Color Pendulums
November 28, 2018 Inspirational Art
Sarah Shriver is well known for her caning, so it is fun to see what she does when she branches out from canes.
These pendulum pendants put a spotlight on Sarah’s focus on color. It is a very different look and feel for her but if you look at the forms, she is still working in similar shapes but without the canes. There looks to be more freedom of form for her. Her canes are generally laid on flat or slightly domed surfaces whereas here, the forms bulge out from their silver bindings, washed with color around the edges to accentuate that roundness in the shapes.
The design may seem simple at first until you consider the components. There is a definite contrast going on here that may be hard to identify at first. The roundness and gradient wash of color are soft elements but the bulk terminating in an arrow-like point that drives inexorably downward gives them a definite boldness. This combination is at the root of the sophisticated feel of these uncluttered designs.
It looks like she has worked on these designs for about a year. You can see her progress and some of her other designs and work on her Instagram page and on her website. And if you are in Northern California next week, consider dropping by her open house in San Rafael on December 9.
Balancing Color & Contrast
November 26, 2018 Inspirational Art
We are going to be dropping in on some big names this week and next to see what they are up to and what they have to inspire us with.
First up: Bonnie Bishoff. Her focus on jewelry these last couple years has been a journey through a variety of styles as she moves from working primarily in veneers on furniture with her partner J.M. Syron to smaller and more intimate work. But regardless of the style, her quietly strong and confident sense of color and pattern mark each piece like a signature. These lovely earrings are paired almost solely by color scheme although they do work within a limited set of variations in composition, visual texture and shapes. Each variation relays a slightly different mood, adjusted through the level of contrast in value and hue. The subtlety of this communication is what really brings home how masterful her color work is.
You can see what I mean by looking at the body of her work. You can do so by jumping onto her Instagram page and the website she shares with J.M. Syron.
Architecture and Beads
September 7, 2018 Inspirational Art
Eva Maria Keiser found beadwork the way many of us found polymer—serendipitously, without the intention of becoming a bead artist. Somehow she saw in it a way to mix her passion for color and for architecture at the same time and she became obsessed. Familiar story, isn’t it?
Eva Maria pulls together a wide variety of shapes and colors by making every element in her work structural. She has the added advantage of doing it all with small seed beads which, of course, is one thing that will be consistent throughout the pieces. She also works with symmetry, creating symmetrically round forms with all kinds of shapes jutting and growing off the central round containment of the vessel.
But mostly I just love the imagination that is evident in her work. Take a moment this afternoon to take a look at her website and, if you’re into seed beads, she has quite a number of tutorials to share with you.
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.
BioSystem Impact
August 15, 2018 Inspirational Art
We can’t talk about wall art right now without bringing up Donna Greenberg’s newest series—BioSystems. She’s creating these amazing conglomerations of organic shapes, bursts of color, and all kinds of variation of texture in these wall pieces.
Like Pavla’s piece on Monday, there is no particular focal point in these wall pieces. However, there is a flow-through from one set of shapes and forms into another through the use of repetition and a gathering of color that defines multiple paths from which one can explore this visual adventure.
This series was an adventure for Donna herself as she wanted to work on something that she was inspired by without concern for the selling of the artwork. Ironically, these pieces have resulted in numerous commission requests. I love that because I have long believed, since my days of being a full-time artist trying to read the market, that if you put yourself into your work it will speak to people and the sales will come.
So, I say, create what pleases you, that which is drawn from your passion, and your vision will come through in a more original and meaningful way, creating work that will please both you and many a customer.
Do set aside some time to explore the other pieces in the series as well as the photos that show the different views of the work. You can do so on Donna’s Facebook page and Instagram.
Creepy Cool Street Texture
March 23, 2018 Inspirational Art
This surprising piece here was part of a street art exhibition from the curious mind of Cityzenkane. I am used to seeing very colorful and shiny work from him, some of which you can still see in parts of this street installation, but the predominantly black forms make the texture and shapes far more important and impressive when the shimmer and color are not distracting from his sculptural work.
I feel like Cityzenkane worked primarily with polymer in the beginning but then turned to other clays and resins that can be worked in larger forms, creating molds of his polymer sculptures in order to realize his amazing Giger-esque outdoor compositions. I could be wrong and these polymer-to-cast pieces could be what he has done all along. Either way, his uncured sculptures, ruined once cast, start with polymer and eventually work their way out into the streets of urban areas, mostly in the UK and Europe.
