I Killed My Mermaid :-(

Well, I had a pretty sad night last night. I didn't pay close attention to my video instructor. (sniff, sniff) I had done my first firing of my little girl and was gingerly scraping her to get off the fingerprints and "celulite". That part went just great. But then I had to take some clay out of her head and make her hole bigger to prepare for her hair. Patricia said," be careful so you don't break her little neck as she is still soft." Well, I was carefully doing the scraping and had her cradled in my hand with two fingers propping her little head when all of a sudden I could feel her neck snap. I was devastated. Of course I tried to repair her to no avail and in the process her arm broke at the elbow and her butt split. *sigh* So I did a good job of ruining my very first project.

Being upset didn't last long as I chaulked it up to another learning experience and have convinced myself that my next attempt (which will be this weekend) will be even better as I have gained more knowledge.

I got tickled at my workout partner when I told her about my mishap. Her response was, "And now a moment of silence for the brutally murdered mermaid …………………………..” hehehehe Not only does this gal keep me motivated, but she has an awesome sense of humor to boot. Thanks Mila for making me feel better about my huge flub (smile).

All I know is that I am not giving up. In fact, it makes me even more determined to achieve this goal. Upward and onward (with a smile and a prayer)

Mermaid Face Closeup

I WAS able to get one closeup of my mermaids face. Still work to be done. Eyes especially. I love learning. (big smile)

Mermaid In Progress

Ok, now we are getting serious. LOLOL I have got to learn how to get clearer pictures. Sometimes they come out great and other times blurry, but I will figure it out before this project is finished.

I am now posting my 6" mermaid in progress. I have to do a lot of touch ups on her, add scales and ears and get her arms correct before she gets her first firing, but we are getting there. Each step brings me closer to the reality of a mermaid.

I also neglected to mention in my last post, all the great hints and helps I have been getting from my claying group, City-o-clay. You all have been a wonderful help and I greatly appreciate all the hints and links to make my dream a reality.

Your encouragement and critiques are helping me more than you know.

Hopefully my next post will be clearer as I get closer to making her real.

Second Face

I have been so committed to this sculpting project that I can't quit. It is almost like an adiction lately. I have a lot of people to thank for giving me hints and for sharing their talents with me. First and foremost is Patricia Rose. I am a huge fan of her work and she has a lot of videos and hints that have helped me get to this stage.

Another great artist that I am envious of is Aidamaris Roman. Again, an artist who freely shares her skills and gives us novices an opportunity to learn her techniques. The face I created yesterday was due to her guidance.

Unfortunately I was not able to get a clear picture of this one, but it is the closest I have come so far. Still need work on eyes, but it is coming. The fact that I have come this far is amazing to me

Dream Fulfilling

Oh My Gosh! I am doing the biggest happy dance now. A dream of mine has been to begin sculpting fantasy figures. Mainly mermaids and fairies. I have been struggling for months now, going over different tutorials from great artists and practicing like a mad woman. All my attempts have been so funny they made me laugh, but I was not about to give up. I figure once I conquer the face, I can move on to the rest of the body.

Well, today at work, I knew it was going to be a slow one, so I bagged up some of my prosculpt and some tools and when I was not doing anything I started working on her. (this should explain why she is dirty. I didn't care...I just wanted to be successful with the face. TA-DA...I finally got the hardest part for me - lips. And when I got done I was surprised to see that I actually had what looked like a girl! WOW was I excited or what? I had her on the stick of a paint brush and was running all around the office showing her off. Of course I was the only excited one, but I didn't care.

Then I figured I would attempt a bust to put her on so I could keep her as a step in my sculpting growth and that is what she is on. her little ta-ta's are not right, but I guess I will just call her abstract. LOLOL

Then after getting the bust the way I wanted it, I thought, hmmmm...how about some elfin ears? Ok so they are there too. Not the best, but they fit. So now that I have accomplished what I thought would be the impossible I am now ready to perfect the eyes. I think for the heck of it, I am going to get some Genesis paints and a heat gun and go ahead and paint her and even put some hair on her to see how she ultimately would have turned out. I did learn one thing, when I cured her, I didn't have her on any thing like fiber fill and she has a flat spot on the back of her head. That's ok, it is all in the process of learning. LOL So now we move on and get as good as some of the wonderful and sharing artists I have seen online. Man, I can't believe this!

BridesMaid Gifts

My niece is getting married in Baton Rouge in March. She asked me if I would make some pendants for her bridesmaids. Three are wearing a really pretty violet color dress and her maid-of-honor is wearing a peridot dress. She wanted me to make peridot pendants for the bridesmaids and violet for her maid-of-honor. Well, let me tell you, trying to match Peridot is no easy feat and I don't think I did it, but she wanted each one different.

Here are the three that I have made so far. Each is a clay bead I made and then wire wrapped in square sterling silver. I was sitting on pins and needles until I showed them to her to see if these would be ok. I figured if she didn't like them, I would just put them on Etsy and try to sell them. SHE LOVES THEM! WHEW! What a relief. Now to make the violet one. I think I may still make some of these for myself to sell. I like that they are different.

Tessalated Hearts

I had so much fun a couple weeks ago and forgot to make this post. I did some tessalated heart pins and then tagged and bagged them. Again, thanks to Trish and her great ideas through the Poly Clay Play Club. These were a lot of fun to do and what I love about tessalations is that you never know what you are going to get and they are always one-of-a kind.

Then the icing on the cake was learning how to do my own tags to protect the work for possible sale. Another fun learning experience.

Pinch Pots

Man, I love the weekends. That is when I can just forget about the work week and play to my hearts content. If I was retired that would be even better, but I am afraid I would be fused to my office chair finding more new stuff. Today I took on Ziggy's Pinch Pots. I tried these when I first got into claying, but it was a total disaster. So I tried to give it another shot.

I had some scrap clay that I used to make these three and I like them a lot. Some of the symetry is a bit off, but I will get better with time. I want to get more creative and try some different shapes, but for now I am settling with what I see. this was a lot of fun and I want to make more and maybe use canes on them or flowers and bows etc. Will have to see how it goes.

New Poly Clay Play Project

I always look forward to the new projects at the Poly Clay Play Club each month. The first day of the month can't come fast enough for me and January was no exception. Among other projects, Trish introduced us to Sentiments made with floral "globs". Here are four I made today. This was just too cool to me. I can see myself making an entire basket of these little suckers. LOL

In addition to that, there was a tutorial that incorporated these little gems in a necklace. So of course I had to make one. It's a good thing today is Saturday as I was at it most of the day (between raking leaves). So all I can say is GO TRISH! There is always something for me to play with in the club. Ok, back to playing with more "stuff".