This is my latest sculpture. I decided to make a free standing manatee this time. There is a stiff wire armature inside the base and manatee which supports it.
I think I’ll probably end up putting the clay base on another wooden base – I have one just the right size that just needs to be finished first.
Interesting article on Gods of the Crafty Set – three people who have made a career with crafts.
They cut, stamp and sprinkle for a living. When they announce a new idea, everyone perks up. Fans wait in line to gush and to have a picture snapped with them.
Heidi Swapp, Terri Ouellette and Tim Holtz are glittery superstars in the crafty world, respected for their Midas touch. All three had a strong presence earlier this month at the 65th Annual Craft and Hobby Winter Convention and Trade Show in Las Vegas, considered the Super Bowl for crafters. They gave speeches, collected awards, signed autographs and debuted clever products that hobbyists will cheer for.
With a dream, imagination and a gilded spear of ambition, each has carved a smooth groove in the $30.6 billion industry. Any creative act that filters through their fingertips affects what you see at the craft store, in magazines and on TV.
It’s every crafter’s dream to earn a full-time paycheck using a glue stick, rubber stamps and a sewing machine. But it’s a tricky, almost secretive maze to conquer. Those who do, like Swapp, Ouellette and Holtz, are regarded as geniuses.
Here is everything you need to know about these Arizona personalities who have crafted artful careers.
Just finished a new kaleidoscope. Check it out and let me know what you think.
Nice article on a shop called Kaleidokites and their One-of-a-kind Kaleidoscopes.
There’s an unrequited love behind every handmade kaleidoscope in Kaleidokites, a Eureka Springs shop.
The artists often use the same high-tech metals and glazings deployed by space shuttle engineers to create kaleidoscope patterns resembling fireworks and meteors on a night sky. Yet the toys are labor-intensive and, like any Old World craft, their worth relies on the artist’s hand and mood.
Lately, I’ve been thinking I need to stop reading so many magazines and looking at other peoples’ work, and start concentrating on finding my own style. The first couple years after I found polymer clay, I was rather like a sponge – I read anything and everything I could fine, tried all the new techniques, and every variation I could think of.
I know a few things about my elusive style… It’s not overly fussy or ornamented. Everytime I make a piece that is, I’m not terribly happy with it. I can look at my past pieces and identify the elements that are me.
Sculpting natural flowing forms is me – animals, vines, reeds and flowers, seaweed, mermaids and dragons. I love Art Nouveau. Faux ivory is me – I love the way a sculpture looks in a solid color and unless it is done very well color or painting can make something look cheap or tacky. (If it IS done well it’s wonderful but painting is not my strong point) Adding color with diluted inks for a pastel, water color effect might be me but I need to investigate that. Mica shift isn’t really me even though I like it. Irridescent mica powders might be me or just might be a crow’s fascination for shiny objects.
Antiquing, texture, ancient looking and imperfect surfaces are me. I admire precision in other peoples work and I can do it if I want to, but I actually like my fingerprints on a piece. They make it seem more real somehow. And they add a great surface for picking up antiquing 😉
Pens are not me although I still make them every now and then. Jewelry is me, but mainly because I fall in love with my miniature sculptures and want to bring them with me. Kaleidoscopes are me because I am fascinated by them – by the idea of creating beauty both inside and out. I haven’t done many pure sculptures and I’m not sure why. I think that might be me but I need to find out. Wall pieces, vessels? I don’t know.
Eyes, and expressions and curving poses are me – or at least who I want to be me. I want to be able to sculpt like Katherine Dewey or Boehm when I grow up. So maybe that’s what I need to concentrate on.
Article on how art (including polymer clay) helps those suffering from mental illness. Read the article.
‘‘Art, in its various forms, helps most all people transcend the drudgery of everyday life,†Scott Rose, executive director of the Way Station, said. ‘‘For people suffering from mental illness, it can help them keep their heads above the pain.â€
Polyform has a couple new clays out… I bought some of their Super Sculpey Firm a couple months ago and really like it.
From their website:
NEW!! Many Sculptors desire an extra firm clay that can be “carved” and used for projects that require fine details. Super Sculpey FIRM is the extra firm sculpting clay that is gray in color, allowing sculptors to create fine details and photographers to catch these fine points on film. Unique in both form and color, this new sculpting clay brings creative options to the sculpting world.
This little guy was my 5 minute doodle, just to get used to the feel of the clay. It’s a bit firmer than Premo (my usual sculpting clay) but it’s certainly workable without trouble and the firmness helps it keep its shape. Premo is just a bit sticky, but this clay isn’t, which means you leave less fingerprints. I added pieces on, squished it around, etc, etc, and it’s wonderfully smoothable. It’s a great sculpting clay.
I was very happy with it and will definitely use it for anything where I don’t care about the final color. I do alot of bas relief sculpting which I later mold, so it will be perfect for that. Below are a couple giraffes I did. The one on the left was the first – I like it but the eye and expression could be better. I really like the pose on the second one but the neck could be a bit more fluid. And the third is still raw with only the basic shape roughed out. Can you tell I’m a perfectionist? 🙂 I may mold the first two and then try another version where I fix the problems.
This little guy was made by my husband Dave – the very first thing he’s sculpted in polymer clay. I was making the dragons for the swap, and we were hanging out together and he decided to take my dare to make a dragon. 🙂
I started to show him Christi’s dragons, but he took one look, made the basic body shape, found some model screws for eyes, sculpted the face, decided it needed face whiskers (what are those called anyway?), added purple horns and accents, etc all on his own. I helped a very little bit with the feet but he added the individual purple toenails 🙂
I don’t join many swaps – I tend to get busy and I’m afraid I’d miss the deadline. But when Lynne mentioned at our guild meeting that she was hosting a dragon swap with Christi Friesen’s style, I couldn’t resist. I love sculpting dragons anyway and I’ve been admiring Christi’s work recently.
So I checked out her site, and studied all the gorgeous work she has there. Then I dug out my stash of gem beads and ended up creating these little guys. They have garnet eyes and some also include citrine, amethyst, pearls and sea urchin spines. The sea urchin spines inspired the color combination. The hardest part was deciding which one to keep for myself!
While I was on Christi’s site, I had noticed the new dragon book she has out. And since I had had so much fun and learned quite a bit just from looking at her work, I figured I could at least send her the $11 bucks for the booklet 🙂 Especially since I felt so weird about blatantly copying another artist’s style – even for a swap she knew about. I’m the type who never makes an exact copy of a project that I find in a book or magazine because it wouldn’t be mine.
I’m very glad I got the booklet. The whole thing is visually wonderful with full color dragons and step by step photos on every page, and the writing is witty and entertaining. I picked up some tips that will help me with my own sculpting and really enjoyed the eye candy. She also has a few of the sweetest dragon illustrations – I’d love to see a line of greeting cards or a childrens book using them. She covers sculpting one dragon from start to finish and shows variations on eyes, tails, wings, etc to inspire you. Then there are short sections on making stand alone sculptures, cabochons, vessels, etc. You could definitely learn to sculpt some very nice dragons with this book.
I’m just hoping that I didn’t pick up TOO much of Christi’s style, I can see that it could get addicting 😉 I’m already thinking of trying gem eyes for some of my own sculpted critters to see if it would give them the same depth I liked in the dragon eyes.
I came across this article which seemed related to my previous entry…
It briefly discusess three steps in branding your website – Analyze, Clarify, Strategize. It’s not specifically related to art sites but most of the principles are the same