The Flickr collection of white photos has many, many beautiful images showing all the variations of shadow and light that give depth to white. Many of the photos are by photographer Mr. Luke Harby.
White Polymer: Dan Cormier’s necklace is a gorgeous example of working in all white. When I first saw this piece on Susan Lumato’s site I thought, “What a great way to explore texture!”
Sherry Bailey’s white on white necklace won second place in Polymer Clay Central’s textured bead challenge last year.
White Associations: White symbolizes different things in different cultures but overall its association is with purity, innocence and peace. It usually has positive meanings but, like all colors, it also has its negative side.
Good white:
White as the driven snow - pure, clean, innocent
White knight - someone who comes to another person’s rescue, someone perceived as being good, noble
White list - list of good or acceptable items
White elephant - rare, valuable but perhaps unwanted
White horse - the noble hero’s horse
White hat - worn by the good guys
White dove - symbol of peace
Bad white:
Whitewash - cover up, conceal
Whiteout - zero visibility
White flag - surrender
White lightning - moonshine, illegal whiskey
White elephant - rare, valuable but perhaps unwanted
White knuckle - something that is fast, exciting, or frightening
While searching for more all white pieces in polymer clay I came across these explorations by Minnesota architect/designer Martha McQuade of Uniform Studio playing with all white polymer clay to make simple, elegant jewelry.When you limit yourself to just one color, you focus on form.
These pieces remind me of the modernist sculptures by the famous ceramicist Ruth Duckworth whose body of work over the past 60 years included many all white pieces.
New Year’s Eve in Brazil. Two million people gather along the beach in Rio every year on New Years’ Eve and everyone wears white. According to the national tradition, white symbolizes peace in the coming year. If you want to be prosperous, you can add a touch of gold or yellow. If you want passion, you add some red. Green symbolizes hope.I can just imagine how beautiful it must be to see that sea of white set against the dark water. And how amazing it must feel to turn to the ocean just before midnight and chant along with millions of people “10 . . .9 . . . 8 . . .7 . . .6 . . . 5 . . . 4 . . .3. . . 2 . . .1 . . . Happy New Year!”
Joey and I spent some time tonight posting the third video, Smashing Color Triangles. Then I remembered I need to give you the links for the handouts. Here they are:
The video ends with a suggestion to use the triangle to practice mixing colors instinctively - without using just three primaries or depending on formulas.
Yes, three primary mixing is a good way to learn where colors live, but you don’t have to be limited to only ”red”, “yellow” and a “blue.”
I labeled the Instinctive Triangle with some Premo package colors. Play with shifting some of these different package colors by thinking of the triangle as a mixing map. Pinpoint the color you are starting with on the map and then imagine the position of the new color you will try to make.
Draw an imaginary line (usually slightly curved down) through the two colors. This line will show you what direction to go with the color. Find a color further along the line to mix with the color you want to move. You may have to play with proportions, but somewhere along the line you will hit the color you are looking for.
The color names on my version of the triangle may not be the same names you would use. Once you see the way the colors flow from the different purples to yellow, you may want to come up with your own names for the colors that fall along each of these paths.
Over the years I’ve tried many different ways to mix the colors in the middle of a three primary triangle. Nothing seemed to work until I came up with what I call “Base Mixing.”
Base Mixing is a two part process that starts with mixing a series of purple colors along the bottom of the triangle, running from a primary “blue/cyan” to a primary “red/magenta.” The second step is then to mix scales with each of the base colors to a primary lemon or zinc yellow.
I have found that no matter what medium I use - polymer, paint, crayons, pencils or dye - the resulting color scales always follow the same color flow. For example, when you start with a Blue Violet base color (think of that beautiful, rich color that some people call blue and some call purple) you will always run through a gray, a gray green and an olive green on your way to yellow. The gray will show up at different levels of the triangle depending on the tinting strength of your Yellow in comparison with the Blue Violet but some version of gray will fall along this line.
Exploring the way color flows from the various purple base colors to yellow will help you learn how to mix and shift colors without using formulas.
