Nandi
September 20, 2007
So, remember that faceless, hairless, non-descript polymer clay bust I posted pictures of in March?
Behold.
I’ve named her Nandi. I went searching a bit through some African history to find a name/personality that suited her, and this was perfect. Nandi gave birth to an illegitimate son, Shaka, who later went on to become a feared and ruthless warrior and king of Zululand. Both of their early lives were miserable, despite the greatness Shaka eventually achieved. It felt right to credit my sculpture to her because although she has a queen-like feel, her eyes are somewhat sad and lack the pride and arrogance of a queen born into power.
The process: first she was sculpted with Super Sculpey (with an aluminum foil core), as previously documented. I put her into the oven, where she was nearly burnt to death and came out highly plaqued (white half-moon marks show up on the surface of the clay). Discouraged, I let her sit in my WIP drawer for a few months. This last week, though, I decided to finish her up. I airbrushed her skin tone on with model paints; then I added the hair, clothing, and jewelry (done in Premo and Kato clay). Finally, I painted her eyes and lip color with more model paints, and then shined them up a bit with Sculpey glaze.
Although she clearly has many flaws– my fingerprints baked into the clay, a lack of symmetry (especially considering how the nose is crooked in relation to her chin), not particularly smooth, and a rather terrible mouth–I’m quite proud because she was the first sculpture I had done in almost seven years. (The last thing I sculpted was a Jimi Hendrix doll for an 8th grade art project when I was 14.) She was a great experience to get me back into the sculpting game (even if it was a six-month-long experience), and I can already tell that I’ve improved since I started her.
For old times’ sake, here’s what she used to look like:
And now here she is. Voila! Nandi.
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Posted by admin at 11:53 am Mr. Panta and the Mystery Sculpture
September 9, 2007
So I have been rather naughty and completely avoiding my HP sculpture. Why, why does the perfection of the left eye elude me? Though this will probably jinx me and prevent me from finishing it forever, I shall give you a teaser angle:
Instead of working on it more, I have been playing around on Ravelry (I’m TheGeekMystique there, if anyone would like to add me) and started trying to knit my first hat. As seems to be tradition around these parts, I don’t have any pictures to show of what I’m currently working on, just pictures of things I finished weeks ago.
So I present to you another piece from my crafting past: the third thing I ever knit (I’m only on my like, sixth thing, but oh well). It’s just a plain grey Panta, knit from this pattern with Bernat Softee Chunky yarn. Being one of my first projects, it’s flawed, but I love it nonetheless. If only it weren’t 100+ degrees here in California, I would wear it often.
I really must see about going to grad school in a cold state, so I can see what it’s like to wear and use something you’ve knit.
Finally, in “I have crafting ADD news”, I am currently dreaming of experimenting with stained glass and resin casting. Oh, if only I had the time and energy for all of the artsy things I would like to be doing.
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Posted by admin at 4:24 am Clay Behaving Badly
August 24, 2007
So I’ve been gone for a little while. Mid-late July was consumed by frantically finishing a basic lace wrap for my mother’s birthday (which I have yet to take pictures of, oops!). After that, I finished up a bag I was knitting, vaguely based on the Saturday Market Bag. I still need to attach the straps to it, so no pictures of that either. Then, I put all of my crafts on hold to go on a week-long jaunt to Memphis.
Now that I’m back, I’m excitedly working on a polymer clay sculpture that I believe is my best sculpture ever, by far, and I’ve only just finished the face. However, I’m keeping the details a surprise; all I will say is that it’s based off of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I knew I wanted to make this as soon as I finished that book, and I already have two more I’d like to do. I’m excited because it’s my first piece of fanart–although I love fanart, my drawing skills are terrible (I hit my drawing peak at 14, it’s been downhill ever since), and I’ve never created anything worth sharing. I hope this project will be finished in the next week or so, because I can’t wait to share it.
