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I know that I myself love to see snapshots of other artists' studio spaces. It's kinda like peeking into their creativity and getting a firsthand glimpse at how those artistic thoughts emerge. My studio space isn't all that inspiring, I'm afraid. I have a room set up as my "studio"--it has my oil painting easel, lots of canvases, a long dresser that contains all my creative tools, lots of books, and lots of sketchbooks/journals/portfolios. Part of it is nice and clean so I can concentrate (the side that's in the photos here) and the other part is an ungodly mess with no order or rules of any kind. It's all about creative harmony. :)
My walls are white. My dresser is white. I know it looks unbearably barren, but it actually helps me to concentrate on colors. My work is very color-oriented and so if my walls were all orange (...which wouldn't be so bad, it's by far my favorite color) I might find myself in a color rut of primarily orange-dominant pieces. And that's not what I want. As far as the actual sculpting is concerned, I usually don't physically sculpt my pieces in my studio, as crazy as it may seem. I go there to get inspired, plan out my next project, and do some quick experiments, but I actually sculpt on a 13"x9" tile that was leftover from a bathroom makeover. This way I can sit anywhere in the house with my tile and tub-'o-clay and sculpt until my hands hurt. I usually end up sitting on the floor--I guess because I have more space and that's how I worked in college when I had no furniture.
I've been busy like a bee for the past couple of weeks. Custom orders, work at the ceramic studio, way too much housework, and the list goes on and on. I did get this cool Wizard of Oz inspired pin done though amongst the chaos and I'm thrilled with the result. I've never sculpted slippers so tiny and was pretty surprised with how challenging they were. Lots of ruby-red glitter makes these puppies sparkle and now I find myself lusting desperately bad over a pair of my own ruby slippers.Always wanted a pair when I was a child (of course, what little girl didn't?) and the movie still inspires me to create to this day. I have to be doing something artsy when watching it--I guess it's just one of those kind of films.Anyway, the pin (complete with awesome Dorothy-esque gingham bow) is 10 bucks and up for grabs in the shop.
I started making cute little cherry tile beads earlier this year and still haven't stopped. They're just too cute! I now have a "cheery cherry charm" in my shop along with this ultra-adorable pair of Cheery Cherry Dangle Earrings. Part of me desperately wants to keep these for myself. You can buy 'em for just $10.50 in the store.
I'll be listing more goodies in my shop next week. I have some cute ideas for pins that I'd like to get working on and also want to make another deep sea inspired sculptural pendant. The Littlest Squid sold incredibly fast, and I have to admit, I was sad to see him go. It was my favorite piece to date. But he went to a good home--a fellow Washingtonian snatched him up.
Most of my polymer clay work is sculptural, but I do occassionally create hand-drawn pieces as well. They're extremely time-consuming, taking an entire day or more to complete (add onto that another day of sketching and planning out my design), so I don't do them that often and when I do, I price them much higher than my other works.They've been very well-received and I've sold most of them almost immediately. This stunning Princess Leia Hand-Drawn Pendant Necklace is the exception though. She's priced at the higher-end of my hand-drawn pieces, but she was by far my most challenging. The realistic portrait is on a bead only 1" long and I worked on it for two days straight. It's a piece that I'm extremely proud of and would love to see in the hands of another avid Star Wars fan and collector like myself. She's still available in my shop, so take a peak!
A while back, when I first started up my online Etsy store, I was lucky enough to get one of my bead sets on the highly sought after "Top Items" list (which, if you've not familiar with the site, lists the top 100 items for sale by artsy chicas like myself). It was on there for well over 2 months and actually made it to number 7 before being sold out. Pretty cool.Anyway, this amazing Lost In Wonderland Sculptural Pendant has a good shot at getting itself on that list as well. 6 people have "hearted" it already--so what are you waiting for? Sign up on Etsy if you haven't already (it's free, you get to buy amazing handmade goods, and live a guilt-free life without those nasty big corporate stores) and "heart" this pendant to get it up on that list! The pendant is just $12.00 in my shop and is by far one of my favorites.