It’s really hard to show what this is like in one image so I encourage you to take a look at the YouTube video he has about his process and the event. You can also take a closer look at his range of work on Instagram and this website, and his progress through time on Flickr.
Celine Crushes It
January 10, 2018 Inspirational Art
Another artist with a bunch of new images posted recently on Flickr is Celine Charuau. Her alien-like plant forms an interesting combination of materials and forms have taken on a sparkly and crumbled texture, maybe from crushed shells. I’ve seen a similar product used in acrylic nail art although she doesn’t list that.
Here she balances the texture polymer forms with steel leaves. Although the beads are more dimensional, I like the echo of the leaf shapes with the pod shapes. They are basically the same shapes but contrast in dimensionality and texture. It is also the quieter of the pieces she created with this intriguing new texture.
You can see the rest of this collection to date on her Flickr photostream.
Graphically Different
July 12, 2017 Inspirational Art
I can hear you already asking, if you read my introduction to the idea of soft or almost-triangle shapes on Monday, whether these beads by the elegant hand of Melanie Muir really qualify as versions of triangles. My answer is, that is up to how you want to see it.
To me, it is both triangular in that the space it takes up is about what a triangle would cover, and based on an oval since it is also an oval cut in half. But what this points out about triangles, or any shape really, is that they are just a step away from something quite different. Soften one angle on a triangle and you have the makings of an oval in hand. Basic shapes are just a couple of steps, simple lines arranged in simple ways. More complex shapes are usually a conglomeration of basic shapes.
As an artist, keeping this in mind means you are keeping your designs open to being pushed past the basics or as far and as complex as you see fit. Not that a basic square, triangle or circle are not valuable shapes. They certainly are! But the more options you see as you create, the more likely you are to come up with something that truly reflects your personal aesthetic and what you want to express.
Melanie, who is so well known for her organic shapes and thickly framed organic mokume veneers, has really been pushing her signature techniques, heading into more graphic waters and adding in a few more techniques. I am really enjoying the directions she’s been taking and look forward to seeing what else she has in store for us in the near future.
Keep up on Melanie’s work on her website and on her Facebook page.
_________________________________________
Like this blog? Lend your support with a purchase of The Polymer Arts magazine and visit our partners.
_________________________________________
Sarah Shriver is well known for her caning, so it is fun to see what she does when she branches out from canes.
These pendulum pendants put a spotlight on Sarah’s focus on color. It is a very different look and feel for her but if you look at the forms, she is still working in similar shapes but without the canes. There looks to be more freedom of form for her. Her canes are generally laid on flat or slightly domed surfaces whereas here, the forms bulge out from their silver bindings, washed with color around the edges to accentuate that roundness in the shapes.
The design may seem simple at first until you consider the components. There is a definite contrast going on here that may be hard to identify at first. The roundness and gradient wash of color are soft elements but the bulk terminating in an arrow-like point that drives inexorably downward gives them a definite boldness. This combination is at the root of the sophisticated feel of these uncluttered designs.
It looks like she has worked on these designs for about a year. You can see her progress and some of her other designs and work on her Instagram page and on her website. And if you are in Northern California next week, consider dropping by her open house in San Rafael on December 9.
Read MoreWe are going to be dropping in on some big names this week and next to see what they are up to and what they have to inspire us with.
First up: Bonnie Bishoff. Her focus on jewelry these last couple years has been a journey through a variety of styles as she moves from working primarily in veneers on furniture with her partner J.M. Syron to smaller and more intimate work. But regardless of the style, her quietly strong and confident sense of color and pattern mark each piece like a signature. These lovely earrings are paired almost solely by color scheme although they do work within a limited set of variations in composition, visual texture and shapes. Each variation relays a slightly different mood, adjusted through the level of contrast in value and hue. The subtlety of this communication is what really brings home how masterful her color work is.
You can see what I mean by looking at the body of her work. You can do so by jumping onto her Instagram page and the website she shares with J.M. Syron.
Read MoreEva Maria Keiser found beadwork the way many of us found polymer—serendipitously, without the intention of becoming a bead artist. Somehow she saw in it a way to mix her passion for color and for architecture at the same time and she became obsessed. Familiar story, isn’t it?
