Whether color fascinates or frustrates you, Polymer Clay Color Inspirations: Techniques and Jewelry Projects for Creating Successful Palettes will be one of the most used reference books in your library.  Although geared towards use with polymer clay, this book is valuable to anyone working with color. Through clear explanations, diagrams and a series of exercises, Lindly Haunani and Maggie Maggio demystify color for the color-challenged (that would be me) and expertly guide readers on a journey designed to help you explore and analyze your color instincts and preferences as well as mix your own personal palette.

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Polymer Clay Color Inspirations: Techniques and Jewelry Projects for Creating Successful Palettes

Cynthia Tinapple’s Forward is pure motivation to read the book:  “What I’ve found is that excellent color can rescue a mediocre design.  And color that’s off the mark or muddied can ruin the finest concept.  Your palette becomes your signature.  That signature is very personal.  It’s tied to culture and geography and weather.  It shifts with latitude, with attitude, and with age.  Learning about color means learning about yourself.”

The start of a collage…more to come

There is a quiz to determine your confidence level in working with color.  Here’s the first line of the description beside my score: “You often feel overwhelmed when making color choices.” Yes, that about sums it up. Until now, I’ve made most of my color choices intuitively and while people usually respond well to the colors in my work I admit that I have never been confident about them – I often feel like they happened by accident.

This book – part textbook, part workbook and part self-help book, will be within arms length while I work in the studio. I’m learning how to understand color, find my personal color palette, choose colors for my next project, mix colors that work, play games with color and then put it all together. At my own pace.  In my own time. And you can too.

As an added bonus, Maggio is posting “Weekend Extras” to her blog – more guidance to help you through the exercises.  Don’t be shy, this is your chance to ask questions and a wonderful opportunity to connect directly with the author.

Thank you Maggie and Lindly – I am finally beginning to understand the language of color and I know I will come back to the book for years to come as I slowly develop my personal palette and use it in ways that will make my work sing.

From Elise Winters’ review and interview with Lindly on PAA:

“Color Inspirations has been designed to meet the needs of a wide audience. It should be of interest to newcomers who want to try polymer, as well as people who find color challenging. We wrote this book as well for people who might be interested in working with dyes, paints, even colored pencils. If somebody is interested in the dynamics of color, the science of color mixing, the aesthetic awareness of color choice, this book should provide lots of nourishment and inspiration.” Lindly Haunani

Read Elise Winters’ review and interview with Lindly Haunani on Polymer Art Archive

Maggie Maggio’s website and Weekend Extras

Lindly Haunani’s website

Lindly Haunani and Maggie Maggio will each present at Synergy2
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