Working with my hands

So last week I spent working with polymer clay.  I've had the supplies since Christmas 2010.  I did fiddle around with it a bit at the start of last year, but wasn't having much success and got caught up in designing White.  Everything got shunted aside while I went back to work and then all the summer/fall markets, when I just need to keep up with the supply of my regular pieces.

However, during the Harrison Hot Springs labour day craft fair, I met a very talented artist named Andy (facebook: A. Brown Designs) who creates fabulous jewelry in clay.  I bought of pair of her fooler gauge earrings and a ring.  I fell in love with her octopus tentacle earrings and raven head pendants.  She gave me the inspiration to try again.

With no markets in sight, I was able then to spend several carefree days rolling out clay and experimenting.  First project was to make calla lilies.  I have always loved Diego Rivera's paintings of lilies, and of course, I have my own Lily.  After sketching them, I began to roll them out, intertwined with leaves and vines.  I wasn't interested in making them realistic in terms of colours, and the ones in deep purples, blacks and reds are my favourites so far.  Even the gold and black looks pretty good. 

You have to understand, while I love working with my hands, working in clay has always been a sore point.  Even as a child, I had a small kiddie pottery wheel.  And I spent hours trying and trying to make a simple, smooth pinch pot, to no avail.  They were horrid, mishapen lumps.  Even in university when I was studying for my B. Ed, our art classes touched on clay, and I was again left with some shrivelled lumps.  Several years ago, I even took a class at the Rotary Arts Centre in Kelowna on working with PMC (Precious Metal Clay - fine silver).  While the class was supposed to be beginnner level, my fellow 'students' were sculptors.  I ended up with hard lumps of mangled silver compared to their detailed pendants.  Trust me, PMC is very expensive and is not something you keep practicing with unless you know you can produce something reasonably attractive.

Why on earth would I invest in purchasing all the tools I needed for polymer clay?

I guess we all have yearnings for secret talents.  Anyway, I like how things have so far come out, and I think I've figured out what works for me.  The beads and art pieces in the books by Donna Kato and Carol Blackburn are very pretty.  And I'm not even going to try to make them.  I'm sticking with simple lines, flowing shapes.  It's what works for me in my silver jewelry, and it seems to work for me in clay.

Technical notes on clay:  I've only worked with Fimo so far, but have some packages of Sculptey which bakes at a different temperature.  I'll try it out next and compare the two for ease of manipulation, texture, etc. 

Short nails seem to be best for working with clay - you don't want to mar a piece with a poke of your fingernail. 

Don't drop unbaked clay onto the dog bed.  It picks up hair very easily.