Rainbow Color Contemplation
July 31, 2017
Inspirational Art
I’ve talked a lot in the past about monochromatic and restricted palettes and, sure, I’ve had weeks with just explosions of color to cheer us up and to just drool over but we’ve not really talked about how to use a full spectrum of color. This week, I thought I’d delve into the idea of rainbow colors from a couple different perspectives.
For one, I notice that when I post super colorful art, our reads and view statistics shoot up. (Yeah, I have people who make me look at that boring stuff. Thank goodness they do!) Obviously, humans love color but isn’t it funny that very colorful work is often not respected the way similar work in more subdued or restricted color palettes is? Personally, I think that misconception likely stems from so many pieces that lean on color without consideration for other design elements. As I always try to drill into people’s heads, successful design considers all aspects of the work.
So, I thought I’d make it one of those weeks where I’m going to ask you all to do a little contemplation of the pieces presented this week. I’ve chosen some very colorful images and I’d like you to say whether you think the piece has more than color carrying its attractiveness. Does it look to you like the creator considered more than just color in the design? If you are up for commenting, please go to the blog page (click the header of the post here to be sure you are on the web page where you can comment) or have a conversation with another willing soul or just yourself. Don’t worry about being right or wrong. I just want you to be considering the whole and then see what you come up with. It’s a good habit to have.
This first piece is by Christine Damm. It was a recent post I saw on Facebook and the colors just grabbed me. I know her style is not popular with everyone but I think her approach is one of the bravest in our community. Her rough, organic and thoroughly heartfelt work just sings with energy and with this rainbow of color here, it is singing quite loudly.
Now ask yourself about the design. What works, what doesn’t and can you see design decisions that support good design or do you think it’s the color that alone carries it? It’s a simple piece so don’t overthink it but do consider some of the basics of design including form, line, balance, rhythm, texture, and composition.
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Bevy of Blues
July 27, 2017
Inspirational Art
In my search for popular blues, this person’s work that you see here kept popping up, only it seemed to be attached to different people all the time. As it turns out, this is an artist that sticks with making amazing beads and elements that bead artisans can then assemble rather than creating a lot of finished work herself.
Helen Backhouse is her name and her beads and elements can be found scattered throughout Etsy and on various Facebook pages. Her pieces look to be impressed clay colored primarily with mica powders and, I’d guess, some kind of patina and weathered effect techniques, perhaps dyes or paints. Her blues are straight from the back yard, reflecting the brilliant blues found in a butterfly’s or bird’s wing as well as the dusty teals and blues leaning into greens that appear in natural metal patinas. The shapes are simple, the textures organic, and the coloring coolly dramatic. That makes for really eye-catching elements.
The best place to check out her pieces is on her Facebook page where the designers that use her pieces tag her in their photos alongside the stuff she does post.
Weekly Inspiration Challenge: Explore your favorite color. Spend just a couple of minutes writing down what you like about this color, what it reminds you of, and where you notice it most often. Look back at what you wrote and see what kind of work, forms, textures or other ideas these thoughts bring up and let those guide you in the creation of new pieces.
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Organic Support
July 19, 2017
Inspirational Art
Fantastical and fun as well as fundraising, this amazing polymer bra was Randee Ketzel‘s entry into the annual Art Bra event in Austin, Texas. The chosen pieces are showcased during a one-night event by local models, all of whom are breast cancer survivors. The huge event raises money for the Breast Cancer Resource Center which assists Central Texans affected by breast cancer in overcoming obstacles related to accessing treatment and confronting the issues that affect quality of life, all for free. What a cool event!
And what a beautiful piece Randee created for this very noble cause. The composition, with the leaves coming up to cradle the mix of flowers as they flutter off towards the straps, is nicely balanced by the composite cane flower beads that ground the upward sweeping cups on their centered, drop placement.
For more on Randee and her other work, go to her Flickr photostream or her Etsy shop. For more on the organization and event this was made for, go to the Art Bra event site.
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Rough Derivation …and HUGE sale –$5.20 magazines, $13 books!
July 7, 2017
Inspirational Art
Before we get into the last of our rough stuff this week, how about something that is really easy? Super inexpensive publications!
We have a MOVING SALE (I’m finally moving the business to California from Colorado) so to reduce my packing … everything printed prior to 2017 is 35-40% OFF our base retail price in my Etsy shop. Most print magazines are $5.20 and Polymer Journeys is only $13. Just click here!
You can also get similar deals on www.ilove2craft.com which is a great option if you want to stock up on Lisa Pavelka and Christi Friesen products too.
