Polymer ClayPolymer clay is an incredibly versatile medium. If you have never tried it, I hope that I can persuade you to give it a shot. It offers the wonderful opportunity of working in a third dimension, with color. Throughout this website you can see examples of my relief sculptures in this wonderful medium.
"A lizard can be caught with the hand, yet it is found in kings' palaces." NIV I used to sculpt in terracotta and stoneware. My end product was usually an uninspiring shade of brown. I enjoyed working on life size projects - a study of a torso, a bust... But the color was missing! With the terracotta, there is always the breathless moment when the kiln is opened. If I was fortunate, all the hours spent sculpting were not wasted, and my piece survived the heat intact. However, more often that I care to admit, I would discover the work randomly scattered all over the floor of the kiln! Careful wedging and working was supposed to keep air pockets from forming. Somehow in my enthusiasm for sculpting, I frequently left air pockets behind. Consequently, a lot of my work either ended up with cracks or shattered! However, skilled artists work with porcelain and other traditional, pliable, high fire media with success. This site has free ceramic sculpture tips and tutorials which relate particularly to china figurine production, if that is where your interests lie. Polymer clay on the other hand, has a negligible shrink rate. It goes in and out of the oven with very little difference in size, shape or color. No expensive oven is required. It is impervious to moisture, so it remains workable indefinitely. If stored carefully, it can last for years. In contrast, the terracotta has to be constantly wet to be kept moist. Even the eventual drying of the work has to be done gradually, to minimize cracking. What I love best, is the incredible variety of colors that are available, in contrast to the earth colors of terracotta. These delicious colors, when blended, offer up infinite variations that should keep any painter happy for a lifetime. The thrill of the medium is the ability to paint in 3 dimensions.
All the principles of color and design that a painter learns can be translated directly into this delightful medium. It can be so much fun. There are many fine craftsmen who create small objects of art and jewelry. Instead, I have delighted in exploring it as a tool for storytelling, by creating relief sculptures that colorfully express my faith. It has been a thrilling journey of discovery of both the medium, its potential and the process of storytelling. I hope the following pages inspire you to try your hand at this forgiving medium. To get you started, here is a simple tutorial for making a rose in polymer clay. Here is an example of simple filigree in polymer clay. Watch and see how easy and effective a medium it is! Then try your hand at it.
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Proverbs 30:28, Polymer Clay