part II – the art I’m working on

At the moment I’m working on getting my sculpting skills up a bit. I’m still a beginner in the sculpting stakes (I’ve studied art for 4 years in college and this last year off my own back), but I always did painting before and not 3D work. Now I’ve discovered (or rediscoved from my childhood) polymer clay, I’m addicted and love sculpting!

3D is so much harder than 2D, because you have so many other planes to worry about. In a painting you can make a picture of anything and get it right as long as you know about perspective and shadow. In sculpture, you can spend hours working on the front of it, make it look perfect, then turn it to the side and it looks ridiculous and you have to start tweaking it so both sides look good at the same time AND individually.

It’s a tricky art!

I love fairy sculpture, and there are some very talented people out there. There are plenty of doll artists, and some who concentrate on fairies or fantasy creatures - Those are the one's I'm most interested in. My favourite is Shirley Ann MacKillop, who was the first fairy sculptor I came across. She produces the most beautiful sculptures, I'd love to own one but I just can't afford it - they go for about £200 a piece (rightly so). I keep stumbling over more and more artists all the time, and usually stick around with the ones that are willing to share technical information.

I’ve been learning from DVDs by Patricia Rose, and also from various books including ones by Katherine Dewey (Creating Lifelike Figures in Polymer Clay).

I’ve currently been making lots and lots of heads – just the face, no ears, just to practice and get it right. The more you do it, the better you get. Later I’m going to do the same with bodies (make lots and lots in succession), work on proportions and scaling – fitting the right head to the right body. In time I’ll get it, and I’m determined to be ranked among the people I admire at the moment.

I need to get some books on anatomy for the artist. Just some guides on proportion, and maybe some good quality images of people to work from (the internet is full of pictures, but not exactly what I need). I love sculpting people (well women really) in small scale, it gives you that extra challenge of making something that isn’t real....you have to make all those extra decisions and use your imagination. That’s what true art is all about.

It all takes practice. It’s a skill that needs to be honed, and I have so much fun with it! I like seeing a face take shape, and actually look like a person when it used to be a lump of clay. I hope I can do the same with bodies. As with all art, a lot of it is tricking the brain into believing it sees something. If the proportions look right, you’ll see a person. If the face looks real, you’ll ignore any small imperfection that might exist.

I’ve seen some shockingly bad fairy sculptures in my time – some I wonder why the person thinks they’re saleable!! Just take the one on the right.....This was made by someone in America who has a shop on eBay selling fairy sculpture supplies (wire, wing supplies, mohair etc.). Whenever I see this sculpture I think, “yeah, stick to the supplies...”

I’m not going to even try selling one until I’m sure they’re right and can compete with the ones that already exist. I’d like to do an exhibition at some point, if I can find out how! I don’t just want to be another person who sells dolls on eBay – I want people to see my creations and admire them, to show people what I’ve been doing! I haven’t done an art exhibition in a while (I did that jewellery in May but I wasn’t actually at it), the last time it was my foundation year.