Interweaving Nature with Polymer Clay

Post by Bewitching Dreams

Every polymer clay artist struggles with their sense of self.  How do I want to express myself?  Do I want to create realism or whimsical?  What is the best way to have my work speak to my audience?

We strive to create our own design, our own imprint in the world by using any material in our grasp.  We might use mica powders, shimmering acrylics, caning, blends, marbling…anything we can use to define ourselves.  Something as simple as the end of a straw might suddenly become the best tool to make dragon scales.

In our quest, we often look around us for inspirations.  Jokingly at times (and more often demanding), we call upon our muse to help us create.  It can be as something as small as a color that will inspire a piece.  Other times, it is a texture that we see that we must recreate in clay.  Often, it seems, we fall back to the inspiration of the most perfect artist of all, Nature herself.  

Sometimes, you cannot improve upon perfection.  We try…with stunning and amazing effects!  But to meld the beauty of nature’s creation with the talent of sculpting polymer clay takes a great deal of talent and patience.  

I have selected just a few of the talented artists in the Polymer Clay Smooshers Guild that merge the beauty they find in nature with their talent of working with clay.  You can see their love for both materials coming through each piece, not overshadowing the other, but complementing it perfectly.

Tamed created this beautiful miniature husky using polymer clay, that she then delicately attached Kid Mohair, Alpaca, and Cheviot wools too, finishing with gorgeous glass blue eyes.

Sassy Clay Creations designed this gorgeous mirror using polymer clay, sand and shells to reflect the beauty of the ocean during one of the Smoosher’s Monthly Challenges.

C.Newcomb’s Woodworking carved this unique and whimsical keychain from poplar wood and then filled the word “Bazinga” with polymer clay.  Extra points to you, should you know what popular tv show character made this phrase so “poplar.” Ok, bad pun, I apologize.

Clay Cat Shop used the perfect piece of white coral to serve as a chair for this gorgeous mermaid and her two loving daughters. 

Cat’s Wire works in a variety of mediums, including crocheting wire.  She designed this beautiful crocheted flower, then planted it in a bed of black rocks and added a tiny polymer clay snail to finish the piece off.  What a wonderful way to combine three styles into one.

The reason I chose this topic is that it focuses on one of my favorite styles that I love to use.  My best example is my line of hermit crabs.  I used to collect all of these beautiful shells during my travels, but had no way to really display them.  After contemplating on them for years and even playing around with this idea for the past five years, I finally got the nerve to make an attempt at creating a hermit crab. 

Now, when I got shell hunting, I look for pieces that “speak” to me.  Pieces that want me to create and merge them with clay into something that can be enjoyed for years to come.  Pieces that enhance their beauty, like all of the artists in this blog and our guild do on a daily basis. <3

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