One of the things that I know that I struggle with is constantly jumping from one project to another. I want to paint with watercolors, and I want to paint with acrylics, and I want to teach painting classes and I want to sculpt. All of these things could feasibly work together, but I flit from one to the next with such frequency that I have to refresh myself on what works and what doesn’t work every time I do something new.
I need to focus.
I really enjoy the look of these little clay creatures that look like they are plush toys. I know it’s not totally original – I remember when I was in high school my cousin made a magnet for my grandmother that was a cow with little fake “stitches” on it. It was made from Fimo clay and it was really quite cute. My hope is to begin to create something that is my own, and even if some of the elements have been done before that they are recognizable as my own work.
This “Pony Dragon” was my first experiment with adding a ‘patch’ to the clay in order to give it more of a plush doll appearance. The entire sculpture was supposed to look a lot more dragon-y, but the head kind of ruins it because it looks so much like a My Little Pony from my youth. A total accident. I really like the Swarovski-gems-for-eyes look but I am not completely sold on it.
And not everything has to be a dragon, you know! This little pig is my new favorite of my creations. It seems like every time I make something it becomes my new favorite, but he feels soft and smooth in my hands, and I really enjoy his color scheme. The eyes look good too, though when I held him up triumphantly to my boyfriend he referred to them as “dead inside”. Phaw! They are cute.
I am continuing on the “plushy” theme, you may see. I like the stitches but I wonder if there is a better way to do them. I briefly considered actually cutting tiny stitches from thin clay cane to adhere individually, but I fear that won’t turn out as lovely as it looks in my head. Still, it may be worth a try.