Tuesday, May 1, 2012

May Challenge: Artist Inspired

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We all seek inspiration in the world around us. We are particularly inspired by great artist of all mediums. For this challenge, PCAGOE members sought out those who inspire us from painters, to fashion designers, to other clay artists--and then we each created a piece with our own flair. As always entries had to be at least 50% polymer clay.

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Vote May 1-7 and you could win. Three lucky winners will be selected in a drawing of all non-member voters and will be able to choose a prize offered by our member shops sponsoring this month's challenge. See the list of participating sponsors and prizes.  

And the entries are:

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1. Rainy Day at the Circus by Deb of RenGalSA
It's hard sometimes to put into words where your inspiration comes from. As long as I can remember I've been creative - drawing and cutting out my own paper dolls from the moment I could hold a scissors. Every creative moment molds you and one of my pivotal ones was getting a paint by number set with two clowns - one happy, one sad. It was complex and I was very young, but my mom knew I needed the challenge. I was fascinated with the face painting, the expressions, and it began a love affair with the human face and capturing emotions with concepts and design. In starting this latest line of polymer art, I wanted to get back to those ideas that inspired me in my youth. These earrings are called "Rainy Day at the Circus." They have a translucent sad clown face on a black, gray & white pixeled background. I wanted the gray back drop to represent the gray of the rain in contrast to the bright colors in the clown's nose, hair, and flower. This will be my entry in the May PCAGOE challenge - "Artist Inspired." And it's not what you may think, I wasn't inspired by the artist who painted the original painting that paint-by-number from my youth was based upon. When I thought about it, the artists that inspired me were the clowns or more specifically the clown that most of the sad, tramp clowns were based upon - Emmett Kelly or "Weary Willie."

2.  "JOB" by Alphonse Mucha - Image Transfer by Linda of NKdesigns
Alphonse Mucha is an amazing Art Nouveau artist and a definite favorite of mine. He lived from 1860-1939. JOB by Alphonse Mucha was created early in his career when he was establishing himself as a major contemporary artist who was to help develop a new movement called Art Nouveau, from which JOB is one of it's best paintings. He was commissioned to create a poster by a cigarette paper company. You can see the swirls of smoke around the beautiful woman. This is a transfer onto pearlized white clay and then finished with resin for a lasting shine.

3. Abstract Pendant No. 116 By Susan of 11BOLDstreet
For the May PCAGOE Challenge, I chose the work of American abstract impressionist artist Jackson Pollock. I used tinted liquid polymer to mimic his "drip" technique for this reversible pendant.

4. Capucci inspired petal necklace by Lisa of HiGirls
Last year I saw an amazing exhibit of the fashion designs of RobertoCapucci. I was so impressed, I came home with the book, and have paged through it in amazement of his sculptural designs of unexpected color combinations. I always knew I'd make something in clay inspired by these incredible designs. This piece uses the same yellow and dark purple combination he uses in the dress featured on the cover of the show book.

5. Alice Sculpture by Marie of YoungCreative
Obviously my artistic inspiration for this piece is Lewis Carroll with a heavy dose of Tim Burton and a little Victorian Gothic thrown in. The entire piece is hand-sculpted--no molds. The only "cheats" are the gem on her belt and the pocket watch. That is a button that I've been holding onto for 20 years waiting for the right project. The base is artist-inspired, too. Thanks to 11BOLDstreet's Susan for sharing her chopped translucent technique in Polymer Arts.

6.  Panda Hiding in the Jungle by Marcia of marcympc
A polymer clay wall plaque in the style of Christi Friesen, derived from a class at Cabin Fever Clay Fest, 2010.

7. In Flight by Tamara of irrysistablejewels
I was inspired by the awesome sculptures done by Nick Mackman. An award winning wildlife sculptor in the UK. Check out his website and you'll see what I mean.

8.  Calico Horse by Cindy of ArrowdaleArtStudio
My artist of choice is Jon Anderson  With apologies to Mr Anderson - for my work is a long way short of his fantastic work, this is my rendition of a horse decorated with a variety of canes. After it was finished it reminded me of a calico cat, mostly because of the coloring, but also because of the somewhat random effect of the patterns. I built my horse from a cardboard form I made from a cereal box, then covered in junk clay, and then covered that with a brown/orange blend I got from combining all the cane ends. The browns in the mane and tail are from various times along the way of mushing up off-cuts of the canes.

9.  "Faberge" Style Goose Egg by Angela of polymerclaycreations
 I am really inspired by so many artists in so many different genres it was hard to narrow down what I wanted to do. One of my very favorite things to ooh and aah over are Faberge eggs though, so I thought I would give one a try since I will most likely never be able to own one. Peter Carl Faberge was a Russian jeweler commissioned to make gifts for the tzars. He created some of the most beautiful and elaborate eggs using precious metals and gemstones. My egg is a real goose egg first blown out and cleaned. I covered it with a lavender metallic mica shift sheet embellished with sparkly violet, purple and peridot crystals. I hand formed a purple flower and also embellished it with more crystals and added a peridot and crystal butterfly charm. Real Faberge eggs were also known for their surprises inside. Mine has a necklace with a pendant made to match the flower adorning the egg.

