She's Contaminated

She's finally finished!  I went to her this morning and had some ideas of things to add and when I looked at her, I knew - she was complete.

She's Contaminated took on a bit more of a somber tone than most of my other work so far.  Originally, as with most of my stuff, I was going to name her, however, right through her creation, no name seemed to fit.  Usually, a name will pop into my head that suits the character that I'm working on -  but not in this case.  Then I realized, it's because she's all of us.  She's not a specific character, but more of a spirit or feeling.  As her story goes:

"What were you thinking?

Such an odd statement used often with venom and sarcasm to cause one to second-guess their minds.

"She's Contaminated" represents that feeling that nothing you can do or say is right. Nothing comes out the way you planned. People keep looking at you out of the corners of their eyes, avoiding direct contatct at all costs.

It's that feeling of isolation when you just can't seem to connect to others...or others simply refuse to reach out and connect with you. "

Here are some more pics - I'm very happy with how she turned out:

I ended up adding some suede to her mohawk to give it a little more subtance, and I especially love the little steampunk cuff I gave her:

Here clothes were all hand-sewn...and lemme tell you right now, I don't sew.  Nope.  I don't do it.  I generally don't agree with it and it generally doesn't agree with me.  I think it turned out pretty good though, for a complete, rank, amature. :)  I even sewed the ribbons on because I was worried that if I glued them on, they would eventually come off - and I want her to last a long, long, time.

Anyway, I just wanted to share the completed project with you all.  On to other clay adventures!

Have a great and imaginative day!

Posted by Sandy not...

If I don't get these things out, my head will explode

Good Morning all my lovely clay friends out there!  I mean, friends who play with clay, not friends who are made of clay - though I do have a few of those too, but they have trouble reading - we're working on it, but phonics doesn't work well when you have no ears.  Ah, well.  In the mean time, let me introduce you to some of them.

First, there's Little Red.  She's another box I made to give you all an idea of a different direction you can take your boxes in:

I apologize for the lousy pics but I'm horrible at taking photos of my work.  I think maybe it's my camera - yeahhhh, that's the ticket!  It's the lousy camera.

So get those gears turning.  Start dreaming of characters, images, themes...whatever you think you might like to use to decorate your box come April.  Remember, we'll be learning how to do wire armature, so it makes it a bit easier to do a character with limbs and such.

My next friend to share is No Name.  She's an Art Doll that I am working on and haven't finished yet - thus the No Name, as I haven't been inspired to bestow a title on her yet.  It's the first time I've ventured into what I would consider true Art Doll territory, in that...well...she's big.  I've always seemed to work small-scale, but she's much bigger than anything I've done before.  She's still naked as I'm undecided on how to best cover her yet, but she's coming along and I thought I would share her "birth" with you all.

Please excuse the wire I've used to hang her from the door-knob...it was the best I could come up with to get some pictures of her (remember, I'm terrible at photography, so...).  Her eyes are some glass beads I had laying around and her hair, so far, is what I think is bear fur that I found in a fly-tying kit that used to belong to my grandfather.

I love her long limbs and "dangly-ness".  So far she has a butterfly "tatoo" on her back but that may get covered with clothes later.  I'm thinking I'll trim her mohawk quite a bit so it doesn't stick out so far...but I'm not sure yet.

She has another "tattoo" that reads "POISON" on her head.  The inspiration for this is the idea of someone who is being told that their ideas are not normal or acceptable - therefore her head is full of poison.  Perhaps she's a bit depressed?  Hey, it's Februrary - aren't we all? :P

Anywhoo, theres some little tidbits from me.  I know this is probably going to say it was posted by Vickie, but it's really Sandy.  Vickie gave me the user name and password for this blog so that I could add some posts here and there...I don't think she realized the Pandora's Box she opened up!  *Evil Grin*

Here's hoping your day is starting off in the most fun and creative ways.  So go.  Off with you.  Go get creating!

And have an awesome day!

This post has been published by Sandy
(ignore what it says below...computer dumb)

Claymagination 2011

The first, annual mid-island polymer clay retreat.

Five full days of exploration into the potential of polymer clay as an art medium, including sculpting, surface techniques, mixed media, resin, the new Burlesque Blend and jewelry design and assembly.

The Polymer Claymates Guild is proud to host this event and are pleased to extend an invitation to anyone who would like to attend this art retreat. We have invited three accomplished instructors to teach 5 different classes.

Dates: Tuesday, April 12^th, to Saturday, April 16^th, 2011

Time: 9am to 5pm daily except Thursday, which will go from 9am to 9pm

Location: Nanoose Bay, Pacific Shores Resort and Spa

Cost: $375 (this fee includes all five days of instruction, all materials needed to complete the specific class projects (tools excepted), a Thursday evening for completing projects, asking additional questions and getting specific help from instructors if necessary, and buffet dinner Saturday night to socialize, celebrate our accomplishments and to give out prizes.

Classes:

Day 1 and 2: Surface Effects – Instructor: Lisa Pakosh  

You will be working with a new line of pigment, metal leaf, silkscreening, inserting the clay into premade bezels and learning to work with resin. All clay and materials required for the surface techniques will be provided, as will a bezel blank, bails, necklace chain, headpins, earwires and other incidental finishing materials. Additional bezel blanks (pendants, bracelets, earring and ring) will be available to purchase at cost for those of you who are ambitious and wish to finish more pieces. You will finish at least three pieces.

Day 3: Inside the Box – Instructor: Sandra Mitchell

You will make a themed box with a lid and sitting on legs, if you so choose. This box will be embellished with sculpted elements from a theme that you would select with the instructor’s help. This will include extensive teaching of colour mixing, using a unique technique for developing a coherent colour palette for a particular piece. Also, various inclusions will be introduced for adding texture and interest. Using armature as sculpting foundations will also be taught. Sandra’s goal is to help you to create your own unique characters, whether imaginative or realistic.

Day 4: Burlesque Blends                           Day 5: Urban Grunge meets

                                                                                 Jules Verne

    Instructor: Vickie Turner

             

Day 4: Burlesque Blends:

This is a new, unique technique that will be taught for the first time in this class. You will also be introduced to working with glitter in conjunction with this technique and designing your piece accordingly. This day will include more work on colour, helping you to choose colour harmonies that yield beautiful results when working with metal clays.

Day 5: Urban Grunge meets Jules Verne:

This class is a combination of industrial chic and steampunk, using the unique “mimic” properties of polymer clay to imitate metal, paper, wood, leather, glass, enamel, rocks and various semi-precious gemstones. We will make several pieces of "found" objects and then use various mixed media to complete a necklace similar to the one pictured above. You will learn some wonderful wire working techniques for attachments and clasps as well. This will be a blast!

Day 5 will end with a plated dinner and prizes and time to spend admiring everyone’s accomplishments.

Beginner’s/Refresher Polymer Clay Class:

If you are new to polymer clay, or just rusty, don’t fret. A Beginner’s/Refresher class is scheduled for the Friday before the retreat, Friday, April 8^th from 10am to 4pm in my studio in Nanoose Bay. This class will cover all the basics of working with the clay, handling the tools safely, curing and finishing. The class will be $55, including all the material for the project (tools excepted). However, if you would like to attend the retreat, the cost of this class will come down to $15, to cover just the cost of the material.

We will make a “faux” jade bracelet similar to that pictured above.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to email me.