Comments on: Where you get it from, where you take it to

By: Laura

Laura — Sun, 17 May 2009 00:43:05 +0000

You don’t mean “steal”, surely. That was entirely the incorrect word to say what you meant. You don’t steal a sunset- you REMEMBER the colors that took your breath away, you “file” away the shape of cloud formations, you OBSERVE pattern outlines on buildings, you REFLECT on the wavy breakup of colors in a pond or at the ocean. Impressionists, anyone? Nothing original? Well, maybe in the old style world of politics, but in the world of polymer? Think purses: Kathleen Dustin. Think mosaics: Cynthia Toops, Inro boxes: Gwen Gibson, Wire Shapes: Laura Balombini, Primitives: Dayle Doroshow, Imitatives: Tory Hughes.To name only six outstanding “original” artists. I just mastered my digital camera (so call me a Luddite). Suddenly I see patterns everywhere, on store rugs hanging in windows, old tree barks whose lines conjure up faces, sides of tall buildings, begging me to take a picture of their shadow patterns. I can no longer drive without wanting to brake and take a quick shot of some passing color or pattern. They all become my “swipe” file, as they say in advertising. A collection of images to ponder, to influence–a “JUMPING OFF POINT” for my muse. They are there to INSPIRE me anew, like flipping through my Chihuly book
when I need a good DOSE of color for my brain to to feed on. And I found it to be true, once you start working on a polymer project, your “self” enters into the picture and everything changes. It’s never the same as you imagined it. And if you’re lucky, it’s a whole lot better.

By: Joan Israel

Joan Israel — Sat, 16 May 2009 20:27:46 +0000

Stealing is stealing ,copying is stealing.. Being inspired by some one else’s work is always a turn on but there is a fine line between inspiration and stealing. Learning a technique is not stealing when you use the technique to create your own work. The skinner blend is case in point. By itself it is just a blended circle ,but each artist must decide how to use it.And thankfully Ms. Skinner has her name attached to it. Surely somewhere in this world there is still an original idea . Joan Israel

By: Amy E Wallace

Amy E Wallace — Fri, 15 May 2009 19:25:57 +0000

yeah I decided to give away my Stacker bead technique so it wouldn’t feel like people were just “taking” it. it takes letting go of the feeling of ownership or entitlement over something that doesn’t fit in a box.

my boyfriend is a wire artist whose work is based on Alexander Calder’s techniques, and in order to save face he says they’re “studies” of his work. when i read the quote to him, he really liked it!

By: Loolu

Loolu — Thu, 14 May 2009 16:36:58 +0000

Thank you so much for this quote… this last week I got a nasty gram from another clay artist who felt I was treading on her turf. I’d sure like to think that the joy I felt discovering how to do a technique, the pleasure I felt in creating my own pieces was in it’s self authentic…

thank you to all of you who welcome advancement, development and exploration without claiming ‘turf’

By: JuLee

JuLee — Thu, 14 May 2009 16:11:04 +0000

I don’t think of it as *stealing* – I think of it as *research*