My Latest Project

For those of you following my Facebook page, you'll have seen the finished design of my latest project.

I created these peacocks for a friend's upcoming wedding.  Their colors are blue and green, with touches of peacock feathers used for decoration. I could not resist trying my hand at these colorful and elegant birds. My friend, Mike, also took a much better picture of the final product than I was able to, so I am borrowing his photo with his permission.  You should also check out his baking blog, bakingbetter.com.  He has wonderful recipes!

But, these peacocks all started nearly a month ago now...when my muse, the perverted thing, came to me in the shower.  I was tossing ideas around, trying to figure out what to work on next and what would a nice sculpture be as a wedding gift.  Then these came to mind...so the first thing I did (after drying off, of course) was to rush downstairs and start working on the shapes.

Doesn't look like much, does it?  Armatures never really do...they just provide the skeleton to hold the clay together and provide it with strength and integrity.  I do have to admit, I was giggling maniacally while I was shaping the postures and heads.  (Forgive all of the photos that you will see over the next few days...they are WIP photos, thus not pretty and touched up). :)

The next day, the peacocks got their base coat of clay.  They look a bit better now, right?  Not so crane looking and more peacock-y.  

A couple of days later, they started to get even more definition.  Their tails grew, as did their wings and feet.

In the next post, I'll show you how frustrated I was at one of the peacock tails, as well as the detail work that began to include all of the feathers.  So, check back soon!

Work In Progress...

Despite a two day migraine, I managed to get a few things done late this afternoon and evening as the vertigo and pain subsided to a dull ache.  I wanted to share this pendant prototype of Cthulhu.

He is the second prototype that I have made so far.  After some final touches, he will be given a test run. He's very solid, but anytime I make jewelry, I like to test it out and make sure that the design is successful.

Life and Art

First, I apologize for my lack of posting over the last couple of months.  Between my day job and personal life, I have barely had enough time to breathe, let alone keep up with my blog posts and creating.  The past few weeks have been especially rough, so I finally made time today to relax and work with clay.

I picked a very familiar topic... One that I didn't have to think too hard about, one that I enjoy and would come easily to me, my mini Cthulhus.  And, what do you know...it took me forever to get his blasted eyebrow ridges to work, until I finally had to walk away!  Some days, nothing goes right.

But, that is life and definitely art.  Neither can be forced into the shape that you want.... Sometimes, you have to plead, cajole and pretty much bribe every deity and muse to make it work.  In the end, things turn out... It may not be as we wanted or wished, but it is what it is.