Sole Sisters

 I was inspired by Gwen Murphy's shoe art.  I could not find a website for her, but if you Google her name, you will see some crazy whimsical shoe faces.  Love them.  I made mine from PaperClay and a pair of black flats.  I added eyes that open and close.  I may switch out the colorful earrings for some black and white ones.

I may hang them on my closet wall or maybe set them on the floor by the front door...haven't decided yet.  But they do make me smile.  My right hand and elbow are still painful and numb, but I am getting back to my art and feeling better.

Polymer & PaperClay Mixed Media Sculptures

81 seconds of polymer clay sculptures and one (above) of PaperClay.

Sculpting and Painting

 I took two wonderful classes on Craftcast.com on how to sculpt a whimsical doll head and how to paint whimsical doll faces by Marlaine Verhelst (click HERE).  I am a big fan of her work.

 I have been recuperating from some bad allergy attacks.  I was not able to be in our local Art Fair so spent lots of time sculpting heads and painting faces.  Still in the process, but nearing the end.

 Tomorrow I will finish the second coat of the face and eye sealers and move on to figuring out how to attach them to my bases.  They have been on my table for so long, I am anxious to finish them.

 Working on 6 at a time is much too ambitious.  What was I thinking?   But, I love the weird quirkiness, the simplicity and fun of each one.  After they are attached to the bases, it will be fun to work on their costuming and hair.

Although, I am not really doing costumes and hair; but reasonable facsimiles.  I certainly have gained a huge respect for art doll artists!

Paperclay, Darwi & Delight

 Loom knitting forms and in the process of sculpting faces using air dry clays.

Our local art fair is Saturday, March 21 from 8:00 A.M. to 3:00 P.M. at RH Johnson Rec Center located at 19803 N. RH Johnson, Sun City West, AZ 85375.  This art doll popped in my head quite a while ago.  I was sketching at art club; the usual faces, then forms, then jewelry, then a doll.  A weird doll with beading incorporated.  Still working this out.  In the midst of figuring it out, decided to make five of them.  Better get going.

Gourd in Progress

I'm starting a new gourd sculpture.  I looked at this gourd and saw a figure of a woman holding a basket or blanket full of colorful pieces.  Since I wanted a display for some of my bead crochet, I think this might be it.

First Place Gourd Sculpture

The judging was today...got a call that I won First Place in the Gourds category! Very happy about that! I also entered one of my Bottled Up polymer clay pieces and won First Place in the category! How lucky is that?

Might as well finish telling you the rest of her "parts". I used dimensional liquid polymer clay to create tiny clear bubbles to texture her skirt and top. Air dry polymer clay was used to cover the small gourd and for her head wrap. I used Golden acrylic paints for all the painting.

Her collar was sculpted from air dry polymer clay and hand beaded. Because air dry pc is porous, it can easily be sewn using a beading needle. I beaded her little arm bracelets, glued the felt on the bottom and she was done. Yay. I did sign her on the side and gave her a light sealer. I like her a lot. I'm so happy...I'm re-energized. Such a good feeling!

Gourd Sculpture Part 3

More Apoxie Clay, more painting....

These are two hoops from embroidery frames I glued together and attached with Apoxie Clay.

I weighted the bottom with more Apoxie Clay. The bottom will be covered with a piece of felt so it will look nice.

The "hair" is some old cording I had. Her head wrap is sculpted from air dry polymer clay and glued on. The cording was glued in after the head wrap was semi-dry.

Now she gets more paint, patterns, textures and some beading. Continued......

Gourd Sculpture Part 2

The Apoxie Clay is a two part polymer resin clay that air dries rock solid. It's a very heavy clay, but is great for connections, cementing or attaching difficult pieces. After combining Part A with Part B, you have a limited amount of time to work with it as it starts to stiffen and, depending on size, can be hard in five minutes and cement in 20.

I used masking tape to cover the wire and then doll tape to smooth it out.

I covered the arms and head with Paperclay.....what a mess. I'm leaving the face "rough". She looks weathered, but happy (like me).

I covered the small gourd with Delight air dry polymer clay. I'm letting all this dry and will paint the gourd and add the headpiece next. Continued......

Gourd Sculpture Part 1

I'm continuing to make things more difficult for myself. I KNOW I cannot do a smooth sculpt with Paperclay and yet.....I'm going to try to get it as clean as possible. I'm using a purchased gourd that I have painted with Golden's White Block Out Paint.

I use a baked polymer clay "smoother" for shaping my aluminum foil head armature. I use a Makins tool for indenting the features. I try to sculpt as much as I can in the aluminum so the head does not become too heavy.

However, I can already see that the head is going to be too large, but am I going to stop? Nope. Just going to go with it. I wired the exaggerated arms and neck and will add the Apoxie Clay to the neck and shoulder "T" and let that dry overnight. Continued......

PaperClay

PaperClay is fun. Dries hard as a rock and the textures are great. Scary too!!

Polymer Clay and....

The above pin combines PaperClay and Polymer Clay.

These are little sculptures I was experimenting with to see the differences between using PaperClay and a paper mache' fiber mix. The PaperClay was much easier and cleaner to work with than the Paper Mache' fiber mix. Although the PaperClay dried much quicker than the paper mache', it could be easily formed and sculpted. Achieving small detail with the PaperClay was not a problem. The paper mache' fiber mix was messy and hard to work with. They both dried hard as a rock without any structural cracks. A fun experiment; a not so fun clean up.

The Birth of My Blog

As a mixed media artist, I love the visual textures created in beading, the tactile movement in each piece and the infusion of color. I love juxtaposing hardware or steam punk against gemstones and pearls. Each tiny component necessary to complete the whole. Clays, whether polymer clay, air dry clay, paperclay or or the liquid polymer cloth provide instant gratification. The never-ending combinations of colors and textures that can be created using these mediums fascinate me. I worked on the following three pieces on and off for months before I finally decided they were finished. I usually have several projects going at one time, which is not a plus, quite the contrary. My studio is in our family room which is in the center of our home. We know this decorating choice is not for everyone. It took us some getting used to, but it was the only way we would be able to see each other. I sculpted "Tribes Woman" using PaperClay over Styrofoam. I beaded her head piece using crystals, Czech beads, delicas, vintage beads, gemstones, plastic and glass beads. Her collar is beadwoven in the "Lower Colorado River Stitch". It is also called the Netted Yuma Collar. I finished her face and body with two layers of gesso with acrylic over that. "Caned Mask" is individually made polymer clay canes, sliced and hand applied, then mounted on painted plywood for hanging. "The Garden Mask" is hand sculpted polymer clay over an aluminum foil armature. I "cured" each layer as I built up her face. The ladybugs, flowers and leaves are all hand sculpted and glued on. I then added acrylic paint and embossing powders after adding the painted plywood back. I am so blessed to have my family and friends and the opportunity to do what I love everyday. Thank you to my husband who just rolls his eyes everytime I say, "Do you think it would be possible to .........." I am so lucky to have his support.