A few weeks back I came up with the idea of creating "theme packs" of my polymer clay goodies. Each pack would not only include awesome jewelry sculpted by yours truly, but also a handbound mini sketchbook and another surprise to go with the theme. My first theme pack is a Tutti Frutti one, complete with paint swatch "Tangelo" mini sketchbook, two sculpted apple charms, a pair of neato sculpted pineapple earrings, and three handpainted cherry gift tags (I love these things--perfect for tiny gifts to friends!). Lots of fun goodies for one low price. And I'm so proud of the pineapple earrings. Whenever I look at them I want to break out a ukulele and throw on a pair of flip-flops.
My latest obsession in my artwork has been with clouds, rain, and umbrellas. I guess it has something to do with the fact that all month it has been cloudy and gloomy here where I live. Where the hell did that sun go? I guess I can't complain too much because I have made some cute jewelry pieces inspired by the Northwest weather.This little Northwest Umbrella Charm would make an utterly adorable zipper pull on a winter jacket, but all my charms look great on bracelets, purses or even strung by themselves on a necklace. I'm especially proud of this one and it's up for grabs in the shop for just four bucks. I wish I owned a yellow umbrella...Sigh. One of these days.
Since summer has now "officially" arrived with the closing of all the local schools, my day job at a ceramic studio has been keepin' me on my toes. It's a retail-art teaching-painting kind of job (great fun, but doesn't pay a whole helluva lot) and I'm also the new Art Director, which means I'm also in charge of the displays, other art teachers, and look/feel of the studio. I still have my eye set out for graphic design work (which is what my degree is in) but it's hard to come by and tough to get. Sigh.
My sculptural bead and jewelry business gives me a bit of an "escape" I guess from real world jobs. I'm the boss, I make all the decisions, and I can be as creative or lazy as I want to. Which really means that most of the time, I'm sculpting in my pajamas with an ipod plugged in.
These two pics are of some more pieces up for grab in my shop. I put a ton of work (and believe me, I went through an exhausting amount of failures) to get the Guitar Pendant to look perfect. I'm so pleased with that one and I'm a little surprised it hasn't sold yet. It will, I guess the right guitar-playing chica hasn't come along yet.The Rain Cloud Pin was a more recent one and I'm utterly surprised with how cool it turned out. It was one of those ideas where I said to myself, "Yeah, that's pretty awesome, but what are the odds that it'll actually turn out like that?" and what do ya know, it actually did. Score!
Things are beginning to really kick off in my online store so I thought it'd be a good idea to set up a blog and record my busy thoughts, share my work, and get myself focused. Just listed a bunch of new stuff in the shop, including these cutesy lil' bumble bee stud earrings. I've been having a ball making these sculptural little bumble bees and just recently thought I should offer up some stud earring designs (especially since those mini sculptural focal tiles are so perfect for studs).
If you're new to my work, go ahead and visit my shop to get a feel for what I do. I promise you won't be too dissapointed.
I know that I myself love to see snapshots of other artists' studio spaces. It's kinda like peeking into their creativity and getting a firsthand glimpse at how those artistic thoughts emerge. My studio space isn't all that inspiring, I'm afraid. I have a room set up as my "studio"--it has my oil painting easel, lots of canvases, a long dresser that contains all my creative tools, lots of books, and lots of sketchbooks/journals/portfolios. Part of it is nice and clean so I can concentrate (the side that's in the photos here) and the other part is an ungodly mess with no order or rules of any kind. It's all about creative harmony. :)
My walls are white. My dresser is white. I know it looks unbearably barren, but it actually helps me to concentrate on colors. My work is very color-oriented and so if my walls were all orange (...which wouldn't be so bad, it's by far my favorite color) I might find myself in a color rut of primarily orange-dominant pieces. And that's not what I want. As far as the actual sculpting is concerned, I usually don't physically sculpt my pieces in my studio, as crazy as it may seem. I go there to get inspired, plan out my next project, and do some quick experiments, but I actually sculpt on a 13"x9" tile that was leftover from a bathroom makeover. This way I can sit anywhere in the house with my tile and tub-'o-clay and sculpt until my hands hurt. I usually end up sitting on the floor--I guess because I have more space and that's how I worked in college when I had no furniture.
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