The Majolica style of painted ceramics was introduced to Italy in the 14th century from Moorish Spain by way of the island of Majorca. Think spanish tiles and you will probably have some idea of what inspired the Italian majolica artists.
In the middle of the fifteenth century, Luca della Robbia (1400-1482) developed the blue and white glazes that were used on the early terra cotta sculptures that came to be known simply as della Robbias. (Luca’s nephew, Andrea, and Andrea’s sons, Giovanni and Girolamo, continued the della Robbia tradition in the family’s studio in Florence.)
When I picture a della Robbia I imagine a wall piece designed as a circular weath with fruit and flowers surrounding a bas relief figure.
In my research, I was surprised to find that the della Robbias also made freestanding sculptural figures. This is a Pieta by Giovanni della Robbia from 1510.
The rich colors came from stains and natural oxides applied over the white tin glazed earthenware. The painting was then covered with a clear layer of glaze and fired again to protect the colors.
By the late fifteenth century majolica colors included the white tin glaze and five natural materials used as paints:
cobalt blue, antimony yellow, iron red, copper green and manganese purple.
In the sixteenth century other colors were added including luster colors such as ruby red, pink, yellow and a reddish brown as you can see in this gorgeous plate by Francesco da Rovigo.
Contemporary artists are still exploring majolica. One of my favorites is Portland artist Connie Kiener.
I was introduced to Connie’s work over twelve years ago when I saw the stunning 3′x3′ panel of lush flowers that she painted on tiles for a client’s kitchen remodel.
Around that same time her work was featured in the November 1994 issue of American Craft. The article included many images of her intricately detailed paintings on large circular plates that I remember to this day.
(I just wish I could find that issue. It is probably in one of the stacks of magazines that I duct-taped together to use under the legs of my studio table to raise it to standing height.)
Connie’s work has changed considerably since 1994 though she continues to push the art of majolica. Her recent pieces are much more three-dimensional and figural. Much like some of the early della Robbias.
Today is the first day you can register for the conference. If you register during the month of October you will be guaranteed your first choices of seminars and can add two free seminars to the six that come with the registration fee of $245 (for NPCG members.)
The Synergy Team worked hard to make this event as affordable as possible. Rooms in the conference hotel are $109 plus tax for two people and you can squeeze in a couple more for only $20 each a night. The rooms all have fully equipped kitchenettes so you can choose to bring your own food if you want to save even more. If you are within driving distance of Baltimore, you can carpool with some friends and share transportation costs. If you are planning to fly check out Cheat Nuetral for a fun perspective on the issue of carbon offsets.
Sherry Bailey’s white on white necklace won second place in Polymer Clay Central’s textured bead challenge last year.
While searching for more all white pieces in polymer clay I came across these explorations by Minnesota architect/designer Martha McQuade of Uniform Studio playing with all white polymer clay to make simple, elegant jewelry.When you limit yourself to just one color, you focus on form.
remind me of the modernist sculptures by the famous ceramicist Ruth Duckworth whose body of work over the past 60 years included many all white pieces.
Joey and I spent some time tonight posting the third video, Smashing Color Triangles. Then I remembered I need to give you the links for the handouts. Here they are:
In the middle of the fifteenth century, Luca della Robbia (1400-1482) developed the blue and white glazes that were used on the early terra cotta sculptures that came to be known simply as della Robbias. (Luca’s nephew, Andrea, and Andrea’s sons, Giovanni and Girolamo, continued the della Robbia tradition in the family’s studio in Florence.)
When I picture a della Robbia I imagine a wall piece designed as a circular weath with fruit and flowers surrounding a bas relief figure.
In my research, I was surprised to find that the della Robbias also made freestanding sculptural figures. This is a Pieta by Giovanni della Robbia from 1510.
In the sixteenth century other colors were added including luster colors such as ruby red, pink, yellow and a reddish brown as you can see in this gorgeous plate by Francesco da Rovigo.
Connie’s work has changed considerably since 1994 though she continues to push the art of majolica. Her recent pieces are much more three-dimensional and figural. Much like some of the early della Robbias.