To wrap up this week of rough stuff, I am going to do something I usually avoid and show you what is essentially derivative work but definitely with an effort to create one’s own version.
The piece here is by Debby Wakley but the texture was derived from Eva Haskova’s “Earth Layers” series in which Eva created punched and tooled layers on domed lentil style beads. I choose to show Debby’s version because I think it shows a fairly direct translation of what we can see in Eva’s work, but the changes Debby made give her work a different feeling.
Eva’s work is very cleanly finished. Even when the edges are rough, you get a sense of control over the material that makes every element and every tool mark feel deliberate. Debby’s adaptation is a lot looser with freeform shapes instead of Eva’s balanced circles and then there is the imperfectly removed paint used to bring out the texture. Although Eva’s work shows a mastery of the material that is deservedly admired, I think Debby did justice to her inspiration but going with a loose, organic approach that looks to be more in line with Debby’s work as a whole.
It is obvious that Debby takes a lot of classes and most everything she posts can be linked back to a well-known master and teacher of polymer. But you can see her efforts to break out and create her own work. I find that promising and hope, in time, to see her process all the techniques she has learned into her own vision and expression. As you may have heard me say before, I am not an advocate of posting working one did in a class but if you are working towards your own variation, there may be some merit in showing how you translate what you learn, especially if one has the long-range goal of finding their own voice down the line.
Weekly Inspiration Challenge: Let another person’s work be your jumping-off point. Don’t copy but rather adapt what you like in any one piece by an admired artist into your preferred forms, colors, and techniques. You can emulate them as closely as you need to at first but set aside these exercises after a few runs and create something that is definitely and purely your own.
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Some Like it Rough
July 3, 2017
Inspirational Art
What is the attraction to texture that so many of us have? We have such a penchant for it that we find beauty in the cracked and rusted, in the uneven and worn, and generally in all that is breaking down and rough. I personally think it has something to do with our attachment to the past, to history, and to the stories these things would tell if they had actually gone through all that their condition represents.
I am a huge fan of this kind of time-worn texture and noticed that my boards and notes are filled with this kind of work right now so I’m sharing these little beauties with you. Yes, beautifully rough stuff.
This set is by Blanka Procházková. The old wood look and antiqued patterns make for a lovely vintage look with the colors still quite bright in spots and the patterns crisp but carrying a warm aged patina over it all. The scratched surface, although probably created as faux wood, has the creator’s hand evident in the rough way it was scratched out which, along with the imperfect shapes, adds to the feel of age, primarily because nothing in the clay could be mistaken for machine-made.
A lot of these rough and organic explorations have been showing up in Blanka’s work recently, her hand quite evident and delightfully so. It’s not that she hasn’t edged this way before but there is a kind of evident freedom in her latest pieces which is lovely to see. See for yourself on her Flickr photostream.
Post note: The wood look technique was one Blanka learned from Veronica Sturdy. See the original inspiration on Veronika’s Flickr photostream.
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A Choir of Angels
June 22, 2017
Inspirational Art
Exploring technique and design doesn’t ever end, or at least I don’t think it should. It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been working with a material, there is always more to learn. Barbara McGuire is a true and long standing polymer pioneer who may often return to signature techniques but she keeps expanding on what she has done, sometimes in subtle ways, sometimes in big leaps.
This collection of beads is one of her subtler explorations. Barbara has been making face canes for ages but she keeps changing up what she does with them. The angelic looking collection here gets its ethereal feel from the use of translucent wings and background cane slices. Past variations were commonly surrounded by opaque slices and balanced or radial backgrounds. The more freeform application here adds to the otherworldly feel of these little angels.
Barbara posts most of her recent work on her Facebook page while her products and news can usually be found on her website.
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Body of Work
June 20, 2017
Inspirational Art
Looking over a collection of work can tell you quite a bit about an artist and what intrigues them. The posts this week will give us a chance to consider, in a more complete and varied way, what an artist might be doing or be after in particular types of work.
Carole Monahan-Kampfe recently posted some rather intriguing pieces in what she refers to as her Steampunk collection but instead of jewelry, it looks like we are seeing a lot of ornaments. We are looking at Swellegant treatments (click the ad link below for more on this fascinating stuff) which make for some very yummy textures but the various shapes and variation on an ornament is what is most captivating about this work.
Although she is calling it steampunk and the influence of that aesthetic is there, many of the common motifs are, gratefully, missing and we can enjoy the exploration of the surface treatment and the manipulation of the ornament forms. I love the negative space in the ones with the floating centers and then those forms that are folding in on themselves which she calls Infinity Orbs. No standard ornament forms here either. Carole actually looks to be taking not the motifs and objects from the Steampunk arena but rather the inventive nature it is supposed to be representative of. Regardless, the choice of shapes and decorative touches are beautiful and more so in a collection like this where the various take on the elements and forms can be compared and contrasted.
