Elise on May 08 2008 | Filed under: 1997, Grove, MIPCES Exhibition
Ruth Anne Grove, WAITING TO DISAPPEAR
wall mural, approx 15 feet wide
We all know and can appreciate the rallying cry of the 1970’s environmental movement, “Small is Beautiful.” Many polymer artists have put that aphorism into practice. Cynthia Toops made “small is beautiful” into what you might call a devotional practice, a religious worship.
So when the [...]
Martha on Apr 11 2008 | Filed under: 1997, Allen, Amt, Breen, Dever, Dewey, Dustin, Feiss, Ford, Forlano, Gibson, Grove, Haunani, Hughes, Kato, Liska, MIPCES, MIPCES Exhibition, NPCG, Regan, Roche, Toops, Voulkos, Winters, Zinman
Elise asked me to lead a small team of volunteers to research and write about gatherings that influenced the development of polymer as an art medium. This is the first of these posts and we hope to follow up with more. Special thanks to Nancy Travers who organized all the materials about MIPCES.
Masters’ Invitational Polymer [...]
Elise on Apr 04 2008 | Filed under: 1994, 1996, Grove
By the mid 1990’s Michael and Ruth Anne Grove had become masters of what was then called the “step blend”. They used the technique not just to add shading within their cane but to create intricate texture and pattern as seen in this brooch.
Elise on Mar 14 2008 | Filed under: 1980's, 1990's, Allen, Breen, Caning, Grove, Millefiore
Are you hooked on Kathleen Dustin’s presentation about the work done by the early polymer bead makers? Then, you’ll want to see even more images by those pioneers. After each of Kathleen’s next few installments, I will provide you with an expanded view of those artists’ early work.
In the gallery that follows you can put [...]
Kathleen on Mar 11 2008 | Filed under: 1980's, Allen, Breen, Grove, Synergy NPCG 2008 Conference, Voulkos
This is Part Three of the speech delivered at Synergy: the 2008 National Polymer Clay Guild Conference held in Baltimore, Maryland in February 2008. The entire speech will be publish in serial form in five parts on Polymer Art Archive .
In 1984, Pier Voulkos conceived of simple millefiore designs based on some limited experience with glass-working in [...]
Kathleen on Feb 29 2008 | Filed under: 1930-70, 1970's, 1980's, Allen, City Zen Cane, Dustin, Ford, Forlano, Grove, Hughes, Product Development, Synergy NPCG 2008 Conference, Toops, Voulkos
This is Part One of the speech delivered at Synergy: the 2008 National Polymer Clay Guild Conference held in Baltimore, Maryland last week. The entire speech will be publish on Polymer Art Archive in serial form.
Polymer clay developed initially for making dolls and puppets but it wasn’t until it was embraced as a bead and [...]
Lindly on Nov 12 2007 | Filed under: 1990, Allen, Beadazzled, City Zen Cane, Dustin, Grove, Haunani, Ornament, Shriver, Voulkos
I was certainly bedazzled to see the this show at Beadazzled in Washington, DC in 1990. It was the first time I had ever seen the work of Pier Voulkos, Sarah Shriver, Grove & Grove and City Zen Cane in person.
The show was displayed in the back room of the store’s original location on Dupont [...]
Elise on Oct 20 2007 | Filed under: 1993, 1994, Brooks, City Zen Cane, Grove, Julie: Artisans Gallery, Voulkos
In 1994, Julie: Artisans’ Gallery was just about the only places you could see work by accomplished polymer jewelry artists. When Julie Shafler Dale opened her gallery in 1973, it was the very first boutique dedicated to wearable art in America. Ten years later, she wrote the first book on Art-to-Wear. And by 1994 her [...]