our work and even ourselves and our friendships.

 

Donna Greenberg just killed it as the professional mixed-media category. This wall piece is called Wedgewood Wave but the word that keeps coming to mind for me is swoon. Not just because I feel like swooning, it’s just so gorgeous, but that’s also the word that comes to mind from that fabulous flow of energy through those waves, back into the pool of blue. Those waves are paper, but the application of color and shape are similar to the polymer pieces so the different materials feel cohesive. This is definitely one of those cases where another medium was the better choice. Trying to create those waves in polymer would’ve been just silly, even though it could be done. The paper gives a lighter feel to the overall piece as well as a light and easy flow to the visual movement. She also used Ultralight polymer alongside the Arches cold press paper, acrylic gouache paints, watercolor pencils, and Apoxie paste, each material fulfilling its purpose in a way that another material would not have been as successful with.

 

With the issue of the environment heavy in many of our minds, we are seeing a lot of exploration into found or recycled or upcycled items. Sarah Machtey offered up this steam punk pouch necklace with removable magnifying glass for the mixed media category of the awards with a bit of all of that. The front and back of this small pouch is from a soda can turned inside out – you can still see the printing of the soda can on the inside – but she embossed the can with decorative lines and used mica powder infused liquid polymer in the recesses to make them stand out. The band across the top is upcycled copper from a renovation project while the side leaves and earrings are polymer clay. Not sure if the magnifying glass was bought or found but it certainly could have been reused from something else.

The pouch is 7” (18 cm) in height from the top edge to the bottom of the magnifying glass, so it’s no small bit of tin on there. Of course, she could have used polymer to create the metal sections but it would’ve been a bulkier piece. The tin keeps the weight down as well as adding some structural strength that would only have been accomplished with a much thicker wall of polymer.

 

Keep in mind, when we are talking mixed-media it doesn’t necessarily have to be another art material. For instance, I combined poetry with photos of polymer in a challenge last year that I was posting on my personal Instagram page. Other people mix it up by installing the work in unusual places so that the what is placed on becomes part of the artwork such as fairy doors installed on walls or in tree trunks or tiles installed into a kitchen backsplash. Rachel Gourley takes it just a touch further, installing her little collections so that they recede into the landscape. She scatters her polymer elements out and about in natural settings, looking much like organic growths but unexpected in their color, shape, and placement.

 

Putting Together Your Own Mixer

This week, I didn’t pull any tutorials for you to try because it would have to be a mad, a long list of other materials to give you any real idea of your options. Instead, I might suggest that you keep your eye open for what other polymer artists are doing with other materials. Perhaps one of the above ideas piqued your interest already. If so, research that other material and find ways to acquire or hone your skill in that medium. Just put “polymer clay and [fill in the blank with the material you’re curious about]” into the search bar on Pinterest, Instagram, Flickr, or Google images and see what pops up. Add the word “tutorial” to see what offerings there are online. I’m sure there will be plenty of inspiration.

You can also grab your Spring 2015 – Diversity issue of The Polymer Arts or the Convergence themed issue from Spring of 2016, both of which have a ton of ideas around using other materials with polymer. You can see the table of contents for all back issues of The Polymer Arts on this page to check out what these issues have to offer. Then, if you don’t have the issues, you can order them on the website.

In fact, let’s have a sale!

Why don’t you grab a few back issues and take a full 33% off 3 or more! Good on digital or print, I’ll keep this up until next Sunday so grab them this week. Use promo code TPA33 at checkout.

And … I’m Off!

I would normally have some community news and deals for you to look into at this point, but I did not get to that. This week has been a struggle. I am being kept busy by a house that has decided to just fall apart all of a sudden. My creative energies have been used up relocating kitchen activities to the garage, the porch, and even my studio because of plumbing issues while getting tons of exercise running large circles around the house because the garage door won’t open, washing my clothes in the bathroom sink because the laundry machine won’t drain, and constantly shuffling ice packs from freezer to fridge because the fridge is on and off and its replacement is weeks away from getting here. All this happening two weeks before we start some (apparently!) much-needed kitchen remodeling. I’m not making this up.  But talk about mixing it up!