The orbs at least, she lists as being made with Makin’s clay which is an air dry clay, rather than polymer but this could all be done with polymer as well of course. Carole just likes to try all kinds of things out as you can see on her Flickr photostream–another method of looking at an artist’s collection of work and over time at that. In this collection though, she seems to have really hit her stride and I hope she keeps playing with these ideas.
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Working on the Inside
June 17, 2017
Inspirational Art
Another way to push the disk element in strung jewelry design is to create designs on those inside surfaces. This might push you to design the disks in such a way as to open up space between them so that the work on the inside could be seen. That might present a bit of a challenge but it will likely present some interesting options for added accents and forms.
Margit Bohmer did just that. Her solution to show off the intricate and highly colorful faces of her disks was to slightly dome them and have them stacked in pairs with the concave sides in, allowing an angled view to all the beautiful color and textures she worked into them. It looks like quite a bit of work too. I just love seeing this kind of dedication and commitment to a piece. Each bead face is different and could stand on its own but all together, they create an engrossing piece that will probably take the owner years to become familiar with all its varied surfaces.
A riot of color and texture is a signature of Margit’s and she never leaves us wanting for more of either. See her latest work on her Flickr photostream.
Weekly Inspiration Challenge: Choose a basic or commonly used design and push it. By sketching, planning, or just playing with your materials, change the form or the way this basic design is constructed as far as you can until you come up with something that intrigues and excites you then create your own original work from the ideas you came up with.
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The Disk Cubed
June 15, 2017
Inspirational Art
Let’s move on from the ‘ordinary’ disk necklace and really push what these could be. First of all, who says they need to be round? Or strung on their center sitting neatly one on top of the other? Well, no one, that’s who.
Silvia Ortiz de la Torre goes completely off the disk reservation by squaring off the standard disk necklace element and taking full control of their positioning. This necklace is getting so far from a disk that I bet some of you are thinking it’s not a disk necklace at all. And maybe not but the stacking and repetition of form is the same and this is a good example of where an idea might start with some common or basic design and really veer off in very exciting directions, ending in a place barely recognizable from where it started. I don’t know that Silvia started with the idea of disks but she could have. And so can you start from a well used (or over-used) form or basic design and end up somewhere quite different. The thing is, it would have been hard to get to that cool and very original design without that common or basic starting point.
This piece is several years old but Silvia still loves disks and stacking but she is taking things in a very different direction these days. See how she has journeyed from pieces like this to her big intricate disks display in her Flickr photostream and her Etsy shop.
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Do you, like many people, find boxes really intriguing? Why do we like boxes? I mean, sure, they are convenient for storing things, hiding things, shipping stuff, and wrapping up gifts. But some of us (myself very much included) can become rather infatuated with them. I know I have a hard time passing a box and not opening it up. Boxes have this mysterious unknown interior that could be holding just about anything that will fit. The possibilities poke at our curiosity.
The things with in a box become automatically precious or necessary. Why put something in a box if it is not valuable or you do not think it will become useful in the future? So, boxes hold valuables of a sort, normally. So why wouldn’t you want to peek in and see what kind of fabulous things are inside?
I bring up boxes because I have a bit of news that has to do with boxes. Say uncle scrolling down to the end of the post to see what my news is, here it is. Then we’ll look at a few polymer boxes to further contemplate
The Good, the Bad, and the Exciting
Note: If you are an existing subscriber to The Polymer Studio, you should already have received an email with this information. (If you believe you are an existing subscriber and did not get a subscription status email, check your junk mail folder. You can also check your subscription status on your account page here.)
So, after 4 months of working on my health and arm injury, I have gotten to the point where I have been able to determine, more or less, what I can and can’t do going forward, and since it is apparent that I will continue to be restricted for the foreseeable future, I have made plans accordingly:
The Good:
As of January, I will be resuming work on publications for 2020 and am working on new projects now.
The Bad:
I am shutting down The Polymer Studio magazine for good. I have, however, set-up exciting options for fulfilling subscriptions for existing subscribers, primarily the new Box project you’ll read about below. (More details for subscribers are in the email sent out earlier today.)
The Exciting:
I have 3 exciting projects that Tenth Muse Arts will be offering this coming year–
- I will be scheduling 2 book publications for 2020, including the second Polymer Arts Projects book (the theme will be Shimmer and Shine) and a book on expanding your creativity yet to be titled.
