clay
Clay is a medium I've been fascinated with for a long time, having worked with it infrequently since childhood. I've really enjoyed the freedom of expression it offers and would love to study it further. For now, I've reintroduced myself to it with some DAS air dry clay from the local craft shop. Here are some of the things I've been producing.
jewellery
This pair is inspired by hammered metal and shell textures. Hammered metal jewellery has a beautifully crafted authenticity to it, which I love. So I attempted a similar texture using the back of a paintbrush on a disk of air dry clay. After drying in the sun, I painted them with iridescent acrylic medium and sealed them with an acrylic spray.
After once attempting to create a similar look with real sea shells, I loved the look of it but felt it was far to fragile to be a wearable item. This inspired me to recreate the pair in air dry clay. I pressed the shells into the clay to print its texture, and then detailed the lines by hand with wooden tools. I've painted them in acrylic and sealed them with a matte spray, as well as using the iridescent acrylic on the inside for a pop of mother nature's sparkle.
Another shell inspired pendant, this time in the form of a mussel shell. Knotted onto a piece of silky cord, this statement necklace is perfect for casual beachy wear.
fine art
In the lead up towards Clevedon's 66th annual art exhibition, I'd been meaning to do something with a canvas I'd picked up a couple weeks before. Freeing myself from my own judgement about the best way to approach this piece, I started applying my air dry clay instinctively. Inspired by one of my digital design, m'lady, I began to layer more clay to form a face.
I really started to feel connected to this piece after applying some found items with superglue. The experience overall felt very much like I was tapping into my inner child, satisfying the messy beauty of girlhood and my own ideas of femininity.
shop
Here's a couple pieces that will be the first of my handmade items to make it onto my Etsy shop. I formed a good batch of shapes out of clay a few months ago and only now got around to painting them with acrylic and sealing them with decoupage medium.
I discovered a couple knotting techniques through Pinterest which I put to use on these necklaces. I like the deep colour used on these pendants because a pop of red is definitely something with become accustomed to.