So, I’m going to get back to my at-home glamping while trying to get the next issue wrapped up for you. But tune in next week for more polymer pretties and inspiration, and, hopefully, less house drama from Sage’s corner! In the meantime, if you work with another medium, please share it below. Or tell us the most unusual medium you’ve combined with polymer! I’d love to get a feel for what you all are working on besides polymer. Leave links to the work as well if available! (If you get this by email, click on the post title to get to the post page and scroll down to comments.) I’m excited to see what you all have to share!

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MidWeek Update – 15% Off Sale, Mokume link, and Sampler Magazine

January 31, 2019
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I know I was talking about having the blog once a week, and that is the plan, but for corrections and any really exciting news, I may be dropping in mid-week, like now. Ignore me if you’re busy – I get it!

 

15% OFF SALE … Only through Friday, Feb. 1

Exciting money-saving stuff first … we are running a spur of the moment 15% off sale on books and back issues including the fabulous Polymer Art Projects – Organic book, and back issues of The Polymer Arts. Subscriptions and single issues of The Polymer Studio are not included in this sale, nor are the All Back Issues packages … but those are 40-50% off instead!

Grab books and magazines in print or digital format at www.tenthmusearts.com through February 1st.

Use Promo Code TMA15

 

Sampler Flipbook of The Polymer Studio

Now, if you haven’t subscribed or purchased a copy of the new issue of The Polymer Studio, here is a little bit of a tease for you. This link right here leads you to a sampler of most of the first pages of this new issue for you to check out. Find the crossed arrow icon and click to go full screen when you get there for the best view.

Go peek at it and then once your curiosity is piqued, get your full copy on our website to get fully immersed!

 

New and Missing Mokume links

Now on to an apology … the mokume billet image on Sunday’s post was apparently too small and was fuzzy on many an email and device and the link to the original page was missing. I’m so sorry about that. It’s added in the post now but for those who wanted a closer look, you can find the metal mokume process chart here. Mind you, that chart is in German and is but one method for making such a ring. However, here you can find a mokume video showing another approach, one that could be directly recreated with polymer … hint, hint.

 

Thank you for your Feedback!

And last but not at all least … I just wanted to thank all of you who left comments about the new blog format. It was a resounding “yes” to the more in-depth once a week approach which so gladdened my heart. And now it is our It’s a great reward for me to see so many of you are enjoying it. So I am excitedly outlining content ideas for future posts but if you want to push for anything in particular, leave a comment below this post (email readers, click here) and I will happily look into it!

 

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Creating Uncommon Mokume

January 27, 2019
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Question for you … how much do you know about the origination of mokume gane? I’m guessing you have heard it has something to do with swords but did you know that the original metal technique was a lost art until quite recently? And did you know that what we do with polymer today has virtually nothing in common with the original technique? Mokume’s history and our adaptation of it has quite a few surprises in it, many of which could really open your eyes to its possibilities.

To understand how to create great mokume in polymer, it really does help to know a bit about where it came from, not to mention that its history is a great story of fortune, loss and redemption! Or something akin to that. Here are a few statements about its history. See if you can identify which statements are a true part of its tumultuous history and which are just fantastic claims:

  1. Mokume was a sword making technique that required folding metal over and over to give the blade’s edge a rippled appearance, like wood grain.
  2. The technique was developed for purely decorative purposes.
  3. It was originally used almost exclusively to create samurai swords to be carried around as status symbols.
  4. The technique became nearly extinct due to samurai swords becoming illegal to carry in Japan in the 19th century.
  5. The technique was resurrected by a female Japanese metalsmith when she started teaching it in the US in the 1970s.