- I will be expanding our shop to include hard to get and self-published polymer and mixed media related books to connect the community with more great artists and authors.
- And… instead of a regularly published magazine we will be offering a monthly Virtual Art Box for polymer and mixed media creatives.
I know, I know … there are a lot of questions those announcements bring up like what is a Virtual Art Box and why am I not publishing the magazine any longer? And I have answers so, read on!
What is the Virtual Tenth Muse Art Box?
The Virtual Art Box is a digital package of invaluable articles, lessons, specials, and printable tools all geared to advance your creative self and give you more “a-ha” moments. Like a magazine, we will be providing serendipitous educational and inspirational content but with additional tools and perks that just couldn’t be produced in the pages of a publication.
Each Virtual Art Box will include:
- Design immersion lessons (weekly)
- Creativity Cultivation seminars & worksheets (every month)
- Customizable challenges (every month)
- Art Nudges (weekly)
… as well a variety of these possible items:
- Project and technique tutorials
- Demonstrations
- Interviews
- Printable gadgets and aids
- Retail partner discounts and specials
- Sneak peaks and Box subscriber only discounts for Tenth Muse Arts publications
- And whatever other great goodies we think up or you suggest along the way.
The Virtual Art Box will be multimedia to include video and downloadable PDFs and will be sent out monthly. They will be available as a automatically billed monthly and quarterly subscriptions that can be canceled at any time. The first box will be sent off February of 2020. Subscriptions aren’t available quite yet, but we’ll let you know when we have all that technical stuff done so you can! (Existing subscribers will be automatically signed up for the Virtual Art Box or they will have the option to request store credit – details for subscribers will be sent out this coming week.)
Why No Magazine?
As many of you know, I halted magazine production in August because of health issues. Although I am not through the full six months recommended for recovery time, it has already become apparent that there is some permanent damage in my arm and there is still a long road ahead for the other health issues I am dealing with. So, something had to be changed.
Being the primary editor and layout designer for the magazine, and facing the reality that I can no longer carry my usual workload, my only option for keeping the magazine going would be to hire more third-party contractors which would result in one or, most likely, all of three things – significantly raising the price of the magazine, jeopardizing the quality of the production and content, and/or not paying the contributing writers and artists. I am not happy with the idea of any of these outcomes and instead I have chosen to discontinue the magazine and work in formats that put less repetitive strain on my arm and should be better able to financially support additional contracted staff as needed.
I am more than a little sad about closing down the magazine. I’ve been publishing periodicals for the polymer community for over eight years and have worked in magazines since high school. However, I’m hoping, with these new ventures, I can continue to inspire, educate, and increase your joy and fulfillment in your creative endeavors through these other exciting avenues.
How Does This Affect This Blog?
So, as you might have noticed, one of the items in the Virtual Art Box is a weekly design lesson. Well, that’s basically what I’ve been doing on the blog this year but, without a magazine to promote on a regular basis, it’s been hard to justify the time that goes into these article length posts beyond the fact that I love doing them. But the mantra for this next year is to work smart.
So, what will happen is that the full-length posts plus other notes and nudges based on the content of the virtual box will be sent to the Virtual Art Box subscribers each weekend. Here, on this publicly accessible blog, I will do an abbreviated version of the subscriber’s weekly design immersion content so I can keep nudging folks to look closer at the design of their creations.
Starting this month, I will be creating those abbreviated posts so I can focus on wrapping up the details of this new project, hire a new assistant, and get a production schedule up for next year for the books. All that with the holidays in the midst of it. Sounds like I’m getting crazy again but I promise to do as the doctor orders. I am really looking forward to being productive again!
Now What about Those Boxes?
With polymer, you can make boxes in two ways – you can cover an existing box form or you can create your own box. Let’s put it at a few examples of both.
Covering a RD existing box is, obviously, the easiest way to create a polymer box. It may seem like a shortcut but if you spend a lot of time creating beautiful veneers or sculptural elements for the outside the box, there’s no need to spend a lot of time creating the box from polymer. Remember, it’s better to use the material that makes the most sense for what you are creating rather than limit yourself to one material.
Aniko Kolesnikova, famous for her journal covers, also covers boxes. Using her bas-relief style sculptural approach, she created this commissioned box based on the card game, Magic: The Gathering. The box top worked as a canvas but the dimensional aspect allowed her to flow each of the elements over its edge, taking up the dynamic energy and knowledge. Click on the image to get her blog post about how she made this including sketches and close-ups.
