Spain’s Ana Belchi celebrates 500 blog posts with a shower of new work. Her Industrial Disease series shows Ana’s efforts at oxidizing polymer clay. Wires appear and disappear in these rough pieces that were inspired by the work of Montserrat Lacomba.
Her Cuerda Seca (translates as dry rope?) group shows ragged edged brooches made of blocks of color divided by deep black channels. Explore all of this and more on her Flickr site.
Ana will teach her oxidation class at the August GredosClayFestival in Spain. Visit the site for all the class listings.
All the trends point to a resurgence of terrazzo (the chips of colors you see embedded in commercial flooring and old linoleum). South Carolina's Kathy Koontz (flowertown_originals) shows her way of bringing the trend to polymer. She grinds and grates baked scraps then rolls the small grated pieces into a…
Two big thick circles with a narrow slab in between are all it takes to make a stunning polymer vase like this one from Baltimore's Linda Loew. The periwinkle and purple colors are lush, the edges are smoothed and there's a freeform design in the circles' centers. Why not show…
Shannon Tabor's (CharlestonClay) series of squares shows her abstract paintings combined with polymer to great effect! Were her swirling images inspired by the storm? She's from South Carolina and I'm hoping she's dry. The polymer mokume gane pieces are mounted with lifts that make them appear to float above the canvases. The triptych will…
Ana’s work took my breath away! And my heart flutter! She has a style and sense of beauty that inspires me to think outside the box! Thank you, Ana — and best wishes for an incredibly creative future!
From what I know, “Cuerda seca” is usually translated as “dry cord” or “dry string”. It’s a ceramic technique in the azulejo or majolica tradition, which originated in the Islamic world and was brought to the Iberian peninsula during the Moorish/Al-Andalus period.
Abigail Smycken Handmade ,
Wow! That is brilliant! I love the way it looks, it’s absolutely gorgeous! And that rusty color is definitely my favorite.
Bonnie Decuir ,
Ana’s work took my breath away! And my heart flutter! She has a style and sense of beauty that inspires me to think outside the box! Thank you, Ana — and best wishes for an incredibly creative future!
PiperPixie ,
Really like the sediment look of this work! Very earthy:)
Ana Belchí ,
Thank you so much for this post, and for all your comments
Cynthia, I supposse ‘dry rope’ is the literal translation, but I coudn’t find the ‘correct’ way to say it in english
Kisses
Ana
Fruitensse ,
Ana’s work is charming for me everytime. Nice post!
Randee M Ketzel ,
These are extremely appealing in a way I just can’t define–especially the bulgy one; really love that look.
Selena Wells ,
Wonderful and original work!
From what I know, “Cuerda seca” is usually translated as “dry cord” or “dry string”. It’s a ceramic technique in the azulejo or majolica tradition, which originated in the Islamic world and was brought to the Iberian peninsula during the Moorish/Al-Andalus period.
http://janestreetclayworks.com/2011/08/02/good-impressions-the-ceramic-legacy-of-the-spanish-moors/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azulejo
Cynthia Tinapple ,
Selena – Thanks for the explanation…much better.
Lena Fadeeva ,
A lovely brooch! The effect of patinated copper is so authentic/ I love it!
Sandra D. ,
Beautiful art.