another clay girl is born

Another real clay girl has made her appearance.
I really like her, I am able to translate many things onto ceramic clay that I did in polymer, BUT sometimes working with the material can be frustrating. Even with a spray bottle, my hands, the table, the tools, the air... everything wicks moisture away from the clay as I'm working, requiring very fast shaping time, and less time for perfecting the form. I need to work in a steam room or something, because simply spraying water on, dissolves the actual work and causes the arms to break off and its hard to get them to stay back on... or water pools in places like the toes or in joints, and in time it just melts away... so id rather it dry out. Wetting the hands a little seems to help, but then the piece sticks to it, haha, its a lot of fun all in all. So with this one I was able to extrude hair for her in the machine just like with the polymer clay which was cool.





I have placed six objects on this female figure. Three "objects" and three birds, each symbolizing the holy trinity. The holy spirit is extremely important and thus the holy trinity. The sprouting bud (which remains to be seen whether it will stand up to drying out and firing) is a reference to her belly which she holds, the figure is with child.

the pondering statuesque girl

Howdy folks.
Yesterday I went to NJ Ceramic supply and got some clay and made this girl. She is very statuesque (bulky) as I will have to practice on getting the thinness of the wrists and ankles but I do like her gigantic proportions coupled with a tiny face and really big hair!
In the spirit of keeping my with my style (the whimsical/novelty theme), there will be three birds on her knee (trinity), and a rose on her hip.
I would like to take you through all the processes from this wet stage, to leather hard, bone dry, bisque, and finally glaze. Its very exciting to be making ceramic work again.

Damn, Goodbye Polymer Clay

Okay, the time has come for me to move away from the polymer clay medium, it has created some health problems for me which I had noticed over the last two years and was visiting doctors to find out "what I had" when in fact what was happening was a reaction to the phthalate esters found in the clay that I use. Apparently phthalate esters are used in the clay to keep it pliable and soft, but they are toxic and in some people (like Pedro Ramirez) they can cause reactions when they come in contact with the skin. I am aware that many polymer clay companies are phasing these toxins out of their clays and using "less toxic" plasticizers but I buy my clay in bulk, I buy super sculpey in HUGE bulk packs saving $$$ and usually it lasts for years and I have a TON left, so I could either use latex gloves when sculpting or just buy all new clay. I have just decided to not use the material at all as my hands are always in it. So as of tomorrow, I will be returning to ceramic clay which has totally different working properties and also has to be fired at much higher temperatures. If I really miss the working properties of polymer clay, I can whip up a batch of cold porcelain which is just glue and corn starch.

Oh and for those who may be interested, the reaction occurs mostly on the index fingers and forms little raised bumps, which sort of look like warts, but they are smooth, they can last for days, weeks, or months and at some point they go from being just a plain bump to having little white dot in the center which is very painful, over time (it can be any amount of time) this white spot turns dark and the pain goes away, then the entire bump seems to dry up and after some time the skin peels off completely and a scar is left behind... eventually even the scar goes away leaving no evidence of the existence of the unsightly and painful things in the first place. I have been to several doctors, at first they thought I had a rheumatic condition, then an autoimmune disease, but finally after much research and unnecessary blood tests, it ended up being the clay which was the last thing I would have thought about!

So bye bye polymer, Its been a fun seven years! I will not bash Sculpey, Fimo, Kayto or any of them for I have nothing against them; I will still be fascinated by all those creating with it and good luck to all!

We have a huge selection of polymer clay wigs, Judith was experimenting with lots of styles and getting her porfolio images ready when the eight twenty two girl tried to steal the spotlight. They are a trip together.

Juidth taught me something about wires

Judith showed me that I dont have to make wire armatures for small figures, I can just push the wire into the already made figure to make the limb stand on its own... its way easier than clay slipping off of wire or aluminum making everything bumpy.



Judith is a female as far as I know, perhaps she will have breasts later, and then maybe not, its up to her really. I like the androgyny. When she was first being formed earlier today, I saw her face first and thought she was a handsome guy :-p

playing with love again, eh?

eight twenty-two girl

Howdy. Been sort of wanting to "make something" lately and this is what came up! I took the clay and just started shaping! She was first created as a seated woman without hands or feet, or even developed legs but after finishing her hair, I realized she deserved a little more effort, so I totally changed her, smoothing out her breasts completely, making hands, and feet, and giving her some clothes... she ended up being a wonderful work of art that I really do like, I am not sure if I will keep her or not, but I do enjoy the final result which might outwardly appear to be a vulnerable woman (she is not).