Fiona Abel-Smith looks to have created her actual box forms out of polymer and then covers it with a technique she learned, and eventually perfected, from Sue Heaser. The process is based on the classic mosaic-like technique of pietra dura. Laying a clay colored base for the shapes in the images, Fiona then adds bits, cut from extruded snakes of clay, to the image for texture. The intense technique creates beautiful, lively illustrations. Fiona’s also created a post about her boxes, showing her variations and their many sides along with photos of her process. Click the image to see the post.
If you are making your own polymer boxes, you have the option of leaving the square behind in making her boxes in any shape whatsoever. The opening image and the image below are boxes by Helen Wyland-Malchow. The opening image, Box 22, was her winning entry into Polymer Journeys 2019. This one, Landscape Box, below has always been one of my personal favorites though. That is really pushing the idea of a box in such a wonderful and dynamic way. Squares are bit static, which allows the imagery on the box to stand out but curves are fabulously high-energy and fun.
So, how about you? Have you created covered boxes or constructed your own from polymer? That could be a fun challenge this month if you haven’t worked with boxes yet. They make fantastic gifts for pretty much anyone. Who couldn’t use a box? If you’d like to create your own polymer boxes, there is a great tutorial (if I do say so myself) by me on constructing a 100% polymer box in the Winter 2015 issue of The Polymer Arts (also available in digital for immediate download here.)
Putting the Lid on It
Well, that’s enough blathering at you for this weekend. I haven’t had time to take pictures of the kitchen backsplash I was working on, which is basically done except for the grout, but I’ll share that with you next weekend, hopefully in its final form.
And last but not least, I want to thank each and every one of you who have been cheering me on the last 8 years, for sending your appreciative and supportive messages, particularly in these the last 4 months. I look forward to you coming along with me on these new and continued artistic ventures as we explore this fantastic medium, growing our creative selves and our community.
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Are you familiar with something known as the flow state? This is that space you get in where you are lost in your own little world because you are so wrapped up in what you are doing. It happens quite commonly when people are working on creative projects and it’s a really good thing for you, both because it dissipates stress and because it increases your level of “feel-good” chemicals like serotonin and dopamine. It’s also defined as an “optimal state of consciousness where we feel our best and perform our best.” Now, who wouldn’t want that?
I bring this up because I want to talk about mosaics. I think a lot of people look at all those tiny pieces and think, “That looks like a ton of work!” And, yeah, there might be a lot of steps to putting a mosaic together, but the technique is also one that really gets you deep into a flow state. It can be kind of like doodling but with little pieces.
It would not be a hard thing to start on. Most of us have access to tons of tiny pieces, either through leftover canes, unused polymer sheets, or failed projects we haven’t had the heart to toss out. Just slice up those canes, cut up those sheets, and/or start chopping up those cured elements and you have all you need to start creating mosaics. Of course, you can make pieces specifically for mosaics from fresh clay, too!
Mosaics have been on my mind these last couple weeks because, while working on the latest book, Polymer Journeys 2019, it became quite apparent that one of the bigger trends making a splash right now is polymer mosaics and so I thought we ought to take a closer look at this not so new but definitely interesting and flexible technique. (By the way, today is the last day to get the Pre-order Sale pricing on Polymer Journeys 2019! Go to the website to get it at 30% off the cover!)
Mind you, being the insanely creative and exploratory artisans and crafters that they are, polymer enthusiasts aren’t just slapping together any old standard expectation of a mosaic. They are mixing mediums, trying out every shape in the book, using three-dimensional forms, and generally just pushing the boundaries of what the mosaic technique is. Gotta love polymer crafters!
So, let’s take a look at what some people are doing as of late and we’ll end with suggestions for getting into the mosaic flow yourself.
Different Kinds of Bits & Pieces
One of the folks who, at least initially, takes a classic approach to the art form of mosaics but certainly adds her own flavor to it, is Christi Friesen. She cuts out squares of polymer, lays a base to adhere them to and then arranges the pieces in pleasing and energetic patterns. But of course, Christi can’t leave well enough alone — she has to add bling and embellishments of all kinds! She’s been mixing in glass, wire, charms, beads, and probably a bunch of other things I will never be able to identify, to create her whimsical tiles, vessels and jewelry. Can’t you just sense the depth of the flow state she must have been in creating this beautiful maelstrom?
You could say that Claire Fairweather is classically inspired too, but her work has a twist to it. That twist is a commitment to circles used to create these wonderful images of graduated color and varied texture. Using round elements instead of squares and straight-sided shapes that join neatly together, leaves more open space but it’s one that has a fairly regular rhythm that flows in and out of the carefully placed circles. This gives the imagery more orderliness and a softer look as you can see in the many sides of her mosaic globe below. (Be sure to jump over to her blog to get the rundown on what each side is showing.)