Ok, so as you might have guessed, all these statements are true! But how does knowing this help? Well, the history may be more about appreciating it’s path to polymer but how it is created in metal can help you understand how our version of it works and what you can do with it.

Here … just take a look at one of the ways it is used in metalsmithing today. You can see in the phases of making a mokume ring, just how a mokume billet (that’s what metalsmith’s call a block of metal) is layered, twisted, pounded and bent into a ring. I never would have guessed that my mokume wedding band was created in this way considering how we approach it with polymer.

Now, what if you did the exact same thing with polymer? You could build a block, cut it, twist it, open it up and form it into a dimensional ring. Or bead. Or flattened donut. Or just a long bar bead, already patterned on all sides. Do you see how knowing the origin and how else it has been used can help you see the possibilities in polymer?

Neither the decorative sword nor the above metalsmithing approach sounds or looks anything like what we do in polymer though, does it? We don’t twist or even fold polymer mokume, it rarely looks like wood grain, and it certainly isn’t going to behave (or be as hard to work with) as steel and yet, we call it mokume. Now, how did that happen?

Like most borrowed techniques, what most of us have come to think  of as polymer mokume evolved from an attempt to emulate it so it is not just some kind of translation of the technique. Slicing polymer “billets” (it’s too cool a word not to borrow too!) emulated grinding down the metal edge of a sword to reveal the visual drama of its layers. But because polymer can be manipulated in so many other ways, and because artists are a curious and exploratory lot, the technique, along with the clay, was also manipulated. This happened over and over until we ended up with the many variations we have today and even those often have little in common but the layering and the slicing.

Creating Uncommon Mokume in Your Studio

Has this started to get you thinking a bit differently about mokume? If it hasn’t let me just nudge you a bit more.

Consider this. With polymer, versus metal, we can:

  • Work in a vast and myriad array of colors.
  • Add translucent layers.
  • Include inclusions in those layers.
  • Cover the surface of layers with metal leaf, gilder’s paste, image transfers, or paint.
  • Cut down through the billet to create lines and shapes.
  • Use mica clays to create mica shift, an effect that adds color gradations and dimension around cuts and impressions.
  • Create any kind of patterning we like, from loose and organic to very regular and controlled.

How many of these methods have you tried?

Uncommon Mokume Examples

Opening this post is a necklace by Carole Aubourg’s (aka Cacofim’) that can teach us a bit about mixing and matching patterns and letting background and foreground play together. She uses mokume in balance with the other, similarly slice-dependent techniques that appear, putting the focus on the design rather than on any one pattern or technique. Then the slices don’t always cover their beads, letting the background come through. There is a lot going on here but the variety of patterns are all brought together by a cohesive color palette that all parts partake of.

Here are some splendid green and cream dimensional beads by Eugena Topina that speak to how you can control of the slices. The mokume is created with high contrast colors and a prominent pattern that is sliced to a very even depth to keep the pattern whole. She then echos the pattern on the reverse side with carving. (And lucky us … she sells a project tutorial for this necklace here for a mere $13! Go get one if you are at all intrigued.)

I don’t want to discount what metalsmiths are doing with mokume these days  either. So, no, this stylized heart pendant is not polymer but don’t you love how fine and close the mokume marks/impressions are? And why not go dense with the patterning? I have not the faintest idea how Juha Koskela created this in silver but if metalsmiths are getting wild with color in metals, I have to at least wonder a little bit if metal techniques, which have long influenced our work, might now be getting inspiration from polymer. I do like that idea, don’t you?

So, here’s another question … are you a mokume making fan and have you pushed what you know about the technique? If you have, why not share? Send links of your work in the comments below (click here if you are reading this in an email) so we can all see your work. I know I’d love to see it!

 

THINGS TO LOOK FORWARD TO:

Here are a few bits of general polymer news you might find of interest!