Eva Maria pulls together a wide variety of shapes and colors by making every element in her work structural. She has the added advantage of doing it all with small seed beads which, of course, is one thing that will be consistent throughout the pieces. She also works with symmetry, creating symmetrically round forms with all kinds of shapes jutting and growing off the central round containment of the vessel.
But mostly I just love the imagination that is evident in her work. Take a moment this afternoon to take a look at her website and, if you’re into seed beads, she has quite a number of tutorials to share with you.
Read MoreAs 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 MoreWe can’t talk about wall art right now without bringing up Donna Greenberg’s newest series—BioSystems. She’s creating these amazing conglomerations of organic shapes, bursts of color, and all kinds of variation of texture in these wall pieces.
Like Pavla’s piece on Monday, there is no particular focal point in these wall pieces. However, there is a flow-through from one set of shapes and forms into another through the use of repetition and a gathering of color that defines multiple paths from which one can explore this visual adventure.
This series was an adventure for Donna herself as she wanted to work on something that she was inspired by without concern for the selling of the artwork. Ironically, these pieces have resulted in numerous commission requests. I love that because I have long believed, since my days of being a full-time artist trying to read the market, that if you put yourself into your work it will speak to people and the sales will come.
So, I say, create what pleases you, that which is drawn from your passion, and your vision will come through in a more original and meaningful way, creating work that will please both you and many a customer.
Do set aside some time to explore the other pieces in the series as well as the photos that show the different views of the work. You can do so on Donna’s Facebook page and Instagram.
Read MoreThis surprising piece here was part of a street art exhibition from the curious mind of Cityzenkane. I am used to seeing very colorful and shiny work from him, some of which you can still see in parts of this street installation, but the predominantly black forms make the texture and shapes far more important and impressive when the shimmer and color are not distracting from his sculptural work.
I feel like Cityzenkane worked primarily with polymer in the beginning but then turned to other clays and resins that can be worked in larger forms, creating molds of his polymer sculptures in order to realize his amazing Giger-esque outdoor compositions. I could be wrong and these polymer-to-cast pieces could be what he has done all along. Either way, his uncured sculptures, ruined once cast, start with polymer and eventually work their way out into the streets of urban areas, mostly in the UK and Europe.
It’s really hard to show what this is like in one image so I encourage you to take a look at the YouTube video he has about his process and the event. You can also take a closer look at his range of work on Instagram and this website, and his progress through time on Flickr.
Read More
Another artist with a bunch of new images posted recently on Flickr is Celine Charuau. Her alien-like plant forms an interesting combination of materials and forms have taken on a sparkly and crumbled texture, maybe from crushed shells. I’ve seen a similar product used in acrylic nail art although she doesn’t list that.
Here she balances the texture polymer forms with steel leaves. Although the beads are more dimensional, I like the echo of the leaf shapes with the pod shapes. They are basically the same shapes but contrast in dimensionality and texture. It is also the quieter of the pieces she created with this intriguing new texture.
You can see the rest of this collection to date on her Flickr photostream.
Read MoreI can hear you already asking, if you read my introduction to the idea of soft or almost-triangle shapes on Monday, whether these beads by the elegant hand of Melanie Muir really qualify as versions of triangles. My answer is, that is up to how you want to see it.
To me, it is both triangular in that the space it takes up is about what a triangle would cover, and based on an oval since it is also an oval cut in half. But what this points out about triangles, or any shape really, is that they are just a step away from something quite different. Soften one angle on a triangle and you have the makings of an oval in hand. Basic shapes are just a couple of steps, simple lines arranged in simple ways. More complex shapes are usually a conglomeration of basic shapes.
As an artist, keeping this in mind means you are keeping your designs open to being pushed past the basics or as far and as complex as you see fit. Not that a basic square, triangle or circle are not valuable shapes. They certainly are! But the more options you see as you create, the more likely you are to come up with something that truly reflects your personal aesthetic and what you want to express.
Melanie, who is so well known for her organic shapes and thickly framed organic mokume veneers, has really been pushing her signature techniques, heading into more graphic waters and adding in a few more techniques. I am really enjoying the directions she’s been taking and look forward to seeing what else she has in store for us in the near future.
Keep up on Melanie’s work on her website and on her Facebook page.
_________________________________________
Like this blog? Lend your support with a purchase of The Polymer Arts magazine and visit our partners.
_________________________________________
Read More