Keep in mind that a mosaic piece does not have to be all mosaic. Large swaths can be made up of other types of polymer elements such as textured, silkscreen, impressed, or hand tooled layers or forms. A lot of Susan Crocenzi’s work, especially earlier in this decade, consist of entire halves of her pieces being a kind of polymer landscape, surrounded by glass mosaics or a mix of mosaic mediums. Here is just one example below but you can find more on her website too.
For all of you mad caners out there, here is an example of how beautifully energetic a piece can be just by arranging thick cane slices on a simple form. This bib necklace is a yet-to-be-hung creation by Ivy Niles, who makes some of the most impressive canes. You can see how much more impressive they are when working together in this off-center mandala type pattern.
If you really like the idea of doing mosaics don’t relegate your sources of inspiration to the work of polymer artist’s, as unique as they may be. Take a look at what glass and tile mosaic artists are doing these days as well (just type “mosaic art” into your favorite browser or an image-centric site, like Pinterest or Instagram) if for no other reason than there is some amazing and gorgeous work out there to enjoy. Here is a gorgeous piece by Francis Green in what seems to be a rare piece of wall art. This woman will mosaic anything she can get her hands on! She kinda reminds me of some unbridled polymer artist with their canes. Just take a look at her website.
The How-Tos of Mosaics
So, are you itching to try some mosaics now? Here are a few places you could start:
- If you want to start with something classic, even, and orderly, check out this straight-forward mosaic tile tutorial by Korrina Robinson on her blog.
- Prefer a more open and visually textural approach that is flexible enough to use any type of clay sheets or even canes? Take a look at this mosaic vase by Kathy Koontz on the Sculpey website.
- If you’re ready to really dive in, might I suggest you invest in this great tutorial on micromosaics and faux glass by Pavla Čepelíková. The opening image of this post shows examples of some of the things she’ll teach you to make in this downloadable PDF.
- If you want to use mosaic as a way to diminish your pile of scrap clay and cured bits, take a look at Christi Friesen’s mosaic video tutorial here. You can also have fun creating mosaics Antoni Gaudi style on an unusually formed box with Christi in the Polymer Art Projects – Organic book (go to our website to get your copy!)
- And if that’s not enough, Christi sells mosaic kits on her website where you can also find tons of other embellishments and bobbles to assist in your mosaic flow. Just click here!
- I even have some exciting mosaics for you to look forward to too … We just found out that Staedtler/Fimo is going to sponsor Ann and Karen Mitchell, the Masters of liquid polymer clay, to create a mini mosaic tutorial for the next issue of The Polymer Studio magazine. This is a changeup to Karen’s tiny micromosaic technique published in The Polymer Arts back in the Fall of 2015.
Whew! I got into a flow a bit there myself writing excitedly about all this fun stuff. I hope you’ll give mosaics a try if you have not already, or at least give yourself some time to just get lost in your craft today. It’s good for the brain and the soul and you never know what will come of it later in your creative journey!
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Have you ever made a polymer ring? It’s not one of the most popular jewelry forms in the medium which seems a little strange because they’re fairly easy to make. Maybe it’s a durability question – will the polymer ring stand up to the knocking and scraping rings have to go through? I’m not sure how they would fare if worn day in and day out but I, myself, have several polymer rings which still look as good today as the day I made them and the unusual and fantastic things you can do with polymer make them a really eye-catching piece of adornment that you’ll get lots of questions about an attention for.
There are so many different types of polymer rings you can make. You can wrap clay onto a form such as small glass bottles, sockets (for socket wrenches), and short bits of metal pipe (try pipe connectors.) You can skip the ring construction and just apply polymer to a metal ring blank. They come as bands with open channels that you can put canes and veneers in, or with a blank bezel for cabochons or sculptural elements. You can also simply create a block of clay that you punch a hole into for the finger to go through. Alternately, you can free-form the ring by hand, cure it, and then carve it into the shape and size you need. There are so many ways to make rings!
The one downside about rings, especially if you are selling them, is that you will need different sizes. Making a selection to show the style but then offering custom-made rings is one way around this but the other way is to just make simple rings that you can create a lot of and only in three or four popular sizes. This way you have those smaller inexpensive, impulse buy items to sell at your fair booth or online. And rings are easy items to sell especially at an inexpensive price point. They’re fun little bits of adornment and you don’t even really need them to match your outfits!
But if you want to create and sell one-of-a-kind rings, choose an average ring size and keep the band thickness and style wide enough to either sand down to create a larger size or add a layer of clay to create a smaller size. There are also adjustable ring blanks if you just need a base for attaching your polymer forms and elements onto.