10.  Hundertwasser Bowl by Berit of ClayImages
I have always loved the vivid colors and movements of the paintings by Austrian artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser. Here is a humble homage to his work for the PCAGOE May challenge. A polymer clay bowl, about 6 inches in diameter.

11. Chihuly-Inspired by Linda of Claymation3d
My inspiration for this piece is a glass work named Scarlet &Yellow Persian & Feather by world famous glass artist Dale Chihuly. My piece is approx. 13" High x 9" Wide and 22" Diameter. This piece was photographed outdoors suspended from a shepherds’ hook. The component pieces are freeform, almost like forms of life that live upon corals under the sea. All shapes are formed with translucent polymer clay. After the initial baking, I applied colors of liquid polymer clay over the top of many pieces and baked them again to achieve a translucent glassy quality. Some component pieces are painted with Genesis heat set paints or acrylics. Multiple coats of gloss finish were applied over all for a very glassy effect. The long "feathers"on my piece are constructed from Wire Form Med. Brass Rods bent to pleasing shapes. I securely wrapped the rods in certain locations with 28 gauge wire (like a florist pick) leaving wire pieces approx. 3" L hanging from the rod to attach component pieces to later. I covered the rod and wire wrapped around the rod with poly clay, baked and then finished each piece. Each component piece was also securely pre-wired with a loop before baking so I could attach it to other components and/or the feathers. After each component was individually finished they were assembled into this tribute piece. Mr. Chihuly's inspiration piece is a chandelier. My piece is a much smaller scale mobile.

12.  Sparkles the Fish and Mermaid Inspired by James Christensen, "Jonah" by Peg of Peggers
I love and admire the imagination of James Christensen. Inspired by his unique art, I created a fish wall plaque with many different textures. Instead of Jonah inside the fish, I created a mermaid. I used swarovski crystals in many of the scales of this fish, since mermaids love shiny objects.

13. Kinkade-Inspired by Jill of jkollmann
Our "mission" for the May 2012 PCAGOE challenge was to select an artist of our own choosing and create a piece inspired by that artists' work or works. With the recent passing of Thomas Kinkade, I decided to re-visit my own Garden Gate Series and create a piece inspired by his work. This is 2 3/4 inch by 2 3/4 inch, and the gate DOES swing open and closed! Not being a painter (other than paint by number!) this was a challenge on every level, and quite fun to figure out the 'how to' aspects. Hope you enjoy it!

14. Tiffanylit4 by Beth of of CreateMyWorld
Louis Comfort Tiffany is best known for his gorgeous stained glass works, including many cast bronze lamps with stained glass lampshades. Most people are familiar with Tiffany lampshades, to see a few more, either google Louis Comfort Tiffany or go to this link to see 4 that are featured in the book The Lamps of Louis ComfortTiffany  I have been a fan of Tiffany's work for many years, a print of his magnolia and irises hangs in my living room. A few years ago, my mother-in-law, who owns a gift shop, gave me a bunch of metal lamp bases reminiscent of the bronze lamps done by tiffany, which she didn't want to sell because they had no shades. I had always intended to try making a shade with polymer clay for these lamps, but never got around to it. This challenge gave me the push to accomplish a shade for one of the smaller lamp bases. This lamp base features the design of lily pads, so I decided to decorate the shade with lotus flowers and lily pads with a watery background.

15. Friesen Red Dragon by Line of PlaySculptLive
She is inspired by the work of Christi Friesen, my favorite polymer clay artist. I love her fun sculptures and her witty writing style. Studying her reminds me that art is mostly about pleasing yourself. For your enjoyment visit www.cforiginals.net/ My dragon is made entirely of polymer clay except for the rubies in her wings and hands and the amethyst chips as spikes on her back.

16.  Pucci-Inspired Bottle by Nikki of AdornmentsbyEstelle
This is my first attempt at covering a bottle with polymer clay. I did this in honor of earth day. This is a sterilized beer bottle that was covered with a thin layer of translucent polymer clay. I then added 3 different black and white polymer clay cane slices. I was inspired by graphic white and black dresses by Emilio Pucci. Check out some the beautiful graphic prints at their site www.emiliopucci.com.

17.  Abstract Watercolor Trinket Box by Arlene of Ashpaints
One of my favorite artists is Wyatt Waters. He grew up in central Mississippi before expanding his horizons. He uses beautiful intense and vibrant color which brings his paintings to life. I've tried to recreate some of that vibrancy in this mokume gane technique learned from a tutorial by Barbara McGuire. It uses a unique combination of white, black and translucent clay layered with alcohol inks and copper leaf.
 

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