{"id":17002,"date":"2020-05-17T02:55:10","date_gmt":"2020-05-17T09:55:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thepolymerarts.com\/blog\/?p=17002"},"modified":"2020-09-11T12:41:21","modified_gmt":"2020-09-11T19:41:21","slug":"17002-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thepolymerarts.com\/blog\/17002-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Shapes of our Past"},"content":{"rendered":"
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How much do you think about shape and form when creating your work? That\u2019s the core question posed in this month\u2019s art box where we\u2019re feeling out how those design considerations communicate our intention in our creative work. So this weekend, join me as I take a trip back through old posts but look at them with shape and form in mind. I\u2019ll explain why I\u2019m using past posts after we get through the much more exciting task of considering shape and form.<\/p>\n

As you scroll through these images, just think about what your visceral reaction is to each of the individual shapes or forms you see. What would you say a particular shape or form communicates to you? There are no wrong answers. That is one of the great things about art. But taking note of your answers can tell you a lot about how you perceive various shapes and forms and, hopefully, will get you thinking about how they come across in your own work.<\/p>\n

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Simple shapes from February 2017<\/span><\/p>\n

Some days, you just want things simple. You can do this in the studio any time and, regardless of your simple approach, you can still get\u00a0stunning results. I think that once we engage the creative mind though, it will just keep going on its own momentum even when you were thinking that you wanted to do something quick and easy.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m guessing that this is what\u00a0Veruschka\u00a0Stevens<\/a>\u00a0was thinking when she first sat down to create\u00a0the necklace that opens this post.\u00a0As she says:
\nI generally use different\u00a0techniques that vary in complexity for making our jewelry. This necklace in particular was made\u00a0using the simplest technique I know. However, it is equally one of the most time-consuming and very much detail-oriented as well.<\/em><\/p>\n

The complexity of layers and variety of geometric shapes takes what might, in a less busy composition, feel bold but relatively static into the realm of high-energy and a fun, unassuming sophistication.<\/p>\n

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A Talk of Pods from October 2013<\/u><\/p>\n

When I think of pods, the first things that come to mind are round but elongated forms, with angular, pointed ends. But that is an extremely narrow image of a pod. In truth, pods come in quite a large variety of shapes.<\/p>\n

Pods can be round or flat, long or squat, smooth or rough, and as small as a pea or so large it takes two hands to hold one. The only defining factor with pods is that they hold something, encasing a collection of possibilities within.<\/p>\n

This interesting necklace below might be described as a study of pod varieties.\u00a0Lori Phillips<\/a>, who looks to work exclusively in ceramics now, took a detour into polymer a number of years back to create this piece.<\/p>\n

Most of these beads look like they could have been inspired by real versions in nature, although I\u2019m guessing, from looking at the free form work elsewhere on Lori\u2019s Flickr page, that these came primarily from her own imagination. But either way, they show the possibility of working with a form and pushing the idea of what it could be.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The Many Forms of Petals from June 2013<\/u><\/p>\n

There are, of course, many variations in the wide world of flowers, particularly their petals, which might make one conclude that many a cane must be made to build a decent collection of caned petal possibilities. But this is not necessarily so.\u00a0This display of both traditional and not so traditional petal forms and patterning is a sample set by\u00a0Lynne Ann Schwarzenberg<\/a>. Her photo note on Facebook says the\u00a0canes are \u201creduced, shaped, torqued, and recombined to make a seemingly endless array of elements that can be used to make all sorts of wearable art. Hearts and spirals, complex petals, wisteria and lotus blossoms are all found along the petal path.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Geometric creatures from March 2017<\/span><\/p>\n

With a beautifully stylized approach,\u00a0Angela Garrod<\/a>\u00a0captures the look, and amusing expressions of some of people\u2019s favorite animals, and this while playing with geometric shapes. Notice where angular shapes are used for birds, known for their flight and movement which is also a primary characteristics for angular shapes, and how the dogs and their get rounded off, depicting the softness and amiability we associate with the cute versions of these creatures.<\/p>\n

The hand scratched texture keeps the geometric shapes from feeling too stiff and sterile and adds quite a bit to what would otherwise be simple shapes and lines through which we, somehow, recognize the variety of animals. I don\u2019t know how our brains do that. The brain is just pretty darn nifty.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Are you
\nHow are you reading the shapes in these pieces? Do you agree with my assessments? We certainly don\u2019t have to. That is the great thing about creative work \u2013 you bring a whole other layer of your life experience and associations to what is being communicated.<\/div>\n
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Rough Roads<\/strong><\/p>\n

We are all facing our share of challenges right now so I hesitate to even say anything but I would like to explain that this month and maybe next things might be a little wonky. I will be able to get a blog out every Sunday morning \u2013 it\u2019s the one thing I am sure I can get done on time\u2013 but I am experiencing some physical limitations again which is making it hard to hit deadlines, and get through all the emails daily, especially with no admin or production staff which, for various reasons, is not going to change anytime soon. So, I beg your patience with me. I can get help with shipping orders (I do have an imprisoned college student in the house) so those, at least, will not be delayed.<\/p>\n

But, this weekend, to minimize my computer time after a rough week updating back end technical nonsense, I turned to old posts and edited them to fit our focus this month. I hope you don\u2019t mind my taking a shortcut! Even if you remember the old posts, we\u2019re looking at them with a new focus and for many of you, I bet, a better trained eye.<\/p>\n

Well, time for me to get up and move before the arthritis in my neck becomes all too distracting. I hope you all are staying safe and well and enjoying finding the beauty in the shapes all around you.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

How much do you think about shape and form when creating your work? That\u2019s the core question posed in this month\u2019s art box where we\u2019re feeling out how those design considerations communicate our intention in our creative work. So this weekend, join me as I take a trip back through old posts but look at…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[974,1536,1079,29,640,12,11,3661,4688,3730,3816,16,4367,2160],"class_list":["post-17002","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-inspirational-art","tag-angela-garrod","tag-lori-phillips","tag-lynne-ann-schwarzenberg","tag-necklace","tag-polymer","tag-polymer-art","tag-polymer-clay","tag-polymer-jewelry","tag-polymer-magazine","tag-the-polymer-arts","tag-the-polymer-arts-blog","tag-the-polymer-arts-magazine","tag-veruschka-stevens","tag-wearable-art"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2O0Lm-4qe","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thepolymerarts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17002","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thepolymerarts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thepolymerarts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thepolymerarts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thepolymerarts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17002"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.thepolymerarts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17002\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17011,"href":"https:\/\/www.thepolymerarts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17002\/revisions\/17011"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thepolymerarts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17002"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thepolymerarts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17002"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thepolymerarts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17002"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}