So now that I have you thinking about rings, let’s take a look at some great polymer ring creations to further get your inspiration going.
Let’s start with one of those ring blank ideas. Here Janine Müller shows how creative you can get with a ring bezel. It doesn’t need to be a solid polymer cabochon. It can be layered or carved or hand-tooled or drilled. I’m not sure what her approach is here but the take away here is that you can try your own preferred surface treatments to create a unique ring in a bezel blank.
If you want to try an all polymer ring in a quick and easy but fun form, roll out those clay sheets and try a stacked set like these ingenious mix-and-match rings by Florence Minne-Khou. Clean cuts and a little sanding is about the most difficult aspect of a project like this so there’s hardly any excuse to not try it.
If you like getting sculptural with your work, you can go in a number of directions. Keep it simple but elegant with uncomplicated and cleanly shaped rings. Start by wrapping them around a solid form to start, and then sculpt the clay. These pieces from Angela Garrod are likely created in that fashion.
Or swirl them well into the third dimension with a folded form like this intriguing finger form from Sona Grigoryan.
Or just go completely wild and don’t worry about the functional aspect. Just make something out of this world. Perhaps this rather celestial feeling ring by Donna Greenberg will get you to push the limits of what you can do with a ring form.
If you are primarily a cane clayer, don’t think that rings–even sculptural rings–are not for you. Take note of Jana Roberts Benzon’s creative cane slicing and build up your own gorgeously detailed rings.
Oh, I could keep going with these! Just put “polymer rings” into a search on Pinterest, Instagram, Etsy or Flickr and you’ll see a ton more to get you thinking. But if you want some step by step instructions to help get you started on what could be a really addictive form, try this block cut ring tutorial from Ludmila Bakulina aka Sweety Bijou. This would be good for scraps too!
Okay … going to have to cut and run but I hope I have left you with some exciting possibilities. I’m on the road today but will be back next weekend with more food for thought and pretty things to ponder. Also, don’t forget to pre-order your Polymer Journeys 2019 before the 22nd. Release date is now March 2! Get yours at www.tenthmusearts.com
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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:
- 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.
- The technique was developed for purely decorative purposes.
- It was originally used almost exclusively to create samurai swords to be carried around as status symbols.
- The technique became nearly extinct due to samurai swords becoming illegal to carry in Japan in the 19th century.
- 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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I know I just featured Katie Way in February, but this is such a great example of taking a technique and making it your own that I didn’t want to pass by this opportunity. This seemed particularly apropos after an incident came up a week or so ago that I was consulted about involving a student submitting something to a contest that they created either in a class or based on a class. The problem was not in taking something that was learned in a class and creating from that knowledge but using the design choices that the teaching artist used. So, let’s just review what that means. In a way, it’s very simple – you can replicate technique, but you cannot use the design decisions of another artist.
I think part of the issue is that there is some confusion as to what’s is technique and what is design, so let me try to define that.
Technique is how you manipulate the material including how you apply texture, the process of forming/sculpting, the mixing or application of color treatments, the creation of mechanisms or use of materials for constructing the piece, etc. In other words, it’s about the process of creating.
Design is about the specific choices you make about how something is going to look. So, your choices about the type of texture (not how you apply it), the shapes you create (but not how you create them), the colors you choose (but not the source of the color), and the arrangement of your construction (but not the mechanisms used to put pieces together), are all design choices. If the majority of your choices are based on someone else’s examples, then you’re in danger of copying their design. Changing the color or shape is simply not enough, nor is it fair to the artist that inspired you and, equally so, it’s not fair to you and your creative growth to skip the exploration of what a piece could be by not making the design decisions yourself.
In the piece we see here, Katie Way took a class with Alice Stroppel and made a piece that is uniquely her own. You can see the influence of both artists in this work. The big, bold cane work shows Alice’s influence, but the color choices and all those bulls-eye circles are absolutely Katie. I would’ve known this was Katie’s right away, but it would’ve taken me a few moments to realize where her change in technique came from if she hadn’t made note of her influencer. And that’s really how it should be.
You can absolutely copy the work of the teaching artist in class as a way to learn. Most of them do prefer that. But when you go home, don’t make that same basic piece ever again. Have enough confidence and belief in your artistic self to work out your own designs. It is far more fulfilling to create from your own sense of aesthetic and ideas than to simply be successful with someone else’s design.
Okay, getting off my soapbox now. If you’re intrigued by Alice’s cane mapping class, go to her website to check out where she will be teaching next. And if you’ve somehow missed Katie’s work, check out her Etsy shop and her Instagram page.
