Friday, September 9, 2016

Paper Clay Makes Me Happy

Hello, you.

Today, I wanted to talk about how I became interested in sculpting my little figures, and why I use what I use, and also to show you the latest creations.

So I'm really interested in Day of the Dead. Not just the sugar skulls and decorations, but the whole thing. In case you aren't really familiar with El Dial de los Muertos, here's a link to the encyclopedia webpage for it. It explains it pretty good. So in was on Etsy looking at Day of the Dead figures, came across one from Myriam Powell. Her work inspired me to try my hand at working with clay. So I went to Walmart, grabbed some oven bake clay by Sculpy, and read a little bit.. I learned the basics.. extremely basic, basics. I went from there, with my oven bake clay, and made my first Day Of The Dead lady. I love the way she turned out. She was specifically for me, she will never be sold, or given away. My first work of clay. I was so proud of her, I hand sewed her dress, her hair was wool roving, and I make her a flower crown with rose buttons..
 I thought "hey, this turned out awesome, I had fun, I like this!" so I continued with it. I think I got better and more creative with my ideas, and I put more details in my work now. It took me a while, a few experiments with different mediums and techniques. But I finally found one that I really, really like. I use Das Paper Clay by Prang. It works well in my hands, I can get the details I want, I can paint it, it dries nicely, it's not smelly and it's affordable. I can get a two pound block for $7.48 at my local A.C. Moore. A.C. Moore is the only store I buy my clay from, because it's always in stock, and it's the cheapest. If you have an A.C. Moore around your town, and you haven't been in there, you're missing out. They are my absolute favorite place to shop.
I wanted to share some of the latest things I've made. I'm really happy with they way they turned out, and it will pain me to part from them. It will be worth it, though, for someone else to enjoy them.
My Eye Plant Monster. I can't come up with a better name than that. Sorry!
I'm happy with the way he turned out. I think the eight colors work well against the dark base. His eyeball glows!!

This is my Skeleton couple. They make me happy. I think they turned out exactly how I imagined them to. The details on the base, the spider web with the spider hanging down the back of his skull, her flower on her skull and dress. I love it all.

And this one, I made her for my momma. Out of all the figures I've made, she's got to be my cutest.
She's only about five inches tall, and my mom loved the lotus on the big skull so much, I did a version of the same on this one for her. I hope she enjoys this!

So, if you look at my Facebook page, and see the stuff I've made, you'll see a lot of pumpkin heads. I LOVE making pumpkin heads. I think I do really well with them, and they seem to be a hit with most people that see my work. I've got a couple more I've got to finish up, and then I'll post them. But I have a really cool one I'm working on now. It's inspired by H.P. Lovecraft and my husband. He IS my husbands idea. There are a few of my figures that are his ideas. As I make them, I ask him if it's how he wants it to look, and he guides me along with what he thinks it should be. I love collaborating my hands with his brain. It always turns out amazing. I will blog about him and his brain that helps me create these pieces in a separate blog, once I get this latest one done. Then you can see his work mixed with mine!

So that's what I've got for now. I hope you enjoyed it, and don't forget to check out my Etsy Shop and my Facebook page. I have a contest going on now until the 30th of September for a zombie candy corn, so go follow, like, share and tag someone on my post and page!!! You could win!!! I only ship within the United States though.. sorry!!
Thanks for reading!!!
Tonya

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