  • This Tuesday is the near legendary half off sale at Munro Crafts. Check it out and stock up!
  • Maggie Maggio and Lindly Haunani are teaching together for a 6 day spree of creativity and color, July 8th-13th. This is also partly a celebration of their highly influential book, Color Inspirations. If you like color (and who doesn’t?) and you can squeeze this into your schedule and budget, it’s a must.
  • Deadline for submitting to the IPCA Awards is in just a few days. Apply here!

 

Do you have feedback for me?

Tell me what you think of this new format and blog. I wanted to put some more meat into it but you tell me … is it too long or did you enjoy getting lost in the history and ideas? If you liked it, just drop a quick “Works for me!” or “Keep it up” in the comments below (click here if you are reading this in an email then scroll down on the page that pops up.)

If you have ways I could change or otherwise improve the new blog format, just send a short “Shorter!” or “More pics, less text.” or “More instruction than history” or whatever in the comments below (click here if you are reading this in an email). I can’t please everyone but I really want this to be as useful and inspiring as it can be so help me make this what you want and hope for!

– Sage

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The Weekly Polymer Arts … ?

January 20, 2019
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Well hello there! Surprised to see me on a Sunday? Well, I am here because I am trying something different. To start with, you may have noticed that blog posts were missing this past week. My apologies for that. Suffice it to say that my system, and life in general, made me take a break and so it was not until this weekend that I was able to put something together for you.

The funny thing is, I had already been looking at changing the frequency of the blog. We only have so many minutes in the day for all the fun stuff that comes our way and its more likely that we’ll set aside the stuff seen regularly than the rarer offerings. I’ve decided that I’d like this blog to be one of the rarer offerings, making a tiny contribution to the de-cluttering of your email inbox or RSS feed and giving me a chance to put together some juicier posts for you.

So, how does once a week sound? On a weekly post, I can share a couple of pieces of fabulous art along with polymer relevant news and fun takeaways like tips, tutorials links, sales, and discounts from polymer retailers. And how does this Sunday arrival feel? Cynthia already provides us a jumpstart to creativity on Saturday with Studio Mojo, and the weekdays seem a bit overburdened with news and emails and so I propose being a part of your Sunday, giving you a bit of eye candy, inspiring ideas and useful news to start the day or wrap up the weekend. And if the blog comes to you as an email at work, well, it will be there waiting to brighten up your Monday morning.

So let’s get rolling.

Some news first, since it relates to the beautiful mokume you see here … The first issue of The Polymer Studio was released yesterday, Saturday the 19th, and already the response is a glorious hurrah! Whew! The first of anything is always a bit nerve-wracking to put out but feedback has been nothing but glowing so far. If you were expecting to get a digital edition, it went out at the crack of dawn East coast time so check your inbox (and if it’s not there, check your spam folder or write us). Print editions went out in the mail Friday so they are on their way as well.

If you haven’t subscribed or ordered a copy yet, do it soon so you’re not missing out on some really wonderful tutorial projects including this “Kitchen Sink” mokume technique from Julie Picarello. You get the step-by-step on how to make the brooch/pendant you see here as well as how to create the “dropout” pieces you see surrounding it, from the same mokume blocks. Working with the translucent layers to get this intricate mokume is easier than you might think and it’s just too much fun seeing what comes out in your slices.

So, if you haven’t gotten your copy ordered or started your subscription already, you can do so on our website at www.tenthmusearts.com.

 

I have also been sent a special offer from Helen Breil. She just released a new techniques video class, Six Exceptional Textures, and you can get it now for 15% off!  If you have not yet had the pleasure of creating alongside Helen in one of her tutorial books or videos, you do need to treat yourself. She divulges a wealth of tips and ideas in crystal clear and highly detailed instruction. This video class includes step-by-steps, ideas and inspiration for making your own unique handcrafted one-of-a-kind texture sheets in 9 packed videos. Click here to get it. The discount is good through January 31st.

