Please Welcome
Ginger Davis Allman
There
is a tradition of hanging bottles on tree limbs… I don’t know where it started,
but when I was a kid, my mother was in love with a tree in front of a house,
that at Christmas time, the owners lit the bottles... It was wonderful, with snow covering
the bottles, the light shining through them, it was magical…
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| Ginger Davis Allman- Rustic Beads |
The
same can be said about what Ginger Allman makes at The Blue Bottle Tree… her
designs are really magical. She creates beads and so much more from Polymer
Clay. Her method of making ‘sea glass’ leaves you wondering if the ‘glass’ is
real or if it truly is polymer clay.
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| Ginger Davis Allman- Rustic Beads |
Ginger
didn’t start out as an artist, she has her Masters of Science in Microbiology
and worked in research. She credits her High School Art teacher, Carolyn Wallace,
for her foundation in art. She said that she has always loved to do craftwork,
and was very proficient in sewing and knitting, but she never had formal
training in anything, even in polymer clay. She is self-taught, though she did
learn from reading books, websites
and tutorials. She also says that she still takes workshops
and reads extensively. Her grandfather said:
The minute you stop learning, is the minute you start dying… She says
she learns constantly!
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| Ginger Davis Allman- Organic Beads |
Ginger
teaches others her craft by writing tutorials and e-books, as well as teaching
workshops to small guilds and groups. Her tutorials are for sale on her
website, and people hear about her workshops by word of mouth. Her
website, The Blue Bottle Tree has some
examples of her wonderful work, from faux glass to her rustic beads and organic
beads. There are also links to her
tutorials, but there is so much more. Ginger has spent countless hours
experimenting with polymer clay, testing, retesting, combining, and trying out
tools. She is a fountain of knowledge and her articles show that.
I
asked Ginger what her favorite piece of work was, and she says, like so many
artists, that it changes all the time. She says she is enamored with her ‘organic
beads’ and the ‘rustic beads’, she
developed the techniques for these beads but she says that the color is what
always what draws her to them. The interplay of color and shading. The color and shading of her beads
is what draws everyone to them. The depth that she attains in the beads is
amazing and beautiful.
Ginger
loves polymer clay as a medium to work in, she says it can be anything from a
small child's molding putty to a highly sophisticated art medium and everything
in between. Because it is a colored
putty, you can mix, mold, shape, carve, etc. You can also work the concept of
color in a three dimensional form, the possibilities are endless.
As with most mediums, there are steps to follow to get such wonderful work as Ginger's, to create flawless work, patience, practice and perseverance are a must. Taking time to actually build your knowledge is a huge plus, knowing how clay will react to different temperatures, treatments and additions helps the outcome of your work. There is some wonderful clay now, you are not just limited to the solid colors either, there is clay that has inclusions like glitter, and mica, there is glow-in-the-dark as well as translucent clay that helps create a whole new dimension in work
I
asked if there was a tip for anyone who
wants to work in polymer… her answer is to try everything! She says there are only two rules in working
with the clay…
Don’t
burn it…
Don’t
use spray sealers on it…
Other
than those two things, the sky is the limit!
Ginger says that the clay will “rise to meet you in whatever you want to
do with it”.
When
you make a piece of jewelry with polymer clay, the possibilities are endless,
really… you can use it to make all types of jewelry, even chains…yes… even
chains… but most people use it in a more fundamental setting, like for pendants,
beads, components, but you can actually use it for the base for stones, just as
you would a metal. Ginger says she likes shiny stones like Labradorite and
texture stones like Kyanite shards to use in her work.
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| Beautiful deep colors of Organic Beads- Ginger Davis Allman |
So…
you know me… I asked Ginger the ever burning question: Do you consider yourself
an artist… She says that she doesn’t get to work on it a lot, since she is
doing the writing part of her work, but she says: “…But as I become more comfortable with
myself and realizing that my work is, in fact, unique and creative, the more I
am comfortable calling myself an artist. I create. Therefore I'm an artist.
Simple as that”
I
have also asked Ginger, as well as the other artists featured what they tell
people when they are asked “what do you do?”…
Because we all know, that people do ask, in social settings, taking your
kids to school functions, in the line of the grocery store… people will strike
up a conversation… So I’ve been asking this question more and more lately… What
do you tell people you do?
Ginger’s
answer was so fun and funny, because it is what so many of us say… With a wave
of her hand… she often says… “I do a little of this and that”… This is what so
many people say to describe their work in arts. The old notion of an artist is
no more. Ginger stated it perfectly in her answer to me, that Painters have
easels, Writers have typewriters, Teachers have schools… What do you say when
you do all of these things? …’a little of this, and a little of that’…
Please visit Ginger's website and her pages on social media. There are links to her tutorials and ebooks. Also, there are wonderful examples of her work.
Website http://thebluebottletree.com
Etsy shop here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/TheBlueBottleTree
Pinterest is: https://www.pinterest.com/thebluebottle/
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