Tuesday, March 12, 2013

March Art Bead Scene Entry - "Fracture" Polymer Clay and Copper Leaf Earrings


I am not a big fan of abstract art.  It may due to the fact I am the daughter of a Realist landscape artist.  But my controlled marbling pieces are abstract to the max, right?  How can it be that I don't like abstract art?  I don't really know, but a part of me just thinks a bowl of fruit should look like a bowl of fruit.  

Even though I am not a fan of abstract art, the painting which is the inspiration of this month's challenge at Art Bead Scene really appealed to me.  The painting is "Deer in the Forest," by abstract expressionist Franz Marc, a German painter and print maker who died in 1916.

This painting doesn't seem all that abstract to me, so maybe that is the appeal.  It has abstract elements, but the deer are recognizable.  Their ears are where they are supposed to be, and they don't have one exaggerated eye or anything, and their noses look like noses.    

The first thing that struck me when I saw the painting was the frenetic energy of the color palette and the precisely rendered fracture lines across the surface, which is what makes it abstract, I suppose.

I tried to capture the energy of the painting in these earrings.  I chose to concentrate on the Violet Blue, Russet and Yellow Ochre colors from the color palette.  The abstract fracture lines were achieved using copper leaf over polymer clay.  I covered the leaf with ColorBox Chalk Inks in Blue Iris, Burnt Umber and Yellow Ochre and added a layer of Pardo Translucent clay tinted with Alabaster ColorBox Chalk Ink and treated with Ranger Copper Embossing powder.

I bought a bunch of the Colorbox Chalk Inks and Versa Magic Inks recently and have been experimenting with using them to tint translucent clay and I must say, I really like the results so far!

So what do you think?  Did I capture the frenetic energy of the abstract painting?

More about those Chalk Ink experiments later.  Unfortunately, it was a short-lived experiment, since I am out of Pardo Trans AGAIN!

I can't wait for the next shipment, but looks like it won't be here until May.  I have some Kato Trans (love the new softness!) and some new Fimo Trans, so we shall see what I can do with those.




3 comments:

Lupe Meter said...

Those earrings are beautiful, Lynda!!

John(SC) said...

Hi Lynda,
That painting is not what I think of as abstract either. However, I do like abstract paintings, especially ones that leave the viewer to figure out what it is. Your earrings are beautiful. They look like a forest with the viewer on the inside looking out. I clicked on the picture to enlarge it, and it looked like I was in the forest looking out on to a sunlit meadow. If you look hard, you can see the deer grazing. I think I saw a couple of birds too.
Take care,
John(SC)

Diva Designs Jewelry said...

Thank you, friends!

John, you have me wanting to change the name to "Dappled Sunlight Through The Trees" or perhaps "Forest Floor Through Dappled Sunlight" :)