Polymer Clay 3 - The fun contines

These past few weeks have passed quickly with all sorts of childlike fun going on with this medium that each day leaves me frustrated that I have not the time to all that I would like to do never mind to actually attain my minds desires in terms of scale, each playful venture finalises quickly with another new found visual delight and, for sure, childlike is indeed the word that springs to mind as I remember back through the years, a hospital bed, a want-to-be artist creating a string of animals formed from the plasticine delivered to my bedside by my parents, I was around nine or ten years old and recovering from an accident that left me with a fractured pelvis, the first of many injuries that would be the result of chasing adrenaline rush over the coming years
Now, past any and all adventures that would end in bodily injuries I am happy to while away my days in creative pursuits that end only with a smile rather than an X-Ray..........

As much fun as I am having while learning I still have no specific project in mind, it is all to easy to simply 'make stuff' however the end goal being to create sculptural forms that are suitable for showing a less vague direction is needed to justify the cost, Polymer clay arrives in small blocks of 2 or 3 ounces and an ounce doesn't go very far when working in large forms.

My project therefore is to create 8 Sculptural Forms, each in keeping with the 8 Pillars of Biomorphism, each one relating to a specific and different form in the overall Biomorphic Genre, this will also help me to understand each of the Pillars as well as to allow me also to understand the processes of other Practitioners and to experiment away from my own Form.

Have an artful week

andrew

Polymer Clay 2 - 5000 hours.

It is said that it takes around 5000 hours to become an expert at anything..... with around 30 hours under my belt I have a long journey to travel, I have arrived at this point 5 years into my 10 year plan, the next 5 years therefore is all about clocking up the hours.
My first sculpture now in its unfinished state will remain on my shelf as a reminder, not only of my first attempt but also 'how not to do it', though it looks ok up close and personal there are more errors than I have fingers to count, burnt sections of polymer, mismatched colours and bad tile creation, it all started off so well but soon learned that to not make enough of a particular design will lead to dissaster, at least until I am knowledgeable enough to reproduce accurate colour and technique.

Burnt Clay and Uneven surfaces affecting the overall form, though the burn is only ''skin deep'' no amount of sanding will remedy the chunks missing after sticking to the oven floor 

mismatched colour and pattern caused by not making sufficient tiles of a single design

For this first year I will concentrate on textures and design technique and will simply have fun making whatever it is that falls into my mind and will serve as a lesson, only then will I be able to commit fully to great biomorphic forms leaving me a full four years to put together a great body of work.