But since I haven’t taken pictures of any of my recent accomplishments, we’ll go back in time and visit a failed project from May.
This was my first time working with liquid polymer clay, and I was very excited. It was supposed to be a mother’s day present, a stained glass-like piece based off of a pattern I found through a random Google image search (I haven’t been able to find the picture/link again, so if you recognize the image this project was based on or it is on your site, please let me know so I can give proper credit). Of course, despite spending several hours on it, I did not know three very important things:
1) Acrylic paint and liquid polymer is a not a combination that you should bake, ever.
2) Aside from the obvious weird effect you shall see in a moment, this is also a combination that burns easily and smells terrible afterward.
3) Liquid clay doesn’t harden as regular polymer clay does; it becomes rubbery.
Exhibit A:
See how the acrylic paint made everything all puffy and foamy? And how severely burnt it is? And also how that segment covering her boob is clearly her hair and should therefore be red? Yeah, me too. Needless to say, it never made it to my mother.
On the positive, I really loved how the parts I used Pearl-Ex pigments on (the red hair and silver stars) came out. Too bad I didn’t have them in blue and green, or this project would have turned out very differently. It still would’ve been too flimsy to hang up stained glass-style like I had planned, but overall it was a very good (if time-consuming and wasteful) learning experience.
Two more shots for good measure:
Poor little mermaid.
Until next time, fearless readers!
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Posted by admin at 12:20 am Feeling Crabby
July 18, 2007
It is Wednesday, and my Harry Potter anticipation is skyrocketing. Unfortunately, with all of the spoilers that are floating around the web now, I’m laying low and trying to distract myself from the temptation of said spoilers, so I’m going to take some time throughout the next couple days to post some projects I’ve had finished for awhile.
So, meet my Bollywood Crab!
And from the back:
I find it amusing that the mica in the clay shifted and kind of ended forming a wee moustache for him, if you look closely. I was thinking about selling him on Etsy, but I’m rather fond of him, plus I don’t know how much to sell him for. So, I’m keeping him for now.
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Posted by admin at 6:19 pm Clay Show and Tell
March 4, 2007
I’m taking a brief break from writing/project finishing/paper writing/flashcard making/studying/literally 100’s of pages of reading to post something more cheerful and fun. I go through crafty/arty periods a few times a year. Usually, they last under a month, and I’m usually not particularly good at them. But since November I’ve been intrigued by polymer clay, which is basically a clay that’s partially made of plastic and can be baked in your home oven. Like most of my endeavors, I haven’t completed many projects; my first attempts either 1) were smooshed by me on purpose, 2) caught on fire in the toaster (I kid you not–it was a sculpture of a dog for my mom for Christmas, and it’s head literally caught fire and rolled off; it was both horrifying and hilarious), or 3) smooshed accidentally. But lately, when I have time, I’ve been working with it more on small projects. I’m thinking of opening a small store on Etsy when this quarter ends/when I’m better to make up for my utter lack of income. Anyway, here are a couple things I’ve done, behind the cut:
1) Pretzel earrings. Because pretzels rock. 
2) Cheeseburger earrings. One is awesome, and on the other one…well, let’s just say the cheese got messed up.
3) Chocolate cake and a glass of milk charms! I love my chocolate cake, but the clay for the glass got dusty at some point and turned sort of yellow in the oven, so I’m not happy with that at all.
4) My bust! No, not my boobs, but a bust. It’s my first attempt at anything truly realistic, and although the general bone structure is over-developed, and it’s not finished at all (shoulders widened, needs hair, will paint it, etc.) I’m still quite proud of it. I’m fond of her, although I don’t know who she is yet. Oh, and that’s not blood on my finger in the first picture, it’s marker, I swear.
Obviously, these are all first attempts and at a medium that’s new to me, but I’m proud at the simple fact that I’ve finished something I’ve started, and I’m not completely sucky at it to begin with. Sigh. Back to the drudgery.
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Posted by admin at 10:19 pm