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If you want to get right to it and make some wonderful all around gifts, it’s hard to go wrong with scarf pins. Or hair pins. Or shawl pins. Which are all really the same thing, aren’t they?
These pins are simply a sturdy base around a circular hole large enough to get a scarf or bundle of hair pressed into so a stick can be inserted behind or through, holding it in place. And for that, all you need is a small stack of clay sheets, and a cutter for the hole to get you started. How you decorate the surface of the clay is then wide open for you. Create a stick to match by wrapping clay around a skewer or a very stiff bit of wire and apply a similar surface treatment.
Cat Szetu just loved making pins like this one here. I say this in the past tense because I have not been able to find recent work of hers online. Perhaps she is really busy making pins. But I do like this example because the surface is decorated in a rather straightforward manner, with slivers of clay cut from a Skinner blended sheet, curling around the surface. That gradation of color and the smooth curving lines create a quiet and calm type of visual movement that, together, keeps the simple layering of clay from feeling stale.
Cat has plenty more pieces to jumpstart your own ideas. Just go to her Flickr photostream and scroll around.
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I spent a lot of time looking for differently constructed clocks in polymer and couldn’t find much that really illustrated the point I was hoping to make. What I wanted was to show that a clock does not have to be on a flat surface. It can be made of many parts, attached or not, and fully dimensional. As long as you have something that can house or hide the clock mechanism while holding out the hands, the rest is wide open. You can have the hour markers designated by any form and attach them with sticks or wire or be free floating–whatever suits the piece and your inclination.
These two examples are commercial designs rather than polymer art but I think they give you the basics of this idea of moving beyond the flat clock face. Not only do these kinds of clocks make for really interesting wall pieces, they give you the freedom to use pieces you may already have such as large hollow beads, faux stones, unhung pendants, small figurines, flowers, etc.
As a gift, giving a clock that has separate pieces might be best attached to something that can be hung as one piece, like a backing of Plexiglas or painted plywood. Or include instructions for a template to mark on the wall where each piece goes. There is little to no construction to deal with but you will have to make concessions in the design for how the individual pieces will be hung. Alternately, go for a design where the elements are attached like the flowers you see here.
The sky is the limit with these kinds of designs. For more ideas, try searching “DIY clocks,” which was the keyword set that brought me to these two pieces. I hope these sparks some ideas and I look forward to seeing inventive clock designs this month!
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In my search for clock inspiration, I veered a bit off the polymer path, but then again, I kept running into pieces that I thought were polymer but were not. Of course, pieces like this splendid celestial clock by Natalya Polekh could be created in a very similar fashion with polymer. Large textured sheets and fun with alcohol inks and mica powders could produce similarly stunning results so I took a closer look.
Natalya looks to be a well-known mixed media artist in Eastern Europe and Russia and when I say mixed, I mean all kinds of things. Her primary materials look to be various types of acrylic paint, dimensional and pearling paints, 3D gel, embossing paste, and glass and metal accents of different types. She works in texture, mosaics and layered media that is applied in such a way that knowing the materials is rather superfluous. She creates a beautiful complexity of texture and motif with shine and shimmer applied in abundance but always in a tasteful and often intriguing manner.
She does much more than clocks although she has done quite few of them. Take a look at her shop for more clock and textural ideas as well as very well priced tutorials on how she creates this work. Her VK.com page has more images.
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Well, it’s that season again. While everyone else is shopping, crafters and artisans like yourself are working madly away on the stock that your audience demands to make their gift giving season the best one to date. For some of us, that audience is a retail account but for many more of us, it’s the far more intimidating circle of friends and family that we fret over. What do we do this year for gifts and surprises that we haven’t already done? Asking myself this question, I came up with a couple of ideas and in researching, clocks really hit a note for me. Any clayer of any level and any specialized set of techniques can create a clock that is both personal and expressive and everyone of every age can appreciate a lovingly created handmade clock.
Cane-covered clock faces are an easy project for clayers of any skill level. You can buy old clocks at the thrift store, or inexpensive ones at the big box store, or just a clock kit from a craft or hobby store that you put into your cane-covered clay sheets. Here is a fun and colorful, slightly off from the norm, cane-covered clock face for some initial inspiration. Mira Pinki Krispil is quite fond of cane covered decor but she always takes it one step beyond.
I like this piece because of the slight off-centeredness and the imagery in the center. It is more than decorated. The image in its center is intriguing with energetic lines bouncing back and forth through intertwined imagery. It’s just a great visual piece to start with. The fact that it’s a functional clock is a bonus.
Mira creates her colorful piece in south Israel and sells her work on Etsy. You can also see more of her designs by checking in on her Flickr photostream.
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