Okay, that is enough news and fun opportunities for this surprise Sunday post. I do have exciting plans for this once a week format so be sure to open it up next week and see what the regular postings will be like going forward. If you want to be sure you get all our news and publication announcements, sign up for our twice monthly newsletter as well. In the meantime, enjoy all the creative things you’ll be trying out when you get your new issue of The Polymer Studio!

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Material Flow

December 12, 2018
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Here is another wonderful mixed-media piece that makes you really stop and ask, “Is that really polymer?”

The work is by Sue Savage who keeps a low profile in the polymer realm but is highly regarded for her jewelry. She works in metal, precious stones and polymer but although the polymer is usually the focal point, you don’t think of it as polymer clay when you look at the design. You see how well integrated her mokume polymer cabochon is here. The black dots in the polymer are inversely echoed in the reflected white of the stones placed around the keyhole frame of the piece. The handmade metal frame itself works primarily on the diagonal as do the lineup of the dots in the mokume, set around but not hugging the polymer cab. It makes for a lovely balance and flow.

The design could really have worked with any stone as the focal point but the use of polymer allows her to create a dynamic type of “stone” that might be difficult to find and probably harder and more expensive to work with. Her use of polymer in her pieces allows for a wide range of design without the limitations of what is simply available.

Take a look at the many other designs mixing metal and polymer on her website here.

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The Squiggle Master

September 19, 2018
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It will be hard to talk about squiggles and not talk about Julie Picarello’s mastery of the squiggle in negative space. Or peekaboo space if you prefer.

Julie’s impeccably controlled polymer mokume is full of squiggles both in the mokume pattern itself and in these wonderful little rivers she creates in her compositions. Perhaps that analogy is part of our attraction to squiggles—some of mother nature’s best squiggles are things we have long held dear, such as life-giving rivers and streams. Julie does such a beautiful job of re-creating this essence of flowing water in her signature approach to the mokume technique. I imagine that is part of the attraction to her work and the popularity of her particular techniques.

You don’t hear a lot from Julie these days. She is not an avid poster to the social media sites although she does have a presence. We were actually wondering what she had been up to lately ourselves which is why we’ve asked her to be the first artist to be profiled in the new The Polymer Studio magazine coming in January—and she’s agreed. So we will have an exclusive peek into her world for you to look forward to in January.

And yes, we are just about ready to get subscription ordering started for the new magazine. We’ve been ironing out some issues in the new website but stay tuned here and be sure to sign up for our newsletter to be one of the first to hear about the reveal of our new website.

You can take a look at some of Julie’s other designs in this technique on her Flickr photostream and don’t forget about her book Patterns in Polymer which you can purchase here.

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A Splash of Mokume

June 6, 2018
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If you make it over to Milton, Georgia for the Creative Journey Studios grand reopening, you will get to feast your eyes on some new work by the likes of Barb Fajardo. I don’t know that the pieces shown here will be there but I sure would love to see these in person.

Barb’s lovely mokume slices, with their leaf-like formations and washes of delicate color, are just such a treat for the eyes. The black background and frames really make the subtle colors pop. She keeps the organic look from becoming too stolid and geometric by giving each rectangular shape a slight curve or angle. The otherwise simple shapes allow the mokume to really shine.

Barb has been having a fantastic time playing with mokume lately and has been coming up with delicious color combinations and patterns. You should really check out her other pieces on her website here as well as follow her on Facebook and Flickr.

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A Spring Shift

March 30, 2018
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The colors of spring bring a refreshing dash of brightness to the end of winter with its leafless trees and stark landscapes. Svetlana Parenkova embedded the new season’s brilliant palette into her clay with mica shift and an enamel-like technique that looks to be mokume to create these eye-catching elements.

Note how the black outline around the metallic clay makes the bright background colors just pop around it.  The black adds a more severe contrast between the colors so they appear brighter than they would if the metallic and the colored background met without that dark buffer.

Svetlana works primarily in textures and metallics with a sophisticated, classic and old world style.  Find more of her work on Instagram, Facebook and in her LiveMaster shop.

 

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