Foliage is the theme for the September challenge from the Art Elements design team. The leaves of plants and trees is a great inspiration for the first month of Northern Hemisphere autumn, even if the temperatures haven’t yet felt quite like fall. As the month is ending, leaves in my area are just beginning to turn from green to the russets and ambers of fall. Well, those that aren’t prematurely browned from the lack of rain, anyway.
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When “octopus” was announced as the theme for the monthly Art Elements design challenge I definitely squealed out loud. What’s not to love about octopuses? And tentacles? Are they not one of the most fun design elements ever? As always, there were too many project ideas to fit into one month, but just enough time to try a few.
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The theme for the Art Elements design challenge this July was “flowers.” Even though summer is the season for flowers, I always think of spring for them. Because summer just seems too hot for anything so apparently fragile to thrive. But thrive they do. The hostess for this theme, Marsha Neal, asked us to share photos of flowers on our social media for inspiration. I’m not great at macro photography, but this theme prompted me to pay attention to the blooms in my neighborhood. I was surprised at the abundance and variety, from clover and day lilies growing wild in the vacant lot, to iris, pansies, roses, bleeding hearts, cone flowers, and more in planters. Were they there last summer and I was just too hot to notice?
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The theme for this month’s art design challenge from the Art Elements team is ‘selkies and the sea.’ I was so excited when I saw the theme because selkies are one of my favorite mythical creatures. In addition, I was a pinniped ecologist once upon a time and saw this theme as a perfect opportunity to try sculpting seals, and possibly sea lions. I’m warning you in advance, I got carried away making selkies and sharing seal trivia.
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The theme for this month’s Art Elements design challenge is forests. There are many different types of forest, categorized by latitude and elevation (tropical, temperate, boreal), the dominant types of trees (evergreen or deciduous; broadleaf, coniferous, or mixed), annual precipitation or general climate, stage of development (old vs new growth), etc. So many forests, so little time.
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This month the theme for the Art Elements design challenge is repurposing. Some of the materials and techniques I used for this challenge were reminiscent of my childhood art projects. I don’t remember those projects being as frustrating or messy as the ones I tackled this month. Maybe because there were always adults around to help and to clean up? Technically there was an adult around to clean up this time too. But she’d rather make art than have a clean and tidy home.
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The theme for this month’s design challenge from the Art Elements design team is luna moths. These members of the giant silk moth family, Saturniidae, are a spectacular subject for art inspiration, from the colors and patterns in their graceful wings to the textures of their fuzzy bodies and antennae.
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This collection of sea turtle mandala necklaces was not created for a monthly design challenge. They were made in between making beads and things for the monthly challenges.
The year 2018 was a year of challenges for Paisley Lizard. As in, design challenges. I participated in at least one design challenge each month. In the process, I tried a few new polymer clay techniques and stretched my skills and imagination. Here are some highlights by month. Continue reading
So many horses, so little time. The theme for this month’s Art Elements design challenge was “horses.” I had soooo many ideas for this theme. Wild horses, rocking horses, carousel horses, four horses of the apocalypse, night mares, sea horses, horsing around, hold your horses, gift horses, high horse, dark horse, winged horse, unicorns, and on and on. As usual, I had far more ideas than time. So I focused on just two of my ideas: wild horses and water horses. Continue reading
The assortment of beads and pendants I made using the watercolor technique.
I tried a new polymer clay technique this month: the torn paper or watercolor effect. I was inspired to make beads and focal components using this technique and the color palette for the February Art Bead Scene challenge. Continue reading