{"id":16080,"date":"2019-03-03T02:00:48","date_gmt":"2019-03-03T10:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thepolymerarts.com\/blog\/?p=16080"},"modified":"2019-03-16T18:31:56","modified_gmt":"2019-03-17T01:31:56","slug":"manmade-handmade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thepolymerarts.com\/blog\/manmade-handmade\/","title":{"rendered":"Man-made Handmade"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a> Have you noticed that most people who work in polymer will cite nature as their primary inspiration? Do you, or would you, too? But isn\u2019t it ironic that, as inspired as we are by nature, we work with a wholly man-made material? I\u2019ve been thinking about this because, as I polished up the Polymer Journeys 2019 book<\/a>, I was making notes on some of the trends and I noticed that all but three people who cited their inspiration said they were inspired by nature. It got me to thinking about why we aren\u2019t more inspired by the man-made world, as rich and diverse as it is.<\/p>\n

My curiosity piqued, I did some research and made more notes to see if, for one, my perception was correct in that polymer artists look to nature more than anything and, secondly, to see what things other than nature inspire people. So, the observations that inspiration from nature is predominant in polymer art was upheld by all I looked through. I also found it interesting that, when it boils down to it, nearly everything in almost all art forms looks to be inspired by nature or by man-made styles and designs that themselves were inspired by nature.\u00a0To see examples of where nature is inspiration for man-made design, just take a look at styles such as Baroque or Art Deco. Flowers, trees, leaves, vines, butterflies, birds, and a myriad of other natural flora and fauna are evident sources of inspiration in the forms and lines of those styles. We might be inspired by the designs of that age but the inspiration is still rooted in nature.<\/p>\n

However, I did my best to find pieces that were inspired by man-made objects, scenes, or styles. Let me tell you, it was not terribly easy but just because it is less often turned to does not mean it doesn\u2019t have wonderful forms, colors, motifs, and textures for all of us. Let\u2019s take a look at some of the work created by polymer artists who are inspired by the man-made.<\/p>\n

A Gallery of Man-made Inspiration<\/strong><\/h4>\n

One of the first people who came to mind when thinking about man-made inspiration was Cornelia Brockstedt.<\/a> She has had several series such as \u201cStreet Life\u201d and her \u201cCity\u201d bangles. She also did a series of what she called \u201cgraphical studies\u201d in 2015. So I went to her Flickr photo stream<\/a> to find something to share with you and it struck me that, even with the graphical tendencies and inspiration taken from city life, there is so much organic that shows up in her work. This tended to be true with a lot of artists. This pendant, one of my favorite pieces of hers, was inspired by sidewalks and the grass that grows up from around it. So it was inspired by man-made walkways but with contrast in the nature that is still sneaking in.<\/p>\n

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Another artist who came to mind, even before I started my search, was\u00a0Sona Grigoryan<\/a>.\u00a0 She did a lovely series of polymer and resin pieces inspired by the Barcelona cathedrals and stained-glass windows she sees where she lives.<\/p>\n

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And of course, we have to consider the work of the Georg Dinkel<\/a> who is inspired by architecture and machinery to the extent that even when he decides to create some creatures, they too look mechanical. He is also, apparently, inspired by literature and humor, as this Don Quixote scene he set up with two of his mechanized creatures hints at.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

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And, when talking mechanical, we certainly can\u2019t ignore the influence of the mechanical from movements like steampunk. From jewelry to sculpture to journals and phone cases, this style is everywhere but it\u2019s hard to say whether polymer found steampunk or steampunk found polymer first. The steampunk monster heart that opened this post is a sculpture by Kimberly Hart<\/a> who posts under MonsterKookies on Etsy.<\/a><\/p>\n

Carol Blackburn<\/a>, whose work is so colorful and graphic, often cites fashion styles and movements as her source of inspiration. I think these fall under her \u201cMissoni\u201d fashion inspired line.<\/p>\n

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Another artist who seems quite enamored of fabric but also of metal and other man-made textures is Nikolina Otrzan<\/a>. Mostly, she\u2019s just a texture fiend but you\u2019ll notice that her textures generally have a certain uniformity to them that automatically makes them feel that they would be man-made in origin, whether they were intended to or not. Even her shapes, like these tube pieces, reflect a penchant for uniformity that is beautifully balanced with her choice of rough or edge softening surface treatments.<\/p>\n

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So has this got you pondering the possibilities of man-made forms and textures as a source of inspiration for you? I know I\u2019ve been looking at the shapes in my house, the walls in the neighborhood, and the forms on the buildings I pass with new eyes.<\/p>\n

Going for Man-made<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Freebies<\/h6>\n

If you want to try a few man-made inspired textures or forms, there are quite a few out there although the quick and free were a bit more scarce. Nonetheless, here are a few pages with related free tutorials. You’ll want to pop the last two URLs into Google translate<\/a> if it doesn’t automatically translate for you:<\/p>\n